Monday Medley

What we read while wondering if the winners of the Lingerie Bowl play the winners of the Puppy Bowl…

• Michael Weinreb explores the American bacchanalia that is the Super Bowl…

• Michael Kruse starts examining the constitutionality of Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd’s sting operations, but doesn’t dive deeply enough into the crux of the issue for our tastes.

• Over in the movie world, Stephen Tobolowsky explained how Groundhog Day changed his life, while Tara Reid apparently announced plans for a nonexistent sequel to The Big Lebowski. The Writers Guild Awards happened (on two coasts!) and Kristen Schaal hosted the east coast version.

• Speaking of comedy, Dana Carvey was back hosting SNL. Also, old people don’t understand why David Brent is funny.

• Our favorite part of FOX’s NFL broadcasts–referee majordomo Mike Pereira–did an online chat with the Wall Street Journal, hinting at possible changes to the league’s challenge system.

• Chris Jones goes after Jason Whitlock! And Phil Simms goes after Desmond Howard!

• The Onion strikes again, this time on puppies. Man, we love the Puppy Bowl.

• Tyler Cowen enters the fray on the Chinese mother discussion. He also has a controversial new book out.

• We stumbled upon two websites that attempt to explain the endings of two notoriously impenetrable TV classics.

• Michael Lewis went to Ireland to figure out why the country’s going bankrupt.

Monday Medley

What we read while changing our opinions on the morality of condoms…

• Ron Paul condemned the new airport body-scanners, but TSA insists that they are here to stay. Well, at least we know America’s airports are safe! This also presents an interesting Fourth Amendment (the second best!) question.

• Speaking of law, the New York Times ran a fascinating article that empirically establishes that Sandra Day O’Connor relied on her clerks to write opinions more than any other contemporary justice.

• LeBron James isn’t the only Akronite who hasn’t exactly reaped the benefits yet of taking his talents to South Beach. Michael Kruse delivers an interesting feature on journalist Brian Windhorst, whose career arc has mirrored that of James.

• The New Yorker tries to get some perspective on the recent late night wars by looking back at Dick Cavett. Speaking of NBC, the network unveiled its midseason schedule last week. It got at least one thing right…

• This video only proves what I’ve been saying all along: Soccer sucks.

• In a special for Sports Illustrated, Benjamin Hochman tries to answer a question everyone in Denver has been wondering these last two months: Why did Kenny McKinley choose to die? Hochman references this stunningly introspective and affecting piece by Woody Paige on his own battles with depression.

• It’s always fun when the Brits tackle masculinity.

• Not that NPI wants to feed the media’s obsession with all thing Sarah Palin, but the Times ran a story on her “inner circle.” (We draw the line at any and all links having to do with DWTS.) It recalled, of course, New York‘s previous feature on the Palin brand.

• We’re sure James Frey is none too pleased about this piece on his fiction factory. Meanwhile, this book review is OK by us. Or is that O.K.?

• When will teachers learn that yawns are involuntary?

Cracking the NCAA Vault: Top 10 Analogues

I recently had a conversation with a friend (who may or may not be a blog colleague), and he mentioned how much he appreciated “If you liked…” recommendations when it comes to albums. This got me thinking. I’ve already run down the Top 10 College Basketball Games of the Aughts, and I didn’t want to repeat myself in talking about them again. So why not use that list as a springboard for this one—ten games that are like the Top 10 but not quite the Top 10.

And if you like this list, we recommend reading the rest of the College Basketball Preview Palooza.

10. If you liked Duke’s Miracle Minute at Maryland, we recommend…Indiana vs. Duke, 2002 Regional Semifinal