News for today's 2018

Butlers Chocolate & Coffee Shop

9:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

I met a friend for coffee in Butler's this morning.    Their coffee is strong and great tasting but even better than their coffee is their chocolates!!  My friend and I sampled a Praline Butter, a milk truffle, a Baileys cream and the nicest a coffee cream.    If you are looking for good Irish chocolate I don't think you can go wrong with Butler's - they even sell good quality cooking chocolate.   As far as I know Butler's Chocolate have just opened their latest concession in Dubai! <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLGe1KdhzxS7feGvsay0xbZ6qTtYkw0FRWrSgqzs8ELXi0DT_uwREbNkAVeRVxmhNOJF2_wYid5zuVQZesJxfOSTbt66hYD0mcR93_MXhMniHKwv1PC4Wc6QWHs7BaFUqseG4E15daxJM/s640/blogger-image--1767108829.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLGe1KdhzxS7feGvsay0xbZ6qTtYkw0FRWrSgqzs8ELXi0DT_uwREbNkAVeRVxmhNOJF2_wYid5zuVQZesJxfOSTbt66hYD0mcR93_MXhMniHKwv1PC4Wc6QWHs7BaFUqseG4E15daxJM/s640/blogger-image--1767108829.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67UFZlxtXytufgdBA0U467wYV1fPvgn11YQy0QkMJzLVcgSl6v1-ket-4nuIAWlyPly_PxbUVHMQMzhGu31s1rEY9Leyc2b3AV-osKG4DJHEwnH7s9iWB9wWbl-DzgW4aQsPkvD6Aakik/s640/blogger-image--1905689272.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67UFZlxtXytufgdBA0U467wYV1fPvgn11YQy0QkMJzLVcgSl6v1-ket-4nuIAWlyPly_PxbUVHMQMzhGu31s1rEY9Leyc2b3AV-osKG4DJHEwnH7s9iWB9wWbl-DzgW4aQsPkvD6Aakik/s640/blogger-image--1905689272.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUWkGUH1fnoS48mMvRoGrNCp9OPcAaDG8KSB4G1EXe_iG5iGroOgIEltw-5zm4bUqFfDR1rfdycObABd9KITQmIZVFdp-evdDIs4BqL7UVTkRVJFxIEJ-hAOyzwFR_Dfx4NPbWRP_irBp/s640/blogger-image--326892050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUWkGUH1fnoS48mMvRoGrNCp9OPcAaDG8KSB4G1EXe_iG5iGroOgIEltw-5zm4bUqFfDR1rfdycObABd9KITQmIZVFdp-evdDIs4BqL7UVTkRVJFxIEJ-hAOyzwFR_Dfx4NPbWRP_irBp/s640/blogger-image--326892050.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgagH8aQ28ARU3OSNcKPVVH1-oy3uB7MSJKDqjkQQqhUpNxrWj23E8VG2uCOfND8TTGQeQQTW_FAnKYFLA3LVWux6jSIp-jfU-qmEkYxuUtiBS2S81FP2pDNx589NSLiUZTCueoOHdLOi4n/s640/blogger-image--1468398993.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgagH8aQ28ARU3OSNcKPVVH1-oy3uB7MSJKDqjkQQqhUpNxrWj23E8VG2uCOfND8TTGQeQQTW_FAnKYFLA3LVWux6jSIp-jfU-qmEkYxuUtiBS2S81FP2pDNx589NSLiUZTCueoOHdLOi4n/s640/blogger-image--1468398993.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyGkABNX-d1YaFbhyphenhyphenzPta31R1kLtm2BkuS8KC4ONynnjaaXbdw-lFNAV2VC6gGbF5jzqFa2vaJs-2NAQT9ojSEkathYKQ-lohlnnitz8kc8EI36zV0Jbivo4DYG1iSOs4oNkenUr8l-3G/s640/blogger-image-791252999.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyGkABNX-d1YaFbhyphenhyphenzPta31R1kLtm2BkuS8KC4ONynnjaaXbdw-lFNAV2VC6gGbF5jzqFa2vaJs-2NAQT9ojSEkathYKQ-lohlnnitz8kc8EI36zV0Jbivo4DYG1iSOs4oNkenUr8l-3G/s640/blogger-image-791252999.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUsXm4-QDq38g1aUSRMaEZkPrGZOSadYcNPjnv6mUh_GEobxIIb2HISvCp8_DibQSXezZsV2U58xrewG4vSv61YT7TJHKuUqnyY98gG-19nkaRK3vBpxR5wuIaiC4yku7xuHs0I-u04pi/s640/blogger-image--268556843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUsXm4-QDq38g1aUSRMaEZkPrGZOSadYcNPjnv6mUh_GEobxIIb2HISvCp8_DibQSXezZsV2U58xrewG4vSv61YT7TJHKuUqnyY98gG-19nkaRK3vBpxR5wuIaiC4yku7xuHs0I-u04pi/s640/blogger-image--268556843.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1zlxo7sTISunxBxpOZbP9KB2MWLvajGRB2T31weHB90c-EKpxHkb8H6WJj3yRW-pIm5xEJvkq_MjR3dWxTxnusWulp0-hiq1j6aFwodWkGAEW6bqqOk89rEM_mcSks5YXjgnQB6p5ykVu/s640/blogger-image-603776032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1zlxo7sTISunxBxpOZbP9KB2MWLvajGRB2T31weHB90c-EKpxHkb8H6WJj3yRW-pIm5xEJvkq_MjR3dWxTxnusWulp0-hiq1j6aFwodWkGAEW6bqqOk89rEM_mcSks5YXjgnQB6p5ykVu/s640/blogger-image-603776032.jpg" /></a></div>

Butlers Chocolate & Coffee Shop

I met a friend for coffee in Butler's this morning. Their coffee is strong and great tasting but even better than their coffee is the...

We've got Gap!

