Conlin Suspended From DNL For… Something

Oh, yes. Bill Conlin. The Daily News columnist (and erstwhile king of the world) has been suspended from Daily News Live because of a comment he made on Tuesday’s program.

Responding to an email from Raul from Vineland, Conlin said: “Amazing that guy would leave the blueberry harvest to send that off.” Oh-ho! How offensive! You see… um… well, the blueberry harvest is probably usually done in Hammonton, right? Or… hmm… okay, how about this: The people working on the blueberry harvest are usually Mexican, and to say that someone in Vineland is Mexican is offensive! (If only Anthony DiMeo were here to clear this up!) Or maybe Comcast SportsNet just wanted Conlin off the program to make it a little less watchable.

Look, Daily News Managing Editor Pat McLoone has defended him: “I’ve known Bill Conlin for 28 years. I know he would never say anything racist.” Um, then why is he suspended?

Anyway, Neil Hartman’s apology the following day was way more hilarious than Conlin’s original joke. Courtesy of The Fightins, it’s after the jump.

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Whiny New Jerseyans Complain About Rock Festival

Pressure from Philadelphians forced the proposed music festival in Philadelphia to move to Vineland, but the promoters there are facing an even bigger challenge than some connected local businessmen. People in Vineland have organized to protest the concert!

The group is hilariously called NARCS, for Neighbors Against Rock Concert Site. This extremely specific advocacy group has a Yahoo! email address and are sure to have a crappy blogspot site any day now as well. They are rallying to keep the Red Hot Chili Peppers (or whoever) out of Vineland because of their hippie attitudes and their rock and roll music.

“This is a rural neighborhood. It’s surrounded by houses. There are farm fields. It just does not seem like the place that they should be having a concert with an unpredictable number of people coming.”

There’s only one way for Vineland to stop the concert now: Banning dancing. Just wait.

Fictional Bands To Apparently Headline N.J. Fest

By now you may have read the music festival to be held on Belmont Plateau next summer has been scrapped and moved to Vineland, New Jersey. Yes, Vineland. Dan Gross reports the concert was moved to Vineland so as not to upset the impressive cross country course on Belmont Plateau.

Ha ha, of course not. “Electric Factory Concerts/LiveNation followed with a proposal, which people in the concert industry and some involved in the negotiations believed had been intended merely to keep C3 away,” Gross reports.

But enough of that. The Associated Press article concludes with an important detail about the Vineland concert:

Vineland is home of the fictional cinematic rock band Eddie and the Cruisers.

Other bands set to perform at the Vineland fest are The Monkees, The Commitments and Josie and the Pussycats.

Concert set for Vineland farm [Daily News]
Promoters say NJ will get mega-rock fest [AP/Daily Record]

Black Panthers Apparently Still Around, In N.J.

It’s been a while since any news reports that essentially boil down to “large animal spotted.” And, as such, last night Erin O’Hearn — good use of the talent, guys — reported on a possible panther spotted in Vineland, N.J.

Jim Gardner said it was seen “as recently as last night.” It, of course, gets better. The animal spotted was the color black, meaning… that’s right! The entire report, the animal is referred to as a black panther. Was it Tommie Smith or John Carlos?

Several neighbors on Old Farm Drive in Vineland have spotted the, erhm, black panther in the woods behind their houses. Vineland police said they’ve had reports of panther sightings but no officer has seen the animal yet. The popo also say the panther may have been bought on the black market and then released once it got too big. I was waiting for a panther to dart across the street — you bet I’m not making a “maul Erin O’Hearn” joke here — behind the camera, but none did.

In the meantime, I’ll just keep laughing at the headline. Who knew the Black Panthers were still around?

Black Panther Possibly Spotted in Vineland [6 ABC]