Draft time

The bears are infamous for bad first round picks, from Curtis Enis, Cade McNown, to this years Chris Williams, we have had nothing but busts. We need solid selections to be a force next year in the NFC. In my opinion the two people we need are in the pictures, Taylor Mays and Dez Bryant. Taylor is a safety at USC and he was rated one of the best in the country, he is tall, strong, and fast so he will be able cover receivers and blitz. For to long we have had to count on Mike Brown to take care of the secondary, but he gets hurt to often and we need a back up plan. The other person I would recommend drafting is Dez Bryant, a wide receiver out of Oklahoma State. He is 6'2 and has great hands. This is exactly the type of receiver we need to be a counter to Devin Hester's run and gun style. He would provide us with great over the field coverage and the occasional long bomb. If nothing the bears just need to draft for the secondary, and receivers because this year, those were our Achilles heels.

Its the most horrible time of the year

The holiday period is one of, or the, best time of the year. But to be followed up by such a period of mourning and stress is almost cruel. Following the winter break is final exams, what most students say is the worst time of the year. Students press, get lack of sleep, get anxiety, and many more terrible side effects. to cram all the knowledge one has learned in 4 months, and cram it into one test, it is just atrocious. I feel like there really shouldn't be final exams because, don't we have enough high stake tests already. Theres the ACT, SAT, and all the school work to cope with. Now this is only for a junior to fret about, but still, it is too much on one plate. This one test is 15% of your grade, and most of the time its a grade breaker. In one class i am border line and have a 79.88 in math, if i get anything below an 80% i get C+. I realize this is just preparing us for college, but still, in college we only have like 3 grades in the semester besides that so really, its just a big test. In most of my classes there is just to much to go back and revisit. Unless we get specifics on the amount of work from a single unit, it is almost impossible to study for. I just feel like we don't need finals and it is not a real picture of our work from the semester.

Somber family reunion

Though many people thought it might be a brother v brother super bowl, it seems that once again the colts get knocked off in the last minute and bad eli shows up and ruins it for the Giants. It seems that fate just wont let these two play eachother. Though the Colts ended the season on a 9 game winning streak they once again blew it in the play offs. The Giants on the other hand, blew through the NFC only to lose 3 out of their last 4 and then lose to their division rival the eagles. I feel that it is kind of Ironic. Through out the years Peyton has always over shadowed the younger Eli because of his reimaginging of the quarterback position. But recently Eli has become more of threat and winning the superbowl sure helped his credibility. But these two aren't the only ones with family rivalries, what about the Baldwin brothers, or the Wilson's, even the Bush brothers have their rivalries. I think that this is whats so great about competition, it really brings out the best in people brothers or not.

A feat that will never be touched

In 1995-96 the bulls did something that no other team had ever done in the history of Basketball, they had won over 70 games in the regular season. They dominated almost every single game they played that season. It helped that they had on their team the greatest player who ever played in Michael Jordan. To accompany him they had the first ever point forward, Scottie Pippen, then they had one best rebounders of all time, Dennis Rodman. Now almost every year there is a team that everyone says will beat the record but they end up never coming close. This year for instance the Celtics started the year 27 and 3 but they went on a skid and now they are 29-9. To be as good as that bulls team, they must never go on a skid for any amount of time. That year the bulls went on one skid and it lasted a total of two games. There longest losing streak of the year. I don't know if any team will ever beat this feat. To do this the bulls averages 13 more points than their opponents and had one of the best all around teams of all time. In the category of greatest team ever, the bulls stand in a league of their own.

The fogotten kids

Many people talk about the grueling and strenuous life style of the president, but what people don't talk about is the lives that the children of the president are forced to take. Malia is ten years old while his other daughter, Sasha is only seven. They have to constantly worry that their father is under danger. They also have to worry that whereever they go, the press will follow them which means they can't have one foot out of line. They will also have the feeling of perpetual danger accompanied by the secret service every where they go. They will also be pressed to find friends who are "like them" becuase of the constant media watch. They are the youngest kids to ever be in the white house and now they have to go to a brand new school with people they have never met before. Also there dad will almost never be at the white house because of all the foreign problems that are occuring in the world. The fact is that they will never live a "normal" life style and because of that I feel sorry for them.