8:09 AM Tukiyooo 0

A new Gap story has just opened in the Westend Mall in Blanchardstown Centre. How exciting!    My friend recently had a baby boy so I took a visit to Gap to get a present.  I got the cutest little hoodie! <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkucEZ5OPPtAJsHYTKVsIdhdEQsiBE2lHpHoiY4AGjWABEzDZnQcCwbkgzxsjjCTnz5FaOova52NaOQLYePDzmBg-GkjMDphgSpBHZywi9G3zjLUUoor2hMOPvVD9vX_S-gzid3Es2xG7d/s640/blogger-image-1121222270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkucEZ5OPPtAJsHYTKVsIdhdEQsiBE2lHpHoiY4AGjWABEzDZnQcCwbkgzxsjjCTnz5FaOova52NaOQLYePDzmBg-GkjMDphgSpBHZywi9G3zjLUUoor2hMOPvVD9vX_S-gzid3Es2xG7d/s640/blogger-image-1121222270.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGz79PpykX1kJUXfGWXDFHBjUyvg1Q2QmxExiPJIh6D9nOULJb0OFyFNsEnd6l8MfYFP5dRVaWZIxRU6mWHMANm9yp4sEX0DQUA1WQS651ScTBMabcmT2p66fmcTy4e4LvqX3mrDOI85l/s640/blogger-image--1451442597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGz79PpykX1kJUXfGWXDFHBjUyvg1Q2QmxExiPJIh6D9nOULJb0OFyFNsEnd6l8MfYFP5dRVaWZIxRU6mWHMANm9yp4sEX0DQUA1WQS651ScTBMabcmT2p66fmcTy4e4LvqX3mrDOI85l/s640/blogger-image--1451442597.jpg" /></a></div>

We've got Gap!

A new Gap story has just opened in the Westend Mall in Blanchardstown Centre. How exciting! My friend recently had a baby boy so I took a...

Projects Before Baby Arrives

7:32 AM Tukiyooo 0

I have a few things that I want to accomplish before the baby arrives. <br /><br /><b>1. Daycare:</b> Many have warned us that we have to start as soon as possible in order to get ourselves on the waiting lists.  Just like I did with wedding planning, I'm procrastinating hardcore on this task.  It just seems complicated - choosing the right childcare for our kid, and hoping that you're getting your money's worth for the care they provide.  We're also in an unusual position where we won't necessarily ever need childcare a full 5 days/week.  I know that daycares don't allow you to pick and choose, so we're also considering a nanny.  Decisions, decisions.<br /><br /><b>2. Knitting:</b> I've always wanted to learn how to knit and what better time than now?  Especially since I'm not currently taking nursing classes, I have much more free time.  My neighbor, Amelia, got me started with the basic knit stitch, and so I've decided to proceed with that - constructing a lavender baby blanket for the little lady.  So far I have just 5 squares done.  It takes me forever!  Amelia has promised to help me stitch the squares together once I'm ready.  I have 35 more squares to go - I hope I can make it in time!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0m5AdrV0yqKRTbs3HgYAbBOy1y_ftOcIosA19Bw-b19yePcOZ7xeXxH2d0C3-ftUq8BAjPvns7PG1NNHuiyuI579KfXaT_SEXWqbutsxQaiweEbrGN6E2j0zGU3HB70459cCneRkR2Y0/s1600/knitting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0m5AdrV0yqKRTbs3HgYAbBOy1y_ftOcIosA19Bw-b19yePcOZ7xeXxH2d0C3-ftUq8BAjPvns7PG1NNHuiyuI579KfXaT_SEXWqbutsxQaiweEbrGN6E2j0zGU3HB70459cCneRkR2Y0/s400/knitting.jpg" usa="true" width="300" /></a></div><br />I hope to work up to <a href="http://www.nothankstocake.com/" target="_blank">Kelly's</a> level where I can actually read/follow a pattern and do more than just a simple baby blanket.<br /><b>3. Getting rid of stuff:</b>  We've been diligently cleaning out our spare bedroom (and the whole condo!) to convert it into a nursery.  So far we've made great progress, but there are still some big ticket items that need to go.  I've listed our old desk on Craigslist, and I have an entire Rubbermaid tote FILLED with books I've already read.  Those have been <a href="http://shops.half.ebay.com/hilaryjp248_W0QQmZbooks" target="_blank">listed on Half.com</a>. (Most of them are super cheap too - just 75 cents!)<br /><br /><b>4. Nursery Furniture:</b>  We already have the <a href="http://www.walmart.com/ip/Graco-Stanton-4-in-Convertible-Crib-Your-Choice-Finish-and-Kolcraft-Mattress-Set/23133666" target="_blank">crib</a>, but we need to get the remaining furniture.  I'm not big on changing tables - they just don't seem like a practical piece of furniture - so I'd prefer to get a 6-drawer dresser that can serve as both the changing table and dresser.  Still, it's hard to find a 6-drawer dresser that isn't more than $500.  We're not trying to invest too much into this furniture, since we will be moving again sometime in the future, and who knows how many more times, and I don't want to have anything super nice that will just get knocked around in future moves. <br /><br /><b>5. Photography: </b> I've always had an interest in photography, but now that I have a DSLR I really want to take full advantage of all it can do.  I took an online class last summer via a LivingSocial deal (it was so-so), but I want to do more.  I have a photography book I want to get through, as well as tackle some more techniques in both Photoshop and Lightroom.  I like taking pictures of people, not scenes or objects, so it's been kind of tough finding people to practice on.  BUT, soon I will have a great subject to practice on and I can't wait :). <br /><br /><strong>6. Financials:</strong>  My parents set me up with a life insurance policy a long time ago, but it wasn't doing so well and they finally cashed it in and gave me the money.  Now that I'm married, Joel and I really need to get a policy established and I'd like to get an education fund started for the baby.  One of the greatest gifts I've ever been given was having my college education paid in full for me thanks to my generous parents!  I want to be able to do the same for my child.  I do welcome input on this area - do you have an investment company that you work with that works well?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: #674ea7;">Do you have any big things you're trying to check off your to-do list between now and when the summer months start?</span></strong>

Baby Busbee Projects Before Baby Arrives

I have a few things that I want to accomplish before the baby arrives. 1. Daycare: Many have warned us that we have to start as soon as pos...

favorite room fun

5:00 AM Anonymous 0

I'm over at <a href="http://sadieandstella.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Sadie + Stella</a> today talking about my favorite room. (three guess which one it is). Go over and <a href="http://sadieandstella.blogspot.com/2013/03/favorite-room-feature-little-black-door.html" target="_blank">check it out</a>. And I swear this will be the last time we all chat about this room for a while.<br /><br />Also, be sure to come back on Friday as I have two big things to share. Literally, they are both large in size...and kinda heavy.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1zinxYV1neDLaJfMERUdzWvn6cHDwAfcksdpQ1Maj8gGvCIm7zVS81fGcF4MLEFLtjuQhO7t13lS4VvHI-vNMjBeFYb9g-d2cRyMYHPjU5hf7D-k4e5BQZK2PDvKeG88ZRZw_8qTJLve0/s1600/S+S+header.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1zinxYV1neDLaJfMERUdzWvn6cHDwAfcksdpQ1Maj8gGvCIm7zVS81fGcF4MLEFLtjuQhO7t13lS4VvHI-vNMjBeFYb9g-d2cRyMYHPjU5hf7D-k4e5BQZK2PDvKeG88ZRZw_8qTJLve0/s400/S+S+header.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />

favorite room fun

I'm over at Sadie + Stella today talking about my favorite room. (three guess which one it is). Go over and check it out . And I swear ...

