ESPN The Magazine: Be the Ball. Pretty much the trippiest thing I ever read on ESPN.com (or any other sports site for that matter). The Magazine relates the experience of a Nike 3005 collegiate football (yes, the ball) as a part of the Spread HD offense in the Penn State-Illinois game. Never before have I thought so much about what it might be like to be a football.
The Genesis of the Roar. The second item on this page is a nice little story about the lion’s roar they play on the PA system at Beaver Stadium during football games. Apparently it started as a radio show effect, then started being used at wrestling matches and basketball games. Other schools have come up with copycats but the lion’s roar was the first.
Its name is Erin
Penn State basketball players go where nobody knows their names. A great feature on the forgettable Penn State men’s basketball team, which recently has become more of a Big Ten spoiler (though not a powerhouse). Poor Jamelle Cornley, no one even knows he plays basketball on campus! On a side note, I think its interesting that though I don’t like basketball that much I think Dana O’Neil and Henry Abbott are my favorite ESPN.com contributors.
This is great, because these are two of my favorite movies of all-time. I love trailer remixes. (via kottke.org)
Crumbling Financial Giants Gave Generously To Dodd. Besides being an interesting look at the financial industries connections to a local Senator, this is also a great and timely piece from the Hartford Courant. The newspaper just launched a redesign this weekend that focused on bold design and more local coverage and this seems like a pretty good start.
Collegian: Prisoners run, walk for charity. Probably the coolest story I’ll read all day – the prisoners at the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution at Rockview organized an 8-hour run to raise money to counsel at risk youth. Run annually for 29 years, the event has raised nearly half a million dollars. The whole thing really changes your perspective on people.
Duke down by 1, sorry Lam.
Time: The Evolution of the College Dorm. A pretty cool history of dorms as they’ve gone from tightly controlled living spaces to become more student driven – which has resulted in “country club” dorms. I would say that most of the dorms I experienced at Penn State were more of the 70s-80s era brick or cinder block variety. It’s clear though that the focus of future dorm development was on more expensive ones with amenities.