A little slice of life story from my life this week. Due to circumstances involving my sister’s cat, I ended up taking my 7-year-old nephew to his tae kwan do lesson on Tuesday.
It was a 30-minute lesson for him and eight other kids. But it was I who learned a lot.
Master Joe was the instructor, and at first glance he seemed like a typical karate teacher. Which is to say, he yelled a lot. But then I started listening to what he was telling the tykes.
He went on about respect for family, respect for teachers, respect for classmates. And one by one the kids repeated it, and as I saw a few of their faces when they turned around, it seemed like they really got it.
We talk about all the bad influences around kids these days, and how teachers are powerless to change  behavior, etc.
But this simple class, with 7-year-old kids getting discipline and respect instilled into them by a stranger who they have grown to respect, was nice to see.
When my nephew and I left class, he said “Goodbye sir!” to Master Joe. And Joe nodded and smiled.
Shaping lives, along with kicks and punches, is his mission.

**And now, a few minutes with Stephen Colbert and beloved children’s author Maurice Sendak, who is also your crotchety Grandpa. When Colbert meets his match in a guest, it’s brilliant television. Cracked me up. Here’s part 1 below; part 2 can be seen here.

**Finally, a very uplifting story  from Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times about one teacher, and how she made a difference in the life of a human being in such an important way.  Olly Neal had no interest in school as a kid; in fact, you could say he was on his way to a life of crime. Instead, a woman named Mrs. Mildred Grady decided to try to stoke Olly’s interest in reading in a most unusual way.

Teachers make so much difference in the life of a child. I wish more politicians would remember that. I salute you, Mrs. Grady.

First, yet another news story brought to my attention by my good friend (and loyal blog reader) Will Springstead, esteemed sportswriter for the Glens Falls (N.Y.) Post-Star. It seems that a famous inn in Lee, Massachusetts called The Inn at Laurel Lake has been charged with running a prostitution ring. (Insert your own “Paul Revere’s ride” joke here).

You know, I can guarantee you this kind of stuff never went on under Dick and Joanna’s noses on “Newhart.”

**Next up we have a beautiful small clip of Slovakian violinist Lukas Kmit, who, in the middle of a performance, was interrupted by a cell phone ringing. After pausing for a moment, he did this. Awesome.

**Finally, I know we’re all afraid of death. But we’re even more afraid of dying and having no one update our Facebook status letting the world know we’ve stopped breathing.
But stepping in and solving this HUGE problem are the makers of the IF I DIE app. It works like this: You create a final video or “last words” file, and you appoint three “trustees” among your Facebook friends. When each of them has verified that you have kicked the bucket, your last words are posted to your Facebook page.

Because you know, being dead and all, you’ll really be concerned at keeping people up to date.

Overall, I think the Academy did a pretty good job. I’ve got some movies to see between now and Feb. 26. First up: “Moneyball.”

**Watched the State of the Union with great anticipation Tuesday night. I was ready for some fire and brimstone out of Mr. Barack Obama.
And what I got was … meh. A so-so speech, I thought, with enough tax credit proposals to choke a horse and very few of what I thought are “do-able” this year in Congress.
A couple things I didn’t like, followed by a couple things I liked:
– Really got rubbed the wrong way by all of Obama’s “America is awesome, yeah!” rhetoric. Reminded me WAY too much of the last guy we had in office, some fella named W. Why do our presidents have to treat us like we’re high school kids at a pep rally?
– A couple of Obama’s challenges really puzzled me. Requiring states to make kids stay in high school until they’re 18? I know I’m new in the education game but I can guarantee 99 percent of high school teachers out there would groan at that proposal. Because as I saw this fall while quasi-student teaching, there are quite a few 17-year-0ld freshmen out there with no interest in doing anything but being disruptive.
And Obama threatening colleges to keep tuition low? How, exactly, is he going to get them to do that?

