Nazi vs. Jew Beer Pong

The town of Princeton, NJ is an uproar after a it was revealed that students at the local high school have a long standing tradition of playing a beer pong variant called Jews vs. Nazis.

The cups are set up on one side in a swastika shape, and a Jewish star on the other.
The Jew team can "Anne Frank" a cup, to hide it or take it away.
The Nazis can "Auschwitz" their opponents and force them to skip a round.

It's not clear if there is any true anti-Semitism here, Jewish students may even have been part of it.

But they are certainly guilty of not understanding the seriousness of World War II and the Holocaust.
Though they should be commended for their creativity, and at least a cursory understanding of history.

Doves Are Crying

Prince died Wednesday at the age of 57 under circumstances that are still unclear. We knew he was on a flight that had to be diverted because of a medical emergency. And we knew he spent a time in the hospital, reportedly for the flu, but we still don't know exactly what killed him.

Prince was an enigmatic figure, whether gender-bending or turning himself into a symbol, or litigiously enforcing his copyrights (which is why no youtube clips will accompany this post).

But there's little debate that he was a musical genius who could not only sing, but play several instruments as well, demonstrated here (in a youtube video I can show you) as he plays along with legendary guitarists for a version of "My Guitar Gently Weeps."

He was a big sports fan and always stayed true to his hometown teams, unlike other front-celebs, and he was often seen on TV and Vikings games.

He also always stayed true to his music, a true artist, always adapting to the times, going from 70s funk to 80s pop to 90s R&B and soul.

My favorite Prince songs are "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (SOTW, 3/28/12), "Call My Name", "Adore" & "7."

Prayers For Pearl

Syracuse legend Dwayne "Pearl" Washington died Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. Pearl was 52.

You saw this year's team wearing shirts bearing his name during their surprising run to the Final Four, as part of the fundraising effort to pay for his medical care.

He played for Syracuse from 1983-1986 and was the first real star the school had. His battles with Patrick Ewing and Georgetown were part of what helped build the Big East into the best conference in the country.

It was Pearl who helped blaze the trail of top recruits like Rony Seikaly, Sherman Douglas, Derrick Coleman and Billy Owens to make their way to cold, snowy Syracuse to play for a curmudgeonly coach.

He never reached his potential in the NBA, playing only three years of the Nets and Heat.

It was with the Nets that Pearl played alongside Duane Washington and due to their similar names, they were often confused.
People thought Pearl had a drug problem, but that was Duane.
In fact, ESPN.com ran a picture of Duane with the article announcing Pearl's death.

Even though he never had the pro career he wanted he was always remembered fondly at Syracuse, and became a fixture around the program.

I saw him once at the bookstore, Dick Vitale was doing a book-signing there ahead of broadcasting a Big Monday game, and Pearl walked in. Vitale stopped his canned speech about young people and began to talk about Pearl as a player and as a person. I skipped class that day.

Song of the Week

"Trumpets" - Jason Derulo

"Is it weird that your ass remind me of a Kanye West song?"
Kind of a silly song, but I like the sentiment expressed here.
I also like the music, the melody, a good one to listen to as an instrumental.