It started out as a prank says the Kansas City Star. When a group of high school students arranged for their biology teacher to attempt a half-court shot blindfolded in front of a packed auditorium, they thought there was no way he’d make it. They planned to mess with his head and cheer when he missed. But then something went wrong: he sunk the shot.  VIDEO

There’ll be no Clydesdales at the Super Bowl this year. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch got a sneak peek at Anheuser Busch’s ads for the big game and says the company is betting on “using humor, not horses, to push their leading brands.”

CBS admitted yesterday that it had changed its policy about the criteria for Super Bowl ads says the LA Times. The announcement came in the midst of a firestorm about an ad produced by an evangelical group that features college football star Tim Tebow and his mother discussing her decision not to end her pregnancy despite complications.

The New York Times has a look ahead to President Obama’s State of the Union speech tonight. On the agenda are his plans for setting up a commission to look at the long term damage we’re doing by continuing to spend more money than we have.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer says the letter-to-the-editor writer “Ellie Light,” who garnered national attention for defending President Obama in many newspapers, was really a California man. The paper got wind of the hoax when it received its own letter from Ms. Light and started digging around. The 51-year-old health care worker says he chose a female pseudonym to protect himself from critics.

The people at Toyota are stumped. The Detroit Free Press reports the automaker has taken the unusual step of stopping production on troubled models until it figures out a fix for the accelerator pedals that get stuck sometimes. Eight popular models are affected by the decision.

On the front page of the New York Daily News this morning is this headline: “Bedtime for Bozo.” A former aide to John Edwards has written a tell-all book about his affair, in which he says the former senator made a sex tape and slept with his mistress in his wife’s bed.

Americans have a problem. We use too much laundry detergent. And as a result, our clothes come out “dingy” and our washing machines perpetually smell. The Wall Street Journal says the high efficiency soaps and water saving washers currently on the market make it more critical to measure the right amount.

The Washington Post has an interesting article this morning on how to use a chef’s knife. Writer Sarah Mark says after years of relying exclusively on steak knives in the kitchen, she discovered that a proper knife can “make a home cook perform more like a sophisticated chef.”

Eggs aren’t just for breakfast. The St. Petersburg Times says an egg dish at dinner can make for a delicious meal. Baking them with shredded potatoes and Swiss cheese is one of the paper’s recipe suggestions.

Unless you live in a cave, you’d be hard pressed to escape the news that Apple is launching a new product today at 1 pm ET. Presumed to be a tablet computer, Apple hopes it will live up to the buzz the iPhone generated. Columnist Chris O’Brien of the San Jose Mercury News says many people in the media business are hoping that the tablet will offer them a viable way to charge for their digital content.

Legal commentator Nancy Grace lives off televised court cases. But now that she’s testifying in a wrongful death case, her lawyers are saying they’d prefer her testimony wasn’t televised reports the New York Post. How’s that for hypocrisy? The lawsuit was brought by the estate of a woman who committed suicide after being interrogated, on air, by Grace.

Who really ‘wins’ in an NHL fight? The Denver Post says unlike other sports where brawling is encouraged, it is rare for a player to emerge victorious from an on ice fight. So if no one wins, what are the requirements for a good hockey scuffle? The paper talks to the Avalanche’s David Koci to find out.

What is it with boys and fire? That’s the subject of a very funny essay in the Chicago Tribune this morning. Reporter Lisa Black recounts her teenage son’s recent decision to create a homemade blowtorch and the surprising reaction from the men in her life when she told them about her son’s misadventures.