Wonder Years....

Danica McKellar, better known as Winnie Cooper on the Wonder Years has come out with a new book entitled, "Math Doesn't Suck". She majored in math at UCLA and envisions girls to continue in the subject. After all the things celebrities talk about these days it's nice to see that she's doing something productive with her status and trying to get girls more interested in a field that continues to be male dominated.

Webkinz

They're everywhere. These little stuffed animals are no longer just stuffed animals, it's a key into a new and fun world for children. When you purchase one of thse stuffed animals, your child has the ability to log on to the child-safe website called webkinz. They can take care of their stuffed animal and buy different things for them, such as plants, furniture, entertainment things, etc. They are able to buy these items by playing somewhat educational games and receiving points they can collect and use. It's like a virtual Chuck E. Cheese for kids. I was so impressed to see this as I babysat a couple weekends ago that I went out and bought one. The site is great, and completely kid-friendly. They do have a chat room, but have a restricted word list, that eliminates any proper names, numbers, and certain words, such as call or even punch. Great site to check out, just take the tour!

Mystery Illness

Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.

Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.

Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.

Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.

Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene, where the meteorite left a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) and 20-foot-deep (six-meter-deep) crater, said local official Marco Limache.

"Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned," he said.

America Remembers

6 years after 9/11/2001, we still remember this day exactly how it occured. Everyone can remember where they were, who they were with, what they did the entire day. Now, six years later we see on Google trends that out of the top 100 searches, 65 of them deal with 9/11, a remarkable percentage. I am honored and proud to be in a country where we will not let this event go unnoticed.

Oh, Mr. Wagner

It was announced yesterday that the 1909 American Tobacco Company Honus Wagner card was sold for a record $2.8 million. This card is why many of guys my age started collecting in the first place. Sure, we'd get a pack or two for Christmas or our birthday, but the only reason we'd go buy a pack was hoping for the next rare card that would allow us to strike it rich. The incredible thing about this card is that in 1991 it was bought for 490,000 and today a mere 16 years later it is selling for 2.8 million despite the fact that card collecting and prices of baseball cards has gone down dramatically in that time span. For those of you unaware of this card and its value, there were very few made and it is believed that Wagner asked the American Tobacco Company to withdraw his card either because he wasn't getting paid enough from them for producing his card or because he had an issue with the tobacco company selling to kids. I like to think it was the latter, just because it makes it a better story, however money always seems to play into things, so I assume it was for that reason. Either way, this is THE card to have and for 2.8 million I'm going to say that this is one valuable that might not be worth it.

Carpet Skates

What could be more fun than gliding around the office with a pair of skates without strapping on a pair of 1984 roller skates. The newest invention, "Carpet Skates" does just this. For 14.99 you can glide through the office in no time. Seriously, what could be more fun for you and more annoying to your co-workers. Check out this video:

Thoughts on the Tournament

I wrote this email to a friend and thought I'd post it here because it's basically the last 2 days of thinking that I've done. Let me know your thoughts.

Five things going on....

1. Is it possible for Florida to lose in the first round? If so, I would pay huge money to see all these freaking gator fans put to shame. "We're the first school to have both football and basketball championships and now we're going to have 3 straight. No one can stop Noah or Horford...." ugggh

2. Illinois has a chance for sure. It's hard to see Purdue get a 9 seed and Illinois get a 12 seed. Purdue beat us in the regular season but other than that we're basically the same team. But nobody is complaining about how Purdue got in. Either way, I think Illinois is seeded too high here. I also think VT is the worst of the 5 seeds and probably could have been a 6 seed, Nevada losing early looks like it put VT up a notch. So in reality we might be looking at more of a 6 vs.10 matchup which I like. If I were betting, I'd bet on Illinois to cover for sure. Hoping Warren Carter and Shaun Pruitt show up for this game. Unfortunately Jamar Smith had to pull a Pierre Pierce stunt and drink and drive and hit a tree almost killing his teammate because we could've used his shooting.

3. I heard on "The Herd" this morning that both the Niagra and Florida A&M coaches were upset at being in the play-in game since they received automatic bids into the tournament. The guy filling in for Colin said that perhaps the last two at large teams should face off against each other in the play-in game. This year it would have to be something like Arkansas vs. Stanford. I thought this was a good idea, but then I was unsure where you would put this game into the bracket. If you left it at the 16 seed then Kansas would get screwed because they'd have a much tougher first round game playing that winner than Florida A&M or Niagara. I think it's a good concept but hard to put into practice... your thoughts?

4. My final four looks like this: Oregon, Kansas, Texas, and Ohio State. Then Kansas beating Oregon and Texas taking care of Ohio State. Here's why I love Texas so much. I think Kansas is the best team in the country handds down. I've also watched the last two Kansas-Texas games and think that Texas can play with these guys. The first game a couple weeks ago Kansas turned on another gear in the second half. But the second game if Durant had played, especially in OT I think Texas would've won. But after watching those two games and the A&M game I think Rick Barnes must be the dumbest coach in history... especially vs. A&M when Durant basically wasn't allowed to touch the ball when the game was on the line. Same thing in the Ok. St. game until he figured out a way to get it and shot it anyway even though Barnes was telling him to reset. I didn't see that game, but the SportsGuy says it was ridiculous. Anyway, can you imagine a Texas vs. Kansas final. What a game! So much better than Florida v UCLA last year. I would love for this game to happen, and if it does, I think Texas might actually win. Tough to beat a team again and again.

5. Megan's sister and mom and coming down to visit and of course we're going to Disney World on Wednesday, Thursday, and part of Friday. Now, I'm all in favor of going to WDW, but what a day to go, right? I've already said I'm going to the ESPN zone for a couple hours on Thursday. Luckily Illinois plays late Friday so that's in the clear. Either way, I guess it's not all that fun to watch tournament games by yourself