You may remember that the Ole Miss Rebels are looking for a new on-field mascot. And the reason you might remember this may well be that for a while, one of the most widely-supported choices was none other than Star Wars’ Admiral Ackbar.

Sadly, that ship has sailed (this lists the final five choices as “a land shark, a bear, a horse, a lion or two characters named Hotty and Toddy”), but now the Ackbar campaign lives on through what appears to be a universally-loved ESPN commercial from last night – and it’s not hard to see why.

>>>Check it out at SportsGrid.

Weird celebrity insurance policies, especially on notorious body parts, are the stuff of legend. Just observe this list – or this one, for that matter – for some of the craziest (and in some cases, quite possibly fakest) insurance policies ever taken out.

Well, we have a new one to add to that list. Head & Shoulders, manufacturer of perhaps the best-known anti-dandruff shampoo out there (and, as seen here and here, prominently endorsed by Steelers star Troy Polamalu) decided to protect its investment in Polamalu by making another one – a $1 million insurance policy on his luxurious mane.

>>>Read more at SportsGrid.

The long-rumored potential deal between ESPN and Microsoft’s XBox 360 to stream sporting events on the console is official.

The deal will bring 3500 sporting events to the XBox (with most in HD), accessible live or on demand. The feature offers extras like instant fan polling and trivia questions during games if desired. Plus, if you’re an XBox Live gold subscriber (about $50/year), you’ll get this feature at no additional cost.

Read more at SportsGrid.

Give “K-Strass,” a man who has appeared on several local morning news shows recently claiming to be a yo-yo master, this much: he has a gift for performing. For example, witness this TV spot, where he regales the (uncomfortable) hosts with tales of his corporal-punishment-filled upbringing. Unfortunately for those same hosts, it becomes very evident later on that one thing K-Strass certainly does not have a gift for is the yo-yo.

Want to get your written works in the Library of Congress, but don’t have the time to write more than, say, a couple sentences? Well, worry no more, because the world’s largest library just announced a deal to house every public tweet (via a tweet of its own, of course).

“Library to acquire ENTIRE Twitter archive — ALL public tweets, ever, since March 2006! Details to follow.”

Potentially good news for sports and comedy fanatics: Comedy Central just announced they’re picking up the pilot for The Onion Sports Network for a ten-episode run. The series is named after, and based on, the sports section of fake news pioneer The Onion.

Good news! Robbie Allen of the excellent sports statistics site statsheet.com thinks he might have tapped into the wave of the future in sports journalism. Bad news! The wave of the future involves computers doing the work of humans. Yes, that’s right, Allen is working on a system to generate “completely automated sports content,” which will be packaged in blog posts – posts he wants readers to believe were created by humans.

But before you frantically head down to your bunker and await the human vs. robot apocalypse, let Allen explain.

One of the nice attributes of algorithmic content is that it can be improved over time. A blogger/writer’s internal script is pretty much set. They generally don’t change or improve the quality or comprehensiveness of their content over time in a significant way, but algorithms can be upgraded continuously. The “voice” of the content can be improved.

Point: computers.

Maybe your NCAA Tournament bracket is shot after Kansas’ stunning second-round loss. Maybe you weren’t into March Madness in the first place. Or maybe you just need some unbelievable (but real) names in NCAA-style bracket form to keep you occupied in between tournament games. In any case, the real bracket to get excited about is here. That’s right – Name of the Year (NOTY) is back with the latest installment in its annual quest to bring you some of the wildest names imaginable, and giving you the power to vote on the best of the bunch. The bracket is here. You will look up many of these names in amazement, and you will discover, to even more amazement, that yes: they are real.

The theremin is a semi-well-known electronic instrument, occasionally making its way into public consciousness via peak-era Beach Boys, or more recently, this pretty awesome Gnarls Barkley cover. Generally, though, the theremin’s kept a low profile – but will it stay that way, now that there’s a funny Internet video of a cat playing one? We can only hope not. Watch it for yourself – that cat is pretty into it. (Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the other cat hilariously panned to at the end.)

Pet Sounds, indeed.

Craig Ferguson of CBS’ Late Late Show isn’t shy about experimenting with the late-night format, with his pre-monologue monologues (which often include puppets), and lack of a band. The show he did last night, however, was a radical departure even for him. Inspired by Tom Snyder, the first Late Late Show host, Ferguson did a show with no audience, instead talking to friend/Hugh Laurie co-conspirator Stephen Fry for the full hour. Ferguson said having such an interesting guest was “protection” for him (another possible description: “smart”), but even so, Ferguson performed as well as could be expected working in a format with which he was unfamiliar, and further staked his place as one of television’s most versatile talents.