I've been doing a fair amount of whining about the cost of higher education in this country, but perspective is the order of the day after reading Greg Mortenson's fascinating book, "Three Cups of Tea." 
Again, Mortenson has no connection whatsoever to the NFL (no relation to ESPN's Chris Mortensen). But his story is one of the most remarkable I've come across in years. I hope you get time to read it. It will explain a lot about the crushing problems now confronting the world, no less the education system we have come to take for granted in America.
Mortenson's best-selling book is his riveting personal story of what happened after he nearly died after scaling the famous K2 mountain in Pakistan in 1993. During his recovery in a remote village called Korphe, Mortenson was so moved after meeting a group of children writing in the dirt with sticks that he made a promise to return and help them build a school.
After going back to California and finding someone willing to underwrite his daunting goal, Mortenson returned and began a gripping adventure in which he survived harrowing times, yet still managed to achieve his mission. And then some.
As of 2007, Mortenson had established over 61 schools in rural and often volatile regions of
Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide education to over 25,000 children, including 14,000
girls, where few education opportunities existed before.
He was kidnapped in 1996 for eight days in the tribal areas of Pakistan, escaped a 2003 firefight with Afghan warlords by hiding for eight hours beneath bloody animal hides in a truck and overcame two "fatwehs" from enraged Islamic mullahs who demanded his work case. He was a witness to the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and was in Pakistan when the 9/11 terror attacks took place.
But he never lost sight of his goal of educating impoverished children, especially young girls. It was his way of winning the war on terror, one young mind at a time.
Fascinating stuff. If you get time, read it.
On a far less important note, we'll bring you our quarterback rankings for this year's draft in a bit.
Yes, blogging is a strange business.