Schrockstar § Galaxy of Stars

IU Mathematics professor from 1856 to 1886 was fundamental in proving theorums regarding celestial objects. Notably, Kirkwood's law says that "The square of the number of rotations made by a planet during one revolution around the sun, is proportional to the cube of the diameter of its sphere of attraction; or ." His advancement in astronomy led to the campus Observatory being named after him, as well as Kirkwood Hall and Kirkwood Ave.

Here is a rundown of the previous week's news: First, former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis got the axe . Then the Colts win their 21st consecutive regular season game against the white-hot Titans . Then Greg Oden is done for the season and All-Star Danny Granger tears his plantar fascia . Then Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate announce their plans to enter the NFL draft . Then Tom Crean gets his 200th win, and first "big road win" by defeating Pittsburgh @ MSG in the Jimmy V Classic . Finally, Notre Dame hires 2009 Coach of the Year Brian Kelly as the new coach . Now I'm left contemplating this site's new banner.

We all know that Manning, Clark, Wayne, Freeney, Mathis and Saturday are the best at their position. Antonie Bethea (2nd-best among AFC FS's in both tackles and interceptions) should get in behind Ed Reed and Brian Dawkins. Melvin Bullitt is available on Special Teams. Pat McAfee, Gary Brackett, Raheem Brock and Clint Session all deserve consideration too. Now if you're thinking "whoa, Clint Session? c'mon Pete, quit bein a homer" - Sessions has 76 tackles (2nd among all AFC players) and returned one last week to clinch the game. Fun Fact : Only 3 AFC players have at least 60 tackles and a score, rookie CB Jacob Lacey also holds that honor.

Golden Tate had another amazing game (3 TDs, 10 catches for 200 yards) but Notre Dame's season fell incomplete at 6-6, with all but two games coming down to the final play. The Halloween game in San Antonio versus Washington State wasn't really a contest and the season opening shutout over Nevada is an indication Charlie can execute a great gameplan, when given more than a few weeks of prep time. The Wolfpack had an NCAA-record THREE 1,000-yard rushers this year. Does Irish AD Jack Swarbrick accept a bowl bid? Shoppers turned out in droves this weekend looking for bargains in a rough economy. Police had to breakup a fight at Castleton and Greenfield malls. In Muncie, hundreds of Toys-R-Us shoppers waited in their warm cars before rushing the doors right at 5am, cutting everyone in line. Speaking of getting screwed, the Indiana State 5A Championship at Lucas Oil stadium went into a first overtime after the Warriors scored a game tying TD with :01 second remaining. If IHSAA all

Modern NBA arenas (Charlotte, Ft Worth, San Antonio and Memphis - all cities without a public smoking ban) are modeling themselves after Conseco Fieldhouse. The shrine to Indiana basketball is part-museum, part-temple. USA Today called it "a cathedral to basketball" and Amusement Business Magazine called it "the Camden Yards of Basketball". The structure pays homage to Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse and features memorabilia spanning decades of high school, collegiate and professional icons such as John Wooden, Oscar Robertson, Bobby Knight, Larry Bird and 3 ABA Championships .

after 10 games... 74 catches for 1,172 yards 14 TDs (2 rushing, 1 punt return)

Michigan State returns everybody, including Kalin Lucas . Purdue returns everybody, including E'Twaun Moore . The Hoosiers loaded up. Ohio State, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois are all ranked . Louisville's returning backcourt has been to multiple Elite Eights. Calipari has brought the swagger back to Kentucky. As far as mid-majors, Butler is primed for a big season . Dayton, Xavier and Notre Dame are also hoping to be dancing . Note to Syracuse, Duke, Kansas or any other teams outside 150 miles that are Final Four-bound: there's still a good chance of hotel vacancy.

69 has always been a special number for me. Not only is the § symbol a slight deviance from 69 , it's also the shape of our (spiral) galaxy. It represents duelness, liquidated Karma, and the zodiac sign for Cancer. Some say its a symbol of Yin&Yang.  Billy Madison lolz when  Miss Veronica Vaughn   asks the class to "turn to page   69 ", but I wont get into that.  Apostle St. Peter , whom I was named after and was also the first Pope, died in 69 AD. Then there's  The Summer of ' 69.  Room temperature? 69 °. When I was in 6th grade, REM's song "Star- 69 " was on the radio. There are   6.9   billion people on Earth.  I was born at Community North off Interstate  69 . I attended Skiles Test Elementary which is located precisely 1 block north of Indianapolis' address grid: 69 Block North,   69 Block East . Odd, right? Using Google Maps, I put markers on all major landmarks of my life and then noticed a strong northeastern pattern. I mapped a st

The European Southern Observatory has announced the discovery of hundreds of exoplanets in our galaxy. The Geneva Convention created the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, or HARPS, a mega-telescope located in Chile. The radial velocity method detects small 'wiggles' by stars, which give clues to existence of exoplanets' gravity. Dozens of these planets are known to exist in multiplanet systems and are over 5x larger than our Earth.

