School Board Bill Advances: Contact Your Senators

The infamous HB24, the bill that would provide alter the process for selecting members of the School Board, has passed the House of Delegates and is now in the State Senate. Fortunately, three of the five members of the County Senate Delegation are opposed to this bill.

As I have stated before, this bill accomplishes nothing other than further taking power out of the hands of parents and taxpayers, and putting it in the hands of an unelected commission. It still amazes me that some of our elected officials have the gall to call the results of this bill an "elected" school board. Once again, we can only assuming that Delegate Leopold and the supporters of this bill believe that big government, not the voters, should make the decision for us as to how our children are educated.

Please contact your State Senator and let them know that this bill impedes, not improves, the School Board selection process.

The Collar

Baseball players and anouncers refer to "The Collar" as striking out three times during a game. Doesn't matter if you go down swining or looking, a Collar is a Collar.

And that is pretty much the absurdity of this bill that actually got ink in the Sun and was debated for one hour yesterday.

As somebody who played baseball for much of his childhood, at no time did I ever feel as if I were in any danger on the baseball diamond. Not once.

Frankly, I can only imagine that these draconian measures would, in fact, injure children moreso that protect anybody. Bulky protective gear can make it harder for kids to swing, allowing them to overswing and injure their joints and muscles. Faceguards are great for football. But when it comes to baseball, you're 10 years old, and you are trying to look for a round sphere coming at you at 73 MPH from 45 feet through a grid of metal, somebody is going to really get hurt.

The Democrats in Maryland need to leave us alone. In this state, this is only getting to be a little too real.

Good Riddance

Do not count me as one of the many football fans sad to see Paul Tagliabue retire as NFL Commissioner.

To be fair, Tagliabue has been a good steward of the game. He oversaw labor peace for this entire term since taking over in 1989. The league is now making more money than ever before, with revenue sharing and well negotiated, well planned television contracts.

However, Tagliabue at heart was still a Redskins' season ticket holder. Which would have been fine if it did not impact the awarding of expansion franchises in 1993.

In 1993, the NFL was expanding to add two teams for the 1995. Baltimore was one of five finalists, along with Charlotte, Jacksonville, Memphis, and St. Louis. The Baltimore ownership groups were well financed, and well planned. The State of Maryland had arranged for a very lucrative stadium financing plan to be put in place. The city, along with St. Louis (which had already built the St. Louis Dome), were favorites in the expansion race. And it was during this time that the Patriots announced they were moving to Hartford, and the Bucs consider moving as well.

On October 26, Tagliabue announced that Charlotte had been awarded a team, and that everybody would come back in a month to decide on the other bid. When they came back, Jacksonville unexpectedly would be awarded the 30th franchise.

When asked about Baltimore's stadium bid, Tagliabue said that the city should build a museum. The Redskins season ticket holder was protecting the "claim" over Baltimore over Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke.

Tagliabue's decision to steer the expansion teams toward Charlotte and Jacksonville kicked off a franchise free-agency bonanza that left three NFL cities out in the cold with four teams pinballing around the country. Teams realized that Baltimore and St. Louis had good stadium deals in place; the Browns and Rams quickly filled those voids. The Oilers, realizing that a new stadium was hard to come by, jumped at the chance to skip town for Nashville. And the Raiders took the best offer they could get and moved back to Oakland.

Tagliabue's arrogant bias against Baltimore (and St. Louis, for that matter) led to a situation where loyal Browns fans lost their team, Houston had to be awarded an expansion franchise, a weak team still in Jacksonville, and several teams flirting with the idea of moving to Los Angeles, a market that has been without an NFL team since the 1994 season.

Tagliabue was a good commissioner for the NFL owners and players for financial considerations. But if you consider the stability of NFL teams during his tenure, his record on fan loyalty left something to be desired. And quite frankly, Baltimore fans will never forgive him for his condescending attitude against Charm City.

Mid-Majors Strike Back

After all of the complaining by certain national "experts" last week when the bracket was unveiled, the NCAA tournament selection committee certainly look like geniuses this week. Four reminaing schools come from Mid-Major Conferences. Five if you count Conference USA as a Mid-Major these days.

Currently, the Colonial Athletic Association has more teams alive in the tournament (George Mason) than the Big Ten (zero).

The Missouri Valley Conference has as many schools alive (Bradley, Wichita Stae) as the ACC (Boston College, Duke).

The fun will continue for Mid-Majors at least until the Elite Eight; with mid-majors George Mason and Wichita State playing each other Friday night, one of them is going to play for the Region Title on Sunday.

