It rained like cats and dogs here at the Home Office over the weekend – which made more time for TV sports …

- Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: Tiger Woods skips all the offseason golf-for-money events along with the Hawaii tour swing, everyone says he’ll be rusty, and he clubs the field over the head in the first event he plays. Happened again this weekend when Woods won the Buick Open at Torrey Pines – for the fourth year in a row!! His final margin of victory was 8 strokes, but only because he got bored down the stretch and made 3 straight bogeys. Everyone always likes to talk about majors when it comes to Tiger, and he looks well positioned to make a legitimate run at the grand slam (the US Open will be at Torrey later this summer). But the victory gave him 62 on the PGA Tour, tying Arnold Palmer for 4th on the list. He’s only 20 back of the leader, but is there anyone who doesn’t believe he’ll hit at least 100 before his 40th birthday … if not 120? Scary thing? Tiger says he’s able to hit shots now that he’s never been able to hit before – even during the fabled 2000 season. Sorry boys – you’re all playing for second.

- Did you know the NHL All-Star Game was this weekend? Me, neither – and I’m a fan. Further cementing its place as a second-rate sport, the game, held in Atlanta before a respectable crowd, was aired on the Versus Network. I don’t know about you, but I don’t even get that one. At the rate they’re going, pretty soon hockey will be pre-empted for arena football and MMA steel cage matches. It’s a shame, since there’s no better sport to watch in person.

- With the teams arriving in the Valley of the Sun this weekend, the Super Bowl media frenzy has officially begun. The main topic of discussion remains “Bootgate” – does Tom Brady have a bum ankle or not. The story is that it’s a high ankle sprain, but not one that’s causing any real trouble. Expect the press to squeeze the life out of the story, and then feign surprise when it never even shows in the game.

I’ll bet if you took a quick poll of folks under the age of 45, most of them at one time or another did a stint working fast food. And I’ll further wager tha majority of them worked at the Golden Arches. Back in the day, all you got was your $2.30 an hour and all the stale burgers you could eat. Now, though, you can pick up a diploma along the way.

In England, there is a program designed to allow corporations to convert the skills training provided by employers into credit towards earning a high school diploma. McDonalds is one of three corporations to get the nod from the British government.

McDonald’s has said it is introducing a “basic shift manager” course, designed to train staff in skills needed to run a McDonald’s outlet, from marketing to customer service.

“It is right that we recognize and accredit employers that have shown a commitment to training and developing their staff,” said the government’s skills minister, John Denham.

“This is an important step towards ending the old divisions between company training schemes and national qualifications, something that will benefit employees, employers and the country as a whole.”

Assuming the education has value, this is actually a good idea. The key will be whether the diploma, which will be similar to our GED, will be accepted by universities and colleges. But give credit to McD’s for trying to improve the lives of their employees.