Lash Extensions 101: Faux And Fabulous
Happy Birthday, Mr. T!
TMZ is reporting that Shaquille O'Neal and his estranged wife, Shaunie, have reached a divorce settlement. Shaunie's lawyer, Sorrell Trope, stated that Shaq and Shaunie have come to terms in all areas related to property, custody, child support and spousal support.
The couple is not yet officially divorced, but that is set to take place once the courts approve the split. Florida courts have jurisdiction over the decision to divorce, while California courts have jurisdiction over issues related to child custody.
Shaunie filed for separation in November, right after moving to Los Angeles with her children. Shaq worked to get his wife thrown out of the California divorce courts, primarily because the courts in California typically allow for a greater amount of child and spousal support.
Shaq has had an interesting set of circumstances with other women during his marriage to Shaunie. A series of text messages were released to the web, featuring Shaq having intimate conversations with one of his mistresses. Perhaps this divorce was supposed to happen a very long time ago. Shaq will likely pay millions for his decision to marry, have affairs and get divorced, but this is a common story for one celebrity athlete after another. Case in point, Tiger Woods may have to pay more than $100 million dollars if he chooses to divorce his wife, Elin.
When it comes to the divorce of Shaquille O'neal and his neighbor Tiger Woods, I often wonder if, deep down, many young athletes are not quite cut out for marriage. Young men are full of testosterone and quite susceptible to the temptations of random women and a wide variety of sexual opportunities. It almost gets to the point that love and sex have very little to do with each other, as I am firmly convinced that there is a reason Shaq chose to marry Shaunie instead of the many other women he's met over the years. Rather than getting married early and dropping tens of millions of dollars to get out of their relationships, perhaps some athletes should get married after their playing (and player) days are over. But that's just my opinion, perhaps I'm being cynical.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. 
Comments: (28)
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By: jimmy on 3/13/2010 9:33PM
Reliable sources all say Shaunie was married when she started pursuing Shaq. All in the club in LA playing "hoochie" while her infant son and her 1st husband was at home. She was also still married to her 1st husband when she became pregnant with she and Shaq's 1st child. Now if that wasn't aggressive (at 24 years old), I don't know what is!
The bottom line is that Shaunie ushered in the masterplan. Trap a ball player to marry you by having baby after baby until he breaks down. When the player gets a vasectomy and you realize you can no longer "sweeten the pot" with adding more kids, then you bounce. Plus child and spousal support is a bigger number while the baller still has his $20 mil a year salary. She couldn't afford to wait until he retired. I'm sure she has already set her sights on the next man. Poor them.
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By: William Helm on 3/13/2010 11:28PM
Sometimes I wonder about you people who give advice and make these crazy comments. It doesn't matter whether a person is young or old all of have a sex bug in us. While it might be pretty good advice for a person to wait until he or she is finish with playing the field, it doesn't mean that temptations go away. A man 90 years once told me that I'd have to go a talk to someone older than he when pressed about when a man stops thinking about having women. IT's part of our nature. What needs to be taught more than anything else is SELF-CONTROL. Which is easily understood but very hard to practice. And that goes even for the good doctor who sends out these one-sided email about Shaq and his soon to be ex. Two people stood at this altar, and while Shaq has done his dirty deeds, his soon to be ex is not guiltless herself.
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By: Marvice on 3/13/2010 11:44PM
I think that anyone with money should bypass marriage. Marriage has been taken over by society and is no longer respected as the religious sacrament of GOD. These courts are ridiculous granting all this money to either party. Shaunie is an educated and talented young women who is more than capable of taking care of herself. If the parent that is forced to pay child support has to give thousands of dollars, than how much is the custodial parent paying for support of the child? I feel the cost of everything to do with the child should be split down the middle and each parent put that money in a seperate account set up for the children and call it a day. How much money a person has should not even be in the equation. The basic needs of the children should be taken into account and that's that! I hate this system. Like I've said before, I don't know why men continue to be so STUPID! Why on earth are you marrying these women, letting them have your kids, Yes! letting them have your kids when you know that is a money trap for real. Women have been screwing for years, and not getting a marriage proposal is not going to stop them, so men wise up! put your money in safe hands and stop comingling your money with spouses. That death till we part is no longer a 95% chance as it was for our grand parents. It's funny how people are always talking about women having low self esteem, well, it's sad to me that a lot of women seem to think the only way they can make a good living for themselves is to marry someone who obviously brings more to the table then they do. My word to them is get your own! And when you split all you'll need is to see the door slam. This mess needs to stop being one sided. Why don't you men start sueing women for having abortions when you wanted your child? Bet that wouldn't go over to well!
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By: penisheadtwinkletoes on 3/14/2010 1:06AM
a little tweetybird put his big penis in the ground and called it weedwacking
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By: JB on 3/15/2010 12:58PM
Why, oh why? Why do we always seem to act like most men do not cheat? Rich. Successful. Handsome. Unattractive. Broke. Fat. etc. Again, women need to get a grip. If most men cheat and there are all of the women wanting to settle down, get married or be in a committed relationship how are each one of us going to get a man who is monogamous? I am not making excuses for Shaq, Kobe, Tiger or Spitzer. I am not making excuses for the average Joe either. Just calling it like it is. If we act like it does not exist maybe it will go away...LOL I've lived awhile now and have learned some things. Shaq's wife seems to love her husband as much as any other wife. However, she will get more money than most women will. The next man she is with most likely will cheat on her...have sex with another woman. Maybe he won't get caught, but he will eventually do it. I know single, professional, attractive, witty women who are in denial. They believe that they are the only woman their mate is going to have throughout the duration of the relationship. So, they left him or through him out. Denial leads to bitterness I feel! Well, maybe Shawnie and the others will keep on moving from relationship to relationship until they find the truly monogamous male. It is like a true soulmate--might not happen. BUT IF IT DOES, IT IS A REAL BLESSING!
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By: john on 3/15/2010 9:21PM
men are not the only athletes therefore they are not the only ones that cheat on their significant other. MEN and WOMEN cheat since creation. money only adds fuel to fire. now the ex gets half? surely the kids will be provided for so why not get a job like us average folks??
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By: Me on 7/02/2010 6:29PM
Some athletes can handle marriage (commitment) and some cannot. Don't forget, many of these men come from less that adequate childhoods and that makes a big impact on their ability to commit and to be intimate.
I think Shaq is getting older, continuing to be top in BB is limited and he is just scared. So sex is a great coping skill. However, it's just sex.
What gets me is the women who fall into the arms and bodies of these men knowing there are families that will be impacted. Their delusion, as in the many Tigerettes, is that they are the one. Wrong! Not very pleasant that they have so little self esteem that their one claim to fame is they slept with some athlete.
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By: Nate campbell on 11/21/2010 12:29PM
Not one person is really speaking from knowledge just speculation.
I am The Former 3G Lightweight Champion of the World,I was the last man to Unify the belts. I can't say it's all his fault or her fault Marriage is tough job; but it's work. Shaq failed and so did Shaunty. He should grow up and work toward fixing his marriage and so should she. The one thing I learned was that no amount of money fame or whores could rival the Love I have for my wife. I had to grow into a man and make my mind up that she was it for me. I also learned that it's never all one-sided it take two to destroy a marriage. It also takes two to make it work, well 3 man woman& God.
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