ALUM-INATING IV

MIDWEST REGION:
FLORIDA- Florida is another repeat from last year's Sweet Sixteen, so you saw a few of their prized alums last year. But luckily they graduate a lot of people, including stand-up comedian Todd Barry. Barry is a funny, weird looking fella. If you have the chance give him a listen, you'll have a couple laughs. The University of Florida also produced the hip-hop artist Status Quo and Academy Award winning actress Faye Dunaway. Another noted alum is Saturday Night Live's Darrell Hammond. Hammond is the senior man on SNL, known for his impersonations of people like Chris Matthews, Bill Clinton and of course Sean Connery, among others.

BUTLER- Some Butler alums include porn star Hypatia Lee, and the "Peoples Temple" cult leader Jim Jones. Butler also gave us Walgreen's first pharmacist, Michael Lynn Miles. Miles was the first in a long line of great pharmacists to sport the Walgreen's white coat. To this day Walgreen's continues to be in the top 50 pharmacies in the nation.



OREGON- Oregon has given us the founders of Nike, Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight as well as famed author and noted acid dropper Ken Kesey. Kesey is best known for his book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and for being one of the main characters in Tom Wolfe's Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. But the best alum we could find has to be Stephen Cannell. Cannell is responsible for some of the greatest television ever made. He created such hits as The Greatest American Hero, The Commish, Silk Stalkings, 21 Jump Street and the crowned jewel of them all, the A-Team! I love it when a blog comes together. Yes, I think we all owe a great deal to Mr. Cannell.

UNLV- Of course the we all know about the famed UNLV cagers, Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony and Anderson Hunt, but let's delve a bit deeper into the Las Vegas alums. Jimmy Kimmel and ESPN's Kenny Mayne both attended UNLV. Jimmy Kimmel first started to gain notoriety with The Man Show and now of course hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live. he has also been dating Sarah Silverman. Our last former Runnin' Rebel is The Killers drummer Ronnie Vannucci.

EAST REGION:
GEORGETOWN- Georgetown was home to acclaimed actor, director, producer Carl Reiner. Reiner is responsible for some classic Steve Martin flicks as The Jerk, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, and the Man With Two Brains. Most recently he can be seen in the Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, and soon Ocean's Thirteen. Another former Hoya is Jim Gaffigan. The very funny comedian can be seen on many a Sierra Mist commercial as well as TBS' My Boys.

VANDERBILT- The list of former Commodores includes Las Vegas' Molly Sims, Chairman and CEO of Emerson Electric, David Farr, Amy Grant, Betty Paige and the late Dinah Shore-ah. But it was also once home to both Tipper and Al Gore. And of course without Al Gore, this blog would not even be possible, since he did, in fact invent the internets! Without Al we would not have access to tons of porn, shirtless picks of Steve Guttenburg and other celebrities, email, or ebay. Thank you Vanderbilt for providing Mr. Gore with the education that has helped turn him into the man he is today.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA- USC has produced 15 astronauts that includes the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong and Apollo 13 hero, Jim Lovell. As well as giving us many space explorers, it has also given us a very large contribution to television and film, like George Lucas and Robert Zemeckis. Without Lucas, we'd have no Star Wars and without Zemeckis, no Back to the Future! But, much like last year, we have an Arrested Development tie-in. As none other than Ron Howard was a Trojan as well. Howard was the narrator for Arrested Development. Now sure, he was also in Happy Days and The Andy Griffith Show and directed such classics as Splash, Parenthood, Apollo 13, and EdTV. Good work Opie!

NORTH CAROLINA- Chapel Hill played host to noted author Tom Wolfe. Wolfe wrote Bonfire of the Vanities as well as the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. It also played home to Andy Griffith
who starred in The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. But our favorite former Tar Heel would have to be the best baseball analyst around, Peter Gammons. Gammons is a great baseball writer, whom I've been reading for years and years. It actually used to be my goal as a kid to finish his column in the Sunday Boston Globe. Believe me it's long. There is probably no one with as much baseball knowledge as Gammons. Plus he also likes to"rock out!"

So there ya have it! Another year, another Sweet Sixteen, another look at some noted alumnists. Hope you enjoyed.