– I did like his proposal to have AG Eric Holder investigate illegal lending and packaging of risky mortgages that helped get us into the housing crisis. Course, I’m still pissed he didn’t let Holder investigate John Yoo and Dick Cheney, among others, for war crimes a few years ago, but hey, I’m not one to hold a grudge.
– I’m glad Obama started and ended with bin Laden and how much he’s gotten accomplished overseas. He did end the war in Iraq, as promised.
– And I really liked Obama’s combative tone toward Republicans. Enough of this stalling and delaying bullshit, he seemed to say. I’m going to keep reminding Americans for the next nine months that’s it’s you guys who are stopping my bills and ideas that could help Americans get jobs and pay lower taxes.
My man Pearlman had the line of the night, I thought:  “John Boehner: Has any man who has done less for the rights of minorities done more to intentionally darken his own skin?”
Still, I wanted more from Obama. I’m sure a lot of my liberal friends (like my Mom, who loved the speech) will disagree with me. But it felt like a lot of Obama pandering to everyone he could in the speech, and that’s not the guy I voted for.

**Finally, the greatest individual rivalry in sports resumes in the wee hours of the morning tonight, about 3:30 a.m.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer play in the semifinals of the Australian Open.I don’t expect you to stay up and watch, even a hardcore tennis lunatic like me is going to watch it on DVR.
Like a rare delicacy or a trip to your favorite city, every Federer-Nadal match should be treasured and warmly embraced, since we may not have many of them left. These two class acts, whose primes have almost overlapped, have battled through some of the most classic matches in tennis history.
I have no idea who’ll win this one. Federer is playing outstandingly well so far this tournament, and seems completely relaxed. Rafa has had to work hard in his last couple of matches and, as usual, is battling injuries.

I of course am pulling for my man Federer, but I hope it’s a five-set classic.  When Federer and Nadal meet, that’s not usually too much to ask for.

**And now, as a palette-cleanser from King Newt, the beautiful farewell from Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona, who is resigning from Congress one year after her near-fatal shooting.

**Finally saw “The Descendants” last weekend. Every good thing I’d heard about it was true. George Clooney, who I see having a Paul Newman-like acting career (meaning he gets better and better with age; I could totally see Clooney starring in movies in his 70′s) was terrific as a father and a husband dealing with an unfaithful wife, a mouthy and unhappy teenage daughter, and an extended family counting on him to make a sound financial decision.

The cinematography is gorgeous (hey, it’s Hawaii, how ugly could they make it?), the acting is top-notch (Clooney’s teenage daughter, Shailene Woodley, is superb), and the movie never treats its audience with anything else than charm, wit, and emotion.

Go see “The Descendants.” It’ll be up for lots of Oscars, and will deserve more than a few.

**Finally today, think about this: What if Joe Paterno had died four months ago? What if the legendary Penn State football coach, maybe the greatest college coach of all time, passed away in mid-October, during another outstanding Nittany Lions season?
The obits that flowed like wins to Paterno’s program over the last four decades would’ve been universally positive. “Great coach, great man, philanthropic, stoic, won the right way,” etc.
But because this 85-year-old man didn’t die then, but after four months of absolutely image-shattering headlines, his obits all had caveats and references to his unspeakable silence while an assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, molested boy after boy.

It’s a very complicated legacy, Joe Pa leaves. Too many will vilify him and all the good work he did in his life (read this beautiful story for a small slice of what Paterno was like) for what he didn’t do in the Sandusky case. And I don’t in any way absolve him of his sins in that matter.

But he was a giant among football coaches, maybe one of the greatest of all time. He gave so much money and time, and shaped so many men’s lives, and I’d hate to think any of that will be forgotten now.

One final thought: It’s incredible how fast Paterno’s life went downhill. From being fired, to the lung cancer diagnosis, to breaking his pelvis, to death, all in a little more than three months.

I know the wounds are still fresh over his inaction with Jerry Sandusky. But Paterno’s is a life that should be mourned, and (mostly) celebrated.

So much to get to today, I’m gonna save my thoughts on the irrepressible Newt Gingrich (our next President) and Joe Paterno until tomorrow. Plus a review of a great movie I saw last weekend starring George Clooney.

Wow. Sakes alive, those were two fantastic, thrilling, heart-stopping NFL playoff games Sunday.
To use the old cliche that’s so true in this situation: This is why we watch. This is why live, televised sports will always beat stupid “reality” TV, scripted programming, and anything else you can throw on the tube.

Sunday, the four NFL teams playing for the Super Bowl played a pair of fantastic games. First, the Patriots hung on to beat the Ravens, 23-20, and then in an even better contest, the Giants and 49ers played a four-hour epic, with the Giants winning in overtime, 20-17.