At 11:11am on December 21, 2012 our planet will be another 13 Bak'tuns older (or 69k moons *), which you may have heard is the END of the WORLD. Actually it's just the end of the Mayan calender ; the last 'birthday' was 3114 BC. Click those links to discover how exact Mayans were with star alignment and physical cycles... But the most significant fact is that for the first time in 26,000 years ( a Great Year ) our Sun will pass through the galactic equator of the Milky Way, meaning a great source of energy could be disrupted . Perhaps a solar flare will simply wipe out all our satellites? Maybe earthquakes, volcanic eruption, giant meteors and tidal flooding ? (notice the black Prez... lame duck? ) If you think that's scary, try this on for size: a reverse in magnetic poles - that hasn't happened in 740,000 years (and we're overdue by 240,000 years) Your compass will point South instead of North? Check .   Cataclysmicly devastating events ? Check. Laws

Baltimore - Ed Reed and Ray Lewis... need I say more? NYJ - new DC Mike Pettine (former Ravens LB Coach) allowing only 9 ppg NYG - has recorded only 3 sacks so far, but plenty of playmakers and championship experience Philly - league-leading 9 takeaways and 10 sacks; lots of points given up but they have DeSean Jackson returning punts Minnesota - Jared Allen & Co are hitting on all cylinders ( ground-breaking journalism! ) Pittsburgh - DPoY Harrison & Co are missing Troy Polamalu's drive-stopping ability Denver - under 6 ppg allowed thus far, albeit vs JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn Chicago - Brian Urlacher out for the season, but they've rallied and will not break Indy - the #1 DE combo and loads of talent in the secondary, but major weakness at LB Tennessee - 71 points allowed in just 3 games has the divisional favorite winless thus far Green Bay Seattle New England San Diego Miami San Fran Dallas Carolina Cincy New Orleans Buffalo ATL Oakland Arizona Tampa Bay Wash

Games I'm staying away from: Cleveland +13½ @ Baltimore Chicago -2½ @ Seattle Atlanta +4 @ New England Games I'm taking but don't love: Dallas -9½ vs Carolina San Francisco +7 @ Minnesota NY Jets -3 vs Tennessee Houston -4 vs Jacksonville Green Bay -7 @ St Louis Games I like a lot: NY Giants -7 @ Tampa Bay Detroit +6½ vs Washington New Orleans -6 @ Buffalo Pittsburgh -4½ @ Cincinnati Oakland +1½ vs Denver Games with lines unannounced: Indianapolis @ Arizona Miami @ San Diego Kansas City @ Philadelphia

Charlie Weis gets to keep his job another week as Notre Dame barely escaped consecutive last-minute meltdowns from an inferior BigTen Michigan team. The Irish head to Purdue this Saturday after the (1-2) Boilers recently lost to Northern Illinois of the MAC. The football Hoosiers are still undefeated after rolling over Akron in the 2nd half, 38-21. This is the 3rd time in 5 years IU has started 3-0. Should they beat Michigan Saturday, it would mark the first 4-0 start since 1990. But IU hasn't won at the Big House since 1967 (our last Rose Bowl) and has just a lone victory in the past 31 meetings with the Wolverines. The Colts return to Miami's LandShark Stadium for the first time since winning SB XLi. Peyton Manning and the Colts will hopefully be back in February for SB XLiV, possibly en route to winning a 4th MVP and solidifying himself as the greatest ever. Since 1999, the Colts have the most regular-season wins (115, the Patriots have 111) and they also have the best win

