Jason Taylor - '08 Pro Bowl

Dolphins DL Jason Taylor wasn't as dominant in 2007 as he was in 2006 when he won Defensive Player of the Year. But Taylor still earned a spot in the Pro Bowl with 54 tackles (46 solo), 11 sacks, an interception, three fumble recoveries and a defensive touchdown. It was the third year in a row and sixth year in his career he has reached double figures in sacks. And Taylor achieved all this while playing through several injuries, including a severe foot injury toward the end of the season.

Taylor has talked about retirement in recent offseasons, but he will likely return in 2008. Whether or not he stays in Miami is another story since the Dolphins could shop Taylor around the NFL to get value out of him while they still can. Wherever Taylor plays in 2008 he should still be considered a No. 1 DL in IDP leagues because he's capable of dominating a game every week. 
(Updated 01/11/2008).

Pro Bowl: 2001, 2003, 2005

Public Schools Obsolete - Homeschool Stock Rising

It has been more than 2 years since Bill Gates declared public schools as obsolete at the National Education Summit on High Schools. This may not have been a claim for Homeschooling, but it definitely looks that way at some level. The main point behind his comment was the fact that the public school system needs to provide much more challenging work to students at a more personlized level for each student's life and their goals. Gates is working to make the public schools better, but they're already so far behind in the game, I think even his efforts will be futile because of the insular mindset of the public school officials. The road to educational excellence has already been paved by Homeschooling. We're already there and even Bill Gates understands it. Kind of. 

The State of Homeschool Sports

When I graduated from high school in 2000 I accepted a scholarship to play basketball at Drake University.  At the time, I was 1 of 40 homeschoolers cleared to play by the NCAA Clearinghouse.  Last year (2006-2007) there were more than 325 homeschoolers cleared.  In just 7 years the trend to Homeschool has grown at an incredible rate as well as the number of homeschoolers going on to play sports beyond the high school level.  I talk to college coaches and scouts regularly and the one thing I hear over and over again is “We want more homeschoolers!”  What they want is the whole package.  They don’t want to deal with any ‘off the field incidents’ that we see all too often in sports today.  They want incoming freshman to be ready for class on the first day.  They want players who work hard and who are always ready to be coached.  And they want a player who will be a true asset to their institution.