Josh Hamilton is the Natural... or I want to see you do that.

What kid wouldn't dream it. You're the last at bat in the final inning. Your team is down by one against one of the best teams in the league. You see one man on base and you're facing one of the best closers in the MLB this year. You clinch your bat as the pitch comes. There's only a second to react and you swing. WHACK! The ball sails out of the field and you trot around the bases. "The crowd goes wild!"

It's the fantasy every boy has had growing up. Josh Hamilton is living it. The story behind one of the best hitters this year is different. He's had to overcome amazing odds to get the chance at an MVP title. If everything stays on pace, he may get there. Sadly the steroids scandal in baseball has several people asking questions about Josh Hamilton's amazing comeback and performance. I feel, if anyone in the MLB isn't taking steroids it has to be Hamilton. This has nothing to do with hometown pride, or with the fact I know him (in passing and through friends), or the fact he's a good guy all around. It's the fact every second of his life is being examined by the league. He can't go to the bathroom without giving a sample. He has a personal 24 hour guard/mentor to help him stay clean of all he was victim to before he became famous. The opportunity isn't there for him to cheat, unless he has found a way around constant surveillance. I believe he is the real deal. He has transformed into what is great about baseball. Please don't prove me wrong.

What's hotter, Harry Potter?... or I think I work with 10 year olds.

Here's a fact. I have read all of the Harry Potter books, and I enjoyed them as a slight escape. I felt like I was in elementary school again and it was acceptable. Face it, what boy wouldn't want to fight dragons, kill evil villains, and be the coolest bad boy on campus?
That is the catch though. The Harry Potter series is written for kids in the 5th grade. Ironically, so are most major newspapers. The joining factor is that there are people who go around bragging about reading both, looking for praise. I'm not talking about kids, nor teenagers. I am talking about fully grown adult humans. People who have not touched a book in ten years, even if they were in college during that time. This is not a good thing. It might be, if these people used this to get back into reading in general (much as the series has interested kids to read other books). However, these adults think reading the Harry Potter series is enough and that they deserve serious recognition. People may ask what I am reading, and I may say it's Clive Cussler, Dan Brown, or it might be a history book. If I ask one of these Harry Potheads, the general reply is, "I don't usually read, but it's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It's my third time!!!! Isn't that great?!?!" Seriously? I mean I read Jurassic Park three times before the movie came out (the movie was horrible in comparison). However, if someone asked me what I was reading I didn't make a big deal about it, like I had accomplished anything. The book was good. I moved on to other books. It's what intelligent people do.
Granted not all intelligent people read all the time. Heck, I hate reading sometimes. But you aren't supposed to read books intended for children and then expect to get praise and respect for it. You can read them for escape and enjoyment. Good. It's a mindless activity. That's why I read the series. But it's not serious adult reading, you aren't gaining knowledge, and doing so shouldn't be treated with such adulation.

By the way, Emma Watson is going to be a fox when she turns 18.

Wikipedia IS for dummies... or why the next generation is going to be a bunch of brainless morons.

Today's story involves an abominable horror that is wasting precious space on the internet. It lurks through the web that covers this world, gorging itself on baseless rumors and idiotic theories. Formerly intelligent people are no match for this being. It presents itself as legitimate, unless you pay attention to its source of power. Many a soul has been lost to this entity... as well as a passing grade in a college sociology term paper.
This despicable disease of a web page is known as Wikipedia. It is home to the moron, the weak minded, the lazy, the crazy whack-jobs, the people who believe we faked the moon landing and Elvis lives in a trailer in New Jersey,the just plain dumb,... and a few unsuspecting yet curious web explorers.

Our story begins several months ago. One of my friends stated that golf is a sexist sport. I am a weak golfer, but I enjoy playing. I often see women playing golf and know very well that this statement is flawed. However, curiosity got the best of me, and I asked my friend why she had made that statement. She explained (not to me, but a girl standing next to her) that golf is an acronym, meaning "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden". I could fly off the handle right now, as I'm sure anyone of sound mind would. However, I have to reach the point of this story. I held off the pithy comments rushing to my brain, and asked my friend where she heard this "crap". She said, "Wikipedia said it's true," as if that was the end of the discussion. I tried to argue but my friend and the girl next to me exchanged glances and went on about other things.
"Oh that's just women trying to get under your skin," you say? I say, "No!" It's stupidity among the general population. Stupidity for believing in everything found on the web. In general, web media is the biggest hodge-podge of mindless freaks created. These freaks have somehow managed to find time from their blogs (and yes I know this is a blog) to meet up in an unregulated "encyclopedia of knowledge" known as Wikipedia. And only brainless idiots use this as a source of reliable information. Basically, I could go onto Wikipedia, insert any comment (maybe that in 1999 Jessica Simpson contracted herpes), and fake a source for my factoid. Presto! I just made a truth exist to millions of morons willing to read Wikipedia.

I majored in history from a major university. As part of my major, I had to learn to discern illegitimate sources from those that could be trusted. Had I used Wikipedia as a source... well, let's just say I'd be cleaning toilets on the janitorial staff of that same college.
I will use the aforementioned story to show that Wikipedia spreads lies. The claim is that golf... which consists of all lowercase letters... stands for "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden". This assumes that golf is an acronym. Considering the term golf has existed since (at least) the 16th century this is highly unlikely. Acronyms only reached a wave of high use in the early 20th century. If the people of the 16th century had not wanted women to play, why hide it in an acronym? They could just say, "Nope, all you lady folks gotta stay out. We don't like you playing in the fields with sticks and balls. That's men stuff." Seriously, It's the early Renaissance. Women are respected but there's no such thing as equal rights. Why hide the meaning of golf in an acronym (if golf is really sexist). My theory is the lie was posted during the whole "no women at The Masters" ordeal. Some unshaven she-male, angry at the fact her state government wouldn't pay to give her a penis, decided to change the purity of golf and posted this made up urban legend. Since anyone can post on Wikipedia, it makes sense. By the way, the respected origin of the term golf comes from the middle ages. Medieval Dutch called it something close to "kolf" which the Scots translated approximately into "gouf". This is fact delved from the USGA Library and the British Golf Museum.
Hmmmmm. Who do I believe? A recognized and respected organization and a real physical museum that actually studies things. A web page that allows anyone on the planet to post fake sources claiming anything they want to say. You tell me and I'll let you know if you are as dumb as you look.

The previous example should have alerted you to the perilous rope from which Wikipedia hangs. Granted, there are some truths on there. However that does not make it reliable. There will be plenty of kids growing up using this defunct web page as a truthful source. Heaven forbid, they might even be saying that Jimmy Carter was the savior of the United States and Thomas Jefferson spent all his time fathering slaves (don't even get me started on the crap about the "Jeffersons"). If Wikipedia-mania isn't halted, we will all be slaves to a young generation of dolts that believe everything posted on the net. Drop the net source and pick up a real encyclopedia.