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 03/27/2013

2:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<ul class="diigo-linkroll">      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://michaelhyatt.com/how-to-get-your-kindle-highlights-into-evernote.html">How to Get Your Kindle Highlights into Evernote | Michael Hyatt</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Very cool way to get your Kindle notes into evernote. I'm going to try this!</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/kindle">kindle</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/app">app</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/evernote">evernote</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/penn-finn-learnings-2013-joe-mazza">Penn-Finn Learnings 2013: A Journey of Inquiry | Edutopia</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">I love this trip that is happening in Finland, especially the transparency. I'm going to be "hanging out" with some of those in Finland in the hangout on Wednesday. You can look at what they are doing and how they are traveling and sharing. I think more information-gathering trips should be this transparent. "Doctoral learners from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education will spend a "week in the schools" -- the schools of Helsinki, that is -- looking at a variety of research areas through the lenses of students, teachers, parents and leaders. These lead learners will use that week to reflect upon where the United States and Finland agree and disagree on core beliefs surrounding teaching, learning and leadership."</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/all_teachers">all_teachers</a></p>                                        </li>  </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='https://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 03/27/2013

How to Get Your Kindle Highlights into Evernote | Michael Hyatt Very cool way to get your Kindle not...

Change is Good, Unless it's Bad

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal">Hola y’all! I’m not one of those people who hates change. I don’t normally dread it or fight it. In fact, I welcome change. Hell, I’ve moved like 20 times total in my life so obviously change isn’t that big of a deal to me. Sometimes I make changes in my life just for the hell of it even. In fact, I’m kind of dying to make all kinds of changes right now. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuY1tjgX2zw_7iIc9u23owQG25VIJ-vT71zVZesEJFPnAZ7ZIrjzpwqqN5K2yoI8y6KULzQWKBEgdwOeHXOiI2EzCroV03BPqJEXNTnwM_EBNJYzccwablGJWm4LskVu2sdcc8TlQYDqc/s1600/change.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuY1tjgX2zw_7iIc9u23owQG25VIJ-vT71zVZesEJFPnAZ7ZIrjzpwqqN5K2yoI8y6KULzQWKBEgdwOeHXOiI2EzCroV03BPqJEXNTnwM_EBNJYzccwablGJWm4LskVu2sdcc8TlQYDqc/s320/change.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Over at IWS Radio we’re always changing. We’ve changed the intro oodles of times and …. AND …. it might be changed again this week. Who knows how many new segments we’ll come up with and then just casually forget to do again stop doing for whatever reason over the next few months? Change is good! Change keeps things fresh! Change keeps us from getting into a rut and just doing the same thing over and over and over. <br />  <div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This week, I was FORCED to change banks. My bank, Bank of America, sold all their branches in my area to Arvest. I was a little bummed by this because this was change I never asked for or wanted. Luckily, it involved little to no action on my part though. The switchover went off without a hitch and now I have a new bank! I get to go into the new branches and check out all the babes working the counter and maybe even take out a loan just for the fun of it. See? Change is good! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Sometimes though, people or companies make changes that just don’t work. Then they try to make it all better by making MORE changes. Worse than that, a lot times their changes are for no reason and have no real plan behind them. This never works out well. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">A great example of bad people who make bad changes all the time is Tumblr. Every single time they make changes, their site becomes less useful. It’s almost as if they do focus groups of Tumblrs to find out what features they like most and then say “Let’s get rid of those features immediately!” Granted I’ve been hating on Tumblr lately, but it just annoys me so much! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Facebook loves to make changes too. I don’t have the NEW Facebook yet. Well, I guess I don’t. The last time they made changes lots of people said they hated it, but I liked it. I like the ticker over on the upper right and easily ignore the ads just to the right of the News Feed. The thing about Facebook’s changes is that they tend to reset everyone’s settings to some default that nobody wants when they make changes. Also, they love to tell me that they “removed” someone from my ticker or feed because I’m not interacting with them much. Yo, big brother, I’ll decide who is on my feed and who isn’t, thank you very much! Also, why do I always have to reset my feed to “Most Recent” several times a day? Haven’t you notice that I do that ALL the time? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But, when it comes to making bad changes, NOBODY beats Twitter! It seems like every change they make sucks. Recently they made the suckiest change of all. They decided to kill TweetDeck. Well, not completely. Very soon TweetDeck will not work as a separate desktop program. It will only work within your browser. Yes, there will still be a TweetDeck, but it won’t be as useful and won’t have all the same features. I get that Twitter can do whatever they want with their products, but I don’t get the theory behind making them less easy and fun to use! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So, my point is, and I do have one, change isn’t bad. Change is something that should be embraced and even done willingly. But, there has to be a plan and it has to be for the better. Lots of software companies seem to forget the “for the better” part. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws">@Jayman_IWS </a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SCHMOOPALICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! </div></div>

Change is Good, Unless it's Bad

Hola y’all! I’m not one of those people who hates change. I don’t normally dread it or fight it. In fact, I welcome change. Hell, I’ve move...

Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light

3:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<img alt="MoMA-Labrouste1.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/MoMA-Labrouste1.jpg" title="Henri Labrouste. Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. 1854–75. View of the reading room. © Georges Fessy" /><br />[Henri Labrouste. Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. 1854–75. View of the reading room. © Georges Fessy]<br /><br />About a week ago I visited the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to check out the exhibition <a href="http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1319"><i>Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light</i></a>, on display in the third floor's special exhibition's gallery until June 24, 2013. The exhibition has received a good deal of attention since it opened in early March, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/14/arts/design/henri-labrouste-at-the-museum-of-modern-art.html">most notably by Michael Kimmelman at the New York Times</a>. Below are some photos I took and some of my impressions on the show, though readers in need of a bit more depth on the exhibition should read Kimmelman's piece.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8558645529/" title="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light" height="437" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8365/8558645529_e2c203a661_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />[Photos by John Hill, unless noted otherwise]<br /><br />MoMA bills the show as "the first solo exhibition of Labrouste’s work in the United States." It took long enough, considering that Labrouste died in 1875. It's not for lack of importance or influence, since the architect's two main projects (really, what he is only known for by most)—the <a href="http://www-bsg.univ-paris1.fr/">Bibliothèque Ste.-Geneviève</a> and the <a href="http://www.bnf.fr/fr/acc/x.accueil.html">Bibliothèque Nationale</a>, both in Paris—were seen as precursors of 20th-century modernism by the likes of Sigfried Giedion in MoMA's early days.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8558646269/" title="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light" height="480" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8518/8558646269_870ae7c983_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The exhibition is curated by MoMA's Barry Bergdoll, with Corinne Bélier of the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine and Marc Le Coeur of the Bibliothèque Nationale, where it was first displayed. Given its location in the third floor galleries, the first impression of the show is not a positive one—visitors must traverse a narrow, linear (and often crowded) gallery that leads to the larger spaces beyond. This first section (above) is being given extra weight by Bergdoll, through his assertion that Labrouste's early restoration studies of Paestum, Italy, "shook up academic dogma," as he says in the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870708392/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0870708392&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">exhibition catalog</a>. The many drawings (and Labrouste's drawing instruments, a nice treat) in the corridor are worth beholding, but they create an arterial clog of sorts in the exhibition that is not relieved until moving through the glass doors at the other end. (The photo of the corridor, above, was taken on my way out, in a slow moment.)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8558646529/" title="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light" height="480" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8226/8558646529_ec2865ff53_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />While the beautiful photos of the two libraries (on top of this post and below my exhibition photos) are the primary means by which the exhibition is being shared in the media, the show is predominantly drawings and a few models. The drawings—many of them watercolors—are astounding, illustrating Labrouste's skill as a delineator but also his thorough working out of details, from stone decoration to structural ironwork to the insertion of modern services into the library. And one of the show's main statements is that Labrouste is an early Modern (with a capital M) architect, due to his use of modern materials (iron, concrete) and systems and the way in which his libraries defined the modern institution.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8559754792/" title="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light" height="800" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8528/8559754792_7b98f2f2c9_c.jpg" width="600" /></a><br /><br />The framing of Labrouste as an early modern architect doesn't necessarily come to the fore in the first of the larger exhibition spaces, pictured above. Drawings are displayed on retro, pseudo-drafting tables. The legs made of wood spheres are a bit goofy, but the surfaces make for comfortable viewing of drawings and even videos (visible in the foreground of the photo above). The post-modern nature of the tables comes across in the fact that many of the drawings do not rest on the rails at the bottom of each table; they are mounted above.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8559755240/" title="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8250/8559755240_02395fe9cb_z.jpg" width="524" /></a><br /><br />Some more historical allusions come in the portal at the beginning of the exhibition and another in a wall separating two of the larger galleries; one side shows his libraries and the other side displays projects of successors influenced by Labrouste. The photo above is looking toward the latter, as if the stacks (the same sort of structural system used at the New York Public Library that Norman Foster and NYPL want to remove) are the most modern aspect of Labrouste's libraries. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8558645923/" title="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light" height="607" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8110/8558645923_686d45b3aa_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />[Model of Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève]<br /><br />To be honest, I always have a hard time keeping the Bibliothèque Ste.-Geneviève and the Bibliothèque Nationale straight. Their designs are quite different, even though they are both grand spaces structured in iron and light—one is a long vaulted space and one is made up of a series of skylit vaults. But remembering which is which has always been hard for me, though don't ask me why. The exhibition will help refresh my learning from undergrad, but of course the value of the show goes well beyond something like this.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8559755908/" title="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light" height="429" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8101/8559755908_74f01bcb28_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />[Model of Bibliothèque Nationale]<br /><br />When I visited MoMA to see the exhibition I ran into a couple professors from my <i>alma mater</i>, Kansas State University. They were part of a school trip that took third-year students from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan,_Kansas">Little Apple</a> to the Big Apple; many of their students were taking in the Labrouste exhibition as we spoke. In hindsight the exhibition is perfect for students: It illustrates a sort of "everything is contemporary at some time" aspect to Labrouste's architecture, while also driving home the importance of hand drawing in conveying ideas and exploring design and construction. The latter may be an increasingly archaic notion, but divorcing hand drawing from architecture doesn't seem right to me.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8559755684/" title="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8234/8559755684_dd736e36af_z.jpg" width="569" /></a><br />[Model of Bibliothèque Nationale]<br /><br />The models are also valuable artifacts for students to see. Sure, they were made much later than Labrouste's drawings, but they do an excellent job of showing the various conditions (structure, services, systems) that are behind and below the surfaces that have rightfully attracted so much attention over the years.<br /><br />For those <i>really</i> interested in Labrouste's libraries, MoMA is hosting (with Columbia GSAPP) a symposium on Thursday: <a href="http://events.gsapp.org/event/revising-labrouste-in-the-digital-age-symposium"><i>Read: Revisiting Labrouste in the Digital Age</i></a>. Participants include Barry Bergdoll, Alberto Kalach, Dominique Perrault, Anthony Vidler, and many others.<br /><br /><img alt="MoMA-Labrouste2.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/MoMA-Labrouste2.jpg" title="Henri Labrouste. Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. 1854–75. View of the reading room. © Georges Fessy" /><br />[Henri Labrouste. Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. 1854–75. View of the reading room. © Georges Fessy]<br /><br /><img alt="MoMA-Labrouste3.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/MoMA-Labrouste3.jpg" title="Henri Labrouste. Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. 1854–75. View of the reading room. © Georges Fessy" /><br />[Henri Labrouste. Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. 1854–75. View of the reading room. © Georges Fessy]<br /><br /><br /><img alt="MoMA-Labrouste4.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/MoMA-Labrouste4.jpg" title="Henri Labrouste. Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. 1854–75. View of the reading room. © Georges Fessy" /><br />[Henri Labrouste. Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. 1854–75. View of the reading room. © Georges Fessy]<br /><br /><img alt="MoMA-Labrouste5.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/MoMA-Labrouste5.jpg" title="Henri Labrouste. Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. 1854–75. View of the reading room. © Georges Fessy" /><br />[Henri Labrouste. Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. 1854–75. View of the reading room. © Georges Fessy]<br /><br /><img alt="MoMA-Labrouste6.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/MoMA-Labrouste6.jpg" title="Henri Labrouste (French, 1801-1875). Imaginary reconstruction of an ancient city. Perspective view. Date unknown. Graphite, pen, ink and watercolor on paper. Académie d’Architecture, Paris" /><br />[Henri Labrouste (French, 1801-1875). Imaginary reconstruction of an ancient city. Perspective view. Date unknown. Graphite, pen, ink and watercolor on paper. Académie d’Architecture, Paris]<br /><br /><img alt="MoMA-Labrouste7.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/MoMA-Labrouste7.jpg" title="Henri Labrouste (1801-1875). Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, 1838-1850. Southwest corner: elevation and section. Late 1850. Pen, ink, graphite, wash and watercolor on paper. Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris" /><br />[Henri Labrouste (1801-1875). Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, 1838-1850. Southwest corner: elevation and section. Late 1850. Pen, ink, graphite, wash and watercolor on paper. Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris]

Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light

[Henri Labrouste. Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. 1854–75. View of the reading room. © Georges Fessy] About a week ago I visited the Museum o...

