Happy Groundhog Day

America's second favorite unofficial holiday, right after Super Bowl Sunday. Today Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow on Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney, PA. We're in for six more weeks of winter. No wonder he saw his shadow with all those TV cameras and their lights!

Congratulations to the McElwees!

Mike and Julie McElwee were proud to annouce the birth of their first child on Tuesday. MacKenzie Faith McElwee was born yesturday in Indianapolis. Mike reports that mother and daughter are doing great. MacKenzie is Frances McElwee's ninth grandchild.

Well, that didn't last long

Maybe he didn't like Marvin's or maybe the lure of a 3-8 team with no tradition was more than he could turn down. After only one season, Bill Lynch has decided to leave the friendly confines of Blackstock Stadium for IU's Memorial Stadium. In his one year as DePauw's head football coach, Lynch had an 8-2 record, won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, received the SCAC Co-Coach of the Year award, had the 2nd best single-season per game rushing total (254.6 yards) in school history and most importantly, returned the Monon Bell to Greencastle after a three year absence.

Lynch will serve as IU's assistant head coach/offensive coordinator/tight ends coach. Before coaching at DePauw, Lynch was the head coach at Ball State from 1995 to 2002. Before coaching that he was Butler University head coach from 1985-1995, quarterbacks coach of the Orlando Renegades of the United States Football League (USFL) in 1985 and a quarterbacks/offensive coordinator at Northern Illinois in 1984.

Well, not everyone can have the staying power of Coach Nick Mourouzis, who finished his storied career at DePauw in 2003 after 23 years, a 138-87-4 record and an 11-11-1 record in Monon Bell games.

For more information on Bill , go to the Indiana University Athletics Football News page or the DePauw Athletics news page.

Three new Ryan Adams albums in 2005

According to www.ryan-adams.com, the former Whiskeytown singer will release three new albums in 2005, proving once again he is the most prolific songwriter in rock.

The first is scheduled to drop on April 19th. It's a double album titled "Cold Roses" and credited to "Ryan Adams & The Cardinals." Ryan has done work with various loosely collaborated "bands" over the years, most notably the "Pink Hearts" that he recorded several demos with. The other 2 albums are tentatively titled "Jacksonville" & "29" but the web site doesn't give any more details.

New Ben Folds album out April 26th

Ben Folds announced the release date of his full studio album since 2001. "Songs of Silverman" will be released on April 26th. The first single, "Landed" hits your radio waves on February 1st. I've seen Ben live three times, once solo and twice with the old "Ben Folds Five". Great music. Check out BenFolds.com for details.

U2 Vertigo Tour Dates

U2 annouced their North American tour dates yesturday for their upcoming "Vertigo" tour. Unfortunately, the closest they're coming to me will be Chicago. Two dates at the United Center. I saw them twice at the United Center on the "Elevation" tour. I might have to skip out this time around.

NORTH AMERICA DATES

March 28th San Diego, CA - Sports Arena
April 1st Anaheim, CA - Arrowhead Pond
April 5th Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center
April 9th San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
April 14th Phoenix, AZ - Glendale Arena
April 20th Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
April 24th Seattle, WA - Key Arena
April 28th Vancouver, BC - General Motors Place
May 7th & May 9th Chicago, IL - United Center
May 14 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
May 17 & May 18 East Rutherford, NJ - Continental Airlines Arena
May 21 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
May 24 & May 26 Boston, MA - Fleet Center

Casino proposal is dead

A proposal by Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson to fund a new Colts stadium with gambling revenues from a downtown casino is dead according to The Indianapolis Star. Unfortunately, the slot machine talks continue.

This web site is hella cool

Surf over to the South Park Studio and make a south park character to look like you. Best web site ever.


Here's Jim and Cathy as if drawn by Matt and Trey

New Big Brothers/Big Sisters Web Site

Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central Indiana has a new web site at www.bigsindiana.org. There you can get more information about the upcoming Bowling for Kids Sake Fund Raiser. Cathy and I plan to have a team again with our little brothers. The event is going to be broken up into two weekends, February 26, 27 & March 5, 6. With your generous donations, we hope to raise even more than last year. More info coming soon.

Molly Hill's First Picture

Cathy and I got to meet Molly Hill on Saturday. She was the youngest baby I've ever seen at only 2 days old. You can check out her first picture and all her vitals at the Witham Hospital online nursery.