Weekly News Roundup

I actually had the news on this week! I was so proud of myself. I noticed a trend – basketball. Basketball games, broken legs and basketball coaches. You can probably guess what the weekly roundup will consist of. Yup, basketball. If you’re not into sports, that’s ok. I’m not either, but these stories are both gross and sad. I’ll save a good news story for the end though!

• Broken Leg: If you were watching the Louisville vs Duke game, your stomach probably churned the way mine did. My jaw dropped when Kevin Ware fell and his bone stuck out of his leg. We actually kept rewinding it because we couldn’t believe it. In case you haven’t read about it here is a link. “The gruesome injury, in which his right shin bone snapped and protruded though the skin, was part of “God’s plan,” he added. His teammates were horrified to see it on the court Sunday.” – cnn.com Seeing him laying on the floor broke my heart. Watching his teammates jump back in shock and start crying made me want to cry. I kept thinking that his career is over. All he wanted to do was play basketball, why did this happen to him?! Ware said that this was all part of God’s plan. What a good way to look at it. And they say he will return to the courts again which makes me so happy! What a strong kid. The other good news is I had Louisville winning on my bracket. Booyah!
• Abusive Basketball Coach: Mike Rice, basketball coach at Rutgers has been fired. Why? Because he literally beat his players and mentally abused them. He kicked them, threw basketballs at their heads, grabbed their shirts and threw them back, yelled hostile words and phrases at them etc. The university received a video months ago and suspended him from a few games. Why wouldn’t they have just fired him? Fast forward a few months, the video surfaced and he is now fired. I cannot fathom how anyone could abuse people in this manner. These players look up to their coach almost like a parent. I’m sad for these boys and I hope they aren’t scarred. I also hurt for Rice’s family. He was interviewed and got choked up when he was talking about how embarrassed his family is. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was getting choked up because he knew he’d done something wrong or if it was because he got caught.
• Nuclear Bombs: So this is kind of scary. North Korea is all about the threats lately. Because we know many people on the base in South Korea, it’s interesting to hear what they have to say. Every year about this time the US Bases do military exercises. And every year at this time N. Korea threatens to launch missiles at the US. I pray they are just threats, but I am happy that the US is preparing in whatever way possible. according to yahoo news “the Pentagon has assigned two of its missile-defense-capable Navy destroyers to provide missile defense if needed.” We also just sent over 2 F22 jets. I really do take comfort in knowing that our country is awesome, prepared and will do whatever it takes to keep our people safe.
• College Admissions: A high school senior, Suzy Weiss, is in the news because she applied to Ivy League schools and didnt get accepted despite looking perfect on paper. She fires back at the colleges with an open letter that you can read here. Many people have accused her of sounding entitled and while I thought that as I was reading it, I do realize that it is a satire. My brother is 10 years younger than me and I was a little shocked at how much the application process had changed since I went to college. It doesn’t matter anymore if you have straight A’s, perfect SAT score and are involved in every sport or club on campus. Being well-rounded just doesn’t cut it these days. My brother was all of these things and he reminds me so much of Suzy Weiss. She makes an excellent point when she says as kids applying they’re being judged on things they can’t control instead of being judged on things they can. Suzy is a smart little cookie and will go very far in life! I think that her letter was whiny, but well-written, and in the end, a satire.
• Everything is Perfect When You’re a Liar: Kelly Oxford, voted one of the best Twitter feeds in 2011 is ha-larious. She has gone from being a mom blogger to now having her own book. As soon as I saw her interviewed on the Today Show I bought the Kindle version of her book. One story she tells is about when she was 17 she went to LA to search for Leonardo Decaprio. She was afraid that once he became an A-lister he wouldn’t want to date her. She never found him though. I love her dry sense of humor. Her main message in the book is to teach people to stop being so hard on themselves. She says “Messing up and following your gut are all parts of being human that need to be celebrated too—and I just wanted to write stories that were about that.” It’s true. We should stop being so hard on ourselves and just learn from the mistakes we’ve made, laugh and move on. If we don’t then we are just being counterproductive. Here is her twitter link. https://twitter.com/kellyoxfordz
• Here are some funny Kelly Oxford tweets: “If you can name 5 Kardashians but can’t name 5 countries in Asia, stick a knife in an electrical socket.”, “You know how sometimes as you fall asleep your whole body jolts you awake? That’s a ghost finishing sex with you.”, “Web MD is like a Choose Your Own Adventure book where the ending is always cancer.”, “Canadians watch US politics like Americans watch Jersey Shore.” I am dying. She is seriously hilarious. Other than me (and Kimber, of course), she might be the coolest mom ever.
• Roger Ebert dies at the age of 70. We all know this film critic and I think the movie industry will feel a great loss. He is who made film criticism so popular and it’s something a lot of people rely on. RIP Robert! I think we should all give Ebert a thumbs up for living a great life!
• Selfie photo tips: I know this isnt necessarily newsworthy, but it made me laugh because we have ALL done selfies. The guy does tip number 4 in the video and I cant stop laughing. I dont know why! “Do the ‘Turtle’ to Get Rid of a Double Chin.” You know what I do? If you put the tongue to the roof of your mouth when you smile for a picture it totally helps tighten your neck/chin. I think it’s a better tip than the “turtle” tip. I’m the least photogenic person, but I find that a little giggle to myself as the pic is being taken, as well as the tongue to the roof of the mouth totally helps. I cant even believe I just typed that all out. Who cares?! I mean, I obviously care, but really, who cares? 😉

Have a happy weekend, friends!