Former Los Angeles Lakers center and NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday in Washington, DC as she named him a Global Cultural Ambassador. With this new title, Kareem will travel the world promoting education and racial tolerance, which is a very nice way of saying he’ll show up to places and ask kids if they want to see him dunk.

Kareem was selected by Clinton for her “Smart Power” initiative, because she believes that he will “engage young people worldwide” and young people everywhere responded, “Shaq? Oh, it’s not Shaq? Why isn’t it Shaq?”

He will make his first official trip Sunday when he travels to Brazil for a number of events centering on education.

“I look forward to meeting with young people all over the world and discussing ways in which we can strengthen our understanding of one another through education, through sports and through greater cultural tolerance,” he said.

(Via ABC News)

Jokes aside, I think this is fantastic. Most people don’t hear about Kareem’s efforts because he’s not a current, hip name, but he has done so much to promote the history and cultural significance of African-Americans as inventors and educators – specifically with his book, “What Color is My World?” – so this is truly an outstanding selection by Clinton.

Also, any reference of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar means I get to post one of my favorite movie clips of all-time, so here’s to hoping that he’s appointed to many more positions in the future.

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German Nerd Dog says, "YOU VEEL STOODY!"

When you look at the state of colleges and universities in America, the conversation almost always turns to sports. On any given week, the headlines will be about whether or not student athletes deserve to be paid or if the government should be involved with eliminating the BCS in favor of a playoff system. Hell, this week is simply being dominated by the news of Joe Paterno’s resignation after 45 years as head coach at Penn State because his former defensive coordinator allegedly sexually abused young boys. Obviously, I’m not saying that isn’t huge news, but it just goes to show that we constantly neglect the true importance of college – an education.

Thankfully, Germany knows that education is the key to success. After all, why is all of Europe turning to Germany for economic help now? Is it because Germany is full of billionaires? Sure, that helps. But it’s also full of nerds, who spend more time studying than worrying about which conference their school’s team is going to join. And to help spread educational awareness, 24 students from the Technical University in Dresden made a calendar to show off their brains. And yes, I mean they almost got naked.

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Always related.

I’ve never been much of a paintball enthusiast, what with my naturally soft and sensitive skin and my hatred of sweating, but I’ve always been able to appreciate the almost religious enthusiasm that people show for it as a sport. And you can argue that it’s not a sport, but it involves running, strategy, cool equipment and, best of all, shooting people in the heads, so it qualifies as a sport in my book. Plus, if I can play with the cast of The Wire, then it’s obviously awesome.

With that said, for the past 14 years, people have flocked to Oklahoma on June 6 to honor D-Day, when the Allied Forces stormed German-occupied France and really made Hitler soil his lederhosen. What started as a tribute by 135 paintballers has turned into an event that draws more than 15,000.

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