Loyalty, Fraud, and Pigs that Glow in the Dark

First thing's first on this bright, beautiful Thursday in Chicago: Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is staying right where he belongs. Iowa fans can breathe a long sigh of relief that we get our coach back for at least one more season. With Drew Tate coming into his senior year, 16 starters returning, and some excellent young athletes coming off redshirt seasons, expectations will be (justifiably) high next year and dealing with a new coaching staff would have been difficult. Although I can see why coach Ferentz would want to move to the NFL: bigger city, more money, higher profile, a new challenge, more resources, no NCAA regulations, etc, etc, there is also a compelling argument for staying, and apparently he knows it too.

Iowa City is a great little town (where $1.5 million buys a lot), he has started a culture of winning in the football program, we contend for the Big Ten title pretty much every year (won at least a share two of the last four), we've had four straight January bowl games, a sold out stadium, and coach Ferentz has a chance to retire as the anointed king of Iowa for all eternity. He is beloved in my home state and it would crush his fan base to see him leave for the pros.

Thanks for staying, coach.


Now on to other things.
My friend Susan gave her take on the whole scandal involving James Frey's book A Million Little Pieces, which is a memoir about the depths to which the author sank when battling various addictions to drugs.

Personally, I think it's pretty disingenuous to call anything a memoir that contains parts that are embellished or just plain made up out of whole cloth. Frey obviously had a tough journey in recovering from addiction. I don't deny that. But it smells like he saw an opportunity that he wanted to capitalize on, but knew that his book would sell better if his past was more violent and filled with despair, so he made up entire parts (or at least episodes) to make the book more marketable. That's fine. But if you're going to do that, call it fiction and tout it as being "based on the life of the author." Millions of people were inspired by his story, in large part because they believed he conquered numerous situations that seemed hopeless. It's not inspiring when those situations never happened. It's dangerously close to fraudulent. That's my two cents. I made further comments on Susan's blog.

Two families are leasing themselves out on ebay. The lucky winner gets five years of service from the families, from cooking to autobody service. The price? $1.5 million. They've already been contacted by an agent. I'm thinking my price would be more in the $100-$200 range.

This is an excellent and practical use of science.

We love prescription drugs in this country. I am serious when I say that while I'm sure there are lots that I would like, I think the only prescription drug I have ever taken is Amoxicillan.

And finally, we're getting a little closer to a bird flu pandemic. I'm not worried yet though.

Have a good Thursday. We're almost to the weekend.