I do not often to go to Akron, even though I do have family that lives near there - thankfully, it's not like they're on campus! And I have to say, I remembered Saturday night why I don't go to Akron more often: it takes forever to get there. Seriously! It's something like 45 minutes to an hour away from Cleveland, but let me tell you, it felt much longer.

But I had a big plan! Sidekick Girl had gotten hired to do a gig at Max McQ's bar, billiards, poker and apparently stand-up comedy club, and as a valiant friend, I wanted to support her. So I also dragged along another friend Kathleen, and we all sucked it up and bundled up and headed out to Akron. Max McQ's, I found out, is in a quaint area of Akron called the Valley, and I'm not going to lie - I still don't really know what that means. What does it mean? How much of a valley are we talking about here? I think it's because it's part of the larger Cuyahoga valley region, but I can't find this out for sure. Any Akron residents reading, please enlighten me. But surprisingly, Max McQ's had great martinis (and the drinks were so big, they were called maxtinis on the menu), and the comics worked hard against the poker game in one part of the room, basketball games on tv, and the lure of the pool tables next door. Rough.

So after a rousing hour or so of comedy at Max McQ's, we were still alert and looking for fun. So we did what all twenty-somethings in Akron do: we went downtown, towards the University, and hit the street of bars! We ended up at Thursday's Lounge, which had dancing. And while it took a really long time to fill up (what else was going on on a Friday night in Akron?! I kid!), the DJ had great choices and it was nice to kind of just get and shake it up while not wearing a giant winter coat.

Akron, I apologize. I assumed that with an hour's drive, there was nothing fun there! I was so wrong.

If you're a history buff like I am, and obviously connected to the internet if you're reading this right now, you should take a trip over to Youngstown State University's Oral History Digital Program, where you can download transcripts of over eleven hundred oral accounts given by Northeastern Ohians since 1974. The histories recorded span subjects such as the World Wars, Vietnam, Immigrant Cultures, the steel industry before and after it settled and abandoned the Youngstown-Warren region of Ohio, the Holocaust, religion, and so much more.

I've read through a great many of the oral history transcripts myself, trying to familiarize myself with the region in which I grew up. You'd be surprised how much you don't know about where you come from. So take a dip into your heritage, and see if you can't find out some of the reasons why Northeastern Ohio is what it is today.

• Miami of Ohio, 38th for residents, 38th for non-residents
• Ohio State: 62nd for residents, 79th for non-residents

I was reading the New York Times article on Jim Tressel and the bizarre dichotomy between his sterling behavior and the not-so-sterling behavior of his players, and it mentioned a great statistic: how many Ohioans would vote Jim Tressel in as a major politician, based solely on his performance as the head coach at OSU. Quite a few, is the response. (Exact number?) I can't really blame them; I'm from Berea where the Tressels are from (I once had his brother as a teacher in sixth grade; and there is a Tressel street), so we love the Tressels without question.

But I'm also a Clevelander, and so here's my thought: who would win in a political race between LeBron James and Jim Tressel? That is a tough question. You have LeBron "King" James, bringing the Cavs and Cleveland's sports back into the national spotlight (sportlight?). He's young, he's energetic, and he'd obviously be able to get the entire youth vote. But what about Jim? Been around for a while, also getting national recognition for his team. A little more of a leader (corralling young football players year-round has got to be good for leadership) and obviously a little more mature than 22-year-old LeBron. But who would win? Let's see some votes!

As a person who was in my high school marching band (I was awful), I have a high appreciation for folks who can actually march and play at the same time. Here is the Ohio State Marching Band strutting their stuff. It will make you just want to jump up and grab a baton and start marching around your living room.

Two years ago I found myself needing to take college classes for credit--and quick, so I trotted down to the Ohio State University where I'd taken classes before. Signing up for a class fat OSU (even thought it is a fine establishment) felt more like an ordeal than I was looking for. Someone told me I should check out Columbus State. I did and signing up for a class was a breeze. Within an hour and a half, I had figured out what class to take, registered, paid my fees, had a parking sticker, an ID card and was back in the car heading home. It also cost quite a bit less than if I took that class at OSU.