Here we go again; crisis in the middle east

In the past few weeks one of the smallest country in the world, has become the most typed word on the internet. This crises started because Hamas, the terrorist organization, has been lobbing bombs and rockets into Israel. Israel has always been known to have a bit of a hot head and there saying of an eye for an eye has been put to the extreme in this case. So far 800 palestinians, most civilians, have been kill while only 13 Israelis have been kill. The root of this fight goes back thousands of years to the respective countries holy books. According to the Torah, the city of Jerusalem and the land around it belong to the Israelis. But according to the Quran the land belongs to the islamic people. Because of these "promises" that they were given by God, they both believe that the land is rightfully theirs. Many Islamic people don't even recognize the state of Israel, and according to the president of Iran, he wants to "Push the country of Isreal into the sea." Now Isreal stands alone in the middle east. If it were not for the support of the USA, Israel would not have all the weapons it needs to protect their borders. They are so concerned with their safety that every single male and female after high school is required to serve in the military for 3 years.
Not only are the Israelis fighting against Hamas, but also agsint Iran who for years has supplied Hamas with training and weapons. On almost every border there is an enemy waiting. To the north there is Lebanon, a country who was at war with them in 2006 but now there is a truce. The terrorist organization in Lebanon is called Hezbollah and they also are supported by Iran. The only problem with the truce is Lebabon is seriously considering breaking this truce to aid Palestine. Then to the north east is Syria a country who has also supported Hamas and Hezbollah and is also being supplied by Iran. To the east is the west bank which is a palestinian controlled are and has many Hamas members. Then to the south east is the country of Jordan which is not openly opposed to Israel, but they would not help them in a conflict. Then to the south is Egypt which for years was at war with Israel. Finally to the south west is the Gaza Strip, which is partly controlled by Hamas and is now at war with Israel. The only sfe harbor Israel has is the sea. Many people think that these battles are just proxy wars between Israel and Iran. But the only problem is that Israel fights everyone of these battles while Iran just stays behind these other countries. I think that the root of this problem goes way deeper than any conflict we have ever had, and the only way that these countries will ever be at peace is if they compromise. At this time though, it seems very unlikely.

Its Bowling time

The bowl season, other than march madness, it is one of my favorite times of the year. The atmophere is just great because every team knows that this is a win lose situation and every team knows that after this, they dont have another chance for another year. Almost every game this season has be one to remember, from the TCU Boise state, to the Missouri Northwestern game, none have dissapointed. In my family we have a football pool where we pick 32 games and everyone puts in 5 dollars. From my 3 year old cousin to my 79 year old grandfather, they all put in a pool. The funny thing about it is that it is hardly ever the people who know alot about the sport that win the pool. It is the people like my sister who pick the games based off of where their friends go to school that are the people that win the pool. I for one have never won the pool but my younger sister has. Right now we are watching the game in my house and my sister is furious because she doesnt like The Ohio State University. This is because she is going to college at dension in Ohio and according to her, football is all they talk about. In my opinion that is not a bad place to live.

Roland out or in

Illinois is no longer known only as the land of Lincoln, it is now also the most corrupt state in the USA. Rob Blagojevich has recently been arrested for charges of "Pay for Play", or in simpler terms, he attempted to sell the senate seat for a price. He is Illinois's 4th governor in the past 50 years to be arrested. Now in shackles rob blagojevich has named a man for the senate seat that was until recently held by our future president. This man he has named is Roland Burris. He is an old chicago politician who has been a life time member of the democratic party. He was the attorney geneneral the state of Illinois. Blagojevich has really put the senate in a tough position because befor e the appointment, they said they would refuse to accept any person appointed by Blagojevich, but now since obama has left the senate there is no longer an African American in the senate. So now the senate must decide weather to let this man, appointed by a criminal, to serve in the senate, or to lock him out, and decline to have any diversity in the senate. I believe that this is one big publicity stunt set up by Blagojevich to take some of the press off him and maybe gain a few supporters back.