Notre Dame holds No. 1 in AP poll

Wow, what a season from what used to be perennial favorites in earlier decades.

The Fighting Irish have come back and have an excellent shot at the Bowl Championship Series title. Of course, Notre Dame does not have it all wrapped up as yet even with their Number One Associated Press final end of season ranking. They play Number Two, Alabama on January 7, 2013 for the overall BCS championship. If the Irish go on to win it would be there first title since 1988!

Being an alumnus from both Michigan State and Michigan I don't have a great love for Notre Dame but I do congratulate them for a wonderful season and wish them well in seeking their 14th overall NCAA Football title. Interestingly enough they are tied with Alabama at thirteen NCAA titles each.

The article, titled Notre Dame holds No. 1 in AP poll, from Sports Illustrated is written by staff.

Bill Self to receive the Wooden’s Awards ‘Legends of Coaching’ honor in 2013

Congratulations to a great coach on being chosen to receive the prestigious 2013 John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching award for his outstanding work for the University of Kansas Jayhawks basketball program.  A class act!

See the article from staff writers at KUSports titled, Bill Self to receive the Wooden’s Awards ‘Legends of Coaching’ honor in 2013.

James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change

I subscribe to the TED Podcast (TED.com) which has very interesting 15 minute talks on Technology, Education, and Design.

This TED Talk video, titled Why I must speak out about climate change, is by James Hansen, a top climate scientist and Adjunct Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. He tells of his involvement in the science and debate on global climate change over his long career and outlines the overwhelming evidence that change is happening and why that makes him deeply worried and that we must do something now.

Professor Hansen offers a solution which basically says that we need to subsidize or provide tax credits for alternative energy rather than continually doing so for fossil fuels which are creating a blanket around the earth and thus warming the planet.

Regardless of your opinion on global climate change this video is well worth watching. Thanks to TED and James Hansen for making this video available.

Green Tea Protects Against Functional Disability Linked To Aging

This article, titled Green Tea Protects Against Functional Disability Linked to Aging, by Christian Nordquist in Medical News Today talks about additional benefits of regular green tea drinking.

In this case green tea drinkers have a lower risk of developing functional disability.  The research is out of Japan.

While I drink green tea every day even the authors are cautious about accepting the research. They "...stressed that their study in no way proves that it is just the green tea that protects against functional disability as people age. They also noticed that the heavy green tea drinkers also ate more fruit and vegetables, consumed more fish, were less likely to smoke, had fewer strokes and/or heart attacks, and tended to have a higher level of education. They were also found to have sharper cognitive function."

The article also mentions the many varieties of green teas in Japan.