March Madness

March Madness is finally upon us and it couldn't have come any sooner. This will finally give everyone in the country a distraction from the economic crisis, War in Iraq, and all other kinds of news that send chills racing down the spines of the $38,000-$55,000 a year worker (this is what I'd call average). Here we go. Will it be another no. 1 seed that will return back to their campus with a shiny new trophy, or will a no. 2,3,4, or 5 seed upset the tournament and raise a new flag in their gym despite the odds? This is what the College Basketball lover lives for. As "Bracketology" emerges as an unofficial major in schools these days, will people start picking more brackets correctly? I for one cannot wait for the 1st round to occur. I love that all the upsets, the tears, and the celebrations that happen as an underdog triumphs over the favored.
However, I have a problem with the seedings of some of the teams. My first one is why in the world is Illinois seeded 5th? There can be no possible explanation why they are there. They will lose to Western Kentucky and people will call that an upset which is wrong because Illinois and Western are about the same caliber team. In addition, due to Duke's schizophrenia on the court, I believe that they should switch seeds with Villanova. I know it's not a big difference, but I think that it needs to be done. In addition, I have another switch that needs to be made between Marquette and Purdue. Once again, I know it's not big, but it needs to be done to stay more true to the talent of the teams.
I hope that this year is as much fun as previous years and I hope that there are a lot of early upsets.

Sudden Stop!

In class we have looked at pictures about "The Enemy" and "Women" as depicted in propaganda from WWII. My question is why do we spend so much time on each picture? What person will stop and look at a propaganda poster as closely as we did and stare at it for the amount of time we did while they walk down the street? I know for sure that most of our class wouldn't. I'm not sure about Mr. Bolos though. I could see him having his kids stare at a poster for a period of time and tell him everything they see in the poster. I'm just thinking if we should use that time to study Huck Finn or something else in that time period.

Rise To The Occasion

In the 70's, New Trier banned Huck Finn from all English classes. OK. However, the letter submitted from the parents' association that helped change the status of the book was locked away, and banned from the public's viewing. Why? Is New Trier ashamed of banning a book or are they just trying to stop a future argument from arising? I can't say for sure, but what I can say is that the document should be released for public use and viewing. This is not just because we have a choice to write an essay about the letter and banning of Huck Finn, but because the letter can be used for many other purposes such as- education, writing, analytical, and history. I'm not saying that it wouldn't make writing the essay easier because we have the paper at our disposal, because it would, but there are other reasons why having it locked up is a mistake. Realistically speaking though, New Trier, I'd guess, won't make the document public in the next 25-50 years, if they ever release it. Here's the real question- if the teachers, students, and maybe even parents got together and put pressure on the board, will they give up the document?

The Book Is Burning!

Today I was cut-off in class by Mr. Bolos when I was going to make a point of why I thought that Huck Finn should only be taught in a History class and not in English class. The main reason is because you have to get into the time period. English classes don't have enough time to take you through a History course all about the time period in which Huck Finn takes place. In AS, we took the time to understand the use of the language used in the story so the words don't seem that extreme. In addition, the characters are not that well educated and so they are using the "N-word" as a comma. Also, this book is a comedy and should not have been taken so literally because the basis of the book is hilarious.

OOPS!

Just when everyone thought that the MLB would be saved by new, "clean," power hitters, we are struck down. With Alex Rodriguez going down due to taking steroids, who can we trust in the MLB anymore? Pujols, Howard, or Ortiz? Our most sacred record, home runs, is tainted right now by Barry Bonds and now we have another "formally tainted" home run hitter on the rise to the record. If I were in Alex's shoes right now, I would get close to my friends who have been through this: Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi and take all the advice I could get from them. Personally, I'm very quick to forgive as long as Alex just comes out and apologizes for it. That's when I drop the subject. I dropped it when Pettitte said sorry and I'll do it for Rodriguez too. Just come clean. That's all. That also goes for anyone else who have, either now or in the past, taken steroids or steroid-type substances.

A Blank Mind

I need new ideas for blog posts. You see, writing about what we talked about in class bores me because I'm not going to be the only person blogging about it. When the blogging assignment started back in September, I thought that it would be so easy and I would fill our 1 post and 1 comment requirement with no problem. Well, I was wrong. This post is about getting ideas for future blogs. I feel like the end of a Dirty Jobs show (Discovery Channel, great show, I encourage everyone to watch it) where Mike Rowe begs the audience for more jobs to do or the end of a Mythbusters (also a great show) where they ask for more myths. I'm sorry, but I'm out of ideas. Please respond to me!

My Blood Is Still Red

Myth- You'd think 50 years after the football Cardinals left Chicago, there would be little or no fans left here in the city and that everyone would have moved on to being a Bears fan. Truth- While listening to ESPN Radio 1000 and 670 The Score, they sent out reporters to the south side of Chicago to see if there are original Cardinals fans that still remain. There are many in fact. The south side/suburbs that are dominantly White Sox fans, believe it or not, are populated with lots and lots of Cardinals fans. 670 reported that during this week, Bear fans were a minority! That's right, the south side still bleeds red. Sort of surprising? Indeed.