Bravo to CBS. After the Louisville sophomore guard Kevin Ware's gruesome injury, the broadcast team made the tasteful decision not to air replays of the injury taking place. Ware suffered a compound fracture so horrible that it did not need to be shown again on air.
Boo to the start of painful weather forecasts for the Valley. It's only the first week of April and we're already seeing temperatures go up, up, up into the high 80s and then into the 90s. That's only the projected temperature. If we can count on anything in Arizona's weather (and we can't count on much), it's highly likely that we'll see hotter weather than expected.
Bravo to Google's masterful April Fools' Day jokes — the "new" service, Google Nose and the pirate's treasure map-esque makeover of Google Maps. Google Nose is all the rage, offering us the much-needed capability to "go beyond type, talk and touch for a new notation of sensation" in the search for the "sharpest olfactory experience available."
Boo to the sadly widespread mix-up of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and celebrated civil rights activist farm labor organizer César Chavez, after the Google doodle featured a portrait of the latter on March 31, which would have been his 86th birthday. Much of the controversy stemmed from outrage that Google chose not to commemorate the Easter holiday, but the fact that so many could not distinguish between the two famous figures who share a last name is worse.
Bravo to Pope Francis for abandoning some of the formality of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He brings a level of warmth to the position, which Benedict wasn't quite able to do (or perhaps had little interest in doing). Pope Francis raised a bit of controversy from Catholic traditionalists after he performed the ritual of washing the feet of 12 inmates, including two women, at a juvenile detention facility in Rome. According to Catholic tradition, the inclusion of women in such a ritual has roused the ire of several prominent Catholics who object to the practice.
Boo to the timing clash of HBO's "Game of Thrones" season three premiere and the season finale of AMC's "The Walking Dead," both of which aired March 31. The match-up proved more successful for AMC, as "The Walking Dead" hit 8.1 million viewers, while "Game of Thrones" only had 4.4 million viewers for the live premiere. AMC's "Mad Men" will premiere next weekend, promising avid TV viewers yet another hard choice. Thankfully, we'll always have HBO GO.
Bravo to the Pac-12 for investigating coordinator of basketball officials Ed Rush, who is suspected of bribing referees to target UA coach Sean Miller during the Pac-12 Tournament. Miller received a costly technical foul late in UA's semifinal against UCLA and claimed the only thing he said to officials was, "He touched the ball!" Maybe the UA players actually did touch the ball, and Pac-12 officiating is just that spotty.
Boo to a Princeton alumna's letter to the editor of The Daily Princetonian urging young female students to find a marriageable partner before they leave the school and are no longer surrounded by men "who are as smart or smarter than we are." Some women come to college with the hopes of finding a suitable life partner, but the idea that we absolutely must find a husband while still in school is so outdated, it borders on absurd.
Bravo to Robby Novak, the 9-year-old better known as Kid President, who starred in the White House's April Fools' Day video. Novak announced his policy goals for the rest of this year: "to give the world a reason to dance."
Boo to the person who stole a sculpture of Sasquatch out of some poor Vermont resident's yard. Not only did the thief lift an obviously necessary yard ornament, but the perpetrator took it out of the tree on which it was perched. We don't know who you are. We don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, we can tell you we don't have money. But what we do have are a very particular set of skills; skills we have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make us a nightmare for people like you. If you let the Sasquatch go now, that'll be the end of it. We will not look for you; we will not pursue you. But if you don't, we will look for you. We will find you, and we will steal your yard ornaments. Want to join the conversation? Send an email to opiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 300 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.
