¡El Coro De La Complutense Canta Este Sábado!

Underdog

For the past two weeks I've been giving a baseball lesson to my 3rd year students and each time they've loved it. Baseball is perhaps the least appreciated of American sports in Europe, so I decided I'd give 'em a dose of that ole ball game and maybe promote it a little, you know? Anyhow, the term underdog came up as I was trying to describe the Boston Red Sox. "Can you guess what this means?" I asked. "¡Debajo perro!" some shouted. I could barely contain my urge to laugh. That is, of course, the literal translation of underdog in Spanish. After explaining that it was a metaphor someone then said, "Like Atlético de Madrid." Bingo. I couldn't have said it better myself. Now, in another class I ended up mentioning that Slum (from the slums of Mumbai) + dog (from underdog) + Millionare = Slumdog Millionaire. There was an erruption of Aaahhhhhhs.

So, I'm suddenly curious about the etymology of the word. According to Wikipedia: (very professional of me, I know) The use of the term is believed to have come from the blood-sport known as bear-baiting where    the "top-dog" was trained to attack the bear's throat and head, and the "underdog" was trained to attack the bear's underside. The top-dog had a better chance of surviving and of beating the bear, whereas the underdog was more likely to die.

Spain Wins 2013 World Handball Championship

SPAIN WINS ITS SECOND WORLD MEN'S HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIP, 

BEATING DENMARK 35-19!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

In celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and for the benefit of my students, I am posting Dr. King's famous I Have A Dream speech. It is one of the greatest speeches ever given in history by one of the most inspiring individuals who ever lived. His eloquent words speak the TRUTH and it is NECESSARY to REMEMBER them. Below is his famous speech divided into two parts. Enjoy!