Thanks for the Hope, Coach Hep. You Will Be Missed.

From the Indy Star: IU football coach Hoeppner dies

I was surprised and saddened to learn today that Indiana University football coach Terry Hoeppner, who had been battling brain cancer, has died at the age of 59.

As a Hoosier Fan in Texas, it was hard to follow along with what was happening during Coach Hep's first months. I remember a visit to Bloomington to see my parents and seeing billboards and signs with Hep posed as Uncle Sam calling on the students to support the team. I thought it was great but pessimistic that it would help much.

It did. Coach Hep got me.

While his 9-14 doesn't look all that impressive, he may go down in IU history as one of the program's best coaches. His passion for the game rubbed off on his players, the students, the alumni, and me. When available on TV (and surprisingly, I was watching IU football on TV), I could see IU football playing with more aggression and fun over the past two years. Yeah, the team still lost lots of games, but I could see a change occurring, one that gave me hope for the future, hope that at the very least, IU would be competitive in every game.

Here are a couple of items that sum up Coach Hep:

From the Official press release:

Hoeppner made an immediate impact in his first year at the helm of the Hoosier program. In addition to leading Indiana to its first 4-1 start since 1994, Hoeppner rejuvenated an IU fan base that enjoyed a 39-percent increase in per-game attendance, a 46-percent increase in overall season ticket sales and a 110-percent increase in student season ticket sales.

He not only helped generate a buzz about Indiana football, but he and his staff also installed an aggressive, big-play defense to go along with an exciting spread offense that threw a school-record 24 touchdown passes.

Furthermore, Hoeppner helped establish new IU football traditions. Two hours prior to each home game, fans and players engaged in "The Walk," as Indiana coaches and players marched through the tailgating areas en route to the "crimson gates" at Memorial Stadium. Hoeppner also dubbed Memorial Stadium "The Rock," a nod to the stadium's limestone construction. A three-ton remnant from the original stadium construction was placed near the north end zone, as the IU coaches now challenge the Hoosiers to "defend the rock." Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the coaches and players join The Marching Hundred band to sing the school fight song after every home victory.

From Brian Janosch, 21, an Indiana University senior and former sports editor at the student newspaper The Indiana Daily Student:

In one year, just one year, he turned the attitude around here from "Who cares," to "You know what, maybe there's a chance." And that's all we could ask for having not visited a bowl game in more than a decade.

Thanks for the memories, the fun, and the hope, Coach Hep. You will be missed.

Now That's A Boost

From MSNBC.com: Man blames health drink for unwanted erection

NEW YORK - A man has sued the maker of the health drink Boost Plus, claiming the vitamin-enriched beverage gave him an erection that would not subside and caused him to be hospitalized.

The lawsuit filed by Christopher Woods of New York said he bought the nutrition beverage made by the pharmaceutical company Novartis AG at a drugstore on June 5, 2004, and drank it.

Woods’ court papers say he woke up the next morning “with an erection that would not subside” and sought treatment that day for the condition, called severe priapism.

So Woods' wood wouldn't go away, eh? This poor fellow underwent surgery to implant a Winter shunt to move blood from one area to another. When that didn't work, he had a penile artery embolization to close off some blood flow to prevent continued engorgement and lessen the likelihood of an erection.

I wonder how long he's had this problem? Since June 5, 2004? Surgery seems so drastic. Couldn't the guy have just hired a few hookers to take care of the problem?

The Difference

The Difference

The difference between a champion and a loser is in the mindset. Champions welcome pain. Losers avoid it at all costs. Champions seek out challenges. Losers have an aversion to challenges. A champion embraces grueling workouts that push his mind and willpower to the brink. A loser sits quietly on a leg extension machine and reads the latest issue of Us magazine.

-- Chad Waterbury

Kind of sounds like my blogging, doesn't it?

Great New Weight Loss Products

Random blog fodder touting the benefits of terrific new weight loss products.

As you can see on CNN...
Here is piece of spam I received at work the other day. I did not edit this:

Anatrim – The latest and most fascinating product for over-weight people is now available – As you could see on CNN

Do you realize excessive body kilograms kill a plenty of people for every new year? We know that you hate the ugly appearance of those people and the low status they have in modern society. Moreover, you have not the will to withstand pressure of your pernicious eating habits. If it all sounds familiar, then we got something to propose to you!