Colts claimed rookie LB Cody Gleen off waivers (via Redskins) and released 4-yr veteran S Matt Giordano. This could be good news regarding the injury status of Bob Sanders, who was recently taken off the PUP list. Either the Colts are confident that #21 will be healthy enough to play, or they really like Cody Glenn. They apparently didn't covet him enough to draft him with either of their two 4th round picks, one of which was used on defensive tackle Terrance Taylor, whom did not make the final 53-man roster. Cody Glenn actually entered college as RB, but eventually won the starting weak-side linebacker position for Nebraska last year. Although he has very little experience on defense, he has played both OLB and ILB spots. Glenn has prototypical size for a Colts linebacker (basically a slightly bulky safety) at 6' 0", 244 lbs, and he ran a respectable 4.67 40-yard dash at his pro day workout. Once Ed Johnson's one-week suspension has been served, the Colts will have

1 . The constitution-loving US citizens are worried Obama's health care proposals will lead to a government takeover of health care, so worried that they're not only exercising their First Amendment rights at Town Hall meetings, but also their Second Amendment rights . Here's what being proposed: 2. Single-payer : Under a single-payer system, the financing system relies on one "payer" -- which could be a government-run agency -- to fund all health care costs billed by doctors, hospitals and other health professionals. 3. Public option : A public option is a government-funded, government-run health care option, similar to Medicare. Under the plan, people would pay premiums 10 to 20 percent less than private insurance. 4. Private insurance : Private insurance is coverage offered by a company other than the government. 5. Co-op : Nonprofit health cooperatives are being proposed as an option to compete with the private sector and as an alternative to a government-

1. Washington Redskins - the most loyal and patient fans of any NFL franchise (327 consecutive sellouts) still sport the traditional (and now un-PC) feathers & facepaint, dresses, and pigmasks... even at opposing stadiums 2. Pittsburgh Steelers - They've got the 2nd longest streak of sellouts (308), plus generations of champions with just 3 head coaches in 40 years = six-year waiting list for season tickets 3. Dallas Cowboys - America's Team has ( just ) 154 consecutive sellouts but their fans are located worldwide. You'd have a hard time finding one that hated you, even in their new billion dollar home. 4. Indianapolis Colts - Within the Dome, the fans were so loud they were accused of piping in sound to disrupt the opponents. While the new Stadium can't offer that anymore, Indy still provides jealousy from others, at least until they aren't winning 12+ games every year 5. Green Bay Packers - They oughta be ranked higher, however they handled that Brett Fa

Yes, I'm ranking my favorite television channels... don't judge me. Comedy (30 Rock, Conan, The Office, SNL, Notre Dame football) and Drama (Friday Night Lights, Southland, Heroes, Olympics) plus TV's #1 slot: Sunday Night Football True Blood, Hung, Entourage, Bill Maher, 6' Under, The Wire, Curb, Flight of the Conchords, Eastbound & Down... stellar lineup and the commercials are absent. Daily Show, Colbert Report, South Park, and Tosh.0 put this channel tops among basic cable. The late-night (often uncensored) stand-ups are DVR gold Cops, Speeders, awesome car chases and a slew of titles that begin with " Most Shocking/Extreme/Horrifying" have me a fan of reality TV. (Not reality, actuality!) NOVA and Nature alone put PBS in the top five (although American Experience and random nudity are bonuses) and oh, guess what, NO COMMERCIAL BREAKS Not only does it stream live stats, it's mildly entertaining, uber-political, tech savvy, scientific, and often int

Joey Chestnut captured his 3rd consecutive title by chomping down 68 hot dogs to beat Kobayashi's 64. Jaws has come a long way since his defeat in 2005, where he was outpaced 49-37. Kobayashi had been the prior reigning champ since 2001, when just 25 dogs secured victory.

Coach Holman led the Lawrence Central track & field boys to state championships in '98 and '05, and the cross country boys to runner-up in '06 and sixth this past year after assisting the Americans as video analyst in the 2008 Olympics. The State Hall of Famer is the only man in Indiana history to coach 2 XC individual champions: Matt Grady in '82 (Muncie North), and LC’s Nick Middleton in '91.