Wang Shu Lecture

11:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

On April 2 Wang Shu, the 2012 Pritzker Prize winner and partner at <a href="http://www.world-architects.com/amateur/">Amateur Architecture Studio</a>, is speaking at <a href="http://cooper.edu/events-and-exhibitions/events/lecture-2012-pritzker-prize-laureate-wang-shu">The Cooper Union</a>, in a lecture co-sponsored by the Architectural League of New York. See below for more information.<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPn8BS5v-glQjvXf6TlV0iQa9XSAYsMTgR19OpQQsjfFwYRBMMnTKfsH0_qiv7-pjAMJmHRKXB0IQ4Ar_gfk1gKwA0Rs2DpTy78JsUc0H1YsI0p_NKwEbQ_1o57_eLhWGnYoe6ogOCfqb9/s1600/399.jpg" /><br />[ Ningbo History Museum | Photo: Lv Hengzhong] <br /><blockquote><b>Current Work: Wang Shu / Amateur Architecture Studio</b><br /><br />Wang Shu and his wife, Lu Wenyu, founded Amateur Architecture Studio in 1997 in  Hangzhou, China. The name of the office refers to the approach of an  amateur builder—one based on spontaneity, craft skills, and cultural  traditions. In order to learn traditional skills, Wang Shu spent the  early part of his career working on building sites. Rather than looking  toward the West for inspiration, Wang’s work is rooted firmly in the  context of Chinese history and culture. Today the studio incorporates  Wang’s knowledge of everyday techniques to adapt and transform materials  for contemporary projects. The “unique combination of traditional  understanding, experimental building tactics, and intensive research”  has become fundamental to the office’s architectural projects.<br /><br />Some  of his most important built works include the Library of Wenzheng  College, Suzhou University; Ningbo Contemporary Art Museum; the  Xiangshan Campus of the China Academy of Art; and the Ningbo History  Museum.<br /><br />Wang Shu is the <a href="http://www.pritzkerprize.com/laureates/2012">2012 Pritzker Prize</a>  laureate, the first Chinese citizen to receive that honor. He is  Professor and Head of the Architecture School at China Academy of Art,  Hangzhou. In 2011, he became the first Chinese Kenzo Tange Visiting  Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in Cambridge,  Massachusetts.</blockquote>Tickets can be obtained <a href="http://archleague.org/2013/04/wang-shu/">via the Architectural League</a>. For those unable to make it to NYC for this lecture, Wang Shu is also speaking on <a href="http://www.architecture.yale.edu/drupal/events/lectures">April 3 at the Yale School of Architecture</a>.

Wang Shu Lecture

On April 2 Wang Shu, the 2012 Pritzker Prize winner and partner at Amateur Architecture Studio , is speaking at The Cooper Union , in a lect...

Turning Elementary Computer labs into STEM labs: A welcome change?

8:37 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.theann.com/WMBK/1ErvinJarrett.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.theann.com/WMBK/1ErvinJarrett.gif" /></a></div><h3>Elementary STEM Lab Teacher, Kevin Jarrett</h3>Recently, elementary <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.stemedcoalition.org/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="STEM">STEM</a> lab teacher <a href="http://about.me/kjarrett">Kevin Jarrett</a> (@<a href="https://twitter.com/kjarrett">kjarrett</a>) and researcher Dr. Jeremy Irvin (@<a href="http://www.twitter.com/@dr_jeremy_ervin">dr_jeremy_ervin </a>) spent some time sharing the story of the transformation of an elementary computer lab into a STEM lab at Kevin's school on <a href="http://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=91&layout=blog&Itemid=259">my podcast</a>.. They are using the curriculum "<a href="http://www.eie.org/eie/">Engineering is Elementary</a>." What he's doing is powerful and important and I wish every school would follow this model.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogs.ncs-nj.org/k4stemlab/files/2013/03/Untitled2-500x342.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://blogs.ncs-nj.org/k4stemlab/files/2013/03/Untitled2-500x342.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at <a href="http://blogs.ncs-nj.org/k4stemlab/">the blog </a>where Kevin documents learning<br />with his students and communicates needs and<br />objectives with parents.</td></tr></tbody></table><h3>Blogging to share Learning and Lead</h3>Take time to review his <a href="http://blogs.ncs-nj.org/k4stemlab/">NCS Stemlab blog</a> where he shares engineering, math, science, and technology with parents and mobilizes everyone to action. (He says he posts what he needs and almost immediately receives it on his desk the next day.)<br /><br /><h3>How you can listen to the show</h3>Listen to the show "Creative Approaches to Teaching STEM at the Elementary School Level" on <a href="http://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=91&layout=blog&Itemid=259">Every Classroom Matters</a> (BAM Radio Network) <a href="http://www.jackstreet.com/jackstreet/WECM.ErvinJarrettt.cfm">Listen </a> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/every-classroom-matters-cool/id606677009">Itunes  </a>  <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/BAM-Radio-Network/137305499663569?sk=app_2373072738">Comment</a><br /><br />If you want to subscribe via your podcast app (see my <a href="http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-every-classroom-matters-show-and.html">iCatcher tutorial</a>) here's the <a href="http://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=91&layout=blog&Itemid=259&format=feed&type=rss">RSS link</a> to the show.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8382/8489076936_d1e7c9ba77.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8382/8489076936_d1e7c9ba77.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin uses the <a href="http://www.eie.org/eie/">Engineering is Elementary </a>STEM curriculum.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3>How much money did they spend?</h3>They use Google chromebooks and money from a $3,000 grant to get things set up, but besides that, they didn't really spend much money.<br /><br /><h3>Essential Questions</h3>As you take time to <a href="http://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=91&layout=blog&Itemid=259">listen to the show</a>, ask these guiding questions.<br /><br /><ul><li>Does the name "computer lab" restrict what we think we should do in it? </li><li>Is a STEM lab core or enrichment?</li><li>How would implementing a STEM lab at the elementary level impact a school? How did it impact Kevins?</li></ul><br /><br />We need STEM labs not computer labs but remember that the technology is an important component. His kindergartners are using <a class="zem_slink" href="http://docs.google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google Docs">Google Docs</a> and all kinds of technology. If your students transferred to his school, could they keep up? Would they want to go back to your classroom after spending time there? If you're worried with your answers, then, perhaps you should consider being part of the vision of moving forward with STEM in your school.<br /><br />I talked with my curriculum director, headmaster, and a few board members and said if I had one wish for our elementary, it would be a STEM lab for the elementary school.<br />  <div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=0181e6e0-d19a-4018-a4ee-ba32613cb923" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>

Turning Elementary Computer labs into STEM labs: A welcome change?

