Remember Mike Birbiglia, the sort of-funny Georgetown alum and stand-up comedian who performs every year at NSO? Well, according to the Hollywood Reporter, CBS, home of lots of sort of-funny things, has greenlighted his sitcom for the fall. Called Mike Birbiglia’s Secret Public Journal, it will be based on, yes, Mr. Big’s “secret public journal”, which is actually just the name of his blog. A quick perusal of recent entries finds it a bit lacking; on the other hand, the pitch for Seinfeld probably didn’t sound much better than “a stand-up comedian who lives with his girlfriend in Brooklyn and struggles in his efforts to be a grown up, have a relationship and do the right things.” Here’s hoping they change the name to just Birbiglia, as in: “Hey man, what’d you do last night?” “Oh, y’know, just stayed home and watched Birbiglia”.

Only time will tell whether this show will meet with success to rival the critical acclaim of fellow Georgetown alum Mitch Hurwitz’s Arrested Development, or if, also like Arrested Development, it will be a commercial failure. Or maybe even both.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Birbigs

According to a study released on Monday, Georgetown graduates 82% of its basketball players, clocking in at thirteenth among the 65 teams in the NCAA tournament. The report, released by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, was based upon 2000-01 graduation (six-year) statistics released by the NCAA.

The main fact that jumps out of the study is the disparity between African-American and white basketball player graduation rates, an average of 33% among all the teams (22% for Georgetown). The problem isn’t just among basketball players, though. Dr. Richard Lapchick, the primary author of the study, pointed out. “African-American basketball players graduate at a higher rate than African-American males who are not student-athletes,” he said in the study.  “Too many of our predominantly white campuses are not welcoming places for students of color, whether or not they are athletes.”

Some other notes:

• The Final Four according to graduation rates would be Butler, Notre Dame, Purdue and Western Kentucky.
• Among the eight Big East teams in the study, Georgetown ranks fourth after Marquette, Notre Dame and ‘Nova.
• American University, our D.C. neighbor playing in its first NCAA tourney, has the second worst graduation rate with an abysmal 18%.
• Among all the 1 and 2 seeds, Georgetown has the second highest graduation rate after UNC, which has a graduation rate of 86%.  (Unfortunately for UNC, Graduation rates don’t win championships;  2007 Elite Eight, anyone?) Tennessee and Texas, clocking in at 33%, are tied for last place.

h/t ESPN.com

I just bought a ticket to New York City (the first leg of my trip home to Connecticut) aboard BoltBus, the newest arrival on the DC-NYC bus scene, and it felt great. BoltBus’s claim to fame is its ridiculously cheap $1 tickets; even with a service fee, my ticket cost me a mere $1.50. The catch? BoltBus offers very few $1 tickets for each ride, so you’ve got to book way in advance to snag the tickets before the prices jump up to $7, 10, or more. (After I bought my ticket, the price for the same bus shot up to $7.)  My ticket’s for May 10, an approximate date for when I might want to go home, based on my exam schedule. It’s still two months away, which makes the ticket a bit of a gamble, but for $1.50, I’d bet on pretty much anything.

BoltBus’s $7 or $10 fares are still a steal. Even the bargain Chinatown buses like Apex or Today charge $20, or $17.50 if you buy round-trip. (Incidentally, they also smell a bit off, offer horrible service and are notoriously unreliable. I swore them off  after the last one I took left New York a solid two and a half hours after it was supposed to.) Unlike the Chinatown buses, BoltBus also has wi-fi and electrical outlets so you can surf all the way up the eastern seaboard.  What more could you ask for?

I’d advise anyone who’s traveling anywhere remotely close to New York after school gets out to buy a ticket right now. Even if your plans change and you end up not using it, the thrill alone of buying a bus ticket for $1.50 is practically worth the $1.50.