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FSU has finally bitten the bullet and vacated 12 victories by order of the NCAA as the result of a cheating scandal. This after wasting a lot of time, money and energy fighting the ruling. It takes 12 wins off of Bobby Bowden's record and vacates a Emerald Bowl win.
If anything, the debacle shows the ridiculousness of the NCAA in handling it's member schools. Spencer Hall (who's apparently dropped his Orson Swindle moniker with EDSBS's move over to SB Nation) had this to say about the issue:

"On a larger note, the NCAA's reason for existing becomes even more nebulous. As far as we know, the NCAA hands out large sanctions to tiny programs committing infractions defined by charter rules, collects large dollars for running a huge basketball tournament, and keeps a pretty handy stats page for NCAA football. Much as we'd like to pay an organization hundreds of millions of dollars a year to do this, there are probably more efficient ways to do this, much less ones that involve an organization with actual powers of sanction.

(Then again: if the NCAA merely represents the will of its members to regulate themselves, then there is zero will to regulate programs who commit violations.)"

The NCAA shows little or no desire or ability to truly hold it's member schools accountable when it comes to violating it's rules, at least when it comes to serious issues at big time programs. It is becoming more and more rare to see the NCAA take true punitive steps to punish a programs who have serious problems. The coming showdown with USC over various issues may just well show how serious the NCAA is about cleaning up big time college athletics.

To be honest, Super Bowl XLIV didn't really live up to it's hype, is there was any real level of hype in the first place. At least it wasn't the kind of hype that Super Bowls of the recent past were known for.
Congrats to the Saints. They did a good job coming from behind to beat the Colts. A lot of that had to do with Peyton Manning's costly interception into the hands of Tracy Porter, which might have been the most memorable past of the game.
Still, SB XLIV wasn't as exciting as it was cut out to be. Most of the game was about field position than actual scoring. The Sean Peyton's decision for an onside kick did more to tip the scales in favor of the Saints than much of what Drew Brees did on the field.
The ancillary events surrounding the game were just as underwhelming.
The Who's halftime performance was possibly the weakest since the NFL stopped using Up With People. The light show and stage effects were far more interesting that what was left of the band itself. The NFL seriously needs to reconsider using rock acts from the Jurassic Era, and going for more current acts. Wardrobe malfunctions be danged.
The commercials weren't any better. The Late Show spot with David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, and Jay Leno was probably the only true WTF moment of the night. Quite a shocker, considering Leno and Letterman's past. The majority of the rest didn't hold up to previous years. Even Budweiser's ad with the Clydesdale's and the longhorn steer was pretty lame. (A bucking bull from the Professional Bull Riders would have been better).
In the end, the game was kind of...meh. It was more of a grinder than a shootout. It won't go down as one of the greatest or most memorable Super Bowls.

Writer: Alex Raymond, Artist: Alex Raymond
Published by IDW 2009

One of the highlights of comic publishing in recent years has been IDW’s American Comics Library , which has been providing beautiful, quality reprints of some of the best newspaper strips.

A newer addition to the line is Rip Kirby, Alex Raymond’s post-war comic featuring the adventures of Remington ‘Rip’ Kirby, a private eye and the further thing imaginable from the works that made Raymond famous, Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim. Kirby if firmly grounded in the realities of late 40s America. He is a modern hero, as the titles says, and not a fantasy character - though, to be honest, he is still pretty fantastic. A war hero and athlete, he is also a gifted scientist, and with the help of his trusted valet, Desmond, he is always fashionably turned out. He’s not a tough guy, but he is always as tough as the situation requires. Besides Des, the recurrent characters are restricted to, at least in this volume, Honey Dorian, a beautiful blonde fashion model, and love interest, and Pagan Lee, a bad girl turned movie star and a rival for Rip’s affections. Not that he would ever cheat, but just having the one girl might seem a bit too domestic.

As an author Raymond’s hand at detective fiction improves a great deal over the period covered in this volume. An early story involves a thug who gets his hand on the formula for a bacteriological weapon and intends to bring the world governments to their knees. Raymond is talented enough to keep his readers interested, but not enough to lift the story above the silliness of the basic plot. The only good thing about it is that it introduces Pagan. Fortunately, there aren’t many missteps. Even when the villains lean towards the strange and eccentric, he usually keeps the stories grounded in more serious themes, such as blackmail, counterfeiting, black-market babies. The four main characters are all entertaining enough, but what you see is what you get and there is little in the way of complexities and few surprises. (Actually, I can only think of one, involving Honey, but I won’t spoil it here.) Artistically, it is easy to see why Raymond is so highly regarded. He came at this strip at the height of his powers, and every page is beautiful. One thing I particularly liked is that each story is given a title. I assume this is something Raymond himself provided, but I think it would have been a good idea to provide them with other American Comics Library collections as well.

Not much right now due to be in and out today. But you can guess who I'm rooting for. Have fun and keep it safe.