Edjukshun

You spent 10-15 seconds trying to figure out that title, didn't you? On the way home from work, I heard a radio commercial for a local technical college that attacked traditional colleges by arguing "you don't learn how to repair a computer by reading Shakespeare". This reminded me of all of the worthless classes I had to take to graduate with a business degree (IAH anyone?) The university would argue such curriculum is required to provide a well balanced education. Two and a half years removed and I hardly remember how to balance a ledger let alone anything from my astronomy class. While I feel like I learned a great deal from college (calculating profit margins, navigating through financial statements, marketing and sales tactics, why mixing gatorade and vodka is a bad idea). The system is rigid and outdated due to deeply engrained traditions and philosophies of academia. (I learned how to write an argument like that in High School, not college).

As a business major, I wasn't allowed to touch a non-economics business class until I was halfway done with college. How was I supposed to know a marketing degree was right for me if I was stuck taking life science, spanish, and IAH? If I decided after a year that it wasn't what I wanted, I'd be changing majors at the beginning of my senior year. On top of that, many economic principles are difficult business concepts to understand - how am I supposed to really comprehend them without any business background?? Luckily, I ended up enjoying marketing and was quite successful, minus one bad econ class.

In my opinion, anyone beginning a marketing degree should take Marketing 101 on day one so they know what they're getting themselves into. Same goes for any other major (do they have Teaching 101 Mike?) Since I will never ever deal with any science outside of the animals at the zoos that Stacey and I visit, I shouldn't have been required to take any. In addition, IAH is a complete joke and should be eliminated effective immediately. Anyone who had to sit through it should be reimbursed or at least receive a coupon to the Dairy Store (mmm... revenge ice cream!) Instead of taking rediculous prerequisites, I should have been allowed more time to take electives instead of the 3-4 I was allowed to take to complete my 120 credits. I learned of a Entrepreneur class my senior year that would have been a great learning experience in independence and creativity. Sadly, it wasn't even offered to business majors. Having the ability to better tailor your education to your own needs is critical.

Since we're on the subject of college, I want to discuss some college football since I can't go without talking about sports. I would love to see West Virginia take on OSU if Mizzo loses. Pat White and Steve Slaton are like Juice Williams and Mendenhall from Illinois... except a lot better. They will destroy OSU. I am so hopeful that we get to see Illinois vs. Florida in the Citrus Bowl. It would be a very exciting game to watch and I would love to see Ron Zook stick it to Florida.

Merry Thanksgiving Eve Eve

I seriously feel like it's Christmas because MSU is playing the #1 team in the country and I get to see it! Yes, it is only November, but I think this is MSU's best chance in the next at least the next 2, possibly 3 years. I can't wait to see our freshman trio before one of them leaves for the NBA (one of them will after their sophomore year, mark my word). But MSU will bounce back, just like America did after Pearl Harbor and 9/11! (Thanks Saban, you ignorant jackass.) The class of 2009 has a lot of highly ranked players in the midwest and most are considering MSU. I pay a little attention to recruiting and the one thing I can't understand is why so many kids across the country consider OSU. Their program used to be mediocre but when Thad Matta steps through the door, every kid in the country wants to be a Buckeye. I am still trying to find the secret OSU Hummer dealership and Team VIP strip club. Case in point: three of the Top 10 recruits for the class of 2010 are already committed to OSU. Ok, time to stop discussing 16 year olds. Did anyone else hear Master P's son, Lil' Romeo committed to USC? Make em say Uggh!

So here's my initial thoughts on MSU. I really like how they look defensively (which is easy to say being that they haven't given up a point in the first 5 minutes). Their positioning is great - they look like they have the cohesiveness of a Jan./Feb. team on defense. Naymick is a complete liability on defense, though. Offensively, they have some work to do. They get a little bit of a pass since their leader has the stomach flu. They need to improve upon their passing when they get in their half court sets. Chris Allen has really had some flashes of greatness early on with the falling jumper and the turnaround layup. Raymar Morgan looks great on both ends of the court. I am still hoping to see Marquise Gray step up offensively and defensively. I don't know why the referees decided to be so much more conservative 5 minutes into the game. Does anyone know where Maurice Joseph wound up? We just passed the 10 minute mark in the first half, so I'm out.

Baseball in November

Somewhere between the A-Rod and Bonds talk, I got to thinking about the baseball team I would field if I had any choice of players. The result was a payroll of $121,292,075 - third highest in the league. Granted, I have some roster spots to fill, but I would have $73,936,970 to work with if I had the Yankees payroll. That's about $10 million per person. So here's what I came up with. And yes, I did spend way too much time on this.

C Jorge Posada
1B Albert Pujols
2B Chase Utley
3B David Wright
SS Derek Jeter
LF Manny Ramirez
CF Curtis Granderson
RF Magglio Ordonez

SP Jake Peavy
SP Johan Santana
SP CC Sabathia
SP Josh Beckett
SP Brandon Webb
CP Jonathan Papelbon

I love looking at players' salaries on ESPN. My most interesting find: Josh Beckett made $6,666,667 in 07. Is he the devil? Also, 16 of the 25 players on the Florida Marlins make the league minimum of $380,000 and I don't think I've heard of a single one of them. Plus, Jason Giambi is the most overpaid player. For one Jason Giambi, at $23,428,571, you can get:

The Jason Giambi All Stars
C Joe Mauer
1B Prince Fielder
2B Dustin Pedroia
SS Hanley Ramirez
3B David Wright
LF Matt Holliday
CF Curtis Granderson
RF Nick Markakis

SP Francisco Liriano, Fausto Carmona, Scott Kazmir, Justin Verlander, Chien-Ming Wang
CP Jonathan Papelbon

Sad part - you'd still have almost $9 million to spend on the rest of the team.

Stacey and I got the One Month Game Pass from Hollywood Video again. We started with the Simpsons game, so here are some thoughts. I was suprised to see that the game isn't based on the movie. So far, the levels haven't been as true to the show as other games have. One level took place at the Natural Science museum and another involves Lisa and a tree clearing plant owned by Mr Burns. The two player mode is pretty good because only one of you can complete certain tasks. The funniest part of the game are the "video game cliche's" from Comic Book guy (example: spending 3 hours to find one object and the "double jump"). The worst aspect by far is the camera. It doesn't react how it should and turns an easy task like jumping across 3 platforms into a 30 minute task (sadly, it's true). Overall, it isn't as solid as the Simpsons Hit and Run. I'd give it a 3 out of 5.

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