Jason Williams

Bench teams up on Bobcats: "J-WILL RALLYING: Former Bulls guard Jason Williams, the team's first-round draft pick in 2002 who suffered serious injuries in a motorcycle accident a year later, said he has completed the last of his seven scheduled surgeries and hopes to be in an NBA training camp this fall.

'My body is feeling great,'' Williams recently told the Gary Post-Tribune. 'I think it's a matter of time. But I'm really taking my time. I don't want to make a horrible mistake and come back too soon. I want to come back and kick some butt. I'm at a junction in my life. Basketball was taken away from me for a year and a half. But it's been a blessing in disguise.''

Bulls guard Chris Duhon, a teammate of Williams at Duke, said they talk frequently and that Williams is bubbling with confidence for a comeback."

Willi Chevalier

Singmaringen, Germany

Swabian Beard Club

Category: Partial beard, freestyle

Current world champion!

I know where John Eldredge will be visiting soon

Yahoo! News - 'Braveheart' Sword Leaves Scotland: "One of Scotland's national treasures, the 5-foot sword wielded by William Wallace, the rebel leader portrayed in the Academy Award-winning film 'Braveheart,' left its homeland for the first time in more than 700 years Wednesday."

'The Contender' deserves a shot

ESPN.com: Page 2 (The Sports Guy):

"Here's the premise: They picked 16 world-class middleweights, with two of them battling in a five-round match every episode until one remains. These guys aren't trying to parlay the show into 15 minutes of fame, or a few Playboy Mansion appearances, or even an amateur porn video that gets "accidentally" leaked on the Internet. They're all trying to become the middleweight champ some day. So there's an aura of credibility here – unlike on "The Starlet," "The Bachelorette," "Survivor" or any other reality show, the motives of these contestants are relatively pure."

Tried the show out based on his recommendation and I enjoyed it. Recommended. It's on Sunday evenings but I'm not sure on the time.

FOXNews.com - Politics - Putting a Stop to Sexy Cheerleading

FOXNews.com - Politics - Putting a Stop to Sexy Cheerleading "WASHINGTON — Some cheerleaders in Texas are facing a bump-and-grind ban. A state lawmaker is looking to bar suggestive performances in an effort to make Friday night football games a little more family friendly."

Tennessee hires Pearl

Yahoo! Sports - NCAA Men's Basketball - Source: Tennessee hires Pearl: "Bruce Pearl will be introduced as Tennessee's basketball coach Monday after leading Wisconsin-Milwaukee on a surprising run through the NCAA tournament"

Ourmedia Homepage | Ourmedia

Ourmedia Homepage | Ourmedia: "We provide free storage and free bandwidth for your videos, audio files, photos, text or software. Forever. No catches."

Not safe

Yahoo! News - IE 'Unsafe' 98 Percent Of 2004, Says ScanIT: "According to Brussels-based ScanIT, users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) were 'unsafe' 98 percent of the time during 2004, while Mozilla users -- which would include those using Mozilla and Firefox -- were 'unsafe' only 15 percent of last year."

this sounds cool

Wired News: Now You, Too, Can Be a Comedian: "Karaoke is soooooo 1990s. For those who'd rather make people laugh at their punch lines than cringe at their high notes, the new wave in participatory entertainment is Joke-e-oke.
The premise behind Joke-e-oke is that, at some level, everyone wants to be a comedian. It's a form of entertainment software that allows people, momentarily, to realize this ambition while emulating the classic comedy routines of their favorite comedians.
The idea for Joke-e-oke is simple. It's basically karaoke with stand-up comedy material. Many dream of the chance to be a comedian with killer material in front of a laughing crowd. With Joke-e-oke, people are able to live out their comedy fantasy of being their favorite comedian onstage, choosing from a list of stand-up comedy icons to perform. A built in laugh track is added, timed perfectly to accent punch lines. "

Geocaching

Geocaching FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions About Geocaching: "What is Geocaching?

Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for gps users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a gps unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache."

So I think, ok but does it happen around here? Yep.

J.J. Redick

Sports: Don't hate Duke star; hate his game: "Redick has been writing poetry since junior high school. He's a churchgoer with a wry sense of humor. In the words of Mickie Krzyzewski, Redick is the boy next door.

'He's everything you could put together in a package and never think people would hate,' the coach's wife said. 'I'm astonished that of all people in the ACC, J.J. has been the one vilified. I don't get it.'

Is it that he's too good for his own good?

'We have guys just as good as me, if not better, who don't get heckled,' he said. 'I think it's my persona, my character, on the court.'"

Big Bad Reviews

Big Bad Reviews: "The Patriot League is the only league never to win a tournament game (0-13), which means Bucknell has no shot against Kansas."

How to pick the brackets

ESPN.com - NCB/NCAATOURNEY05 - Katz: Pick 'em
Stats that should help your bracket ... maybe
By Andy Katz, ESPN.com

One day and counting ...

The NCAA Tournament kicks off in earnest Thursday and you know what that means: Brackets are due.

