My Wish & Did U Know? : Conference Championships

I'd rather drink fecal tea than be inundated with another reprised episode of the "My Wish" series on Sportscenter. Besides, it is really the athletes involved that are getting their wishes granted, specifically Kobe Bryant. I can almost hear former MTV dork Chris Connelly doing the voiceover as we look at the segment from another prospective.

"Born in 1978 in Philadelphia, PA, Kobe Bryant was named after a steak by his parents Joe and Pam. At six years of age, he was taken from his homeland (the United States) and forced to live in Italy, where his father was put into a camp, a basketball training camp. Seven years later, Kobe was allowed to return to the U.S. and attended Lower Marion High School, excelled in basketball, and entered the NBA draft.

In 1998 he met his future wife. She was 16. He was 20. They would be married just three years later, much to the dismay of Kobe's parents who were against the wedding due to their young age. Kobe and his parents did not speak for two full years following the nuptials.

In April of 2003, Kobe's wife gave birth to their first child. Just three months later, Kobe slept with a 19 year old hotel employee, who later would claim he sexually assaulted her. A year later, he would help force the trade of Shaquille O'Neal, sending the Lakers on a downward spiral, and giving the Miami Heat the last piece to their NBA championship puzzle.

We told Kobe that he would be showing up at this TGI Friday's to talk about a sponsorship deal with Tuffy muffler, but in reality we're about to bring in a Mexican kid with leukemia that has a spot on jump shot and film Kobe spending the day with him and put it on Sportscenter. It's this type of exposure that will help Kobe's image, to get him back to making that endorsement dollar, to make him look like he is not a predator...this is Kobe's wish. (cue Rascal Flatts)

Ya, that's about right. I'm just really getting sick of this new Disney laden side of ESPN. That being said, I plan to do a weekly "Did U Know?" segment here on UMTailgate.com. It's a throwback to an old Sportscenter segment that used to appear at the end of every show. For those of us that may have regularaly watched the repeated 7am, 8am, 9am, 10am, and 11am editions, it was our hourly chime. Hopefully the UMTailgate.com version will be something that will spark a memory, raise eyebrows, or just make you look smart at parties. So, without further ado:

DID U KNOW?

Michigan has 42 Big Ten Conference Championships in football to Michigan State's 6. The Spartan's 6 titles are the third worst among active Big Ten teams (which includes a Penn State team that has only been in the conference for 13 years) and is one title less than the University of Chicago, who stopped playing Big Ten football in 1939.

Bonus DUK: Michigan has 12 Big Ten Conference Championships in basketball to Michigan State's 10.

Enjoy the weekend!