We’re proudly introduce you Anatrim, the later product for the reduction of your body’s extra weight. The most astonishing thing is that Anatrim improves the quality of your life, repressing the feeling of hunger and giving you gay spirit. Here are what people say on this product:

"It is wonderful! I stopped gorging any food close at hand and watching TV constantly I became keen on exercise. Anatrim put me back on the right path. I have a great form now and there are lots of men following me with their eyes!
"Victoria K., Bellevue WA:

"Passive weight losing was of no result to me. I could not restrain my ravenous appetite. One day I heard about Anatrim from my very best friend and I was really impressed at the information. I had tried to use it, and my wife said I look very good now, 3 months later. 26 pounds have gone away and I keep losing them! And you know, the bedroom thing is cool, too."
Mike Brown, New York

Anatrim helps you to understand you got no such great need for that much food. It raises your spirit, supplies you with energy, and attacks useless kilos. Especial thanks to its powerful distinguished formula!!

"And you know, the bedroom thing is cool, too!" What bedroom thing? Sleeping?

Wake Up With Happy Smiley George
Now here's a product I would like to see:

I'm Pretty Sinful

Your Deadly Sins

Lust: 60%

Envy: 20%

Greed: 20%

Gluttony: 0%

Pride: 0%

Sloth: 0%

Wrath: 0%

Chance You'll Go to Hell: 14%

You'll die from overexertion. *wink*

How Sinful Are You?

What's On My Coffee Cup Today

The Way I See It #209:

Growing up, my parents always said, "You will leave this world the same way you came into it: with nothing." It made me realize that the only things we do in this world that count are those things that make the world a better place for those who will come behind us.

--Tyrone B. Hayes
Biologist, herpetologist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer.

Is Golf As Good As Sex?

I know for many that golf is akin to a religious experience. But is it really as good as sex? I'll let you be the judge based on this e-mail I got from a friend describing her most recent trip to the links:

I really have to liken a good round of golf to something you enjoy doing.

Got paired up with some 40ish-year-old guy. Gave him a good spanking.

My driving was smooth and repetitive. As well as long.

My short game: I was caressing those shots right in.

My putting: In the hole every time.

Yup. It is just like riding a bicycle. You just need to hop back on and go for it. Not bad for a four-month layoff.

Aahhh. Now I need a cigarette. :)

You and me both. Whew.

Happy Lupercalia!

I'm going to admit right now that I'm stealing all this from the great Lou Schuler's blog. Here's a fascinating bit about the true origins of Valentine's Day:

February occurred later on the ancient Roman calendar than it does today so Lupercalia was held in the spring and regarded as a festival of purification and fertility. Each year on February 15, the Luperci priests gathered on Palantine Hill at the cave of Lupercal. Vestal virgins brought sacred cakes made from the first ears of last year's grain harvest to the fig tree. Two naked young men, assisted by the Vestals, sacrificed a dog and a goat at the site. The blood was smeared on the foreheads of the young men and then wiped away with wool dipped in milk.

The youths then donned loincloths made from the skin of the goat and led groups of priests around the pomarium, the sacred boundary of the ancient city, and around the base of the hills of Rome. The occasion was happy and festive. As they ran about the city, the young men lightly struck women along the way with strips of the goat hide. It is from these implements of purification, or februa, that the month of February gets its name. This act supposedly provided purification from curses, bad luck, and infertility.

Long after Palentine Hill became the seat of the powerful city, state and empire of Rome, the Lupercalia festival lived on. Roman armies took the Lupercalia customs with them as they invaded France and Britain. One of these was a lottery where the names of available maidens were placed in a box and drawn out by the young men. Each man accepted the girl whose name he drew as his love -- for the duration of the festival, or sometimes longer.

As Christianity began to slowly and systematically dismantle the pagan pantheons, it frequently replaced the festivals of the pagan gods with more ecumenical celebrations. It was easier to convert the local population if they could continue to celebrate on the same days ... they would just be instructed to celebrate different people and ideologies.

