The first time my dad shamed me into riding a roller coaster, I couldn't wait to get off. Roller coasters aren't always fun.

This week, Tim Tebow's roller coaster ride took a serious dive. When he came to the New York Jets a year ago, he was the toast of the town. Then they barely played him. This week, they released him. And as of right now, there are no guarantees another team will pick him up.

It's been a wild ride for the quarterback known for his trademark - one-knee "Tebowing" prayer. Heisman Trophy winner as America's outstanding college player. Called on mid-season to quarterback the faltering Denver Broncos - and leading them to the playoffs. Drafted to play in the "Big Apple."

Then "see ya!" from the Jets.

You know something huge has happened when my Yankees are playing the Red Sox fans' favorite song - at Yankee Stadium! When leaders from both political parties are saying, "Today there are no Democrats or Republicans."

That's what happened when bombs suddenly rained death and destruction on the Boston Marathon. The shock waves reached around the world. And brought back to my heart an all-too-familiar wave of sadness.

I was 12 - on a Southern vacation with my folks. I've never forgotten those signs I saw on the bathrooms.

"Colored." "White."

We didn't have those signs in the racially mixed neighborhood where I grew up. So I didn't have a file folder for "colored" and "white."

Jackie Robinson did. As America's first Black baseball player in the Major Leagues, the baseball field was a battlefield. Before President Truman integrated the military. Before Rosa Parks. Before Dr. King.

I was 12 - on a Southern vacation with my folks. I've never forgotten those signs I saw on the bathrooms.

"Colored." "White."

We didn't have those signs in the racially mixed neighborhood where I grew up. So I didn't have a file folder for "colored" and "white."

I've never understood why theater folks tell a performer to "break a leg" just before they go on stage. Seems like the last thing you'd want to do when you're performing. If it's supposed to be some whacked form of "good luck," I think I'm missing something here.

Breaking a leg at the college basketball championships is a really bad idea. That NCAA Tournament - known for some strange reason as "The Big Dance" - is coming down to the final two games.

One team many expected to be there was the Louisville Cardinals. But then, in the must-win game to play for the Final Four, Louisville got a very bad break. Literally.

Their star guard, Kevin Ware, suddenly went down with a season-ending injury. A leg so badly broken that reporters insist on calling it "gruesome." The bone protruding some six inches. Networks deciding to quit showing the excruciating moment when it happened. Louisville's veteran coach wiping tears from his eyes. Players on the floor in tears.

I'm used to turning on the news and hearing about bullets or ballots or budgets.

But the Bible? Pinch yourself, Ron - the Bible is one of the lead stories on newscast after newscast today. Well, actually "The Bible." The ten-hour History Channel mini-series that has stunned everybody with its blockbuster ratings, especially among young viewers.

There were epic moments from Noah's Ark to the parting of the Red Sea to David decking Goliath.

Abraham Lincoln - the hero of my boyhood - died on Good Friday. I knew that because I was sort of a Lincoln encyclopedia when I was a kid.

But until this month, I didn't know his final wish. Whispered to his wife just before that fatal shot at Ford's Theatre. What's so moving is how very much it has to do with Good Friday.

Abe Lincoln grew up with a God-loving mother and a religious but demanding and distant father. His mom died when he was a boy. As Lincoln grew, he went from spiritual skeptic to a Bible-bashing unbeliever.

Spring is time for cardinals. We have cardinals dining every morning at our backyard birdhouse.

And the baseball Cardinals have gathered in Florida for spring training - with St. Louis fans counting down to Opening Day.

And then there are the cardinals who have migrated to Rome. To elect a new pope. Knowing he will both symbolize and shape the largest religious institution in the world.

The cardinals clearly feel the weight of their decision in Rome. Some have been speaking out, expressing what kind of man they think the Church needs.

My first reaction: "No way." Then, "It's true...and it's awful." A man asleep in the middle of the night. Suddenly, a sinkhole opens up beneath the house and literally sucks the man, the bed, the room in with it.

Now the home has been demolished, and the fate of nearby homes is uncertain. It seems the sinkhole is growing. The neighbors were given 30 minutes to grab what they could and evacuate.

Our babies were all born in nice, warm hospitals. With the frigid weather systems that have been blasting across the country, I can't imagine a baby being born outside. On a city street, no less.

But that's exactly what happened in Toronto last week. As a 20-year-old young woman was trying to walk to the nearby hospital, the baby came.