Hello everyone [:-)]

I am writing to you today because I need your help. I am apart of a pre-medical honors society called Kappa Rho here at The University of Texas at Austin. Our organization has joined “Relay for Life @ UT” to help the American Cancer Society fight back against cancer.

“Relay for Life” is a worldwide event where survivors of cancer, individuals that have family/friends affected by cancer, or even individuals who simply just want to come out to be supportive come together and celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease.

The University of Texas at Austin is holding “Relay for Life” on campus near the Tower on April 21st at 7pm. It will be 24 hour event where we will relay to honor cancer survivors, remember people we have lost, and spread awareness to help save lives. I have personally signed up for “Relay for Life @ UT” in honor of my mom, who is just now reaching her 5th year of being cancer free. For every $50 I receive, I will be running a mile at this event for her and for my sisters of Kappa Rho that were in someway affected by cancer [:-)] . My goal is to achieve $300 and our team goal for Kappa Rho is $1000. I would greatly appreciate if you could help me spread the word of this amazing event and cause by either forwarding this email, coming out to the event itself, or simply just word by mouth.. and together.. we can help put an end to cancer.

If you are interested in helping the American Cancer Society, Kappa Rho, or myself, the link to my page to make a donation is:

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY12National?px=26810487&pg=personal&fr_id=41287

Thank you so much,
Missy Wu

Think about what he is. A guy who’s scored at least 20 points in five straight NBA games, all wins for the previously struggling Knicks. That’s not easy, no matter the sample size. And historically speaking, anybody who’s pulled off this kind of run has been at least an NBA veteran, but mostly players who were All-Stars at one point in time or another. What I’m saying is that past history suggests this small sample size is enough to predict that Lin will, at the very least, stick in an NBA rotation somewhere.

And this comes from a guy who so many people say “came out of nowhere.”

But did he really?

Kobe Bryant said, “Players don’t come out nowhere” after Lin dropped 38 on his Lakers. He’s right. Guys don’t just come into the league randomly and score 5 straight wins while scoring 20+ points and 7+ assists in each. That stuff doesn’t happen overnight.

Jeremy Lin won a high school state title in California when he led his team over powerhouse Mater Dei. He was named Northern California Division II high school player of the year. We’re talking talent-rich, population-rich California. We’re not saying he was player of the year in Northern Hawaii or Northern South Dakota. We’re talking California. So it’s not like he wasn’t good in high school.

So how many Division I scholarship offers did he get? ZERO. Yup, zero. Try finding another Cali high school player of the year who didn’t get a single scholarship offer to play ball.

Coaches can say all they want about how his athleticism didn’t really stick out. The guy won a state title in Cali, for crying out loud. They had enough sample size to watch his basketball IQ and how it could lead to winning. He wasn’t a role player on a good team – he was a PLAYER OF THE YEAR.

Am I saying race is an issue? Let’s keep it real here. Of course I am. I can’t say I blame the coaches either. These coaches look for upside, right? Public perception doesn’t exactly scream high-flying athleticism when it comes to Asian Americans. We’re known for being smart and, if we’re playing any sports, it’s supposed to be tennis, golf, or badminton. People don’t expect a Jeremy Lin to crossover his way past John Wall and then dunk it. Lin may have achieved what he did in high school, but coaches placed athletic upside over basketball IQ. It happened. Accept it.

I first noticed Jeremy Lin when I saw that Harvard beat Boston College during his junior season. Not only was an Asian American dude hooping it up on the highlights, he had the stats to show it across the board, whether it be points, assists, and steals. This guy LED them to the big win. They pulled it off again the next year. Lin also had a strong showing against UConn.

That said, I can’t say I expected Lin to be drafted. And I don’t blame race for that. Let’s face it: how many Harvard kids get drafted? How many Ivy League kids get drafted? But he did his thing in the Summer League against Wall, Golden State noticed, and picked him up. Both the Warriors and Houston Rockets cut him, and they had roster situations and financial considerations that forced them to do so. Plus, as both teams’ GM’s have publicly said, they had no way of knowing Lin was going to be like THIS. I agree with them. No one, not even his most ardent supporters, could’ve predicted this.

I’m absolutely stoked to see Jeremy Lin excel as he has. He’s proven he can ball. He’s proven that it doesn’t matter what background you have… you can achieve your dreams.

And if you think race had nothing to do with his “coming out of nowhere,” please find me a high school player of the year in a large talent-rich state who didn’t get ANY DIVISION I OFFER.

It’s simply Linsanity.

But there is the Super Bowl, signaling the end of the football season, National Signing Day, which signals yet another season of college football to look forward to when it comes to your favorite school, and the start of spring training for baseball.

While I will be sad to see another NFL season come and go, the major-league baseball fan in me hopes my beloved Cleveland Indians will solve their first baseman problems long-term or find another nugget of talent in the farm system to round out their roster.

I’m also hoping the Ohio State football team can put their scandal-ridden past behind them once and for all and that new coach Urban Meyer restores a sense of responsibility and pride in the squad. It’s been exciting to follow the large number of verbal commitments he has secured so far, but nothing is guaranteed until recruits sign a national letter of intent.