Elementary STEM Lab Teacher, Kevin Jarrett Recently, elementary STEM lab teacher Kevin Jarrett (@ kjarrett ) and researcher Dr. Jeremy Irv...

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 03/26/2013

2:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<ul class="diigo-linkroll">      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="https://www.diigo.com/list/dgburris/common-core-curriculum-resources">Common Core Curriculum Resources - List | Diigo</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Darren Burris, a math teacher at Boston Collegiate Charter School, has a list of 186 items for Common Core Resources on his Diigo list. He's someone you'll want to follow on Diigo.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/math">math</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/bestpractices">bestpractices</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edu_trends">edu_trends</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/teach-plus/the-quantified-student_b_1975052.html?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonvqXMZKXonjHpfsX56+wlUKO0lMI/0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DTcNnI/qLAzICFpZo2FFMH+6YfZJL6Q==">Teach Plus: The Quantified Student</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Fascinating article from a teacher thriving in the standardized testing environment. Fascinating.  "Last year, working with the same cohort of students (by then fifth graders), I tried to find more learning opportunities that focused on data. We used math websites like TenMarks that enable students to learn about their own learning even as they practice new skills. We analyzed information graphics and dove into ways of presenting numerical information. We explored how numbers shape our understanding of ourselves and the world. And much of their enthusiasm and curiosity for these tasks came out of their interest in numbers from standardized testing.  I've thus come to believe there's a role for standardized testing within education. As a limited portion of a multiple measure evaluation system, it helps teachers understand how well we've taught over the course of a year. It also helps students understand how much they mastered over that year and makes them agents in their own learning."</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/testing">testing</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/data">data</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/math">math</a></p>                                        </li>  </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='https://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 03/26/2013

Common Core Curriculum Resources - List | Diigo Darren Burris, a math teacher at Boston Collegiate C...

Easter is coming!

2:02 AM Tukiyooo 0

Easter is coming and I have 4 blissful days off work over the holiday.  Ciaran is heading to Galway for a tournament. My twin sister is coming to stay with me over the weekend.  We plan to relax in the hot tub, go out for a nice meal and chill out! <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi73frES7a_W8ARtaKzne7Oxl9q1aDtoH1vuBKGb58a8EnjOVuVr5jb0XboS5vPbgnSbPuZnUvGwpnsarfOETvOjB0NMUDTlZ-V3wlUMz2sOofGmEIYXnt5hO4DeiHYHa35kFhH10RxiVzc/s640/blogger-image-604714540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi73frES7a_W8ARtaKzne7Oxl9q1aDtoH1vuBKGb58a8EnjOVuVr5jb0XboS5vPbgnSbPuZnUvGwpnsarfOETvOjB0NMUDTlZ-V3wlUMz2sOofGmEIYXnt5hO4DeiHYHa35kFhH10RxiVzc/s640/blogger-image-604714540.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-WKJhsHSbnY8fF9g31fJ08vZvBoL8aMmurMDBC_Ffis2KwifhtfvCfw_IX0utXT0j21hvE4OXssgTe5b3v5foiPSCXrk6DueqHRAfNTJQzOZKdr-TcVG9fnKh5VbNQuIMrMDb5aD8pVu/s640/blogger-image-48097066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-WKJhsHSbnY8fF9g31fJ08vZvBoL8aMmurMDBC_Ffis2KwifhtfvCfw_IX0utXT0j21hvE4OXssgTe5b3v5foiPSCXrk6DueqHRAfNTJQzOZKdr-TcVG9fnKh5VbNQuIMrMDb5aD8pVu/s640/blogger-image-48097066.jpg" /></a></div>

Easter is coming!

Easter is coming and I have 4 blissful days off work over the holiday. Ciaran is heading to Galway for a tournament. My twin sister is comi...

Florida Gulf Coast University Coach Andy Enfield Has Basketball Success, Supermodel Wife

