sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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Welcome to National Elephant Appreciation Day!
- It’s true that an elephant never forget s, and that’s because of the size of their hippocampus, the part of the brain where memories are stored, is so large.
- Speaking of brains, did you know that elephants have the largest brains of any land animal in pure mass? At birth, an elephant’s brain size has only reached 35% of its potential size, and that means that they have a huge capacity for learning as they grow and develop.
- With such big brains, that means that elephants are highly intelligent, and highly social. They have their own language, and this makes it easy for them to form strong bonds with each other, and with other species.
- Elephants are one of the few animals with self awareness. Like humans, apes, and dolphins, elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror.
- World Elephant Day is celebrated on August 12, and was created to bring awareness to the plight of African and Asian elephants throughout the world.
- Their trunks have 40,000 muscles and tendons, and it takes about a year for them to learn how to use it. Adam Stone, director of elephant husbandry at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, says that “with a baby elephant, you will see that its trunk looks like a worm on the end of a hook, even when they’re nursing. They’ll trip over it; it’s really complex.”
- They weigh thousands of pounds and still manage to be quick and nimble. They can move up to 35 mph, stop on a dime, and travel over mountain ranges with no problems.
- They follow the oldest female in their group, which is not typical of social hierarchy in the animal kingdom. They do this because she has the most memory, and knows where the safe haven is, where the food is, and where to go in a storm.
- In the wild, elephants can live to be in their 40s. In captivity, they can live even longer.
- Elephants have the longest eyelashes in the world. They’re about 5 inches.
LSU football podcast: ESPN's Tigers vs Syracuse play-by-play announcer Anish Shroff )seccountry.com; Bryant)
LSU football is the No. 1 topic of discussion every day on SEC Country’s One Team, One Podcast. Host Carter ‘The Power” Bryant is joined in this episode by ESPN’s Anish Shroff to discuss the biggest storylines heading into LSU versus Syracuse, the strengths of Orange head coach Dino Babers, if the Ed Orgeron criticism is fair, his biggest challenges as an Indian-American broadcaster and more.
Anish Shroff visits LSU practice
Shroff’s first ever call of LSU athletics will be on Saturday, where the Tigers will play his alma mater Syracuse. He was able to watch the Bayou Bengals go to work.
Though Shroff could not go into great detail of what he saw, he did feel the energy of the spirits of the Tigers were high.
Ed Orgeron versus Dino Babers
The biggest storylines heading into Saturday’s tilt in Death Valley surround the head coach coaches says Shroff.
The early visceral criticism of Orgeron is not unwarranted. Shroff believes Tiger fans disgruntled about a 30-point loss to Mississippi State have a right to be skeptical of a man with a limited track record.
Babers believes his offense is about to hit a major stride says Shroff. Quarterback Eric Dungey is an explosive athlete and receiver Steve Ishmael leads college football in receptions.
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Why is LSU football so thin in spots, and how do Tigers restock? (theadvocate.com; Dellenger)
Travonte Valentine is supposed to be manning the center of LSU’s defense right now, a 350-pound seasoned veteran who can shove back offensive linemen and gobble up running backs.
He’s supposed to be here — not completely out of football in what would have been his senior season.
Trey Lealaimatafao should be here, too, wreaking havoc as a rotational defensive end. Instead, he’s serving a six-year jail sentence for robbery and carjacking.
Coaches counted on Clifton Garrett to be here, a five-star linebacker signee from Illinois who was expected to join the lineage of All-American middle linebackers from LSU. He’s now living back home, not a part of any football team.
The list goes on.
Turns out LSU running back Derrius Guice will play against Syracuse.
Offensive linemen Maea Teuhema and George Brown, receivers Trey Quinn and Tyron Johnson — they’re all LSU signees who, for various reasons, are no longer with the program.
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LSU, Syracuse Battle for The Soul of Dennis Quaid (andthevalleyshook.com; Gomila)
1. So how about we make this game interesting...winner gets custody of Dennis Quaid for all football movies?
That's fine. While the story of Ernie Davis is a great one, The Express never really made much of a dent with critics in part because they (in my opinion) just didn't get the point across about how important his Heisman win was at the time. Also, Syracuse football was terrible when the movie was released, so you're not going to be grabbing a ton of casual fans that recognize the program and all. The Express matters to us more than anyone else. That's fine, but we have a lot of alums in Hollywood. We'll just make a movie about Jim Boeheim to supersede this one down the road.
2. So is Gerry McNamara back to start at quarterback again this year?
Have you seen how often Eric Dungey gets injured? It could very well happen. Since it's a well-known fact that McNamara has infinite eligibility despite being a paid assistant coach on the basketball team, the second-most-famous Syracuse alum from Scranton (to Joe Biden) is always happy to lend a hand. Sure he hasn't throw a football in awhile, but that never stopped Greg Paulus in 2009. Expect Gerry to account for 200 total yards in Dino Babers's offense.
3. Honest answer: if you were trapped on a boat at sea, and scurvy was setting in, would you drink yourself?
Assuming I'm Otto the Orange in this situation, yes. Scurvy's no joke and drinking enough to prevent that would only downgrade me to a clementine. Can still wear the hat and show up to games and half the fan base would even notice a difference.
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Other
Beatles' final concert recreated on Syracuse rooftop in honor of Paul McCartney visit (video) (PS; Tulloch)
Twenty-four years.
That's how long Syracuse waited for Paul McCartney to "get back to where he once belonged," after postponing his Carrier Dome concert in 1993.
Tens of thousands of longtime fans will fill the Dome this Saturday, along with many working musicians from across New York. The Beatles inspired several generations to sing along, pick up guitars or learn to drum.
To welcome McCartney, several Syracuse musicians teamed up to perform "Get Back" on the roof of syracuse.com's downtown newsroom, as a tribute to The Beatles' famous 1969 rooftop concert.
"It's meant as an homage, to wave hello to Paul," said lead singer Bob Halligan Jr.
Performing alongside Halligan are Syracuse musicians Cathy LaManna, Joe Altier, Paul Davie, Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers and Andrew Paul Halliday. Passersby could hear them play along South Warren Street on Tuesday morning.
"To reenact The Beatles' final song from their last-ever live performance as a band on an actual rooftop has been on my bucket list for decades," said Paul Davie, guitarist, vocalist and producer of BeatleCUSE.
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