Of course, on both fronts, “potential” will be the watch-word until the teams actually take the field. But it will be fun to follow the off-season action, as it always leads to an actual season which could prove to be an exciting one—much like last year, when the Tribe hit the ground running with a great record, then lost steam as injuries took their toll.

It’s just fun to be a fan, period.

Over time, I came to realize this was the biggest honor in my life.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wanted to spread the message of unity. This encompasses not just the black community. It goes beyond that. It means a tremendous deal to me that the city chose me to help represent and spread this message. I mean, seriously, they could’ve gone several different routes on this. They didn’t necessarily need to choose some TV guy.

I already knew this was a serious deal because the city flew in the Curator of the African-American Civil War Museum in Washington, DC, Mr. Hari Jones, to be the keynote speaker. So I knew this was going to be amazing.

But last night’s dress rehearsal was the first time I saw some of the performances firsthand. They simply blew me away. The power of the performances was off the charts. The singing from an adult choir, then later from the Toledo Youth Choir, and the performances by some of the fine young talent this city has to offer were just so uplifting.

I found myself smiling from cheek to cheek with my eyes WIIIIDE open as the performances seriously lifted my soul.

And then today? With Hari Jones speaking? Please put the POW in POWerful!!!

Yes, today was fun. It was fulfilling.

It was something I will never forget.

Definitely not a tough transition at all, but in thinking back, there are plenty of memories.

First off, this happened when I was in the 6th grade, the last year for elementary school in Calgary, but in Houston, it was the first year in middle school. The difference? Making the instant adjustment from having one home classroom to having seven classrooms to go to, to having lockers, to having gym locker rooms, separate clothes for PE… it was kind of weird.

I remember the Dulles Middle School counselor asking me what level of classes I thought I should take. There were three options: Advanced (the top), Academic (in between), or Foundation. I wasn’t sure if Advanced would be too advanced for me, so I settled for Academic, just in case. Found out quickly that Advanced was probably better suited for me (they didn’t have honors classes until high school), but it was a cool year in those Academic classes. Met a lot of good people.

Outside of school, it was kind of a culture shock. I was coming from a country where hockey was a religion, where street hockey was played by every kid. Hockey was covered in the sports pages about four pages a day. In Houston, hockey had a small portion on one page where it was just a few NHL recaps and that was it. I remember on my first day in our new house, before I went to the bus stop, I got out the hockey stick and was shooting the tennis ball against the garage door. I also remember a kid walking by staring at me like I was from Mars or something because of it. Most kids in Houston are more accustomed to seeing basketball being played in the driveway, not hockey. So it was kind of funny.

Moving to Houston was a great move for a sports fan like myself. I moved there when the Houston Oilers were magnificent and the Run ‘n Shoot was in full glory. Jeff Bagwell had just finished his rookie season with the Astros. Hakeem Olajuwon was still wearing goggles. The Rockets were a few years away from winning two straight NBA titles. It was a good time to move there as a sports fan.

And oh yeah, the weather. Coming from Canadian winters to Houston winters? BLISS!!!!

20 years later, as I’m now in Toledo, it’s crazy to realize that all that time has flown by, but it has. And it means I’ve had a crazy good time in those 20 years for them to go by as quickly as they have.

Here’s to continuing those good times in 2012!!!

That’s right, our main anchor is bidding farewell, as she shares in her most recent blog:

http://blogs.foxtoledo.com/2011/12/21/preparing-to-say-farewell-to-toledo-and-hello-to-paducah/

For those who only knew her for her on-air work, Laura was the woman who never freaked out. She was the voice of reason, the voice of peace if there ever needed to be one.

She was someone who stayed out of drama.

There’s that saying that you won’t appreciate something until you no longer have it.

Laura hasn’t even left yet and I already know it’ll be hard without her.

That’s how much she’ll be missed.

But if he didn’t take it, I’d have to question his sanity.

Let’s all take a step back and analyze the situation.

SALARY at Toledo: $400,000
SALARY at Illinois: almost $2 million a year.

That’s more than a 400% raise. Most people are lucky if they get a 3% raise.

Then you wonder about the chance of advancement because that’s what any ordinary human being looks at in determining whether or not to take a job. Beckman may not have accomplished all his goals at Toledo, but one can certainly argue he had the Rockets trending on the path towards a MAC title. It’s certainly no debate he leaves the program in better shape now than what it was before he started three years ago, when Toledo won three games.

Many Toledo fans may base their anti-Illinois sentiments on how the future is so bright in the Glass City, how Beckman could maybe get a better job if he waited a bit longer. That’s a big maybe. Maybe these Toledo fans are right. But maybe they’re not.

Illinois is not the type of job to pass up for the sake of a maybe/maybe not better job down the road.

Illinois is right in the middle of prime recruiting territory – territory that Beckman is familiar with in his Toledo, BGSU, and Ohio State experiences. The Illini have proven to bring in big-time talent that has made it to the next level. The depth at an Illinois is just that much better than the typical MAC school.

