Today for the first time in over 30 years the Canadian dollar passed the American dollar.

Just another sign that the American economy is continuing to thrive right?

Hat tip: Daring Fireball

Daddy stabbed mommy in the back!

Discussions around sports are often heated and contentious — you need not look further than the comments on some of the posts on this very blog to see that.  It can be frustrating at times, but it’s part of what draws people to sports as well.  Sometimes, however, in amongst the heated discussions, we miss something: the impact the game has on coaches and the players, especially the younger players.  College football clearly evokes passion, and the pros has its place, but in many ways I think high school football is the heart of the game and high school coaches are especially important.  In most cases, the coaches who work at that level do it not for the money, but for the passion.  Admittedly, there are some coaches at the high school level who are well compensated, but for most it’s a little extra money that, spread out over the time spent, has them working at minimum wage…or less.

Yesterday morning Terry Ennis, one of the greatest high school coaches in the state of Washington, passed away after a five year battle with cancer.  The most amazing part is that he was doing what he loved up until the very end.  This past Saturday, Ennis coached the Wildcats of Archbishop Murphy High School to a 49-7 victory in a non-conference game.

Ennis is remembered not just for his football talent and focus on discipline and hard work, but as an inspiration for players and fellow coaches.  With a 287-87 record built over 35 seasons, he is the second winningest coach in Washington high school football. He won three state championships during his career, once with Cascade High School and two with Archbishop Murphy, a school that didn’t have a football program until he started it in 2000.

We may argue, we may disagree, we may fight, but above all we should remember that we do it because we love the game.  And for a lucky few, like Ennis, they get to be a part of that game we all love until the very end.

Rest in peace Coach, you will be missed, but what you have taught us all will not be forgotten.

Today’s Husky game was held in Seattle at Husky Stadium, today’s Cougar game was held in Seattle at Qwest Field (the Seahawks’ home field). I’m assuming two games in the same city on the same day is a rare occurance, but I was wondering if there were other instances anyone can remember in recent history. And no, USC and UCLA home games don’t count: UCLA plays in Pasadena, not L.A.

The Pac-10 is more than making up for Oregon State’s blowout loss to Cincinnati on Thursday. So far today, the Pac-10 is 5-0, with the latest win coming from the WSU Cougars, who clobbered the Aztecs of San Diego State, 45-17.

Earlier in the day, Oregon dominated Michigan as Brendan pointed out below. The 39-7 loss is the worst that the Wolverines have suffered in almost 40 years. That coupled with Penn State’s crushing of Notre Dame means that for the first time ever, both Michigan and Notre Dame have started out 0-2 in the same season. The streak ends for one team next week though, as they will face each other.

Another streak ended today in Seattle, as Ty Willingham’s Huskies broke Boise State’s 14-game win streak, previously the longest active streak in Division I-A college football, downing the Broncos 24-10 in front of a crowd of over 70,000 fans. Rookie Husky QB Jack Locker had a hot and cold day, throwing for over 190 yards with 1 TD, and rushing for over 80 including another TD, but turning the ball over once each on the ground and in the air.

#13-ranked UCLA led the Cougars of BYU early, 20-0, but managed to let the Mormons get within 3 before winning their game 27-17. #10 Cal held off Colorado State to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Elsewhere in college football, #3 LSU is manhandling #9 VA Tech with a 24-0 lead in the 2nd quarter. Texas came out swingign in the second half and leads TCU 34-13 in the 4th quarter. Irish Trojan hometown favorite Tennessee beat Southern Miss by 20. Today’s only top 25 upset (so far) comes from USC, no not Southern California, but South Carolina, who upset Georgia in typical SEC fashion, scoring 16 points with only one touchdown and a handful of field goals. Georgia’s 12 points came entirely from field goals. YAWN.

I think its safe to say that this guy’s computer problems trump the ones Brendan was having.

It’s 38-21 Cal over Tennessee right now in Berkley as the Bears look to avenge their loss at the hands of the Volunteers last year. So far though, Ainge’s broken finger doesn’t appear to have been a huge issue, he’s 19/22 with 179 yards and two TD’s.

UPDATE BY BRENDAN: Now 45-31 Cal with 10:31 left. Meanwhile, USC leads Idaho 21-0 early in the second quarter

UPDATE BY DAVID K.: Cal wins with a final score of 45-31. It wasn’t a blowout like the previous year’s loss to Tennessee, but I’m sure the Bears will take it. Could we see an undefeated Cal vs. an undefeated ‘SC when the two meet?

UPDATE BY BRENDAN: USC leads Idaho 38-3 late in the third quarter… and I’m going to bed.

Researchers at USC have developed a method for displaying 3-D holograms using a high speed rotating mirror that is simply incredible.  Take a look for yourself in the video below:

Hat tip: Engadget

Ladies and gentlemen, Trekstor’s latest MP3 player, the i.Beat.Blaxx.