Lupercalia, with its lover lottery, had no place in the new Christian order. In the year 496 AD, Pope Gelasius did away with the festival of Lupercalia, citing that it was pagan and immoral. He chose Valentine as the patron saint of lovers, who would be honored at the new festival on the fourteenth of every February. The church decided to come up with its own lottery and so the feast of St. Valentine featured a lottery of Saints. One would pull the name of a saint out of a box, and for the following year, study and attempt to emulate that saint.

Lou's entire post is a great history lesson. I always enjoy learning about the true origins of supposedly "Christian" holidays and just how pagan they really are. This line is the magic bullet for me as to how early Christianity was able to spread so rapidly:

It was easier to convert the local population if they could continue to celebrate on the same days ... they would just be instructed to celebrate different people and ideologies.

Embracing the pagan origins of these holidays makes them easier for me to enjoy. Christmas has always been difficult for me, even when I was a Christian, until I fully understood the origins of the holiday and threw out the religious crap. Now I can enjoy all my holidays without all the religious hang ups.

Now let's see, where did I put that loin cloth and februa? Any maidens out there who wish to be purified on this fine Lupercalia?

Metallica is My Messiah

Gimme fuel
Gimme fire
Gimme that which I desire

Okay, maybe not my messiah but certainly my savior today. If it weren't for the words and music of "Fuel" by Metallica I would not have survived my sprints (Seven 30-second sprints with 90 seconds rest). I had to play that song twice to pull through the last two.

Oh, on I burn
Fuel is pumping engines
Burning hard
Loose and clean

Oh, and on I burn
Churning my direction
Quench my thirst with gasoline

So gimme fuel
Gimme fire
Gimme that which I desire

I had not sprinted for a couple of months but had done many slow and steady runs or intervals with longer intensity periods (90 seconds on/180 seconds rest). Today was so warm that I took off my shirt. Had I been in a public place I surely would have blinded many with my pasty white flesh. And I was served a reminder as to how much further I have to go in accomplishing my body composition goals as I felt the remaining fat around my belly wiggle while sprinting. I'll take motivation from any corner.

Motivation for what? My 10 Percent Solution. I'll have more on that in another post, but essentially this is series of obtainable goals I've set for myself in 2007, culminating in reaching an overall body fat of ten percent (I'm currently carrying a 15 percent body fat after dropping seven points in 2006).

After finally regaining my health after a two month battle with an upper respitory plague thing, I'm currently in the middle of week two of my four-week ramp up program prior to starting my 10 Percent Solution.

This is going to be challenging and fun. I hope to learn a bit about myself as well.

On I burn.

COLTS ARE SUPER BOWL CHAMPS

I can't say much more than that, can I? It was a great win for the Colts. They were the team that overcame the elements and the pressure to win this game. They were clearly the better team. My condolences to the Grossman family over the death of his QB career in Chicago. His mistakes aside, Manning and company played a terrific game. The true MVPs of the game were Addai and Rhodes for running over and through the Bears defense, getting key yards and massive games when they needed them the most. Actually, the whole team deserves the award. Way to go Colts!

On a more serious note, the Indianapolis Public Schools system closed it schools today because "a number" of bus drivers called in sick. Read more about this mysterious bus driver plague here.

Time to Get Totally Organic

I wish I was talking about sex but alas I'm not. I'm referring to a brand new reason to buy organic meats and dairy products:

When the government approves food from cloned animals, expected in the next year, the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t plan special labels. Government scientists have found no difference between clones and conventional cows, pigs or goats.

However, shoppers won’t be completely in the dark. To help them sort through meat and dairy products, one signal is the round, green USDA organic seal, says Caren Wilcox, who heads the Organic Trade Association.

While many people choose organic to avoid pesticides or antibiotics, Wilcox says the U.S. Department of Agriculture label also means clone-free.

I've been slowly making the move to purchase more organic foods from stores like Whole Foods. It's pretty price competitive and the grain-fed beef is to die for, but I still fall into the trap of one store shopping while buying staples from Kroger. I have all my coupons and sometimes to save more money I need to buy a minimum dollar amount of goods.

