Iron Man 2

Yahoo! Movies unveiled the first Iron Man 2 poster today:

Great Expectations

As many expected, Notre Dame fired coach Charlie Weis today with six years left on his contract.

A couple thoughts:

- Apparently there was speculation about Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Florida's Urban Meyer being candidates for the job, but both have said they aren't interested in leaving their current positions. Do people really think Notre Dame is a coaching job that would lure those guys from such great positions? I think many, perhaps overcome with nostalgia, vastly overestimate the draw of coaching at ND.

- Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports would say I'm wrong.

- ND plays Purdue, Michigan, MSU, Stanford, BC, Pitt, Western Michigan, Navy, Tulsa, Utah, Army, and USC next season. That's a pretty respectable schedule, with only two sure wins (Army, Tulsa). How well can ND expect to do?

- How long will it take Weis to find a job? I think he has another in a month if he wants one. Of course, if he's paid the $18 million that is rumored to be on that contract, he might just stay home.

- Is it possible Domers are more arrogant than Wolverine fans? I think possibly, but it's close.

Big Daddy....Again

Yes it's true...Lillyan Hope Fritz was born 11/19/09 at 1:50am. She came in at a lightweight 7lbs 10oz. (Insert monkey picture here) A bit trimmer than her almost 9 lb sister. She reminds me that life starts out great ... Eat, Sleep, Poop, Repeat. Those were the days.

PS. She came out with lots of black hair, I'm going to assume I am the father until the test results come back. (Insert your "How's your wife and my kids" Blast here)

Wow

Did anyone else see that one-handed TD grab by Dallas Clark? That was ridiculous.

Thanks

I'd like to thank the Buckeyes for beating Michigan and making sure MSU will go to a bowl game by making sure UM wasn't in the mix. I can't say the Spartans really deserve it, but it sure beats staying home.

Just ask Rich Rodriguez.

Cat in Fan

"Friends" Reference

Pivot!

While trying to move a white couch downstairs into the basement, this happened. The culprits? Barrigar, Fritz, my sister-in-laws boyfriend, and myself. It was a huge fight between the walls, doorways, ceiling, stairs, and the couch. Needless to say, we snapped the backrest frame...and still couldn't get it downstairs.

It's still upstairs. My wall still isn't fixed. (Fritz was the man on the stairs, calling the shots.)

Mess of Me

So, when did Switchfoot decide they wanted to rock again?

He Shoots, He Scores!!!

Make that a 6 pointer.

Actual Wisdom

I don't generally pay much attention to NFL pregame shows or halftime updates, but as I was half-listening to the halftime update during the Lions game I heard something that actually seemed fairly insightful. Michael Strahan (I think) said (approximately): "A great team plays to their level, not to their opponent's level." That's one of the most succinct definitions of a great team that I've ever heard.

Quote of the Day

"O-State, we are coming."
-UM defensive end Brandon Graham

Yeah, somehow I don't imagine the Buckeyes are going to be losing a lot of sleep over the prospect of facing the UM defense.

Wolfram Alpha

I was just flipping through the most recent issues of Popular Science and came across an article about Wolfram Alpha a "computational knowledge engine." Essentially, it takes your question and gives you an answer instead of pointing to a website. If you put in an equation, say x²+4x+24, it gives you this, the answer to pretty much any math question you'd get related to that formula. Put in 3/12/1981 and you receive a wealth of information about that day. Type in Cass City and you can find out anything from the map coordinates (43.6° N, 83.18° W) to the population (2,606 people). This probably makes me a geek, but I think that's awesome.

Marvel's Hottest New Character

You can see the tease here.


This is really just an excuse to post a picture of a monkey with guns.

Helmetless

There's an interesting article in the WSJ today about the possibility of reducing concussions by eliminating the traditional football helmet.

While it's not as crazy as it sounds, I can't believe it would actually happen. Improving helmets and tackling fundamentals would seem to much more palatable to me, and more likely to be implemented. Not to mention the whole thing reeks of the obsession with safety that has infected our culture. For example, one commenter on the article claims that you can't play football for any length of time without suffering a concussion. Really? I don't have any data to back this up, but I'd be shocked if more than 5% of young men playing football suffer a serious head injury. My gut says it's probably less than 1% of the millions that play.

Freedom from Responsibility

What the people wanted was a government which would provide a comfortable life for them, and with this as the foremost object ideas of freedom and self-reliance and service to the community were obscured to the point of disappearing. Athens was more and more looked on as a co-operative business possessed of great wealth in which all citizens had a right to share. Athens had reached the point of rejecting independence, and the freedom she now wanted was freedom from responsibility. There could be only one result. If men insisted on being free from the burden of a life that was self-dependent and also responsible for the common good, they would cease to be free at all. Responsibility was the price every man must pay for freedom. It was to be had on no other terms.

-Edith Hamilton

Wildcats 17, Hawkeyes 10

Sooner or later your mistakes will catch up with you, and that happened to Iowa this afternoon. I shed no tears for the Hawkeyes, even though the loss will knock them from the #4 spot and pretty well confirm the conventional wisdom about the Big Ten. How much do Iowa fans hate the Wildcats right now?

Izzo's Basement