9:57 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><iframe height="221" id="kaltura_player_1364273784" src="http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/0_c8r2mcrq/uiconf_id/3775332/st_cache/41432?referer=http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/place-bets-march-madness-lottery-lunacy-18794556&autoPlay=false&addThis.playerSize=392x221&freeWheel.siteSectionId=nws_offsite&closedCaptionActive=true&" style="border: 0px solid #ffffff;" width="392">Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.</iframe> <div style="font-size: x-small; margin-top: 0; text-align: left;"><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/video">Watch More News Videos at ABC</a>  |   <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/technology">Technology News</a>  |   <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/entertainment">Celebrity News</a><br /><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px;">Florida Gulf Coast head coach, Andy Enfield, and his wife, Amanda Marcum Enfield, a former Maxim model, have gained notoriety during Florida Gulf Coast's cinderally run during the NCAA basketball tournament. </span><span class="caption_credit" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #888888; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">(Rob Carr; Elsa/Getty Images)</span><br /><span class="caption_credit" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #888888; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span><br /><div id="date_partner" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; height: 32px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 150px; min-height: 30px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 490px;"></div><div class="byline_date" style="float: left; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 490px;"><div class="byline_date_inner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 485px;"><div class="byline" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">By <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/author/alyssa_newcomb" rel="author" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">ALYSSA NEWCOMB</a> (<a href="http://twitter.com/alyssanewcomb" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@alyssanewcomb</a>)</div><div class="date" style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px;">March 25, 2013</div></div></div><br /><div id="sponsoredByAd" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; left: 430px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 0px; text-align: right; top: 434px;"><span id="sponsoredbylogo1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span id="_fw_container_sponsoredbylogo1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Florida Gulf Coast University basketball coach Andy Enfield's team has risen from oblivion to become the darlings of the NCAA tournament while his supermodel wife cheers them on from the stands.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">As if that wasn't enough, the 43-year-old coach of the South Florida school has spent time in the NBA and is a former basketball star at Johns Hopkins University.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Oh, and he's a self-made millionaire, too.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"I aim for the stars," Enfield told reporters Friday, the same day<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/florida-gulf-coast-stuns-georgetown-78-68-18794978" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"> his team routed Georgetown</a>, which had come into the tournament as the No. 2 seed and boasted the league's coach and player of the year.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">On Sunday, the Cinderella story continued when the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles beat San Diego State 81-71, becoming the first No. 15 seed in the 75-year history of the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/03/21/march-madness-signals-more-vasectomies/" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament</a> to score a coveted spot in the Sweet 16.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">For a school of 13,000 students in its second year of eligibility for the NCAA tournament, some may call it a stroke of luck. For Enfield, it was all part of the plan.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"We don't take ourselves too seriously,'' Enfield told reporters after Friday's game. "We try to have fun, get serious when we have to."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"Our goal was to make history and we did it," he said.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Enfield's Supermodel Wife</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Not only has Enfield's team turning heads, but so is his wife, supermodel Amanda Marcum, who has graced the covers of Maxim and Vogue, to name a few, and has walked runways for Chanel and Jean Paul Gaultier.</div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_image_feature" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Image]&lid=view[Image]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="PHOTO: Florida Gulf Coast head coach, Andy Enfield, and his wife, Amanda Marcum Enfield, a former Maxim model, have gained notoriety during Florida Gulf Coast's cinderally run during the NCAA basketball tournament." border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/gty_andy_amanda_enfield_mi_130325_wg.jpg" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5px; padding: 0px;" title="" width="199" /><span class="image_icon" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/icons/image_icon_35x35.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 73px; width: 35px;"></span></a></div><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="photo_credit" style="color: #aaaaaa; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: right;">Rob Carr; Elsa/Getty Images</div><div class="photo_caption" style="margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">Florida Gulf Coast head coach, Andy Enfield,... <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Image]&lid=view[Image]" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">View Full Size</a></div></div></div></div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_1" style="background-color: white; 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font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">Bill Gates' New Challenge: Build a Better Condom <a class="open" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Watch Video</a></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Introduced by a friend, the 5-foot-10, blonde haired, green-eyed Marcum hitched a ride with Enfield from Manhattan to Boston in 2003 to watch her beloved Oklahoma State Cowboys play in a second-round NCAA game.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"I thought he looked like a great driver that would give me a free ride," she told the <a href="http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/apr/29/fgcu-basketball-coach-enfield-model-amanda-marcum/" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="external"">Naples Daily News</a> in 2011 after her husband was named head coach at Florida Gulf Coast University.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">The two hit it off, and on their first date, Enfield, who is nine years older than Marcum, took her to a St. John's National Invitation Tournament game. Unfamiliar with restaurants in the Queens area, Enfield took his date to Taco Bell in the student union.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"I got her a nice burrito, and we sat behind the bench," Enfield told<a href="http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/greg-logan/florida-gulf-coast-coach-andy-enfield-a-model-for-optimism-1.4883030" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"> Newsday</a>. "I figured if she still likes me after Taco Bell and a basketball game ..."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Six months later, the couple was engaged.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Making Millions in Manhattan</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">After a college basketball career at Johns Hopkins, Enfield earned a master of business administration degree from Maryland and began working as a shooting consultant for NBA players, capitalizing on his record as one of the best free throw shooters in NCAA history.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Enfield's roster and expertise got him jobs in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">But in 2000, Enfield decided to shift gears.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">He moved to Manhattan and developed AllNetShooting.com, which offers shooting consultations, camps and training materials.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">He also pursued an entrepreneurship opportunity alongside two partners that he felt was too good to pass up.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Together, they built Tractmanager, an information management system for health care contracts, and made millions.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">The private company is now mostly based in Chattanooga, Tenn., and employees between 100 and 250 people, according to Zoom Info.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Tractmanager has not released its profits, but Enfield, a minority owner, told the Naples Daily News in 2012 that the company is a "market leader, by far."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">When Enfield, a millionaire, married his supermodel bride in 2004, it may have seemed as though he had it all. But the kid who grew up shooting hoops with his dad, a junior high school and high school coach, in Shippensburg, Pa., just couldn't shake his desire to be around basketball full-time.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">So he went back to the sport he loves.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Enfield and Marcum had a young daughter, Aila, when he joined the staff at Florida State in 2006 as an assistant coach. He found college hoops more conducive to family life and he quickly made his mark.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">During his five-year tenure , Enfield helped lead Florida State University to three consecutive NCAA tournaments, including a run in the Sweet 16 in 2011.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">ESPN Magazine took notice, naming him one of "Five Super Assistant Coaches in College Basketball."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">He also added to his family with a daughter, Lily, and, later, a son, Marcum.</div><div style="background-color: white; 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font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Watch Video</a></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Enfield's youth, experience and success was noticed by Florida Gulf Coast University athletic director Ken Kavanagh.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">On March 31, 2011, days after Marcum was born, Enfield was named the second basketball coach ever at the university, which was established in 1991 but didn't hold its first classes until 1997.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"We look forward to him providing energized daily leadership to our student athletes, quickly getting engaged with our growing fan base and rapidly putting us in pursuit of the upper echelon of the Atlantic Sun Conference and beyond," Kavanagh said at the time.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">It's only his second season, but it's fair to say Enfield has done that and more -- taking Florida Gulf Coast University from an unknown and turning it into a household name and the biggest Cinderella story the NCAA has ever seen.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">The Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles will face off next against the University of Florida Gators on March 29.</div><br /></div></div>

Florida Gulf Coast University Florida Gulf Coast University Coach Andy Enfield Has Basketball Success, Supermodel Wife

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Minnesota fires Tubby Smith after six seasons