One of the mid-majors (more than likely Gonzaga) is going to make it to Indianapolis. It'll be a trip to see Billy Packer call that game...

Why I Don't Do Office Pools

Not the least of which is the fact that it is illegal.

But once again, seeing from my picks, I nearly always lose a team that I pick to reach the Final Four in the first round of the tournament. This year, it was my projected national finalist Iowa. And for a brief time, it looked like that all four teams (including top seed UConn) could go out in the first round.

And yes, my full bracket did have Wichita State in the Sweet 16.

Some Classic

So the United States, the country that invented and popularized baseball, could not even make it to the Semi-Finals of the First World Baseball Classic? It's true, but Team USA has nobody to blame but themselves. Untimely fielding errors. A lack of timely hitting. Two uncharestically off performances from Dontrelle Willis. The team was in trouble from day one.

Amazingly, one of the few things that I was really confused by early in the tournament was the sight of Ken Griffey, Jr. hitting 3rd. At least he hit over .300 and had three homers in the six games of the tournament.

Now, Major League Baseball gets a final four of Japan vs. South Korea, and Cuba vs. the Dominican Republic. Not exactly the ratings bonanza that Bud Selig hoped for.

Let's hope that by the time the next Classic rolls around in 2009, some simple changes are made, such as:

• Moving the tournament to November, so all players are in peak physical condition.
• Expanding the tournament to allow more Round-Robin Games. Either have two, eight-team divisions where all teams play each other once, or keep the current structure but have a double round-robin. The single round-robin led to the problems with tiebreakers.
• And tiebreakers also need to be fixed. The tiebreaking structure was byzantine, at best. Mexico eliminated itself by taking a 1-0 lead in the 5th inning last night; they could only have advanced to the semi-finals if they beat Team USA by the exact score of 3-0 in exactly 13 innings. It was ridiculous how complicated the tiebreakers were, especially considering baseball fans are accustomed to seeing a one-game playoff to break ties.
• Allow more games to be played outside of North America. It made sense for Team USA to host a pool in Arizona, for Japan to host a pool in Tokyo, and for Puerto Rico to host a pool in San Juan. I'm not so sold on how good it is for baseball that Australia, Italy, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic played in completely neutral Orlando. South Africa, Italy, Australia, and the Netherlands could just have easily played in their own pool, in one of those countries, creating more competitive games and brining the excitement of the tournament to these fans. It might not have been as much of a success finacially, but it would have done wonders to spread the game.

The WBC is a great idea in concept, and has been fun to watch. However, the timing (especially considering that the Semi-Finals and Finals are the same weekend as the first round of the NCAA Tournament) is suspect and needs to be adjusted if the event will ever truly become a mainstay of international baseball competition.

Doug Duncan's MoCo

Doug Duncan's administration is not exactly immune to abuse and misamanagement either. Take a look at this example:

A couple who bought and renovated an 82-year-old house in Chevy Chase must tear it down because Montgomery County officials erred in approving the project.

Marianne and Marc Duffy said the oversight was pointed out by some high-powered neighbors who pressured the officials into rescinding approval, which will force the Duffys into bankruptcy and to demolish their $725,000 home in the 3700 block of Thornapple Street.

"Our neighbors complained, then county officials informed us that they issued our building permits in error and that we'd have to seek a variance," Mrs. Duffy said. "This is after a county official testified under oath at hearings that we were truthful and forthcoming, and that they and the permitting office fully understood what it was approving."

Robert Hubbard, director of the Department of Permitting Services, said that the Duffys were issued permits for a renovation but that officials later determined they needed additional approvals from the county Board of Appeals. The first permit was issued January 2005, and construction was stopped June 9, 2005, the Duffys said.

Mr. Hubbard also said the agency has worked with the Duffys throughout the process and "is prepared to continue to be of assistance."

County officials deferred further inquiries -- including a call to County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate -- to the Department of Permitting Services.

The Duffy family, because of this snafu and the order to raze the house, will be forced into bankruptcy. Only in a county run like Montgomery County could somebody renovate a house, with the permission of the proper authorities, and then told to destroy the house and, in effect, go broke.

The real question with the Duncan administration is this: why was Clarksburg allowed to continue to be developed, but the Duffy family is forced into a situation that ruins their credit for years to come?

Williams Wants Big Brother to Watch You

DC Mayor Anthony Williams has decided that already existing surveillance cameras should be turned on the populace:

The mayor's office wants to allow police officers to use surveillance cameras every day throughout the District -- not just during special events on the Mall.

