TGIF, baby.

Have you ever tried to eat a fruity candy and try to guess the flavor without seeing the color? Skittles work the best for this little experiment. I found that yellow is the easiest color to taste, and there is little difference between red and purple.

In a related thought, I have about 2 months to go before finishing our Halloween candy.

OSU-Michigan this weekend. There is no greater rivalry. It was fun moving to Maryland a few years ago and telling people what it was like growing up in the college football fandom battleground of NW Ohio. I've followed the sport since I was a little tyke; lately, however, I have been finding it harder and harder to put my rooting interest into 19- and 20-year-olds. I think it is because I am out of school now, and can probably relate to professionals (when thinking of sports as a career) than amateurs. That, and following college sports is emotionally maddening when the players are still realizing their potential.

Last item for the day: Joe Nuxhall passed away. I did not know who he was before I moved to Cincy, but his story is so interesting:

Nuxhall grew up in nearby Hamilton, Ohio, and was still too young to shave when the Reds were looking for wartime replacement players. They came to see his father, Orville, who pitched in a Sunday league in Hamilton.

"My dad could throw hard," Nuxhall said. "They were really scouting him. Almost by accident, they found me."

Nuxhall was big for his age -- 6-foot-3, around 190 pounds -- and could throw 85 mph. The Reds offered a contract, and Nuxhall's parents let him join the team when junior high classes let out in 1944.

"Probably two weeks prior to that, I was pitching against seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders, kids 13 and 14 years old," he said. "All of a sudden, I look up and there's Stan Musial and the likes. It was a very scary situation."

A 15-year-old taking on Stan Musial? Awesome.

Sports Media

I've found it increasingly difficult to tune out the sports talk noise to find the actual sports themselves. I listen to Mike & Mike on ESPN radio on my drive in to work, where the tandem banter back and forth about made-up controversies and issues. I read ESPN online but am looking more and more to online "journalists" (Deadspin, The Big Lead), who take their sports coverage with a grain of salt. And I watch major sports events on TV but wish I had a mute button for Tim McCarver.

A fresh example of the noise created by sports media can be found in the Pats-Colts game this weekend. The game ("Super Bowl 41 1/2") was hyped to the nines, where every radio voice and TV personality had their take on this regular season game. Note that the game was no more important than any other regular season game. It was simply a game between two good teams. But I would rather hear about the game itself, or a fake argument as to who is the better QB based on who is in more commercials or is dating a hotter woman.

I would rather have answeres to these questions: Why is Brady so good? How good are the defenses he has played against? How much better do his receivers make him (comparing this year's crop to last year's)? Has his style changed now that he has excellent deep threats and a top flight slot receiver? Etc.

I found a refreshing gem of an online sports outlet, in Play Magazine from NY Times. I couldn't agree more with this article, which seems to show that I'm not the only person becoming more and more disillusioned with mainstream sports media.

Other good (but lengthy) reads are the pieces on kickers and the legendary marathoner, Alberto Salazar. Also, a interesting article on the quality of SI can be found on Slate here.