Fact. O. Life.

Not every Big Ten school would be worth the jump though. Indiana? No way. Beckman could do better. Minnesota? A little better, but no thanks.

But Illinois? Proven talent that’s just waiting for the potential to be turned into results? It’s a pretty good scenario for a hot coach to walk in and look like the hero.

If Beckman gets Illinois to surprise a few teams in a few years and builds them into a top-20 program, I would deem that a success. College football would deem that a success.

The potential after that for Beckman would be through the roof.

Not that he’s concerned with that right now, but still, it’s worth saying for the sake of argument. From a career perspective, it’s not quite realistic to envision somebody making a jump from Toledo to a top-10 program. It’s less realistic to have envisioned Beckman staying here forever.

Feelings are hurt. I get that. I understand loyalty. I also understand looking at it from Beckman’s perspective.

BCS conference? Almost two million bucks a year while living near Chicago? I’ll take that supposed dead-end job any day of the week.

Rocket nation, if you look deep inside yourselves, you would probably do so too.

All that cash to play a game. And the Occupy movement is torqued off about the salaries of business executives?!?

The Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Angels apparently got into a bidding war for the services of Pujols, a free-agent first baseman. The contract is the second-largest in major-league baseball history, just behind behind Alex Rodriguez’s 10-year, $275 million deal.

That contract raised eyebrows, too, and led to nearly a decade of somewhat-more-normal economic considerations in professional sports. Until now.

I’m a big sports fan, but no one player deserves that much cash. In fact, it reduces the competitiveness of smaller-market teams such as my beloved Cleveland Indians. There’s no way the Tribe could even consider a contract that size.

In fact, one year’s salary for Pujols is equal to the paychecks of half the Indians entire roster last season. The team’s entire 2010 payroll was about $49 million.

The Indians as a team shocked baseball last year with the best record in the major leagues, that is, until injuries and misfortune wrecked one of those magical seasons that fans live to see.

For that kind of cash, Pujols better be projected to hit 100 home runs, 500 runs batted in, and steal 150 bases. Of course, those are ridiculous figures. But so is his contract.

Maybe the Occupy folks should be camping out at home plate at a big-city baseball stadium.

Along came Tressel from Youngstown State. A squeaky-clean image, solid recruiter, and a master motivator. The Buckeye faithful loved the guy most because he was a Wolverine beater—and anyone who can beat Michigan reaches god-like status in Columbus.

That’s why the fall from grace was so heavy and hard on scarlet-and-gray backers. All of a sudden, we were just like Michigan, not better than them. All of the jokes about scandal and snide comments about a dirty program had to be taken back—or worse yet, words eaten. Just like Wolverine fans had suffered from lean years and an uncertain future, so were OSU faithful facing the same prospect.

Buckeye Nation is searching for good news, any scrap of positive vibes from this season.

The unofficial dance between OSU athletic officials and Urban Meyer notwithstanding, football fans who bleed scarlet-and-gray are looking for the next Tressel—a proven winner who can run a squeaky-clean program and still contend for a national championship. Most of all, someone with a riverboat gambler’s mentality who can beat Michigan into submission, year-in, year-out.

Here’s hoping Urban Meyer is that guy. I’ve liked him since he cut his coaching teeth at Bowling Green. It’s been painful to be a Buckeye alumnus this year, and even tougher to be a football fan.

That got me thinking to how all this started.

Back in 2005, after I had just gotten the job at FOX Toledo, my predecessor and former classmate, Adam Kuperstein, suggested I room with a friend of his named Matt Mullan. Considering that I had been extremely poor while living in Zanesville, when I heard what the rent was going to be if I roomed with Matt, I was pretty much sold on the place even without looking at it. It would basically have to be rat-infested for me to say no.

So I drove up from Zanesville with all my stuff straight to the location. Needless to say, and I found this out later, Matt was not exactly expecting his future roommate to move in THAT DAY of checking things out. We still chuckle about it now.

In any case, that was the beginning of a big-time bromance, if you will. I will confidently say that, the day I get married, I will insist on having Matt as one of my groomsmen. The relationship is that tight. We shared moments as two single men in Toledo that are unforgettable, whether it be going out on the town, having epic Mario Kart battles (I begrudgingly admit his dominance), having goofy inside jokes, or having chats late into the night where I sat in the doorway of his room as he was trying his best to sleep. I think what made this work was that Matt is an open-minded intellectual with plenty of goofiness to go along with a gynormous heart. He appreciated my dorkiness. I liked to call him the B.C.O.T. That stood for the Best Catch of Toledo.

Of course, Best Catches eventually get caught sometime, and that he was. And the girl who captured his heart, Emily Mullan, is so sweet that it really can’t be explained except that she’s pretty enthusiastically awesome. Naturally, their two kids are amazingly cute and I love hanging around them whenever I see them.

Yup, that bro love that I have for Matt Mullan is also spread for his entire family.

And not just Emily and the kids.

Here’s to the entire Mullan clan.

I am so honored to be joining them for Thanksgiving dinner.