If you are looking for some way to choose besides mascots, team colors and logos, here are a few nuggets to digest, courtesy of our esteemed research department:

• Never pick all four No. 1 seeds to reach the Final Four. It hasn't happened, so don't think you're going to be the first one to think it will occur.

• The eventual national champ has never faced the highest possible seed in each round, including the title game.

• Because they have won the title in 13 of the last 15 seasons, go with a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. The only exceptions were Arizona (No. 4) in 1997 and Syracuse (No. 3) in 2003.

• All of the Nos. 1-4 seeds have survived the first round only three times since the field was expanded to 64 in 1985.

• A No. 12 has beaten a No. 5 26 times since the field expanded and no No. 5 has won the national title. A 12 has won at least one game in 15 of the last 16 tournaments.

• A No. 7 has never reached the national title game, but a No. 11 (LSU) made it to the Final Four in 1986.

• Run screaming from the No. 14 seeds. They've gone winless in five straight tournaments.

Upsets since '85
Matchup Number
11 over 6 21
12 over 5 26
13 over 4 16
14 over 3 13
15 over 2 4
16 over 1 0

• Look cautiously optimistic at No. 13 seeds, as they've won at least one game in five of the last seven tournaments.

• Go with the ACC (not just because we picked an all-ACC final in Wake Forest-North Carolina). The conference has had at least two teams in the Sweet 16 every year since 1980.

And now for some team- and league-specific nuggets:

• Don't get too excited about Utah and New Mexico. The MWC is 3-12 over the last four seasons.

• No team has won the title after losing the first game in its conference tournament. We take exception to this (having chosen Wake Forest) because Chris Paul, the Demon Deacons' best player, didn't play against NC State in the ACC quarterfinals.

• Only one C-USA team has ever reached the Final Four (hear that Louisville) and that was Marquette in 2003.

• As dominant as Kentucky is in the regular season, Florida is the last SEC team to reach the Final Four (2000).

• The Big 12 is the hot league for the Final Four, placing a team in the event the last three years (think Oklahoma State and Kansas here).

• If you like Syracuse or Connecticut (or even BC) to win the title, it would be historic. The last conference to produce three straight national champs was the ACC in 1991-93 (Duke twice and North Carolina).

• Keep an eye on Ohio against Florida. The MAC has a win in three of the last four years.

• We love Vermont but the Catamounts would have to alter history – America East is 1-15 in the last 16 tournaments.

• Run away from the Southland Conference (SE Louisiana playing Oklahoma State) because that league has lost 20 of 21 NCAA games.

• Montana doesn't have history on its side against Washington, considering a 16 has never beaten a 1 and the Big Sky has lost 23 of its last 25 games. The last win? Weber State's stunner over North Carolina in 1999.

• The Patriot League is the only league never to win a tournament game (0-13), which means Bucknell has no shot against Kansas.

• The Big South and the Northeast have won only opening-round games, which for some odd reason really does count as an NCAA Tournament win.

• Make sure you select at least one Cinderella to reach the Elite Eight and the definition is sixth or worse. This has happened in 17 of the past 20 years.

OK, now go fill out those brackets. You'll probably do just as well selecting the team with the cutest mascot, the best colors and the team name that you love to hear.

very important

2005nitbracket.pdf NIT Bracket. Who's in?

Hey, what's up with that monkey? 

like son like father?

meet the burtons

So that's how.

Making an Internet Cartoon Tutorial by Keaton

interesting...

I'm looking out my window here at work and I was thinking about how I would describe it. The first word that popped into my head was "prison." That can't be a good sign. I can see the building of men from here if I lean a little. Is that a life lesson?

WHAT?

STLtoday - Sports - Cardinals: "Cardinals lefthander Rick Ankiel, once deemed the game's most promising young arm, will convert from pitcher to outfielder, effective immediately. "

reading is fundamental

Bloggers Blog:y: "A new CNN/Gallup poll suggests that the large majority of people do not read blogs. The poll found that only 7% of the population read blogs two or three times per week. 48% said they never read them. The good news was that only 26% were 'very familiar' or 'somewhat familiar' with blogs -- so not many people have been exposed to them yet. "

Pairings are set for ACC tourney

Link: "Thursday, March 10 Game 1 # 8 Maryland vs. # 9 Clemson RJ noon Game 2 # 7 NC State vs. 10 Florida State RJ *2:30 Game 3 # 6 Miami vs. # 11 Virginia ESPN 7:00

Friday, March 11 Game 4 # 1 North Carolina vs # 8/9 winner RJ/ESPN2 noon Game 5 # 4 Virginia Tech vs # 5 Georgia Tech RJ/ESPN2 *2:30 Game 6 # 2 Wake Forest vs # 7/10 winner RJ/ESPN2 7:00 Game 7 # 3 Duke vs # 6/11 winner RJ/ESPN2 *9:30

Saturday, March 12 Game 8 (Winners of games 4/5) RJ/ESPN 1:30 Game 9 (Winners of games 6/7) RJ/ESPN *4:00

Sunday, March 13 ACC Championship Game RJ/ESPN 1:00

*denotes tentative start time "

Good stuff. Duke matches up well with Miami and Virginia, so I like that draw. Don't like seeing Wake for that next game, but what can you do. Beat Miami, Wake, and UNC for title. Sounds good to me.