9:52 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="asset-metabar-wrap" style="clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin: 20px 0px 23px 70px;"><div class="asset-metabar" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(230, 230, 230); display: table-cell; margin: 20px 0px 0px; width: 888px;"><span class="asset-metabar-time asset-metabar-item nobyline" style="border: 0px; color: #999999; float: left; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; line-height: 14px; margin: 6px 0px 5px; padding: 2px 10px; position: relative;">7:21p.m. EDT March 25, 2013</span></div></div><div class="asset-double-wide double-wide" itemprop="articleBody" role="main" style="color: #222222; float: left; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; position: relative; width: 600px;"><div class="article-metadata-wrap" style="float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 30px 0px 60px; position: relative; z-index: 1;"><aside class="single-photo expandable-collapsed" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 20px; position: relative; width: 180px; z-index: 100;"><div class="image-wrap" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-shadow: rgb(200, 200, 200) 1px 1px 5px; cursor: pointer; padding: 3px; position: relative;"><img alt="tubby-smith-3-25" class="expand-img-horiz" itemprop="url" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/03/25/ap-ncaa-minnesota-florida-basketball-4_3_r536_c534.jpg?1b79b3da202957124496e3768cfb7b67cdb10c81" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 131px; vertical-align: middle;" /><span class="toggle" style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/sprites/asset-sprite.png?1362424877); background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; bottom: 0px; height: 21px; position: absolute; right: 0px; width: 21px; z-index: 200;"></span></div><div class="image-credit-wrap" style="color: #646464; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 6px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px;"><span class="credit" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 400;">(Photo: Eric Gay, AP)</span></div></aside><div class="article-metadata" style="position: relative;"><aside class="comp story-highlights " style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 0px 0px 20px; min-height: 60px; position: relative; width: 180px; z-index: 1;"><h3 class="hlts" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #999999; font-family: 'Futura Today Bold', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px auto; text-transform: uppercase;">STORY HIGHLIGHTS</h3><ul class="hlt" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; left: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; z-index: 0;"><li class="hlt-item" style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png?1362424877); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #646464; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">Smith led Minnesota to the NCAA tournament three times in his six seasons</li><li class="hlt-item" style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png?1362424877); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #646464; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">He won the 1998 national championship as the head coach at Kentucky</li><li class="hlt-item" style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png?1362424877); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; color: #646464; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">Minnesota's athletic director said it was time for a "fresh set of eyes" on the program</li></ul></aside></div></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota fired Tubby Smith on Monday, cutting ties with the veteran coach one day after the Golden Gophers lost to Florida in the NCAA tournament.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Athletics director Norwood Teague announced the decision Monday and said it was time for a "fresh set of eyes" on the program.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Smith was 124-81 (.610) in six seasons at Minnesota, helping to bring the program back to respectability and ramping up expectations for a team hit hard by an academic cheating scandal.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>GOLDEN GOPHERS: </b><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/tourney/2013/03/24/florida-gators-minnesota-gophers-mike-rosario-march-madness-ncaa-tournament/2016085/" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;" title="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/tourney/2013/03/24/florida-gators-minnesota-gophers-mike-rosario-march-madness-ncaa-tournament/2016085/">Knocked out by Florida</a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>BRACKET: </b><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaab/bracket/2013/" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;" title="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaab/bracket/2013/">Full NCAA tournament bracket</a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Smith won 20 games five times. But he went just 46-62 in Big Ten play and never finished higher than sixth in the conference. The Gophers made three NCAA tournament appearances under Smith. They beat UCLA this year before losing on Sunday.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"Tubby has had a long and distinguished career and we feel it's time for a fresh set of eyes for our student-athletes and our program in general," Teague said. "We are grateful to Tubby and his entire staff for their hard work and dedication to this university, our students and the entire Minnesota community."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>ALSO FIRED: </b><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2013/03/24/ucla-fires-coach-ben-howland-after-tumultuous-tenure/2014125/" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;" title="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2013/03/24/ucla-fires-coach-ben-howland-after-tumultuous-tenure/2014125/">UCLA breaks up with Ben Howland</a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Smith, 61, was welcomed with wild enthusiasm when he left powerhouse Kentucky in 2007, hailed as the savior to a program that Dan Monson was never able to raise back out of the abyss created from a the academic fraud that ended up wiping out the team's Final Four appearance in 1997.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Smith won 20 games his first season and took the team to the NCAA tournament the following year, restoring some sense of pride to a team that at one time was the most popular draw in the Twin Cities.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">But the success seemed to level off after that. The Gophers made the tournament again in 2010, missed it in 2011 and settled for an NIT bid last year as fans started to grow impatient.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"I want to thank the University of Minnesota and the people of Minnesota for giving me the opportunity to lead the Golden Gopher basketball program for six years," Smith said in a statement provided by the school. "Our staff did things the right way and will leave knowing that the program is in far better shape than when we arrived."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">This year's team started off 15-1 and rose as high as No. 8, with wins over Michigan State, Illinois and Memphis during that run. But they quickly came back down to earth, losing seven of 10 games in Big Ten play and squeaking into the tournament as a No. 11 seed thanks in large part to a late-season win over then-No. 1 Indiana at home.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">The Gophers handled UCLA in the second round of the tournament only to be thumped by Florida in the next round. A common refrain from fans was that the players, and the team, never seemed to improve as the season went on, instead either stagnating or regressing. The Gophers never finished with a Big Ten record above .500 and finished in seventh place or worse four times in his six seasons.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Undaunted, Smith always pointed to his reputation for running a clean program and the empty cupboard he inherited when he arrived. He has long been lobbying for a practice facility and improvements to historic, but outdated, Williams Arena and has said the lack of investment in the facilities have led to some setbacks in recruiting.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"I don't apologize or I don't defend anything," Smith said last week. "We do the best we can. We do a good job. That's why we're NCAA bound."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">The decision to part with a big-name coach after a rare tournament victory for the program is a bold one for Teague, who is in his second year on the job. It requires a cash-strapped athletic department to raise $2.5 million for Smith's buyout.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">With a bevy of highly touted recruits in the state, Teague is acting quickly partially to give a replacement time to forge relationships with high school players including Apple Valley point guard Tyus Jones, one of the most sought-after juniors in the country.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Teague and his top assistant, Mike Ellis, are considered to be plugged in to the college basketball world and are believed to have a strong list of candidates to replace Smith at the ready.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Teague came to Minnesota from Virginia Commonwealth, and it has been speculated almost since his arrival that he would eventually bring Shaka Smart with him. But Smart may have higher profile suitors waiting for him as well with openings already at UCLA and USC.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Other names that could come up are former Timberwolves coach and Golden Gopher alumnus Flip Saunders, Villanova's Jay Wright and Marquette's Buzz Williams.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>VIDEO: PREVIEWING SOUTH REGIONAL GAMES</b></div><aside class="video comp" style="clear: left; float: left; height: 304px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 60px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: 540px; z-index: 1;"><img alt="" class="videoStill" height="304" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/v2/brightcove/videos.usatoday.net/Brightcove2/29906170001/2013/03/29906170001_2253060986001_video-still-for-video-2253032642001_r542_c540x304.jpg?436a289f03cde4e0ed45f12ec0d66270cf41bc9a" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; max-width: 100%; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; z-index: 0;" width="540" /><em style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></aside></div></div>

Tubby Smith Minnesota fires Tubby Smith after six seasons

7:21p.m. EDT March 25, 2013 (Photo: Eric Gay, AP) STORY HIGHLIGHTS Smith led Minnesota to the NCAA tournament three times in his six seasons...