On the first day of class I again found myself pleased. The professor was stellar, the class wasn't packed to the gills with students so I felt I wasn't competing for her attention, and by the end of the trimester, I had learned new things-and I have taught some of the same material myself. As it turns out, according to an article "Five Myths about Community Colleges" my experience at Columbus State was not that rare. Community colleges may get a bad rap, but there's a lot to be said for sticking close to home when picking a place for a higher education, particularly for the first two years of college. Read the article for yourself and also check out the Ohio Association of Community Colleges website that links to the 23 community and technical colleges in Ohio. There are also branch campuses of some of them which adds to the convenience factor.

Last night the Buckeyes upset Oklahoma, the #3 team in the country by staging a thrilling comeback from a five-point deficit in the final five minutes to win 74-67. Saturday, the Buckeyes play the #2 team in the country in a nationally-televised showdown.

Last night's victors were the Lady Buckeyes, the #8 team in the country. Under Coach Jim Foster and behind All-American center Jessica Davenport, the program has vaulted into the top tier of women's basketball. Although they were soundly defeated earlier this year by powerhouse LSU, the OSU women's team (10-1) appears a favorite for their third straight Big 10 title since Foster took over the program in 2002.

Now the pressure is on the men's team to keep up. The former #1, now with über-center Greg Oden in the key, takes on #2 and last year's National Champion Florida this weekend on their home court. The game is at 4:00 p.m. on CBS.

Florida poses perhaps OSU's toughest matchup of the year, as they feature several top-notch post players led by All-American Joakim Noah, star of last year's playoffs. The Gator's size inside will test both Oden's fitness (after sitting out for six months) and the skill of their other inside players. Look for Othello Hunter and Matt Terwilliger to be tested early, especially if coach Thad Motta sticks with his man-to-man defense, which often draws Oden away from the key. Foul trouble for these players could spell trouble for the Buckeyes.

The outside game that the club depended on so strongly last year and earlier this year has evaporated with Oden's insertion into the lineup. Look for Florida to double down on Oden and, as a result, OSU to return to the long bombs.

Earlier this year, OSU had a rare double; #1 rating in both basketball and football. With the success of the Lady Bucks, perhaps we can look forward to the first triple #1 in history.

<Update 11/23: Florida center Al Halford won't play Saturday due to a high ankle strain. This will change the inside game to OSU's favor.>

One of Governor Taft's most interesting initiatives is the Third Frontier Project, an attempt to kick-start high-tech research to build future industry in the state. The project was launched via legislation in 2003 and given 10 years and $1.3 billion to nurse Ohio into the digital revolution.

I recently reviewed their grants for 2006. The winners? Cleveland and Columbus. By far the largest awards came in the medical field, split between Case Western Reserve and OSU. Toledo, you were so screwed.

Fuel cell technology was also widely funded. There, the awards came out surprisingly balanced, with a number of firms receiving about a million bucks each. These awards were also spread around the state a little more.

Some of the big winners:
Medical -

• $8 million to Case Western Reserve, Cleveland, to expand the capabilities of their Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine. They must figure the next president won't be so hard-ass about stem cell research.
• $4.7 million to ChanTest Inc. of Cleveland for drug research.
• Another $8 million to Case for neurostimulation research.
• $3.5 million to OSU for biomedical diagnosis and therapy device development.
• $7.9 million to OSU to develop new medical imaging technology.

Fuel cells --

• $1 million to HydroGen of Cleveland.
• $999,841 to SOFco-EFS Holdings in Alliance.
• $1 million to Edison Materials Technology Center in Dayton.
• $919,892 to OnPower, Inc. of Lebanon.
• $775,300 to Pemery Corp. of Painesville.
• $751,719 to Catacel Corp. of Garrettsville.
• $999,927 to NexTech Materials.

Some other awards:

• $1,152,400 to OSU in Columbus for superconductor research.
• $1,800,000 to the National Composite Center in Kettering for developing composite materials.
• $2.1 million to U. of Dayton for developing nanocomposite tooling. No, I don't what these are either.
• $1.1 million to the U. of Cincinnati for its "Southern Ohio Creates Companies Pre-seed Fund." As I understand it, they will then dole out this money to hi-tech startups that don't have the sexiness to attract venture capital.
• $1.5 million to TechColumbus for the same purpose.

It's hard to argue against funding research if we want to have jobs in developing industries. Certainly seems like a better place to put our money than a minor league baseball park.

I'm just surprised more interest isn't shown in just who we're depending on for this, and what they are going to do with these windfalls. Let's hope, they do a lot. I could use a nice nanocomposite tool or two.