Kurt Warner: One-Year Deal with Cardinals.

Link:: " Warner has reached a one-year, $4 million agreement with the Cardinals."

I like this signing. AZ has some good receivers and a decent TE. Warner should work out ok there.

holy cow

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Food (Luther Burger): "The 'Luther Burger,' a bacon cheeseburger served on a Krispy Kreme doughnut bun, is a real food named after R&B singer Luther Vandross. "

Joe, you get a second chance.

Yahoo! News - Denise Richards, Charlie Sheen to Divorce: "LOS ANGELES - Actress Denise Richards has filed for divorce from her actor-husband Charlie Sheen, citing irreconcilable differences, according to court papers filed Wednesday."

free ice cream today

Yahoo! 10th Anniversary Ice Cream Giveaway

KORN for Christ?

mtv.com - News - Brian 'Head' Welch Talks God To 10,000 In California Church: BAKERSFIELD, California — Kids in Korn T-shirts crowded around a stage for what looked like a hometown concert but was actually quite the opposite: This was not the return of the Family Values Tour, but rather a gathering of families

"With Korn, I got the money, everything, all kinds of drugs of choice, but this is my life now." — Brian "Head" Welch

Two months after his first visit to the Valley Bible Fellowship, Brian "Head" Welch, who announced his departure from Korn last week (see "Brian 'Head' Welch Explains Why He Left Korn"), held a sort of Christian coming-out party here Sunday in front of an estimated 10,000 churchgoers in three separate services.

I saw Super Joe's first HR

Yahoo! Sports - MLB - Meet Me In St. Louis: "In 2000, Cardinals General Manager Walt Jocketty had the nerve to trade his own son's favorite player, supersub, Joe McEwing to the Mets. Five years later and McEwing may be heading home to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Former St. Louis Cardinal fan favorite, super sub Joe McEwing , doesn't figure to make the New York Mets team as a backup infielder, reportedly has drawn some interest from his former club, the Cardinals, the Mets' official website reports.

We also have reports that Arizona and Anaheim have also inquired about McEwing.

Joe will most probably be dealt prior to the end of the spring training and there are a lot of Cardinal fans to include Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty's own son Joey who would like to see McEwing return to St. Louis. McEwing was Joey's favorite player before his own dad traded him to New York."

$49?

Nintendo may introduce next-generation Game Boy in 2005 - Mar. 1, 2005: "'We believe it is likely that the next version of the Game Boy Advance SP will ship as early as this holiday, ahead of most expectations of calendar year 2006,' wrote P.J. McNealy of American Technology Research.

The new system, he predicts, will launch at a $99 price point, with prices on the Game Boy Advance falling to $49. Nintendo DS prices, he wrote, will likely remain unchanged."

Guess who's podcasting?

The Dave Ramsey Show Podcast: "Have you caught the podcasting fever? It's the rage of the internet right now and chances are, if you have an iPod, iTunes or MP3 player, you're gonna get hooked...soon!"

Body Image - Not just for women

Body Image "The media sets unrealistic standards for what body weight and appearance is considered “normal.” Girls are indoctrinated at a very young age that Barbie is how a woman is supposed to look (i.e. no fat anywhere on your body, but huge breasts). NOTE: If Barbie were life-size, she would stand 5’9” and weigh 110 lb. (only 76% of what is considered a healthy weight for her height). Her measurements would be 39-18-33, and she would not menstruate due to inadequate levels of fat on her body. Similarly, boys are given the impression that men naturally have muscles bulging all over their bodies. Take a look at their plastic action-figures (like GI Joe Extreme) in toy stores. If GI Joe Extreme were life-size, he would have a 55-inch chest and a 27-inch bicep. In other words, his bicep would be almost as big as his waist and bigger than most competitive body builders’. These body ideals are reinforced every day on TV shows, movies, magazine covers, and even video games. At UCLA, where the crowd is young and the warm climate promotes use of revealing clothing, the exaltation and expectation of extreme leanness is even more exaggerated.

And the media’s portrayal of what is “normal” keeps getting thinner and thinner for women and more muscular and ripped for men. Twenty-five years ago, the average female model weighed 8% less than the average American woman. Currently, the average female model weighs 23% below her average weight. Similar trends are seen with men. The average Playgirl centerfold man has shed about 12 lbs. of fat, while putting on approximately 27 lb. of muscle over the past 25 years.

With these media images and body ideals, it’s little wonder that women and men feel inadequate, ashamed, and dissatisfied with how they look. Only about 5% of women have the genetic make up to ever achieve the ultra-long and thin model body type so pervasive in the media. Yet that is the only body type that women see and can compare themselves to. Similarly, all boys see is a body ideal that for most men is impossible to achieve without illegal anabolic steroids. There is a physiological limit to how much muscle a man can attain naturally, given his height, frame, and body fat percentage. Unfortunately, however, the action figure heroes on toy store shelves and male fitness models on magazine covers and ads suggest otherwise. "