McDLT

Here's what I don't get about gravity: Earth's gravity is always talked about as a "constant," roughly 9.8 m/s². But, due to a number of factors, things very rarely fall with the same acceleration, either in comparison to each other or even over time (since one of those factors is altitude, and falling necessitates changes in altitude). So, why do we talk about Earth's gravitational pull as a "constant"?

I bring this up because the Demon Deacons are near nine-point-eight, if they haven't reached it already. They're falling hard. NC State? Really? Pretty soon they'll be behind Clemson in both the ACC standings and the polls. They're going to have to start winning if they don't want to end up playing on my birthday in Atlanta.

UNC, on the other hand, may have entered orbit. They looked like they were cruising against Duke on Wednesday. Lawson, who played exceptionally well in that game, has really turned it on since the two losses, which is good considering he's pretty much what drives the team. It seems like I have this conversation about Lawson every year around this time. I looked back through some MySpace blogs to see if I could verify that. I couldn't, but I learned two things: that blog was a long time ago, and it was a lot funnier than this one. I don't know what's happened to me.

There's been a lot of other important/interesting sports news lately, and a lot of it rhymed (A-Rod's "shame," Phelps' blame, some sort of game, Notre Dame). So, I thought about writing some sort of Dr. Seuss limerick, but I just now realized that I could rhyme Notre Dame, and three rhymes weren't enough. Now I feel the moment has passed. (I also thought, for some reason, that I could rhyme Todd McShayne, but it turns out his name is McShay, which doesn't rhyme, even approximately.)

Tomorrow's Valentine's Day, and we're getting a little slam dunk love from the NBA. Today is the first time that I saw who the participants are, and I'm considerably pissed off about Nate Robinson's return. His Spud Webb-aided theft of the '06 dunking crown from Andre Iguodala was one of the biggest shams in professional sports history. I don't care how short Robinson is, Iguodala put on the best show since Vince Carter. Dwight Howard put on a performance of similar quality last year, though I wasn't a big fan of the Superman dunk.

I've been having individual conferences with my students Wednesday and today. Most of my students came Wednesday, so it was busy as hell, which is why I didn't write a blog. Today's a little more relaxed, appropriate for a Friday.

Joss Whedon's Dollhouse starts tonight on FOX. It's definitely something I'll be checking out, though probably not tonight. You still can and should watch Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. That is, if you like things that are funny and entertaining.

QotD:

What do you like in your McFlurry (or ice cream)?

My take: I guess Oreos (or whatever Oreo substitute McDonald's uses) is pretty boring, but that's probably what I'd go with if I ever bought a McFlurry again.