Deputy Mayor Edward D. Reiskin plans to propose legislation this month that would expand the Metropolitan Police Department's network of closed-circuit cameras.

The bill would increase the number of surveillance cameras and allow police to watch "for regular anti-crime activity" in a pilot program.

Washington, DC may be the de facto capital of the free world; so why are its inhabitants, workers, and tourists subjected to some of the most draconian surveillance ideas in the Western World?

Tournament Picks

With the NCAA Tournament beginning tomorrow, I will go on the record with my Final Four selections:

Atlanta Region: Iowa
Oakland Region: Gonzaga
Washington Region: Connecticut
Minneapolis Region: Ohio State

Connecticut will win the National Title by defeating Iowa in the final.

Other predictions:

• Biggest first round upset: # 13 Iona over # 4 LSU
• First # 1 seed to fall: Memphis, to Kansas in the second round.
• Lowest seed to advance to the Sweet 16: # 7 Wichita State.

Somewhat Stupifying Selection Sunday

Well, we've got a bracket. Now, what here is some of the absolutely ridiculous things that came out of it.

• George Washington loses in the first round of the A-10 tournament and falls to an 8 seed.
  
• Gonzaga falls to a # 3 seed, while Tennessee gets a # 2.
• Boston College, despite playing in the ACC final today, gets to fly across the country to play in Salt Lake City on Thursday against a tough Pacific team.
• Two at large teams (Air Force, Bradley) got 13 seeds.
• Before 2006, the best ranking in the RPI to not receive an at-large bid was a # 33. This year, Missouri State and Hofstra both finished in the top 30 and stayed home.
• Utah State?
• N.C. State falls all of the way to a # 10?
  

Even Joe Lunardi had problems with this bracket. Lunardi had George Washington as a # 5, N.C. State as a # 8, Cincinnati (also out of the tournament) in as a # 9, Utah State as one of the "last four out" and Air Force nowhere to be seen.

And the biggest snub of all. Let us go back to the Team A/Team B Comparison:

• Team A: 20-8 record, # 21 in the RPI, # 5 in the Non-Conference RPI, 41st toughest non-conference schedule, 8-2 in their last 10 games
• Team B: 22-6 record, # 50 in the RPI, # 57 in the Non-Conference RPI, 273rd toughest non-conference schedule, 7-3 in their last 10 games.

Team A is NIT-bound Missouri State. Team B is # 13 seeded Air Force. Figure that one out.

I will make my selection sometime between now and then. But this is one of the strangest brackets I have ever seen...

Last One Out, Turn Off the Light

Maake Kemoeatu: Out

Anthony Weaver: Out

Chester Taylor: Out

If it were not for the signing of Pro-Bowl DE Trevor Pryce, it would have been a completely bad day for the ballclub.

Right now, the loss of Taylor is the most troubling: that leaves (at least for the time being) Jamel White and Musa Smith as the top two running backs on the roster. Unless the Ravens can nab LenDale White or D'Angelo Williams in the draft, somebody is going to have to run the ball for this team.

Makes you wonder if the Ravens are spending funny money at this stage.

What to Make of the Straw Poll

The Southern Republican Leadership Conference held their Straw Poll for the 2008 Presidential Nomination in Memphis tonight, and its hard to figure out what to make of the results.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist won the Straw Poll with 36.9 of the vote. However, 85% of Frist voters were from his home state, part of an organized campaign by the Frist team. Seeing how 52% of the Straw Poll voters were from Tennessee, he wasn't even the first choice of a significant chunk of Tennessee voters.

Senator John McCain made a strange pronouncement that his supporters write-in the name of President Bush on the straw poll ballot. So were all of the voters who wrote in the President's name McCain supporters, or was this a ploy to claim more McCain supporters? If all of those Bush voters had voted for McCain, McCain would have finished second.

And speaking of people who finish second, how in the world did Governor Mitt Romney do so well, particularly with staff shakeups and a report that he is returning to Michigan after his term is up. Is the "Yankee Leader, Southern Values" working?

What does it all mean? Not much. Then-Governor Bush won the 1998 straw poll, but Steve Forbes finished second, Dan Quayle third, and Fred Thompson fourth. We still have a long way to go to get to our own Maryland primaries in 2006, much less the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary in 2008.

Always Finding a Way

Major League Baseball always finds a way to embarrass themselves, and the spat of the anti-Castro sign is just the latest incident:

"The Cubans were upset with the incident that happened last night, and they want to make sure it doesn't happen again," said John Blundell, spokesman of Major League Baseball, which helped establish the tournament. "We are doing everything that we can to ensure the safety of fans and the delegations."

