A pretty face, and talent to boot

Muskrat Lovely: Two beauty queens don't mind getting their hands dirty. Very dirty. In addition to showing off their evening gown skills, the girls demonstrated they could skillfully skin a muskrat.

Impressive. In fact, more competitions should require such well-rounded participants.

Here's a few ideas, straight from the news:

Baseball and ice carving: As part of spring training, the M's would send pitchers north to participate in the World Ice Art Championships. Pitchers would create a sculpture while the game's best hitters aim line drives at the creations. If the pitchers make it through without losing their cool -- i.e. if they don't melt the ice -- they can return to training.

Horse racing and saving money: Here's how it works. First, you take a trip to Kentucky and take in all that the horse racing scene has to offer.

The goal is to come home with no additional credit card debt. If you can do that, financial guru Michelle Singletary will want to talk to you.

Hint: The trick is to not spend too much time at the Wild Turkey distillery.