Ripples #62

Compiled and Written by Lenny Giteck

Louie Anderson Rescued from
TV Celebrity Reality Series Pool

Louie Anderson, comedian and former host of the TV game show “Family Feud,” had to be rescued from a swimming pool after he dove in during the filming of a new TV celebrity reality series called “Splash.” The series is modeled after a similar program from the Netherlands.

Anderson, who has based much of his comedy career on poking fun at his own corpulence, was saved by Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and diving legend Greg Louganis. Suh is also competing in the show; Louganis is a trainer on the set of the series.

The Web site sidelionreport.com noted that during a practice session, Anderson became so fatigued he could not pull himself out of the pool using a ladder; instead, he was seen “falling back into the water again and again.” The Web site added that after being pulled from the pool, “Louie then sat coughing up water for several seconds.”

In helping to rescue Anderson, Suh — who stands 6 feet, 4 inches and weighs 300 muscular pounds — showed a kinder, gentler, more caring side that few football fans knew existed. According to Wikipedia, Suh has the dubious distinction of being voted the NFL’s “dirtiest player” in a poll of pro football players by Sporting News magazine. Last year, he was fined $30,000 for kicking a Houston Texans quarterback in the groin.

Photos: To see images of Louie Anderson being helped out of the pool, click here.

Video: To watch a clip from the version of the show produced in Holland, click here and scroll down. Although it is in the Dutch language, you’ll get the idea.

Ripples Classic: November 2010

Woman Pleads Guilty in Bizarre
Swimming-Pool-for-Murder Plot

Ripples notes with astonishment the case of an Indiana woman who offered her used aboveground swimming pool (plus $200 “in gas money”) as payment to kill her ex-boyfriend. Heidi Friedburg, who — along with new boyfriend William Alexander — was arrested last year in the murder-for-hire conspiracy case, recently took a plea bargain in Chicago federal court. According to a report on chicagotribune.com:

Friedburg admitted she texted an acquaintance in June 2009 about helping “get rid of someone 4 me.” The acquaintance went to the FBI and agreed to work undercover. In a series of text messages and recorded phone calls, Friedburg offered to give a hired killer her pool — even sending photos of the pool — and $200, but she insisted the murder needed to appear to be an accident.

Ripples thinks swimming pools should be used only for good, never for evil.

And with that, Ripples once again says…
Until next time, happy watershaping to you!