Many, many thoughts on these two fabulous games that I watched with my Dad on my couch. I’ll try to be somewhat brief (but with me, you know, that’s hard to do:)

– First on the Pats game. Everyone’s going to blame the Baltimore kicker, Billy Cundiff, and for sure he deserves a lot of blame for blowing a 32-yard field goal that would’ve tied it at the end of the fourth quarter. But Ravens wideout Lee Evans deserves some blame, too, for letting the game-winning TD get stripped in the end zone by someone on the New England D named Sterling Moore. I’m not sure that that wasn’t a touchdown, by the way; can’t believe they didn’t review it with instant replay. Looked to me like Evans caught the ball and took 2 steps before the ball was stripped.

– Ravens QB Joe Flacco (from Delaware) can’t be blamed on this one. After a shaky start, he played a great game.
– Anyone else find it weird to see Steven Tyler sitting in the owner’s box?
– Best line of the day came from former SI writer Steve Rushin, who Tweeted after the game: “Delighted for Tom Brady. About time life went his way.”

Now on to the other game…

– I’ve been laughing and mocking the people who’ve been comparing Eli Manning to his brother. I’m not laughing anymore. What a gutsy, terrific performance by Eli Sunday night. He got hit, and hit again, and hit some more. And he kept getting up and making great throws. One more win and he’s got more Super Bowl trophies than Peyton, one of the greatest to ever play.

– Victor Cruz, you are an absolute stud. Everyone knew he was getting the ball, and he just kept making plays.
– I think the “real” Alex Smith showed up for the Niners Sunday. Or at least, the “old” Alex Smith. He looked terrible after the first quarter, though the ferocious Giants pass rush didn’t help.
– Kinda had a feeling it would take a major turnover for someone to score in overtime. Both defenses were just playing so, so well.
– If you’re counting at home, that’s 5 Giants Super Bowl appearances in my lifetime. For my beloved Jets, ZERO. Not that I’m bitter.
– Giants-Patriots Super Bowl. The rematch from four years ago. David Tyree, call your agent. I have a feeling a whole lot of media outlets are gonna want to talk about this…

Two great games. God, I love sports.

**So if you’re a child of the 80s like me, you’ll appreciate this the most.  I’ve just discovered something called the San Francisco Mixtape Society, and I love it. It’s a group from the Bay Area that holds parties once a month where people come and exchange mixtapes (not CDs, they have to be cassettes) based on the theme of the night.

I used to spend hours making mixtapes, mostly for myself, occasionally for others. Kids today won’t understand this, but in the 80s, if you really liked a girl and had just started dating, you made her a mix of your favorite songs. It was, like, a huge show of affection.

I miss mix tapes. I may have to fly to San Fran and show them my “Awesome Slow Mix No. 6″ that’s in the back of my closet.

**Finally, I wish I could say this was a parody or a joke. But nope, it’s real. Kids, listen up and learn why waiting for sex is the right way to go!

Since it’s Good News Friday, I’m restraining myself from making comments about last night’s wildly entertaining GOP presidential debate. But if you want to see the ultimate example of chutzpah and gall, watch a twice-divorced man, who left his first wife after she was diagnosed with cancer, get all righteous and indignant and shit over being asked about his second wife’s recent comments. Newt, nobody does chutzpah like you, pal.

Aquille Carr, a 5-foot-7 high school junior basketball star from Baltimore, may have the best nickname I’ve heard in a long, long time.

They call him “The Crimestopper.” Why? Because people say that when his games at Patterson High are going on, crime decreases in the tough Baltimore neighborhood he lives in.

Check out for yourself how good the little fella is; He’s got Harlem Globetrotter-quality dribbling moves; how can you not root for him to make it?

**Elena DelleDonne is a superstar women’s basketball player I’ve written about a few times, so I’ll just briefly recount her story here: No. 1 women’s high school recruit a few years ago out of a high school in Delaware, committed to play at UConn, then was homesick and moved back closer to her family. Elena is incredibly close with her older sister Lizzie, who was born deaf, blind and with cerebral palsy.

