The World Baseball Classic is begining, and the entire world is starting to feel baseball. Baseball has been involved in the world, especially America for a long time. Unlike football or basketball, baseball has not been sweeping the globe. Most countries already play criket which is very similar to baseball. But this great game still remmains to be called "Americas Pastime".
Baseball was started by Alexander Cartwright. Most believe it to be Abner Doubleday but Cartwright was the first, to write up a generalized set of rules to play by, which many are still in place today. For this effort he has been known to be the "Father of baseball".
The first basebal game ever played was recorded to be in 1846. This game was between the Knickerbockers and the New York Baseball Club. It took place in Elysian Fields, in Hoboken, New Jersey. These games became more and more popular throughout America and cities and states all started forming their own teams. In 1857 a meeting was held ot discuss rules and regulation all twenty five teams showed, and a year later they formed the National Base Ball Players, which was the first orgainized baseball league. They even made money for this by coming up with the idea to charge their fans admisison to watch the game. Baseball has come along way since these times. Not only in America but even in the world.
In America we have 30 baseball teams and the league which is called the MLB (Major League Baseball). They have the most organized and competitive baseball in the world. Because baseball had grown so much, the rest of the world also plays this great sport.
We are embarking on the World Baseball Classic, which features 16 teams from all over the world. These teams are competing for the first time, because the sports of baseball an softball are no longer in the Olympics. This tournament is already getting great results as they are spreading the baseball fever through the U.S. and the rest of the world fo the first time.

Black History Month
Black history month originated in 1926. This historical month was once celebrated as only one week. This special week was organized by a man named Carter G. Woodson.This Harvard graduates father was a former slave, and in telling his son stories form his past Woodson decided to then on dedicating his life to Black History. With this ambition at mind he organized the memorable week. He chose the second week in February because of important birthdays of Black supporters from the past. These supporters included Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln
Blacks have had a influential part in Americas History. There has been many influential Black leaders in the past. These people help start the motivation for Blacks to become part of our history. These people include L. Douglas Wilder who was the first elected Black governor, Joseph Rainey, who was the first U.S. Representative, Hiram Revels who became the first U.S. Senator, Robert C. Weaver who became the first U.S. cabinet member, and Colin Powell the first Secretary of State. These people made a great impact throughout our governmental system.
There has been many influential Black sports figures throughout the past. These people include Jackie Robinson who was the first black baseball player, Willie Thrower who was the first NFL quarterback, Fritz Pollard who was the first Black NFL Coach, Tiger Woods who was the first Black golf champion, and Jack Johnson who was the first Black heavyweight boxing champion. These are just some of the hundreds of influential blacks throughout History.

PREJUDICE OR COINCIDENCE?
A teenager by the name of Jacob D. Robida was shot and killed by the police on Sunday. This teen had been accused of attacking three men in a New Bedford, Massachusetts bar. He attacked them after asking if the lounge was a gay bar. He then drove to West Virginia picked up a thirty three year old female from her home. The two then drove to Arkansas where Jacob was pulled over for a minor traffic violation. He then pulled out a gun and shot an officer to death and drove away. The word got out that this had happened fairly quickly because not too long after Jacob found himself in a high speed chase with Arkansas police. This chase went on for twenty miles through the hills of Arkansas. He then crashed in the small town of Norfork. After the crash Jacob shot his female passenger and started firing at police. Not too long after this Jacob himself was shot twice in the head and dies in Cox-South Hospital in Springfield. The police were still looking to find motivation behind this issue. They looked at a common internet site for teens known as myspace, and found the teens profile. They also found out that he had a swastika tattooed on his hand and has the symbol on much of his clothing. An interview with a friend of Jacobs' discusses more in detail.

Pirates Attack
On Sunday, the U.S. Navy boarded a supposed pirate ship, and held 26 men for questioning, the Navy told the press. See Picture On this ship were a total of 16 Indians and 10 Somalian men. Their ship was chased down and stopped by the USS Winston Churchill. The pirates boat stopped trying to sail away form them after our American ship fired two shots towards the boat. The Churchill stopped the ship abotu 50 miles of the coast of Somalia. The U.S. Navy boarded the boat and found 26 men and a small collection of weapons.
The pirate ships crew and paseengers were being almost interigated on Sunday, while the military was trying to determine which group of these men were crew or just passengers. Information was released that said the sailors of this ship had hijacked the ship close to a week prior to this inncedent. The pirates used this boat to launch attacks on numerous vesseles throughout the Indian Ocean.
The Navy said they got a help call from the International Maritime Bureau in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. The International Maritime Bureau in Kuala Lumpur told our Navy that pirates had shot at the MV Delta Ranger, which was a full bulk carrier that was about 200 miles off the coast of Somalia. The Navy is still dicussing this situation and the punishment for the men they took off this dangerous boat.

Helicopter Crashes In Iraq

In Iraq, a Black Hawk Helicopter crashed killing twelve Americans that were involved. The crash occurred January 7, 2006, just before midnight. This happened in a city named Tal Afar. this was said to be the worst crash since a CH-53 Sea Stallion crashed on Jan. 26, 2005 in Western Iraq this killed thirty one U.S. military personnel. With these latest Marine deaths, at least 2,211 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.