Friday night road rage

Ada.... known by many as the road rage capital of northwest Ohio (according to a survey I just made up).

Little did I know last night that I would become another tragic statistic in my fictitious survey.

Sparing you the inconsequential details of my night, I ended up at the Marathon gas station on the edge of town/ village at about 11:30 p.m. On the way back to my house I was stopped behind a silver car that had just pulled out of the drive-through at the light in front of McDonald's. This is when things took a turn for the worst.

When the light turned green I pushed my foot to the gas and motored on , but was slowed down by the silver car in front of me now going 15 mph. Frustrated, I followed the car closely, and was barely able to avoid being break-checked.

Suddenly, the erratic driver swerved into the left turn-lane. Feeling somewhat relieved, I sped up as I passed the driver, exchanging hand gestures along the way (in retrospect not the best idea).

Angrily, the driver jerked his steering wheel back towards Main St. and started to 'ride my bumper.' After following me to my house, the driver got out of his car and started incoherently shouting about the street being a 25mph zone - in which he was driving 15mph - and that I was speeding. Normally, I wouldn't take the incoherent ramblings of a random 25-30 yr. old man seriously, but his 6'3 250 lb stature suggested otherwise.

As you may be able to guess, the driver wasn't in any type of mood to engage in a rational discussion. So, I let him know I was calling the police, and he was in his car taking off - at a rate faster than 15 mph, or even 25 mph for that matter - in a heartbeat.

So here are a few tips I've picked up to avoid road rage, which Isn't the best way to spend a Friday night. And, if you are like me and road rage just seems to find you, you're not alone. There is an entire road rage community out there.

ONU Dodgeball, Public Enemy # 1

Today, while reading the Ohio Northern University student handbook, I came across some shocking information.

Included on pg. 18 in the list of actions that can create a safety hazard, right after bomb threats, is dodgeball...

So I started to wonder, how many injuries really do result from dodgeball each year? My initial suspicion is alot; otherwise, why would ONU ban such a classic "sport?"

Fortunately, to my benefit, I found out that the Canadians keep careful records on this type of important information.

According to a Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRP) 2000-2002 survey, 646 of 47,484 or 1.4 percent of patients surveyed were treated for dodgeball related injuries.

Doesn't seem like much, right? Wrong. Dodgeball injuries surpass those of seemingly more aggressive sports like floor hockey, lacrosse and field hockey.

With statistics like these at hand I can no longer question the logic of Ohio Northern's executive staff.

Let this be a warning to any and all hooligans at ONU trying to play dodgeball. Thanks ONU, you always have my best interests at heart.