Where’s Al Sharpton when you need him?

(Hat tip: dcl via DaringFireball via Fake Steve Jobs Blog.)

An annual report on President Bush’s health released this week revealed that Bush was treated for Lyme disease last year.

Among potential symptoms of Lyme disease are neurocognative impairment, hallucinations, and psychosis. Hmmm…I wonder…

In a press event today Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the latest revision to the all in one iMac computer. The new machine looks similar to the previous versions, with the internals all mounted behind the LCD. Gone is the 17″ version, only 20″ and 24″ versions remain, but the prices haven’t changed (base prices are $1199 and $1499 for the 20″ models and $1799 for the 24″).

Apple also updated iLife and iWork, finally adding a spreadsheet app to the later, called Numbers that is compatible with Excel.

The I-35W bridge across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed today. City officials have declared a state of emergency.

More details as they come from CNN here.

UPDATE BY BRENDAN, 8:21 PM EDT: The bridge collapsed into the river at around 7:05 PM EDT (that’s 6:05 local time, during rush hour, reportedly in bumper-to-bumper traffic). It’s an eight-lane bridge, but according to an eyewitness interviewed by CNN-TV, only one lane was open in each direction because the bridge was under construction.

Still, the collapse sent many cars into the river. A school bus full of children was reportedly on the bridge, but did not fall into the river, though it is believed that some children were injured. Drudge says local media are reporting 20-30 injuries but no deaths, though it’s very early for such assessments.

In case anyone is confused (I certainly was), the “W” in I-35W does not mean “westbound”; the “W” is part of the actual name of the highway. As explained by the I-35W Wikipedia page, “I-35 splits into two branch routes, I-35W and I-35E at Burnsville. I-35W runs north for 39 miles (63 km), carrying its own separate sequence of exit numbers. It runs through Minneapolis before rejoining with I-35E to reform I-35 in Columbus.” I-35W actually has northbound and southbound lanes, both of which fell into the river.

The now-collapsed bridge also has its own Wikipedia page. Here is a Google Maps view of the bridge. And here’s what it looks like now:

The intact bridge above and to the right of the collapsed bridge in the picture is the Cedar Avenue Bridge; it is not part of the freeway.

The Star-Tribune has much more; here are links to the main story and the photo gallery.

UPDATE, 8:59 PM EDT: Fox News says at least 3 people have died.

UPDATE, 9:12 PM EDT: I just noticed I now can’t access either the Star-Tribune article or photo gallery, because I’m not a “member” of their site. They were working before, but aren’t now. I just wrote them a nasty feedback e-mail, titled “Disable registration requirement during crisis!”:

Are you a newspaper or a profit engine? For the love of all that is holy in journalism, temporarily disable your registration requirement, at least for those articles relating to the bridge collapse. Otherwise you are rendering yourselves completely irrelevant to the coverage of this national breaking-news story in your own city. What a disgrace.

UPDATE, 9:17 PM EDT: And the thunder rolls. Though luckily, it appears the heaviest weather will stay just northeast of downtown.

UPDATE, 9:28 PM EDT: I just wrote an e-mail to former Star-Tribune columnist James Lileks, now the editor of the S-T’s buzz.mn, reading in part:

I’m e-mailing because I was wondering if you could shed any light on the Star-Tribune’s registration policy vis a vis the bridge collapse. Less than an hour ago, I was able to view the photo gallery and article about the bridge collapse, even as a non-”member” of the Star-Tribune site. Now, when I click the links that were working previously, I see a registration wall, asking me to become a member. … [B]ecause I was initially able to access the relevant articles but now suddenly can’t, I’m wondering whether they actually expanded the registration wall to specifically cover these articles, because they knew they’d be in high demand? If so, that would be REALLY disgraceful. But I don’t want to jump to conclusions; maybe non-member browsers are always allowed a certain number of freebie pageviews before the “wall” kicks in, or something? Anyway, I was just wondering if you could shed any light on the situation, as an insider who has nevertheless been willing to criticize the Star-Tribune in the past, when they deserved it.

Naturally, Lileks’s buzz.mn has no registration wall.

UPDATE, 9:39 PM EDT: Metroblogging Minneapolis has more.

UPDATE, 10:23 PM EDT: Six dead, according to buzz.mn.

FINAL UPDATE, 1:07 AM EDT: The death toll is now at 7. May they rest in peace.

A couple more photos, before I go to bed, from slide.com via buzz.mn:

It hasn’t been a good day in aviation today. The pilot of a WWII P-51 Mustang was killed when his plane collided with another Mustang after finishing a performance at an air show in Wisconsin. Meanwhile in Phoenix, two news helicopters collided in mid-air, killing all four people aboard (two each) while covering a police chase.