The news can be a stinker, can't it?  Each morning I set my alarm to 5:00 AM so I can enjoy a cup of coffee without two toddlers pulling at my legs.  These quiet moments are spent either soaking up the latest trashy reality bits on our DVR or flinching at the news.  Yes.  I said flinching.  NEVER have I EVER turned on the news and been hit with positive stories; it's always "5 babies gunned down in alley" or "litter of dead puppies found in a trash bag at Wal-Mart."  

I want snippets of what is happening in the world.  Be it the presidential race, sports or even stories about celebrities with a cause, the news SHOULD be a platform for that.  Is it?  NO.  Chicago news is literally, 1/8 current events and 7/8 shootings/crimes.  Disgusting.  I get that "if it bleeds it leads" in terms of news-worthy events.... but the public still needs to be informed on other happenings (balance people, bal-lance).

After combing through all the violent crimes that happened last night on WGN's website (breaking news), Maria Sharapova's name came up.  "Hmmmm" I thought.  This should be good.

Apparently our friend Maria, the highest paid female athlete in the world for 11 straight years has tested positive for some sort of dope.  "Jesus on the cross.  Not another *Lance Armstrong saga."  Fortunately, this little pickle that Ms Thang has gotten herself into was, according to her press conference, unintentional.

"I did fail the test, and I take full responsibility for it. ... It's very important for you to understand that for 10 years, this medicine was not on WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency]'s banned list and I had been legally taking the medicine for the past 10 years. But on Jan. 1, the rules had changed and meldonium became a prohibited substance, which I did not know. ... I was given this medicine by my doctor for several health issues I was having in 2006."

I vote we give her a break.  Let Evian, Tag Heuer, Porsche and the other sponsors investigate the situation, and hopefully my girl will come out on top.  My only question is-- why is she taking a medicine that is technically used for doping?  More to come on this one.....

*Lance Armstrong.  Not a fan.  I used to be a fan and totally bought all of his books and wore the Livestrong bracelet.  Then, all that garbage surfaced about how America's Hometown Hero had been lying the whole time.  His interview with Oprah made me see red.  Talk about Lance being Lance's #1 fan.  Get over yourself douchebag, lay off the steroids, and stop talking.