After taking a year off from basketball, DelleDonne returned, not to a national powerhouse but to her local school, University of Delaware (my proud alma mater! Well, I hope they’re proud of me). And now in three years she has made my Blue Hens one of the top teams in the nation, and DelleDonne was the subject of this great Sports Illustrated article this week.

She seems like a wonderful kid and I’m glad she’s bringing positive attention to my school.

**Finally today, just about everyone I know seems to play “Words with Friends,” which unless you’ve been living under a rock for a while, is a Scrabble-like game you play with multiple friends on your cellphone.

Well, except for being a giant time-waster and also helping people expand their vocabularies, it turns out the game can actually save lives. Check out this remarkable story about two couples, one in Australia and the other in Missouri, and how their friendship and bond over the game, saved the Australian husband’s life.

It’s a cliche but it’s true: With the Internet, our world gets smaller and smaller every day, doesn’t it?

Once again, I bring you one of the stupidest criminals found in America. A Florida man decided it’d be a really good idea to walk into court, while facing drug charges, wearing a jacket that had a recipe for making crack cocaine on it.

Stunningly, this didn’t help the defendant with the judge.
Now this dude’s in trouble with the real police AND the Fashion Police.

**Now here’s something we all could use after putting on some pounds during the holidays. LG has announced the totally-awesome, yet a little bit creepy, Think Smart refrigerator.

This baby has a built-in dietician, an Internet screen to show you what’s inside it without having to open the door. You can also input your body mass index, what your target weight loss is, and the fridge will tell you whether you’ve made the healthiest choice available. Or if there’s a better one.

Of course, if all you’ve got is leftover pizza, a case of Bud Light and some strange cheese that’s been there for a few months, the smartest damn fridge in the world probably won’t help you too much.

**I think I put this up once before, but with many sports fans fired up about this Sunday’s NFL conference championship games, I got to thinking about “Friday Night Lights.” And of course, this fantastic five-minute video of what the show’s all about.
ESPN Classic is running the re-runs, and it’s available on Netflix. Truly no reason you shouldn’t be watching one of the all-time classics.

This story showed up on the N.Y. Times website the other day, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind since. A woman named Dorri Olds was raped by a man when she was 13 years old. Recently, 38 years after the brutal attack, Facebook recommended she be friends with her rapist.

Stunned, she clicked “Add Friend.” And then… well, read this short but powerful essay. What would you have done in the situation? Friend him so you could unload, electronically, all the anger and vitriol you feel toward him? Or ignore him and get on with your life?

That’s the thing about Facebook: Everyone in your past is on there, good and bad. Sometimes it’s great. Other times, you find the sexual abuser you tried so hard to forget.

**Yet another example of someone with WAY too much time on their hands: Someone took the time and effort to splice a whole bunch of movie clips together so that they speak the lyrics to Lionel Richie’s “Hello.”

I laughed.

**Unlike many Duke basketball fans, my second favorite college team isn’t “Whoever’s playing North Carolina (although I did enjoy hearing about that FSU beatdown of the Heels last week). No, my second favorite team, for the past 13 years, has been Michigan State.

Let me count the ways I love Tom Izzo and his program: 1, They don’t cheat. 2, Every year his team plays hard to the last second of the game. 3, They are always a ferocious rebounding team. 4, They rarely have blue-chip talent (Oh I know, they’ve had great players like Mateen Cleaves and Zack Randolph over the years) but Izzo squeezes every ounce of ability out of each kid, it seems. And finally, 5, they play the game the right way, fundamentally.

There are more reasons, but you get the idea. I just love watching the Spartans play, like I did Tuesday night in a one-point loss to Michigan. If you’re a college hoops purist, I think you have to like them, because they stand for all that’s good about the sport, and the college game.

OK, climbing down off the soapbox. But man they are fun to watch.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., I give you the “I Have a Dream” speech, which ought to be required viewing for all Americans. I heard one of the GOP presidential candidates (I think it was Ron Paul) invoke MLK’s legacy in a debate Monday night and I wanted to throw up.

The Greatest of All Time, Muhammad Ali used to call himself. “I’m a baaddd man,” he also said.
Of all the athletes I wish I had the chance to watch live as a sportswriter, the former Cassius Clay is the one I most wish I had the chance to see. The charisma, the personality, the attitude, and the incredible skills in the boxing ring.

