Paradise Hotel

FOX has sold the twisting and turning format of its successful summer reality TV series Paradise Hotel to 10 different countries. They include "Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Korea, Singapore and South Africa," Digital Spy reports. It's not clear whether Toni will appear on each international version as well.

Having fun in Findlay

We made it to Findlay on Wednesday. Had Thanksgiving at Uncle Dean's. The kids are enjoying the animals. Today we're heading near Toledo for Children's Wonderland.

Old Time Candy

Did you ever wonder what happened to that candy you use to eat as a kid? I was surfing the other day and came across a few websites that have those "old time" candies. Check them out:

Sweet nostalgia
Space Food
Old Time Candy - I ordered from this site, really fast UPS delivery

Findlay for Thanksgiving

We're heading to Findlay, Ohio for Thanksgiving.

No Woody's yet

The Friday before the Michigan vs Ohio State football game, Donatos came out with a new Woody Hayes bobblehead. They're hard to find right now, but are suppose to get some more in next week.

Buckeyes Lost :-(

The Buckeyes put up a great effort against Michigan today. They just couldn't pull out another comeback. They got it to within 7 points and also got a key interception from Chris Gamble, but then couldn't get it done.

Up and running!

I finally got our weblog up and running again. Now, let's see what I can do about keeping it up to date.

U.S. Defeats Soviet Squad In Olympic Hockey by 4-3

Lake Placid, N.Y., Feb. 22, 1980 -- In one of the most startling and dramatic upsets in Olympic history, the underdog United States hockey team, composed in great part of collegians, defeated the defending champion Soviet squad by 4-3 tonight.

The victory brought a congratulatory phone call to the dressing room from President Carter and set off fireworks over this tiny Adirondack village. The triumph also put the Americans in a commanding position to take the gold medal in the XIII Olympic Winter Games, which will end Sunday.

If on Sunday morning the United States defeats Finland, which ties Sweden, 3-3, tonight, the Americans will win the gold medal regardless of the outcome of the game between Sweden and the Soviet Union later that day. If the United States ties Finland, the Americans are assured of at least a bronze medal.

The American goal that broke a 3-3 tie tonight was scored midway through the final period by a player who typifies the makeup of the United States team.

His name is Mike Eruzione, he is from Winthrop, Mass., he is the American team's captain and he was plucked from the obscurity of the Toledo Blades of the International League. His opponents tonight included world-renounced stars, some of them performing in the Olympics for the third time.

The Soviet team has captured the previous four Olympic hockey tournaments, going back to 1964, and five of the last six. The only club to defeat them since 1956 was the United States team of 1960, which won the gold medal at Squaw Valley, Calif.

Few victories in American Olympic play have provoked reaction comparable to tonight's decision at the red-seated, smallish Olympic Field House. At the final buzzer, after the fans had chanted seconds away, fathers and mothers and friends of the United Sates players dashed onto the ice, hugging anyone they could find in red, white and blue uniforms.

Meanwhile, in the stands, most of the 10,000 fans - including about 1,500 standees, who paid $24.40 apiece for a ticket - shouted "U.S.A.," over and over, and hundreds outside waved American flags.

'Born to a Be a Player'

Later, the orchestrator of the team, Coach Herb Brooks, from the University of Minnesota, took out a yellow piece of paper, displayed the almost illegible scrawl on it, and said, "I really said this to the guys. I'm not lying to you."

Before the game, Brooks had taken out that card in the locked room and read his remarks.

"You were born to be a player," he read. "you were meant to be here." Though only one of the 20 players in the room ever had competed in an Olympics before, they proved him right.

The Americans were seeded seventh in this tournament, but they went through the opening round of play undefeated, with four victories and one tie to advance to the final round, which will decide the gold, silver and bronze medalists.

From the opening minutes fans and players fed off one another in the festive atmosphere at the arena. The tempo and emotion of the game was established early, when a longtime Soviet star, Valery Kharlamov, wearing the traditional lipstick-red uniform, was sandwiched between two Americans.

Suddenly, he was lifted between them and, looking like a squirt of ketchup, sailed into the air and them flopped to the ice.

Russian-Based Attack

Beyond the constant pressure of intimidating body checks, though, were the intricate passing patterns of the Americans, who have derived many of their techniques from the Russians.

The Soviet system is based on attack. The Russians more than doubled the shots on goal of the Americans, 39-16, but almost every one that the Russians took was stopped, often dramatically, by Jim Craig, a former goalie for Boston University.

As a result of tonight's victory, the hockey players will be among the prouder contingents of the 150 American Olympians who will be honored at the White House on Monday morning at a two-hour session with the President.

Tonight, though, the Americans struggled until the final period, never leading until Eruzione's goal. They trailed by 3-2 going into the last 20 minute period.

No hockey game is played nonstop for 60 minutes, but this one came close. The Russians have been famed for their conditioning techniques. They also were considered the finest hockey team in the world.

The Soviet Union broke through first, with its new young star, Valery Krotov, getting his stick in the way of Aleksei Kasatonov's whistling slap shot. The puck changed direction and sailed beyond Craig's reach in the first period.

Midway through the period, the only American who has been an Olympian, Buzz Schneider, drilled a shot over the left shoulder of Vladislav Tretyak, the Soviet goalie.

The goal was Schneider's fifth of the series, giving him the team lead. That is a surprising performance for a player who once failed the tryout with the lowly Pittsburgh Penguins in the National League, and since has bounced around American leagues of less stature.

Holding Goes Unnoticed

But there were other highlights of that first period. The Russians had one when Sergei Makarov punched the puck past Craig while fans screamed in vain for Referee Karl-Gustav Kaisla of Finland to notice an American who was being held.