That's right; appeasement of the Cuban delegation is more important than the continued preservation of free speech on American soil. At least the Puerto Rican Police Chief gets it:

"I have been clear that here there is freedom of expression and the police of Puerto Rico will not interfere at any time with any type of expression," Puerto Rico Police Chief Pedro Toledo said.

Officials from Major League Baseball need to stop every time they are about to take an action, look themselves in the mirror, and ask themselves if they are making the right call. The All-Star Game, contraction, steroids, and now this.

In the meantime, "Abajo Fidel."

Yuck

Nothing can make this sound good:

The Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League promised to create "Baseball's Best Burger" in time for the team's opener in late May. And they appear to have succeeded.

The ballpark sandwich will include a hamburger topped with sharp cheddar cheese and two slices of bacon -- all between a "bun" made of a sliced Krispy Kreme Original Glazed doughnut.

It does not exactly look that appetizing either. Just as a general rule of thumb, let the hamburger be a hamburger, and let the doughnut be the doughnut...for everyone's sake.

Enough Already

If there has been a consistent them from basketball announcers during blowouts of conference tournament games, it has been the need to "reform" the NCAA tournament. Usually, these proposals would either

• Eliminate automatic bids, inviting the best 64 teams available in the opinion of the selection committee
• Expanding the tournament to 128 teams.
  

The problem is that nobody can adequately explain why either proposal is worthwhile? What benefit is there to NCAA institutions to basically determine that half of the teams in Division I Basketball do not deserve the opportunity to play for a national championship? Even more so, such a scenario would eliminate games such as when # 15 Coppin State defeated # 2 South Carolina in 1997, # 15 Hampton defeating # 2 Iowa State in 2001, or even # 14 seeded Cleveland State's run to the Sweet 16 in 1986.

The second proposal makes even less sense. The next 63 at-large teams beyond the current NCAA tournament setup would participate in the tournament. That means, for example, the 65 teams that make the 2006 NCAA tournament, the 40 teams that make the 2006 NIT, and another 23 at-large teams beyond those fields would participate in the NCAA tournament. It would double the number of games that would be contested, provide additional TV coverage, but would be a logistical nightmare.

In both scenarios, the field is watered down. Sure, usually there are teams from lower conferences that are basically served up as cannon fodder in the first round. But then there is a Hampton, a Richmond, a Coppin State, a Santa Clara, a Bucknell. In 1989, # 16 seeded Princeton nearly knocked off top see Georgetown. But those early round David vs. Goliath matchups are part of what makes the tournament so exciting, and so endearing to legions of fans nationwide. The players at these smaller schools get it. They understand that they have nearly no chance of winning the national title. To them, often times making the tournament and getting to play on the biggest stage in college basketball is often their national title. That is their win. The proposals to reform the tournament, that would either diminish that or eliminate it entirely.

And besides, does the tournament really need to have more mediocre teams. Leave well enough alone.

Are the Gloves Off Already?

Last night's bizarre Baltimore City Council meeting involving Councilman Kraft and State's Attorney Patricia Jessamy makes one wonder how nasty the Democratic Primary for Governor truly is going to get.

Last night's meeting, from watching the proceedings on the news, looked very much like a set-up to get at Jessamy. One wonders how high in the city administration, or how high in the O'Malley campaign, this idea came from. It is no secret that O'Malley and Jessamy do not get along. It is also no secret that both the O'Malley's crime-fighting tactics and Jessamy's prosecutorial decision making are highly suspect. Given Jessamy's endorsement of Doug Duncan, it is no surprise that the O'Malley camp might take the gloves off this soon. And Jessamy formally calling for an audit today was no surprise either.

Frankly, it looks like a desperate attempt from the O'Malley camp to make it seem like the crime rate is all Jessamy's fault. Sure, some of it can be attributed to her lackadaisical prosecution of certain crimes. However, the Office of the State's Attorney has nothing to do with the underreporting of crimes, and that is where O'Malley's administration is weakest at the moment. Trying to change the subject is good politics, but it is just another petty action taken by a campaign that has been full of petty actions.

Unfortunately for the Mayor, the question remains the same: What does Martin O'Malley have to hide?

Win or Go Home

That is the Terps motto going into their first ACC Tournament game tonight. Tonight's game against Georgia Tech was a must win regardless. However, with today's game so far seeing # 1 UConn go down to bubble-team Syracuse, and George Washington losing to Temple, the Terps at-large hopes are nearly shot.

