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Today’s effort on this site initially was going to look at topics such as A.J. Pierzynski departing the Chicago White Sox to sign a one-year deal with the Texas Rangers. Or the Chicago Cubs adding to their pitching staff with Edwin Jackson and Carlos Villanueva reportedly agreeing to contracts. Or Chicago Bears receiver Brandon Marshall having a hamstring injury. Or Simeon High basketball star Jabari Parker announcing in a televised event he would attend Duke.
A photo that The Smoking Gun found on the escort service web site for Kelly Lundy, who also is known as Suzy Favor Hamilton.
Instead, former Wisconsin middle-distance runner Suzy Favor Hamilton will be the focus. Not for being a three-time Olympian who intentionally fell down at the 2000 Games when she realized she wouldn’t medal. Not for having a Big Ten Conference award named for her. Not for being a motivational speaker or for participating in clinics.
Favor Hamilton — married and the mother of a 7-year-old daughter — acknowledged working as an escort after The Smoking Gun web site ran a story Thursday about her activities.
The Smoking Gun said she has been working for the last year for a Las Vegas-based escort service that booked her for dates in Vegas, Houston, Los Angeles and Chicago. The site said Favor Hamilton used the name Kelly Lundy as an escort but revealed her real name to some clients.
Favor Hamilton provided some insight into her life by tweeting:
“I realize I have made highly irrational choices and I take full responsibility for them. I am not a victim here and knew what I was doing. I was drawn to escorting in large part because it provided many coping mechanisms for me when I was going through a very challenging time with my marriage and my life. It provided an escape from a life that I was struggling in. It was a double life.
“I do not expect people to understand, but the reasons for doing this made sense to me at the time and were very much related to depression. As crazy as I know it seems, I never thought I would be exposed, therefore never hurting anybody. I have been seeking the help of a psychologist for the past few weeks and will continue to do so after I have put things together.
“I cannot emphasize enough how sorry I am to anyone I have hurt as a result of my actions and greatly appreciate the support from family and those closest to me. I fully intend to make amends and get back to being a good mother, wife, daughter, and friend.”
You can link to the original reporting on all this by clicking thesmokinggun.com.
Given the nature of all this, something says in time there will be a book followed by a movie — as well as a series of television appearances in conjunction with all that — to allow persons into Favor Hamilton’s double life. Of course, a certain degree of redemption is requisite for the proper, preferred story line — although something else says such redemption is not necessary for a world in which reality-television series of minimal redeeming value seem to be in abundance.
Something also says she probably won’t be any Disney-sponsored events any time soon:
The American Hockey League’s Bridgeport (Conn.) Sound Tigers will honor the 20 children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings by having players wear the names of the youngsters on their jerseys. The team also will auction the jerseys and hold fund-raisers to benefit the school in Newtown, Conn.
The Sound Tigers will have an online auction beginning Jan. 7 and ending Jan. 20.
“Sandy Hook Elementary School has been a part of our family, supporting the Sound Tigers at games and community events since the team began calling Bridgeport home, 12 years ago,” Sound Tigers president Howard Saffan said. “We are honored to recognize the victims of the heart-breaking events that happened less than 20 miles up the road.”
All well and good. Let me know when the Sound Tigers — or any other sports entity — takes a stand against the gun violence and calls for measures to reduce it.
What some of us like to think of as work. Posing with Shannon.
Another “Sports & Torts” show is in the archives or vault or wherever the fine folks at talkzone.com put their podcasts. Co-hosted by David Spada and Elliott Harris, the highly acclaimed interview program (well, it’s highly acclaimed in the Spada and Harris households — and reportedly elsewhere) is broadcast live on Thursdays at noon Chicago time.
The Dec. 20 edition featured Pro Football Hall of Famers Dan Dierdorf and Steve Largent plus 2013 Loop Rock Girl Shannon — not listed in order of appearance or personal preference of your humble correspondent. Anyway, you can catch the show by clicking here.
OK, some video (non-gratuitous, of course):
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