I just think it would’ve been wildly entertaining being around him. From everyone I’ve read who was there and covered him, my hunch is correct.

My all-time favorite Ali story is this:  One day in his prime he was on an airplane and before takeoff,  the flight attendants walked by to make sure all passengers had their seatbelts on.
“Superman don’t need no seatbelt!” Ali bellowed.
“Superman don’t need no plane, either,” the flight attendant replied.

Today, Muhammad Ali turns 70 years old. He’s in terrible health now, of course, beaten down by years of abuse in the ring. But he’s still with us, and I hope somewhere today he’s having a happy birthday.

**OK, it’s pretty rare that anyone would want to see footage of a middle-school basketball game not involving a relative. But check out the crazy last 15 seconds of this game from Hilton Head, South Carolina…

That kid who hit the winning shot is so getting asked to the 8th grade Sadie Hawkins dance.

The Golden Globes were Sunday night, and I love a good Hollywood awards show (go ahead and threaten to take away my “man card,” I don’t care.) The Globes this year weren’t all that terrific, but that didn’t stop me from having some thoughts; some nice, some not so nice.
– Ricky Gervais wasn’t anywhere near as mean as last year. But he also wasn’t that funny. He had one or two decent jokes in the monologue but nothing memorable.
– Is there a better Hollywood couple than William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman? Their intro was very cute.
– Great seeing Madonna, but her arms looked really scary.
– So happy that “Homeland” cleaned up, with Claire Danes winning best actress and the show winning best drama. I’ve said it several times before: Watch this show if at all possible.
– Harrison Ford, God bless him, looks like death warmed over.
– Reese Witherspoon (above) and Charlize Theron looked amazing.
– Seth Rogen got the biggest laugh by admitting, standing next to Kate Beckinsdale, that he was currently “hiding the biggest erection.”
– Wondering how a silent movie like “The Artist” can be nominated for best screenplay. There were no words!
– Very tough call: Which role will Morgan Freeman most be remembered for? “Driving Miss Daisy” or “Shawshank?” I say “Shawshank.”

**Wild, wild weekend in the NFL playoffs. Lots to digest, so some quick-hitting thoughts on the games from a man who was once again reminded to never, ever, ever wager money on the outcome of a football game:

– Shockingly dominant win by the Giants. Big Blue did whatever they wanted to Green Bay’s putrid defense, which isn’t as shocking. But the fact that they forced three Packers turnovers and held Aaron Rodgers basically in check was pretty stunning.
Amazing that the Giants were basically given up for dead at 7-7 in Week 15, and now are 60 minutes from the Super Bowl. It’s looking very much like 2007 all over again.
– Insanely exciting finish to 49ers-Saints Saturday night; I got home from dinner just in time to see the fourth quarter. Four TDs in a the last five minutes? And who knew Alex Smith had such clutch play in him? There should be NO hands up, since the football world had long since given up on him before this year.
– Very surprised that Baltimore struggled so much with Houston; thought that one would be a blowout. I’m not so sure the Ravens offense can keep up the the Pats’ juggernaut next week, but it should be a heck of a game.
– I don’t want to hear the name “Tim Tebow” for a while now. That’s agreed upon by all, right? He was a great story but even Tebow-lovers have to be sick of him by now.

–On a personal note, if the Giants win next week that’ll be 5 Super Bowl appearances by them in my lifetime as a Jets fan. Appearances by the Jets in my lifetime? Zero.
Yep, I definitely chose correctly back when I was 6.

**So a few days ago I linked to a great story by Sports Illustrated writer Thomas Lake on Clifton “Pop” Herring, who in the early 1980s coached Michael Jordan at Laney High School in Wilmington, N.C. It was a great story because it once and for all punctured the crazy myth that MJ was cut from his high school team. Herring, who has suffered from mental illness for years, finally was vindicated.

Yet, the same week Herring’s story was finally told to a national audience, he’s dealing with fame for a very different reason. This is bizarre, but Herring was arrested Friday after a dead body was found at a home where he was living. Herring isn’t being charged with murder, but with resisting arrest.
As of now the facts are still unclear, but it doesn’t look good for Pop.

Crazy to think that a week ago, this guy was still basically anonymous. Now he’s been in two major news stories in the span of a few days.