We've Got A Word For That

Who would think that you could learn a new word in a political science class? I sure didn't think so. An English class, sure. But poli sci? No way. But today my view on that changed. Today, I learned a new word and I am surprised that there is a word for this.

My professor used the word "defenestration" in class today and since it is an odd word, he had to define it for the class. Defenestration is the act of throwing a person or thing (but usually used for the person) out of a window.

My reaction was...What? There is a word in our language for that? I didn't think that nearly enough people got thrown out of windows to have a word for it, but I guess I was wrong. I searched this word on dictionary.com just to be sure it existed and apparently it originates way back in 1618 when "two Catholic deputies to the Bohemian national assembly and a secretary were tossed out the window (into a moat) of the castle of Hradshin by Protestant radicals. It marked the start of the Thirty Years War."

Whoa, whoa, whoa. A war began because some guys got tossed out a window? Why don't they teach that in every history class? How come none of my history teachers have tought me about this? A war starting over some guys getting tossed out a window is one of the more interesting events in history I have ever heard. Who cares about stuff like the French Revolution and the Battle of the Bulge? I want more history on guys getting tossed out of windows. Or should I say defenestrated?

Dragging Your Cash Through the Snow

It snowed in Columbia, Missouri today, creating a real mess of the town (as usual). But as I was walking to class the snow presented me with a sight of questionable human behavior.

There was a young woman who had one of those new wave backpacks with the wheels on them, you know in case your books are too heavy you can now wheel them to class. To me this has always been a bit extreme to have wheels on a backpack. You can only fit so many books in a bag and since you normally carry them on your back pretty much everybody over the age of seven is strong enough to lug their belongings to class. These bags do make sense for those under the age of seven, but to me, do not have much need in the college age crowd. I understand the need for the wheels on suitcases (those can get very heavy) but on a backpack it seems to be a bit extreme.

Anyway, this young woman was dragging her rolling backpack through the two inches of snow on the ground. Just dragging it right along. The small wheels had long since stopped spinning, but that wasn't going to stop her. Quick research shows that these bags sell for between 60 and 100 dollars, and this young woman was just dragging it through the snow and slush! I'm pretty sure you can still wear these things on your back, and if not you can definitely pick them up and carry them like a suitcase. What did she have in there? A snake strip of machine gun bullets? How heavy could that bag have been? Apparently, it was heavy enough to drag an 80 dollar (just splitting the difference) accessory through the snow and slush.

On a nice day, sure go ahead and roll your books to class. You may not need to do it, but go for it. When there are two inches of snow on the ground and slush all over the place, I would recommend picking that bag up.

God For A Day

A few days ago my philosophy teacher posed a question for homework. The question was, "Say you are God for a day, what would you change in the cosmos?" Immediately a rush of things came to my mind. Get rid of cancer, AIDS, war, starvation... But then we were hit with the catch to this question. You couldn't remove something, like a disease, you had to add something.

Well, I couldn't come up with anything for the next class period, but I was still thinking about this as I was getting ready for philosophy today. And I've come up with my answer. I would add a car engine that ran on trash instead of gasoline (kind of like what you see in Back to the Future II) and instead of emitting terrible fumes like engines do today, this engine would emit 100 percent pure water into a little container attached to the back of the car.

I bet the oil companies would be real pissed about that one.

Being God for a day is a fun thing to think about. I'm sure there are a lot better options than my engine, but I thought it was a fun option and still a good idea.

The Dynasty That Never Was

The Super Bowl is this weekend and that has made me think about a team that became known for being so close, yet so far away. This team achieved something that has never happened in the NFL and rarely happened in any of the major sports. This team went to four straight Super Bowls. This team lost all of them. This team is the Buffalo Bills.

I've done some researching and the Bills are in a small group of teams across all the major sports. First of all, they are the only NFL team to go to four straight Super Bowls. And to put that in perspective, only one other team has gone to three straight. That was the Miami Dolphins from 1972-74. In the NBA only the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers have appeared in 4 straight Finals. The Celtics did it from 1984-87 and also from 1959-66. The Lakers went from 1982-85. In the NHL only two franchises have been able to accomplish this feat as well. The New York Islanders reached the Stanley Cup Finals from 1980-83 and the Montreal Canadians did it twice, from 1976-79 and 1951-60. In baseball only the Yankees have been to four consecutive World Series'. They have accomplished the feat five times. Those times being: 1998-2001, 1960-64, 1955-58, 1949-53, 1936-39.

The difference between those great squads and the Bills is that all the other teams that appeared in four consecutive championships has success. Not only did they win, they won multiple times. In every other instance the team won at least twice and only the 1960-64 Yankees had a losing record, winning two and losing three (but at least they won back-to-back in '61 & '62). If you add up the records of all the other teams who accomplished this feat, they went 42-14 in terms of winning championships. That means 74 percent of the time they brought home the hardware. Poor Buffalo went 0 for 4. And outside of the 20-19 loss in Super Bowl XXV, the Bills weren't even close to winning the big game. They lost the next three by a combined score of 119-54. In Super Bowl XXVII against the Dallas Cowboys the Bills committed nine turnovers. NINE! It could have been more, they fumbled eight times but lost only five.

How they lost all those Super Bowls, I will never know. You would figure that getting there that many times consecutively would allow them one win. Just one. They could have had it in Super Bowl XXV had they not missed a last second field goal. But it's just unfortunate for the city. Buffalo doesn't have much to look forward to except getting hammered with 27 inches of snowfall every winter. The only other sports team they have is the Buffalo Sabres, and they have not fared well, losing in the two Stanley Cup they went to (1999 and 1975). So as a city, Buffalo is 0-6 in championships. Well, the Sabres are pretty good this year, perhaps they can make it 1-6, or perhaps the city will still be waiting for a championship.