April 24, 2012

1. Disappointed to read I did not make Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world this year.

2. I did read something there that caught my attention and gave me hope. A fellow named Salman Khan has created a website designed to help teenagers with their education in subjects such as math and science.

            Khan came up with this idea trying to help his teenage cousin solve algebra problems. Since she lived far away, he attempted to help her online. He succeeded.

            Bill Gates wrote that this idea has morphed into an amazing service covering a multitude of subjects. I decided to check it out myself. In five minutes, Khan taught me how to do logarithms. Folks, you have a better chance of teaching my pet dogs to talk than Khan did of teaching me logarithms.

         If you have teenagers, what I about to give you will be very valuable to you. It is a link to Khan’s website…. http://www.khanacademy.org/

3. Great line from ESPN’s Colin Cowherd… To paraphrase – What a week in sports when a player named Meta World Peace gave another NBA player the worst elbow to the head in memory, and a team called the Saints are anything but.

4. Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez announced his retirement last night at Rangers’ Ballpark. Believe it or not, no “expert” ranks him the greatest catcher of all time. Are you kidding me?

            Look at some of his stats—Gold gloves: 13, the most by a catcher in MLB history; Silver Slugger Awards: 7; All-star selections: 14; 1999 American League MVP; .296 career batting average (Mickey Mantle’s was .298); 311 career home runs; threw out 45.68% base runners… a MLB record.

            This guy was an offensive gem and a defensive stud. He played in two World Series, winning one. He was the MVP of the 2003 NLCS.

I think, in time, he will move up the list.

5. RIP Charles Colson.

*Thanks to Peter King for the inspiration for this blog's title.