You've Got To Be Kidding, Right?

Showed three segments from Katie Couric's interview with Manti Te'o to my class today.  Of course, some of them don't understand why she asked such probing questions, but anyway--the more I hear this guy talk, the more I believe he's just a galactically naive knucklehead.

Scratch that.  I'm not sure what to believe about this story any more.

Lies & Lying Liars

I don't consider myself a naive person; certainly not on the level of Manti Te'o.  But there have been times where I've wanted to believe whatever some of these athletes are selling--Pete Rose and the gambling deal and Lance Armstrong and the blood doping.

I mean, come on, the guy never failed a drug test.   Oops!  I guess I should've listened when guys like Greg LeMond said there was no way that an average cyclist could beat cancer, and then have the most dominant stretch in an insanely grueling test of physicality.  I guess I should've listened when papers like The Guardian and Le Monde had their doubts.  I doubted Barry Bonds and A-Rod; why not this guy.

Leave it to Oprah to get to the bottom of this!

Crash & Burn

From: theinspiredclassroom.com

Our state did a massive overhaul of the sports marketing curriculum this year.  Back in the old days, the state gave us PowerPoints, activities and practice test questions that were very similar to the state-issued final exam.  Final exam scores were good and teachers and students alike were happy.

No longer: now the state gives us a general idea of what we're supposed to teach, along with no PowerPoints nor exam questions.

The result?  My class averaged a 57%, and many other teachers across the state fared no better.  Judging by some of the reactions I've seen online, several of my colleagues are concerned that the bad test scores will depress future enrollment.  I'm not worried about that, but I am at a loss about what to do for the spring.  What do I do differently that will get my test scores higher in June?  I'm not sure that I know yet, or will ever know.  Hopefully, we'll get more support next year.

You Can't Be This Dumb...Can You?

From: juanelway.com


Manti Te'o.  The Heisman runner-up, All-American from college football's biggest brand.  Playing a monster game against Michigan State after his grandmother and girlfriend died on the same day.

You know the girlfriend.

The one in a car wreck...then a coma...and then died of leukemia.  The one that Te'o only knew from Twitter, texts, etc.  The one that he communicated with via Skype and FaceTime, but couldn't see because her image was always a black box.

The one that was part of stories by Sports Illustrated, ESPN and the local South Bend paper, none of whom ever interviewed her--or her family.

What a colossal fraud, by somebody.  Either Te'o is the world's most naive college student (who certainly had to have had girls throwing themselves repeatedly at him) or part of the seemingly never-ending hero worship that happens in sports media.  Let's just respect these athletes for their talents in the arena and not try to make their stories into a sports-as-life metaphor.

At least Deadspin wasn't completely fooled.

Sobering Stories About Texting & Driving

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Showed my students the above video about texting and driving.  It's more dangerous than drunk driving.  Pretty scary when you think about the number of teens that are doing it.

Blacked Out Means Yes?

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The story about two football players in Steubenville, OH being accused of rape (after seemingly getting away with it) has touched a national chord.  I first read about it on Deadspin, and they had picked up the story from The New York Times.

I showed my students the video above.  I shouldn't be shocked anymore, but I was--at how many students think the victim a) had what was coming to her and/or b) it wasn't rape because she was blacked out.  My main response: I hope you figure out what a felony is before you get to college...

Give Me a Break!

I showed this clip to my students about bounties being paid to kids in Pop Warner.  Predictably, they didn't see anything wrong with this.  "It's football."  "Don't play football if you don't like to get hit."  "Wouldn't you want your kid to make money playing Pop Warner?"

Are these the people that will be running our country in 30 years?

HTML is hard...

to teach.  Or maybe it's just me.

From: thenichereport.com