I'm not sure how I feel about eating cloned critters yet. In theory, I can't see how meat would be different. I'm more surprised with how quickly the FDA has approved this process. So while the long-term results of eating cloned animals plays itself out in the public, I'll be looking for the USDA organic label on all my goods.

Besides, I don't see the need yet to buy organically produced, over-priced toilet paper. Isn't my crap organic enough?

I'm a Happy Hoosier

The Colts are in the Super Bowl and the Hoosiers upset the number two ranked team in the country last night.

I'm a happy Hoosier this week.

SUPER AT LAST

COLTS SUPER BOWL BOUND

Enough said. For now. I'm going to cry with joy now.

Doublechin Gum

"We hit on the idea of a chewing gum because obese people like chewing."

So says lead researcher, Professor Steve Bloom, on why he and his team thought of chewing gum as a delivery method for a drug based on a natural gut hormone that mimics the body's "feeling full" response. From BBC News:

The hormone in question is called pancreatic polypeptide (PP), which the body produces after every meal to ensure eating does not run out of control.

There is evidence that some people have more of the hormone than others, and becoming overweight reduces the levels produced.

A vicious circle then results, causing appetite to increase, an inability to resist the temptation of food, and further increases in weight. Early tests have shown moderate doses of the hormone, pancreatic polypeptide (PP), can reduce the amount of food eaten by healthy volunteers by 15% to 20%.

An inability to resist the temptation of food? Even when I'm eating totally to plan, I still get cravings for junk food or processed carbs. Hell, ice cream talks to me on a daily basis. And I would consider myself somebody with normal levels of PP.

(Cue Beavis & Butthead: Heh heh heh heh. Normal levels of pee pee.)

Given all that, I still managed to lose seven percentage points of body fat over the course of 2006 by eating smart and exercising. Yet I still had, and periodically gave into, my cravings. I bring all this up to say I seriously doubt that any kind of PP derived treatment will help somebody lose weight effectively. Cravings occur whether one is hungry or not.

And after all, obese people like to chew. The tricky part is being smart about what, and when, they chew. Hopefully it's good food and not Doublechin gum.

Heading to The Great Scooby Snack in the Sky

Rest in peace, Iwao Takamoto. Thanks for creating one of the greatest cartoon icons of the last 50 years and setting my imagination, and subsequently my daughter's, on fire with the adventures of a talking dog.

From MSNBC: ‘Scooby-Doo’ cartoonist dies at 81.
But it was his creation of Scooby-Doo, the cowardly dog with an adventurous heart, that captivated audiences and endured for generations.

Takamoto said he created Scooby-Doo after talking with a Great Dane breeder and named him after Frank Sinatra’s final phrase in “Strangers in the Night.”

Scooby-Dooby-Doo, my friend. Scooby-Dooby-Doo.

Reading Diet Articles Linked to Eating Disorders

This is one of those things in life that in hind site seem so obvious that it's surprising when you finally hear somebody with scientific credentials publish it:

Reading diet articles linked to eating disorders
From MSNBC: Magazine headlines entice teenage girls with promises like, “Get the body you want!” or “Hit your dream weight now!”

But a new study suggests reading articles about diet and weight loss could have unhealthy consequences later.

Teenage girls who frequently read magazine articles about dieting were more likely five years later to practice extreme weight-loss measures such as vomiting than girls who never read such articles, the University of Minnesota study found.

The study didn't mention any of the magazines the teenagers read. However, one magazine is mentioned:

Nathan Christopher, a spokesman for Seventeen magazine, said health is important to the magazine’s readers. He wouldn’t comment specifically on the study because it was unclear which magazines the teenagers read.

“We have always featured information to help them lead healthy lives, including fitness tips, first-person health stories, and nutrition facts. Promoting a healthy body image is a priority, so each issue of Seventeen features teens with realistic body types,” he said.

In January, Seventeen magazine and its Web site will kick off a yearlong program called “New Body, New You,” which will feature expert advice on nutrition, health and fitness topics, he said.

The celebrity endorser for this "challenge" is JoJo, a teenage superstar singer who obviously doesn't need to lose any weight. When you take a peek at her blog entry for December, she writes that she looks to Beyoncé Knowles as a role model because she "she runs on the treadmill every day so that she can keep up her stamina onstage." According to JoJo, Beyoncé is an inspiration because "her body is absolutely beautiful, and she's healthy, too."