The George Washington loss is particularly excruciating for Terp fans hoping to an at-large bid. Had GW won the tournament as expected, the Atlantic-10 would be a one bid league. Now, with GW getting an at-large and the conference tournament winner getting the automatic berth, that is one less spot for the Bubble Teams.

At least Syracuse was a Bubble Team to start the day. There was a decent chance that the Orangemen were in, even though it would have been a questionable choice. There is no chance now that the committee will deny a team that beat the # 1 team in the country, regardless of the fact that the same team lost to DePaul by 39 a few weeks back.

So for the Terps; win, or go home. As long as Terp fans recognize that if they do not make it, it is their own fault.

Dutch Treat

The Senate has taken the seemingly meaningless step of barring their membership from having their meals paid for by lobbyists. While the prohibition is mainly a gesture, it is a good start. The truth of the matter is that for lobbying reform to be succesful, all interactions between lobbyists and legislators are going to be under increased scrutiny. Since this kind of behavior is the most obvious and out in the open, it just makes sense.

Besides, I would much rather see Senators take a superficial step such as this than to radically overahaul the way grassroots lobbying takes place, like it does under a McCain bill.

Not the Best Message

Particularly given the circumstances:

Rep. Tom DeLay, whose association with lobbyist Jack Abramoff has left him politically vulnerable, is spending Texas' primary night Tuesday at a fundraiser hosted by two Washington lobbyists.

Not exactly what I would be up to if I were in DeLay's shoes. At the very least, I hope DeLay has to suffer through a runoff for being this brazen about his Election Night activities.

Creative Logic

Well, if you don't have some way of beating a candidate, just throw something at the wall:

Maryland Democratic leaders are aiming to tie Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele to the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina to dampen his appeal among black voters in his U.S. Senate bid.

Under that curious creative logic, the Steele campaign could just as easily tie Ben Cardin to the response. Or to tie the Democratic nominee to the failure of the Louisiana state government (run by Democrats) to respond.

Of course, it is not hard to figure out that this Democratic strategy once again falls back an appeal to racial politics. Just goes to show how desperate the Democrats are in this open seat race.

Traditions Matter

So my alma mater, the college formerly known as Western Maryland College, has received a gift from local developer, Health Club magnate and WMC alum, to build a new fitness center on the school's campus. Which is wonderful. It is great to see that a successful alumnus feels compelled to give something back. However, there is one major problem with the building.

By looking at the drawings, it is going to be ugly.

Now, anybody who goes to a large campus probably has lots of buildings on campus built in the last 40 years or so. The buildings were not exactly designed to put forth a feeling of education and scholarship. UMBC may be a good school, but most of the buildings are drab and institutional looking.

Western Maryland was not like that. It was one of the more aesthetically pleasing campuses that you will find. Old, brick buildings, lots of lush trees, green grass. When I was there, even most of the newer buildings, particularly Hoover Library, were built in such a manner as to fit in with the aesthetic brick charm of the campus. Only the square, 1970's-esque Decker Center looked out of place, both inside and out.

The new Merritt Fitness Center, however, looks like a giant steel and glass spaceship will be landing on campus.

Unfortunately, this has become a trend with my alma mater. Back when the college made the name change back in 2002, I was at the forefront of those opposing the name change, as founder and chairman of the Coalition to Save Western Maryland College. Myself and many others argued at the time that the name change would hurt the school. The College already had high name recognition, particularly among government leaders in Annapolis, and changing the name could lead to lower name ID. Most importantly, however, was the fear that alumni at the school at the time and recent alumni who had just graduated would never give to the college.

The point was this; the name was part of what the school was. There was no good reason to change the name, particularly when nobody could provide a reasonable argument as to why the name should be changed in the first place. That fact probably explains why school leadership chose to announce the name change first, and tried to shut down.

Now, I don't hold any animus towards Joan Coley, any of the faculty administration who were out in front pushing the name change; only one member of the administration was rude and condescending to opponents of the change, and I will not print his name here. But the fact of the name, the fact that the name was part of the history of the college through the financial support of the Western Maryland Railroad that founded the college, the tradition of the school was not important.

This building I'm sure solves an important purpose, and it is a great addition to the campus (though I have no idea where they plan on building it; it will probably take out another parking lot, which is problematic for a campus already short on spaces). But the building is ugly and does not aesthetically mesh with the rest of campus. Aesthetics, for a 139 year old campus, matter. Traditions, for a 139-year old institution, matter.

And that is why, despite the fact that fundraisers for the college have called my house 20+ times in the last two weeks, that I don't answer that call. Just like many other recent WMC alums.