Hero in a Cowboy Hat

The bombings at the Boston Marathon captured the attention of all Americans last week – the innocent bystanders who were injured and killed, the manhunt for the terrorists, the killing of suspect #1 and the capture of suspect #2. In the weeks and months ahead, we will turn our focus toward the motive and the story behind this purposeful attack. First Responders: I am …

Rutgers Scandal Part II: Head’s Roll

Please read the previous post to understand that on April 3rd, Rutgers athletic director, Tim Pernetti, fired head basketball coach, Mike Rice, for physically and verbally abusing his players over an extended period of time.  End of story, right? Wrong! On April 5, under public pressure, Pernetti resigns as athletic director. Rutgers President, Dr. Barchi cited a lack of judgment and a …

Rutgers Scandal Part I: Coach Rice is Fired

Eric Murdock, a former assistant basketball coach at Rutgers University, complained about the abusive coaching tactics of head basketball coach Mike Rice and spliced together a compilation of these abuses for athletic director, Tim Pernetti, in December, 2012. The video documents Coach Rice kicking players, pushing players, man-handling players and throwing basketballs at players as well as berating and verbally abusing his players on …

The Friendliest Restaurant in the World

Tim Harris graduated from college, he won a bunch of gold medals in the Special Olympics and he owns his own restaurant. In fact, he is the only person with Down Syndrome to own his own restaurant. He says that it is the “Friendliest Restaurant in the World,” and he proves it by keeping a tally of the more than …

Prison Inmates Save Three Boys from Drowning

On January 31, 2013, three prisoners at the Larch Corrections Center in Washington State were out picking up trash at a local park when they heard screams coming from nearby Salmon Creek. They spotted three children drowning after capsizing their canoe in turbulent waters. The three prisoners (Nelson Pettis, Jon Fowler and Larry Bohn) immediately jumped into the frigid waters to save the …

Boy Dying of Cancer Inspires Others

Zach Sobiech went for a run 3 years ago. He complained of pain in his hip and went to the doctor. The pain turned out to be a malignant tumor that eventually grew to the size of a plumb. He had multiple surgeries and chemotherapy – none of it worked. In May of 2013, the doctors told him that he …

Pistorius – The Ultimate Lesson On Anger Management

On Valentine’s Day, Oscar Pistorius allegedly (we just can’t officially say it) killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. He says that he mistook his girlfriend as a burglar and shot her through the bathroom door. Unfortunately for him, witnesses testified that they heard arguing in the residence before the killing and Steenkamp’s autopsy revealed that her skull was fractured by a …

Diversity of Character Movies: A Touchy, Yet Important Topic

I received a phone call from a teacher in Fresno, California last week. The teacher told me that the class was going well and they were about to begin the week on loyalty. She wanted to know if I had a “black” movie recommendation for that week because the movie on the list was, “A Walk to Remember.” She told …

Why Do Meteorologists Over-Hype The Weather?

I grew up in Michigan where snow storms and blizzards came with the territory. The meteorologist would take the last 3 minutes of the local news to give his/her best guess about the impending weather. Adults would watch and go about their business. Children would turn on the radio each morning to pray that their school would be canceled so they could all go outside and have some real fun …

The Lessons of Reality TV

Several years ago a study was conducted on the top 100 sitcoms (half hour comedy TV shows) of all time. As a class you can name many of them without looking at the list below. The researcher found something very interesting when he divided the list between “prior to Cheers” (1982) and those that came after 1982. All of the shows that came before Cheers …