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College football season begins the last weekend of August. Hundreds of thousands of college football fans around the country rally around their favorite college football teams as the teams compete all season to reach the National Championship Game.

The college football regular season continues through early December, finishing with the Army-Navy Game and several conference championship games on the same weekend.

NCAA Division I-A football is the only Division I NCAA-sponsored sport without an organized tournament to determine its champion each season. The NCAA football postseason consists of a series of bowl games that feature the top college teams in the country.

Since 1998, the National Championship has been determined by the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). The BCS formula incorporates various polls and computer rankings to determine the top two college football teams in the country who will compete in the title game.

Many college football fans and analysts across the country are in favor of instituting an actual championship tournament rather than using the BCS rankings. Critics complain that the BCS system favors large conference teams and is too ambiguous.

The BCS National Championship Game was added in the 2006 season. The site of the game rotates every year between the four BCS Bowl locations - Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl.

The first BCS Championship Game was held on January 8, 2007 with the Florida Gators (13-1) defeating Ohio State Buckeyes (12-1) by a score of 41-14 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona - home of the Fiesta Bowl.

More College Football Information:

• NCAA Football - Official site of NCAA football
• College Football - College football resources and news
• Bowl Championship Series - Official website of the BCS
• Bowl Games - Links to college bowl game info

(photo credit flickr cc)

Tags: Sports by Kori Ellis
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Marshmallows are very popular in the United States with nearly 100 million pounds purchased annually. Each year, we celebrate the marshmallow with National Toasted Marshmallow Day on August 30th.

The history of marshmallow dates back to ancient Egypt when the pharaohs found that by squeezing the mallow plant, a sweet extract emerged. They flavored honey with the extract and it become a luscious delicacy reserved only for royalty. Over the years, marshmallow went through a lot of processing changes and in 1920’s became popularized as a delicious campfire treat.

Roasted on a stick over an open fire, marshmallows become gooey and delicious. The heating creates a carmelized outside with a melted layer underneath. These warm, sticky treats are extremely popular with campers across the U.S. and around the world. Today, you can rarely find a campground that doesn’t have someone toasting marshmallows.

A single roasted marshmallow and Hershey chocolate bars sandwiched between two graham crackers form what we call a S’more.The first official S’more recipe was published by the Girls Scouts of America in 1927 - “Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts.”

In the 1950’s, the process of infusing air into marshmallows was developed. This jet-puffed process gives marshmallows the light fluffy texture that we know today. On August 30th, celebrate National Toasted Marshmallow Day by taking a camping trip with family or friends and roasting marshmallows.

• Marshmallows - Get info on jet-puffed marshmallows from Kraft
• Camping Resources - Camping organizations and equipment
• Campgrounds - Locate a campground in your area
• Camping Blogs - Read blogs about camping tips and experiences

(photo credit flickr cc)

Tags: Recreation by Kori Ellis
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What’s more American than a good, old-fashioned summer barbecue? A Labor Day Weekend rib cook-off, of course! Between August 29 and September 3, Sparks, Nevada will host the Best In The West Nugget Rib Cook-off, featuring live music playing on six stages, children’s games and activities, cash prizes, and, of course, the best rib recipes in the country.

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Tags: Recreation by Erin
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Blades of Glory is a figure skating comedy film directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck. The DreamWorks (Paramount Pictures) film was released in theaters on March 30, 2007.

The Blades of Glory DVD is scheduled for release on August 28, 2007. The comedy stars Will Ferrell and Jon Heder as rival competitive ice skaters. In 2002, the two get into a brawl which leaves them banned from the sport of figure skating .

Three years later, both are working menial jobs. But they find a loophole in the rule revealing it only bars them from the singles competition.Chazz Michael Michaels (Ferrell) and Jimmy MacElroy (Heder) decide to team up to become the first male pair in ice skating history and hilarity ensues.

Though the two men hate each other, they compete in the United States Figure Skating Championships, earning a spot in the WinterSport Games against the current champions - a brother/sister tandem. The movie even has a cameo with former professional ice skater Nancy Kerrigan . The tagline of the film is “Kick Some Ice.”

Look for the Blades of Glory DVD in your video store on August 28th.

• Blades of Glory - The official website of the movie
• U.S. Figure Skating - Find out about U.S. figure skating events
• Figure Skating - Learn more about the sport of figure skating
• Skating Rinks - Locate an ice skating rink near you

Tags: Entertainment by Kori Ellis
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The 2007 US Open Tennis Championships will take place from August 27 - September 9 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows (Queens), N.Y.The men’s and women’s singles champions will each earn $1.4 million, plus be eligible to earn an additional million in bonus money based on their play throughout the tournament .

US Open Players

The best tennis players in the world are competing in the 2007 US Open. Defending champion Maria Sharapova along with five other former US Open women’s singles champions (Justine Henin, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams and Serena Williams) will highlight the women’s field. In total, winners of 30 Grand Slam singles titles will be competing for the 2007 US Open Women’s Singles Championship.On the men’s side, three-time defending champion Roger Federer of Switzerland is at the top of the list. The men’s field will feature all top 100 men in the world. After Federer, the entry list includes No. 2 Rafael Nadal (Spain), No. 3 Novak Djokovic (Serbia), No. 4 Roddick (Texas) and No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko (Russia ).

US Open Tickets

If you are in the New York area, come out and watch the top tennis players compete at the US Open.You can buy US Open tickets at Ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at (866) OPEN-TIX, or by visiting the UTSA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Box Office in person.

