Headlines (Jaws 3...in 3-D!; just do it; gasoline; yeah, she's pretty good looking; I give Miami's draft a B+)

2 surfers bitten by sharks at New Smyrna Beach

I eat right and get plenty of exercise, so I don't see myself as a candidate for heart disease. I look both ways before crossing the street, so I don't expect to get involved in a hit-and-run. And I don't sell rocks, so I don't expect to get shot in a drug deal gone awry.

So by the power of deduction, all sound reasoning points to me, in all likelihood, dying by shark attack. I'm of flesh and blood; sharks like that sort of thing. So it makes a lot of sense.

Yes, it's an irrational fear, but there are honestly very few things that I can think of that are scarier than the idea of being bitten by shark while swimming. And maybe even worse than death, I'm terrified by the prospect of being maimed. To look down and realize you're missing a leg would be horrible. It makes my stomach weak just thinking of it.

We're all familiar with the standard cliche that people bring up during these conversations -- "you're more likely to be hit by lightning than be bit by a shark" -- but am I the only one who seriously questions the legitimacy of that statistic? Granted, I haven't been keeping an officiall tally, but that just SOUNDS plain wrong. It seems like I hear something about shark attacks fairly often, especially starting at around this time of year. Lightning-strike victims, not so much...or at least not to my immediate knowledge. From a logistical standpoint, I would wager that the amount of people who visit the beach generally outnumber the amount of people who sit on sit on their roofs and polish their silverware while it's raining. I dunno, maybe my guesstimations are a little off, but I theorize that the shark attack/lightning strike thing is completely unfounded; that it's propaganda started by a person (or a group of like-minded people) who really loves swimming in the ocean but really hates thunderstorms.

Oddly enough, I consider shark's to be the planet's most interesting animals and the Discovery Channel's annual "Shark Week" is the year's most compelling 7 days of television.

Oh, and these two shark attack victims escaped without any serious injuries, so that's good.


Clinton challenges Obama to Lincoln-Douglas style debate

Clinton took the debate dispute to a new level, challenging Obama to face off with her in a debate without a moderator, Lincoln-Douglas style.

"Just the two of us, going for 90 minutes, asking and answering questions, we'll set whatever rules seem fair," Clinton said while campaigning in South Bend.

Her campaign made the offer formal with a letter to the Obama campaign.

Obama aides said he had already debated Clinton 21 times, "the most in primary history." -- Associated Press

I'm all for this.

Obama has already turned down Hilary's offer and doesn't seem receptive to it at all at anytime in the near future. He reasons that it would be unnecessary because they've already debated 21 times, but that's not entirely true -- to date, I believe they've only debated one-on-one, head-to-head a total of 5 times. And I don't know what Obama is afraid of; when it comes to the court of public opinion for these kind of things, charisma and likability (as opposed to actual policy) is usually what makes the biggest impressions on voters. So with that being the case, it wouldn't take much for Obama to "win" the debate. And besides, as I've written before, I consider this type of direct competition absolutely essential in a campaign race this evenly matched. Still, after all this time, neither candidate has effectively separated themselves from the other. Hilary continues to hang in there, buzzing around like an annoying little gnat; and Obama has failed to deliver the knock-out punch, continuously letting his opponent off the hook. We still don't have our definitive nominee for the democratic party, so this debate (and other extracurricular opportunities like it) just gives all Americans another reason to make up their minds and confidently pick a candidate. And if he doesn't want to do that, then I guess we can all just go ahead and vote independent.

10 things you should know about gas prices

On its homepage, MSN posted a relatively impartial article about gas prices that covers all the basics -- supply and demand, economics 101, the role of oil refineries, fuel alternatives, etc., etc. With gas prices rising to crazy stupid new heights, I think people may benefit from checking it out. It's important for all of us to educate ourselves on the situation and realize that it isn't JUST about Bush, Cheney, and Haliburton.



Megan Fox tops FHM's sexiest women list

To avoid looking blatantly bigoted, FHM should really change the title of their list from "sexiest women in the world" to the more accurate "sexiest women in the WESTERN world."

But aside from that egregious misrepresentation, I guess it's hard to argue too much with their top choice.





Miami Dolphins: Draft Tracker

So the NFL Draft is finally over and I'm pretty happy with what we got.

As I've said before, OT Jake Long at #1 was a great pick that'll anchor the offensive line for years. He'll protect our QB's blindside and plow gaping running lanes for Ronnie Brown. We got the biggest, strongest guy in the draft.

Considering that many experts say he would've been a Top 15 pick if not for a minor hernia injury last season, taking DE Philip Merling at #32 was a steal. We had the worst run-defense in the league. We couldn't stop the run at all. An assorted bunch of bums and nobodies were gaining 100+ yard games against us. So I totally support plugging in another young, strong D-Lineman.

I wasn't sold on QB Chad Henne at #57 at first. I saw a player who wasn't that exciting, explosive, or mobile. As everyone remembers, he and his Wolverines lost to Appalachian State. And as a whole, Michigan's offense was relatively mediocre. But many did consider him the 2nd best quarterback in the draft behind Matt Ryan. And we did scoop him up all the way at the very end of the 2nd round. So from a value standpoint, it does seem like we got a good deal and I'm slowly warming up the idea of him joining the team. He's got a great arm, and from what everyone says, he's supposedly a natural born leader. We've been looking for a legit QB for too long now, so between him and John Beck competing this summer, hopefully we've finally found one. If nothing else, he seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders and is very even-keeled. I'm willing to give him a chance.

We traded down from our spot at the top of Round 3 (I can understand why, but I still would've liked to see Kevin Smith in a Dolphins uniform) and took DT Kendall Langford at #66. From a lot of things I've read online, it seems like this may have been a bit of a reach. But it's hard to get too mad about it considering he stands at 6'6" 295 lbs. That's monstrous. With our 3-4 defensive scheme, we need our defensive lineman to be as big and strong and fat as possible. This is someone who will take up two blockers on every single snap.

We struck a deal with the Bears to move up to #110 and took OT Shawn Murphy. From what I read, he's big and he's Mormon. That's cool. Our locker room could always use more lineman. And more religious diversity.

RB Jalen Parmele went at #176. With Ronnie coming off a blown out knee, Ricky Williams being addicted to the ganja, and Lorenzo Booker getting traded to Philadelphia (I really hated seeing him go), we needed a running back. Hence, a running back.

OG Donald Thomas, RB Lex Hilliard, and DE Lionel Dotson were are last three picks of the day. And at that point, you just hope that one of them can hopefully stick and maybe contribute a little bit on special teams, or at the very least compete on the practice squad.

It's gonna take us another free agency period and another draft to start seriously thinking about contention, but this was a good start. I don't have any major complaints about how we did.