OK, here's how I see the '09/'10 roster: (no Marquis, no Rasho, no Tinsley) PG - Jack, Ford (good pair here, no real need to draft another if Jarrett is re-signed) SG - Rush, S.Graham (both young and inexperienced, but I do like Rush's future) SF - Granger, Dunleavy (both excellent wingmen, no reason to add more) PF - Murphy, McRoberts (I like the Irish a lot, but we really need another big man) C - Hibbert, Foster (Jeff is old and we'll need a replacement for him soon) My hope is we'll go with a PG like Jonny Flynn, Jrue Holiday, or Ty Lawson or possibly a PF like DeJuan Blair or Tyler Hansbrough. The 2nd-round pick could be someone like AJ Price, Garret Siler or Robert Dozier. I'd really like to see Indiana select Pike HS grad Jeff Teague but I don't think he'll be available. VCC's Eric Maynor could be a nice addition but I think he'll fall to the bottom of the 1st round. Another hot prospect is Brandon Jennings, who played in

The former Patriots and Chargers safety has announced his retirement after 15 seasons in the NFL, and now plans to join Tony Dungy in the booth at NBC.The 36-yr-old holds an NFL record 30½ sacks for DBs; and has 34 ints, making him the only player with 30+ of both. While he has been voted to the Pro Bowl twice, he's also been widely regarded as the league's dirtiest player. He's been fined over $200K for what he calls "passionate play", including the helmet-to-helmet hit on Jerry Rice. In 2007, he was suspended four games for using illegal steroids. Hall of Famer? I hope not

Presidential hopeful Ron Paul unwittingly gets hit-on by Sacha Baron Cohen's character

What's with the number 28 ?? This week I turn 28 years old - from conception, not birth. The Sun returns to it's original position in the sky every 28 years. Saturn circles the Sun in 28 years. There are 28 days in a moon's cycle - and also a females' cycle. Humans have exactly 28 teeth. There are 28 grams in an ounce. Greek mathmeticians proclaim 28 to be perfect . I'm sure all these coincidences are nothing more than that, but in my quest to discover why February has 28 days, I studied up on the Gregorian Calendar ... which was known as the Julian Calendar... which was known as the Roman Calendar before it was revised by Caesar in 44 BC. Before Pope Gregory XIII revised Julius' version we had a leap year every 4 years; now we have 97 leap years every B'ak'tun. This created an error of the previous 13 centuries' time-keeping by ~10 days, so the last day of the Julian Calendar was Oct 4, 1582 followed by the first day of the Gregorian Calendar

The Columbus, Indiana native (who just turned 38 last week) is living out the American Dream of a new and successful entrepreneurship. "You hope that you don't wake up tomorrow and all of a sudden realize that we're just getting ready to go to Daytona or something and it's all been a dream,'' said Smoke. Tony Stewart's runner-up showing at Dover has propelled him to become the first owner-driver to lead the championship standings since 1992, when the late Alan Kulwicki won the title in that season's last race. His 10-year tenure with the same team (Joe Gibbs), sponsor (Home Depot), and crew chief ( Greg Zipadell ) is a NASCAR record.

here it is, quick & dirty... Pacers fail to make playoffs . Bulls/Celtics was epic . Still got an awesome gf . Reds still suck . BFF moved to Guatemala . Vegas was fun . Colts draft was decent . New job @ Bella Vita . And lastly, Twitter sucks because a.) it doesn't work well with Firefox and b.) even when I click the "Remember Me" box it doesn't remember me! WTF? PS - Cinco de Mayo fiesta @ mi casa esta noche

New comforter June 13 update: My gf says I can no longer refer to said comforter as 'new'. She said we've broken it in too many times. (TMI?)

Okay, I've finally given in to the immense pressure from nobody and decided to make this blog more user-friendly... I am accepting your feedback in the form of, get ready for it, comments! My first topic of discussion is Google's attempt to buy Twitter . Having already bought giants Youtube and Blogspot, the internet is basically becoming property of Google - we're just lucky enough to use it free of charge. I remember registering my GMail account 5 years ago and thinking "What does this search engine website think they're doing?" Soon after I discovered GoogleEarth, Picasa, Docs and iGoogle, I knew that this was no ordinary web site. My life is positively changed because of their products, and I owe them. I'm considering giving my firstborn the name G 00 glè ( gü- glay ), or at least as a middle name. And yep, those are zeros... representin c/o ' 00 whodi!

