Books to Check Out, Part I

Currently reading Love All the People: The Essential Bill Hicks, which is excellent, and then moving on to Exploration Fawcett: Journey to the Lost City of Z,those interested in Fawcett's story should also definitely check out The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon.

Now making a list of books to read in the future:

• The Tiger, John Valliant
• Underground, Haruki Murakami
• True Crime: An American Anthology, Harold Schechter
• Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
• Darklore Volume 3, Greg Taylor
• A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
• JFK: The CIA, Vietnam, and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy, L. Fletcher Prouty
• House of Leaves, Mark Danielewski
• Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman
• The Sheltering Sky, Paul Bowles
• The Beach, Alex Garland 
• Cloudstreet, Tim Winton
• Far Tortuga, Peter Matthiessen
• The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
• Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West, Cormac McCarthy
• Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer (P.S.)
• Outliers: The Story of Success

ESPN 30 for 30

To commemorate their 30th anniversary, ESPN decided to create a series of documentaries where outside filmmakers would each do a story from that time-frame. Now, I haven't seen every one that's been aired yet, but I can say that the ones I have been able to check out are engrossing programs that pull you in from the very beginning.

I can't say enough as to how thought-provoking and well-made these films are...just do yourself a favor and start watching this outstanding series - it doesn't matter what sports you're into, and there's no order in which to view them.

After only seeing the first 10 minutes of 'The Two Escobars' I was hooked! 'A Night in Vegas' and 'Once Brothers' (the incredible story of the friendship between Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic that deteriorated after Yugoslavia split and a war between Serbia and Croatia broke out) followed and I'm now looking forward to 'The Best That Never Was', which features the quick rise and even quicker fall of star RB Marcus Dupree.

Sidney Sam's incredible one-timer

Sidney Sam of Bayern Leverkusen with a volley for the ages! An absolute stunner...check the view from the goal cam - a perfectly-hit rainbow into the corner.

Zambidis vs. Chahid in a K-1 war

This is one of THE best K-1 fights I have ever seen...correction, one of the best fights ever...period. Mike Zambidis and Chahid throw non-stop bombs in an absolute war in K-1's World Max 2010 - a must-see for any fight fan! Announcer Mike "The Voice" Schiavello's commentary is off-the-charts and makes the fight that much more dramatic; just crazy all-around.

'400. The Paterno Way!'

It didn't look promising early on in today's Penn St. - Northwestern game. They looked sluggish and the offense had no consistency at all; basically a first half to forget.

Then, the comeback began...a huge reversal of fortune for the Lions in the second half as they punished the Northwestern defense; McGlion steps in and throws for 4 TDs; Royster and Redd both rush over 100 yards. This win also tied for the biggest come-from-behind victory for Penn St. under Paterno.

But the real story was the achievement of Paterno getting his 400th victory; a living legend who has been the school's head coach since 1966! As is his demeanor, he shunned the spotlight and chaos afterward - already discussing upcoming opponent Ohio St. in the post-game interview. And so, a big congrats to Joe Paterno on winning his 400th college football game today - it couldn't have happened to a classier guy.

Photo source: http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/Paterno-wins-400th-career-game-thanks-to-Penn-State-rally

Fedor - Reign of the Last Emperor HL

Excellent video of Fedor Emelianenko - still the greatest MMA fighter in the world!

Schweinsteiger releases the Kraken!

Bastian Schweinsteiger with an absolute laser against Werder Bremen. Rumors have him coming to England...