Only a few seconds remained when Ken Morrow, a draft choice of the New York Islanders, slammed an 80-foot desperation shot toward the goal. The puck caromed out to Mark Johnson, who struck it home with no seconds showing on the clock.

A goal cannot be scored with no time remaining. Actually, when the puck had sailed in there was a second left. It took another second for the goal judge to press the button signaling the score and stopping the clock.

The Soviet skaters left the ice, contending time was over, but after Kaisla spoke to other officials, the goal was allowed. The arena rocked with applause with the verification of the 2-2- tie.

Soviet Goalle Replaced

Back came the disappointed Russians from their dressing room, adjusting their shiny red helmets. They had a new player on the ice, too - Vladimir Myshkin had replaced Tretyak in goal for the final faceoff of the period. Later, the assistant Soviet coach, Vladimir Jursinov, explained the removal of Tretyak, saying through an interpreter, "He is not playing well and my feeling is he is nervous."

Myshkin kept the Americans at bay for the second period, although they tested him with only two shots. The Russians took a 3-2 lead when one of their veterans, Aleksandr Maltsev, scored with a man advantage.

But in the last period Johnson swatted home a shot that David Silk had gotten off while being hauled down, and the puck eluded Myshkin to tie the score. About a minute and a half alter, with exactly half of the period over, Eruzione picked up a loose puck in the Soviet zone, skated to a point between the faceoff circles and fired a screened, 30-foot shot through the pads of Myshkin for the winning score.

The goal set off cheering that lasted through the remainder of the game, as the youngest team of all the American squads, average age 22, put itself in a position to win only the second gold medal for an American hockey team.

Our favorite soldier, Kellen Winslow Jr.

In West Lafayette, Ind., after Iowa's 27-14 loss to Purdue, I turned on ESPN to see my favorite college football player/soldier, Kellen Winslow Jr., go on a rampage after the Hurricanes lost to Tennessee, 10-6. The loss broke Miami's 26-game home winning streak, something that would've upset me if I were a Miami fan.

But Winslow wasn't mad about losing to Tennessee. He was mad about the officials.

In the game, Winslow asserted that Tennessee players were going for his knees and the SEC crew that called the game was targeting him.

This, all from the biggest trash-talking, Heisman-posing crybaby in college football. During the game, Winslow put a vicious block on Tennessee's Corey Campbell, then decided it would be OK to stand over the visibly shaken Campbell and taunt him, for which he should've been flagged.

Winslow caught seven passes for 88 yards, but he dropped a pass in the end zone at the end of the first half and was called for a key 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct call late in the fourth quarter.

But the real fireworks came after the game.

In a postgame interview, Winslow compared the game of football to war, said he was out to kill someone because they were out to kill him, said all he cared about was "this U," then claimed he was pissed off and said "I'm a [expletive] soldier."

Wow. What an embarrassment to himself, his family, and his school.

If I were Miami coach Larry Coker, I would almost wish Winslow had gone pro early. He would fit right in with the NFL. He has been nothing but a distraction this year.

In Miami's first game of the year against lowly Louisiana Tech, Winslow caught a touchdown (his only one of the year), then proceeded to strike a Heisman pose after the play. Everytime he touches the ball, I'm afraid he's going to rip someone's head off with his celebrations.

Daily Iowan excerpt

full article

The Daily Iowan - Winslow

As I retreated to my hotel in West Lafayette, Ind., after Iowa's 27-14 loss to Purdue, I turned on ESPN to see my favorite college football player/soldier, Kellen Winslow Jr., go on a rampage after the Hurricanes lost to Tennessee, 10-6. The loss broke Miami's 26-game home winning streak, something that would've upset me if I were a Miami fan.

But Winslow wasn't mad about losing to Tennessee. He was mad about the officials.

In the game, Winslow asserted that Tennessee players were going for his knees and the SEC crew that called the game was targeting him.

This, all from the biggest trash-talking, Heisman-posing crybaby in college football. During the game, Winslow put a vicious block on Tennessee's Corey Campbell, then decided it would be OK to stand over the visibly shaken Campbell and taunt him, for which he should've been flagged.

Winslow caught seven passes for 88 yards, but he dropped a pass in the end zone at the end of the first half and was called for a key 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct call late in the fourth quarter.

But the real fireworks came after the game.

In a postgame interview, Winslow compared the game of football to war, said he was out to kill someone because they were out to kill him, said all he cared about was "this U," then claimed he was pissed off and said "I'm a [expletive] soldier."

Wow. What an embarrassment to himself, his family, and his school.

If I were Miami coach Larry Coker, I would almost wish Winslow had gone pro early. He would fit right in with the NFL. He has been nothing but a distraction this year.

In Miami's first game of the year against lowly Louisiana Tech, Winslow caught a touchdown (his only one of the year), then proceeded to strike a Heisman pose after the play. Everytime he touches the ball, I'm afraid he's going to rip someone's head off with his celebrations.

Winslow has been a headache in the locker room. He's been critical of starting quarterback Brock Berlin (who hasn't?), but instead of keeping the issue in-house, he has made it public, both through the press and on the field. Every time Winslow doesn't get a ball thrown to him or thinks Berlin's pass isn't good enough, he complains on the field.

After hearing Winslow's comments, it makes one appreciate such players as Dallas Clark and Bob Sanders even more. Neither Clark nor Sanders would have said that. They are both players who let their play do the talking for them. Winslow is the exact opposite - he likes to talk about how good he is, then doesn't back it up on the field.

Winslow has all the talent in the world. He has 4.5 speed, amazing for a tight end, and he is as strong as a bull. NFL scouts are drooling over his abilities, and he will likely be a top-10 draft pick, as a player with his abilities should be. He is a complete football player.

Unfortunately, he can't keep his mouth shut.