You won't get any arguement from me that Beyoncé is a fine looking woman. She seems to have all the right curves in all the right places. But is she really healthy? This is the same Beyoncé who claims to have lost 20 pounds by consuming a concoction made up of maple syrup, lemon juice, water, and cayenne pepper (more here). Way to pick your healthy role models, JoJo. She's not inspirational, she's merely genetically gifted and a celebrity with an army of stylists at her disposal to make her look great all the time.

You want a role model? Try professional athletes, those whose careers and livelihood depend on the performance of their bodies...not their appearance.

I've got a daughter and I'm constantly on the lookout for the kind of negative messages being fed women of all ages. I do my best not to focus on the physical appearance of her body but on what her body can do. I also teach her how unhealthy foods can hold her back as far as exercise and play goes as opposed to making her overweight. It's a fine line to walk but she's worth it.

Global Warming is Real

Despite the claims of the current administration and its shaky and disputable "evidence" to the contrary, global warming is real--and taking another scary step forward:

From MSNBC.com: Ancient ice shelf breaks free in Canadian Arctic
TORONTO - A giant ice shelf has snapped free from an island south of the North Pole, scientists said Thursday, citing climate change as a “major” reason for the event.

The Ayles Ice Shelf — all 41 square miles of it — broke clear 16 months ago from the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 500 miles south of the North Pole in the Canadian Arctic.

As I read about this event, I was reminded about a series of excellent articles written about how mankind is pushing the Earth's oceans to the brink and published in Mother Jones magazine. If you have the time, they are worth the read if only to educate yourself on how complex and intricate the oceans are. You can find them here.

And if you want to read some good stuff about other factors on global warming, go here.

OJ Shows Us All What's What

This simply defies all logic, common sense, and decency:

From MSNBC.com: Fox plans to broadcast an interview with O.J. Simpson in which the former football star discusses “how he would have committed” the slayings of his ex-wife and her friend, for which he was acquitted, the network said.

The two-part interview, titled “O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened,” will air Nov. 27 and Nov. 29, the TV network said.

Why? I mean...why? It's impossible to imagine his thought process. He must have some kind of undiagnosed mental illness or delusion. There can be no other explanation why an acquitted murderer would go on national TV and discuss how he would have killed his ex-wife and her friend if he did it.

Here's a funny way to describe this madness:

Hypothetically, let’s say you murdered two people in the early 90’s. Then, hypothetically, a jury of your peers found you Not Guilty despite damning DNA evidence and an alibi with more holes in it than an old pair of gym socks. Hypothetically, let’s say that regardless of the verdict, everybody still suspects you did it (oh, side note: hypothetically, you were one hell of a running back in the NFL, but that’s besides the point.) Wouldn’t you, hypothetically, write a book about how you would’ve done it (if you did it), and appear in a TV special titled If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened. You would, right? Hypothetically.

Well, O.J. would. And he is, during a two-part interview scheduled to air on Fox. Their website already has a killer sneak peek, with O.J. declaring “I don’t think any two people could be murdered without everybody being covered in blood,” before breaking down in tears. Hypothetical tears, I think.

So set your TIVO’s for November 27 & 29. Fox has dubbed it “the interview that will shake the nation.” Because “the interview that will sneak up on the nation and stab them numerous times” would be just a little too much. Hypothetically.

Didn't OJ at one point say that he would devote all his time and money to finding the real killer? Maybe this is his way of saying he found the guy--hypothetically.

The "Secret" to Fat Loss

Here's a little blurb by Alwyn Cosgrove I picked from T-Nation.com:

I can vividly remember doing a photo shoot at our gym with a male client who'd lost 85 pounds of fat and now had a six-pack to show for his efforts. My own gym members came up and asked me what his "secret" was. There is no secret! They seemed to think I'd given him the "real" information and had withheld it from them! He's been given the same advice as I give to everyone else — he just chose to follow it a little more closely. Fat loss isn't under the control of the magic fat loss fairies. It's based on simple changes in behavior.

Pretty simple, eh? Be sure to check out his blog for some of the best fitness advice and knowledge available.