consider my wildcats optimism unfounded. sigh. like watching the women's team 4 years ago (the last time they were foisted upon me). ugly. and awful. but it happens, and it was against the nation's best team.

i should like to say that i think illinois is running the table in the conference season, and i think they'll also win the big ten tournament. i think they have a very realistic shot to go 40-0 this season (my estimation is that it would conceivably 31-0 after the season, then 34-0 after the tourney, then 40-0 after the ncaa's.). i think they're really really good...the only way i see them losing is if two of the three guards have a rough day.

i spoke to three separate groups at a local grade school's career day today. i though that i might have good stories from this event but, sadly, it was fairly short on highlights. i was working with second through fourth graders, which is to say the ranged from 7-10.

the funniest moment:
me: "can anybody think a way besides tickets that baseball team's make money? yes...[child 1's name]"
child 1: "concessions?"
me: "great! anybody else? yes... [child 2's name]"
child 2: "hot dogs?"
me: "good one. anybody else? yes... [child 3's name]"
child 3: (laughing) "all this food talk is making me hungry!"

for three 25-minute-long groups, i think that's a pretty lame highlight.

received sports illustrated's swimsuit issue yesterday. the publication that revolutionized such arts as body painting, and introduced the use of 3D glasses to look at magazine photos. and their introduction this year? swimsuit model trading cards (with the parenthetical 'what will we think of next?')! pretty lame innovation, no?