US Open Schedule

August 21-24, 2007 - Qualifying Tournament
August 25, 2007 - Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day
August 26, 2007 - Open Practice - FREE
August 27-September 9, 2007 - Main Tournament
September 8, 2007 - US Open Women’s Championships
September 9, 2007 - US Open Men’s Championships

More Tennis Information:

• USOpen.org - Official website of the US Open
• Tennis Players - Get information about the top tennis players
• Tennis Blogs - Directory of tennis weblogs
• Tennis Instruction - Tennis camps, instruction and lessons
• Tips for Visitors - Top 10 tips for visitors to the US Open

Tags: Sports by Kori Ellis
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On August 26, 1920, the women of the United States finally gained the right to vote, more than 70 years after it’s first serious proposal. In July of 1848, the idea was first talked of at the Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights Convention. By the time women gained suffrage, only one woman from that convention was still alive to vote: Charlotte Woodward, at age 81, finally found herself able to speak her political voice.

In the early 20th century, women were starting to gain ground. Alice Paul and the National Women’s Party began using the radical tactics with which we are familiar with today: picket lines at the White House, loud demonstrations, mostly peaceful marches, and even chaining themselves to a Minneapolis courthouse door to prove their point.

A large, well-funded anti-suffrage movement was politically verbal at those times, claiming that most American women didn’t actually want to vote. Furthermore, they claimed, even if women did want to vote, they were not qualified to do so. In response, the Women’s Movement used sharp wit and humor to respond, such as this sample from writer Alice Duer Miller:

Why We Don’t Want Men to Vote

• Because man’s place is in the army.
• Because no really manly man wants to settle any question otherwise than by fighting about it.
• Because if men should adopt peaceable methods women will no longer look up to them.
• Because men will lose their charm if they step out of their natural sphere and interest themselves in other matters than feats of arms, uniforms, and drums.
• Because men are too emotional to vote. Their conduct at baseball games and political conventions shows this, while their innate tendency to appeal to force renders them unfit for government.

After World War I, when women had taken over many of the traditional men’s jobs, the push for women’s suffrage surged. Women had taken care of the country while the men were away fighting, and even the most docile groups didn’t stop from reminding the President and Congress that women were an integral and very important part of the country.

In 1919, the U.S. House of Representatives, endorsed by the U.S. Senate, passed an Amendment to the United States Constitution, passing the buck to the individual states. Wisconsin and Michigan were the first to pass the law; Georgia and Alabama the first to pass rejections. After thirty-five of the thirty-six necessary votes were passed in favor of the law, the vote came down to Tennessee. On August 18, 1920, Tennessee passed the law and thus, women were granted the right to vote.

Tags: Reference by Erin
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On August 25, 1835, the New York Sun published the first in a series of six articles claiming that life had been found on the moon. Falsely attributed to Sir John Herschel, a very well-know astronomer in the 1830’s, the articles described fantastic beasts that inhabited the moon. The story was later given the name The Great Moon Hoax.

“GREAT ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES LATELY MADE BY SIR JOHN HERSCHEL, L.L.D. F.R.S. &c.” heralded the headline, and the following essay described bison, unicorns, bipedal tailless beavers, goats, and humanoids with bat-like wings. The article was a sensation and rumor has it that the Sun’s sales that day spiked sharply, reaching almost 20,000, the largest circulation of any newspaper in print at that time in the world. Though sales dropped after the six-part series, they remained forever higher than they had been before The Great Moon Hoax.

Authorship has been attributed to Richard Adams Locke, a reporter who had been educated at Cambridge. Though he never publicly admitted to authoring the misinformation, public opinion had him at the helm with another two possible suspects involved. One was Jean-Nicolas Nicollet, a French astonomer who was traveling through the United States, and Lewis Gaylord Clark, editor of the Knickerbocker Magazine. However, no evidence has arisen to firmly indict any of the men.

Tags: Reference by Erin
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Living in the twenty-first century, many of us take airline transportation for granted. It’s so easy now: we simply need an Internet connection to choose our carrier of choice, buy our tickets, review airline policies, and even check into our flight before we leave for the airport. But this wasn’t always so.

On August 25, 1919, before women even had the right to vote in the United States, Aircraft Travel and Transport inaugurated the first passenger transport by airplane. The flight took these landmark travelers from London to Paris, and you have to wonder if the passengers and pilot had any idea what a historic journey they were taking.

Today, the world is covered with thousands of airports servicing thousands of planes. National and international airlines exist, offering everything from budget service to luxury in-flight meals and champagne. Flights between european cities are almost as common as the train and, unlike that first historic flight, they are as routine as making a visit to your local bank.

Of course, traveling between London and Paris is certainly more fun than banking, as evidenced by Paris and London tourism. The Eiffel Tower, Champs-Éysées, and Louvre are only a tantalizing 65-minute flight away from Buckinham Palace, the Tower of London, and beautiful Parliament and Big Ben. As the lyrics say, it’s a small world after all!

Tags: Reference by Erin
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1,928 years ago today, on August 24, 79 A.D., Mount Vesuvius erupted, killing thousands and burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under ash. The volcano, which had lain dormant for thousands of years, is located in southern Italy, about six miles east of Naples. [Read more →]

Tags: News by Erin
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The 2007 WNBA regular season ends on Sunday, August 19th and the playoffs begin four days later on August 23rd. Eight teams, the top four squads from each conference, will battle in the postseason for the WNBA Championship.

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Tags: Sports by Kori Ellis
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