Wednesday : J-O made a guest appearance at Conseco Fieldhouse, this time as a member of the Miami Heat. D-Wade's game-winning 3-pointer as time expired bounced in, and then out. Pacers continue to believe they can make a playoff spot... Thursday : Duke and Purdue both lose, coach Billy Gillispie fired from UK. Is it my birthday? Friday : While at my gf's parents' crib - amidst heavy drinking and charades - I observed Louisville trounce Arizona and Michigan State come back from 13-down to dethrone defending champion Kansas Saturday : Indiana crowns 4 State champions today in High School Boys Basketball - including future IU PG and Mr Basketball Jordan Hulls leading an undefeated Bloomington South squad vs Ft. Wayne Snider; Pacers battle the Chicago Bulls at United Center - and it looks like Brandon Rush likes his new role as a starter, scoring 18 in the 1st Q; 'Nova takes on Pitt and Mizzou plays UConn Sunday : Michigan State and Louisville go head-to-head at da 'Luc

Porchia Green and the Ball State Lady Cardinals upset Pat Summit and perennial powerhouse Tennessee Lady Vols in the first round of the Women's NCAA tournament last night. The Arlington HS grad led her team in points, rebounds, assists and steals this year, and set the school record for minutes played in a season. The 12th seeded Cards take on 4-seed Iowa State tomorrow night in Bowling Green, KY.

Coach Benge led his girls HS basketball team to a state championship, a perfect season, and #1 national ranking and is now recognized as the best coach in the land, joining SB Washington's Skylar Diggins as the nation's top female amateur baller.

Verdell Jones III was denied All-BigTen Freshman honors when Lewis Jackson of Purdont averages 5 points less and fewer assists, but it's okay because his team had more wins this year. VJ3 was third best in points scored (2nd in conference play) and tops in assists, but also had turnovers gallore, mostly the first half of the season. Pritchard also led all freshmen in rebounding, but has not progressed much from November.

Brian Mehler asked me to update my blog, so here it is... Hi Brian! Also, I want to holler at you about the Indy Wine Opener tonight @ Conseco Fieldhouse. Proceeds benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation . This is THE event for all the grown and sexy professionals in the 317; so I hope to see you there!

[ click to reveal Football Stars ] 1.1 * - Mike Conley (LN) Averaging 8/3/3 for Grizz 1.1 - Greg Oden (LN) An NBA veteran in the rookie game?? 4.6 - Eric Gordon (North Central) Attempted at least 10 FG in every game since Xmas/bday 5.6 - George Hill (Broad Ripple) Averaging 6.6 ppg for Spurs 9.1 - Josh McRoberts (Carmel) Can he blossom into starter for Pacers? 11.3 - Courtney Lee (Pike) Magic SG lost starting spot to Mickael Pietrus now that AJ has taken over PG 11.3 - Robert Vaden (Pike) Blazin away in Alabama, will he be drafted? 11.3 - Jeff (& Marquis) Teague (Pike) Both are amazingly hot right now - elder is All-ACC 13.0 - Rodney Carney (Northwest) Former Highjump Champ averaging 5 ppg for T-Wolves * = distance (in miles) from their HS to Exit  20 0 of  I- 69

Thinking ahead to next year, I'm trying to put together a depth chart based on minutes this year, perceived talent , Rivals' rankings , Terry Hutchens' blog , etc. We've actually over-committed on the scholarships by 1, which means if nobody transfers or gets kicked off the team, IU will be responsible for telling one of the current scholarship players that they're gonna have to pay their own way for tuition. Yikes. My guess before Saturday's game vs O$U was that person would be Matt Roth, but that was until the kid went 9-11 from long range. My next best guess would be Tijan Jobe, but how do you essentially 'cut' a 7-footer entering his senior year? You can't. It still may be too early to speculate, but this could potentially become a major issue. Anyway, next year's freshman class (and redshirted Jeremiah Rivers) will bring big bodies and leadership, two things lacking from this year's squad. As you can see, we'll finally have depth i

►► to 2:05 for Obama impression and sleepy girl who missed it!☻

Some are y'all are gloomy about TD's departure, the recession, the subzero temperatures, the Hoosiers inability to win a game, Blue Monday , our current eco-crisis, and so on... but here's what I'm excited about: • Danny-G thirty-three's All-Star breakout • Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell • The Obama Era ... • ...Bush's departure • NFL playoffs. Will Edge, Jesus and the Cards halt Philly's championship streak? Can Joe Flacco handle the Steel Curtain and prevent an all-PENNSYLVANIA Superbowl ?? • and finally... Teen sexting and "dirty old men in raincoats" - !o!

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (AP) - The missing pilot has been found in Quincy, Florida at a campsite. Investigators say he had slit his wrists. Earlier today, a Hamilton County judge ordered the arrest of the Geist pilot, Marcus Schrenker, on financial fraud charges. Schrenker had been on the run after he staged a plane crash. Investigators are now trying to figure out how to remove the plane and what to charge the pilot with.