Newz Forum: OTHER: Texas State, North Dakota State, NFL, Anika Sorenstam plus more...

With Daylight Savings Time rushing toward us, I hope everyone is ready. I have been saving jars with lids all winter so that I'll have a safe and convenient place to store all the daylight I'll be amassing in the next few months. I'll be keeping these jars in a dark room in my basement so the daylight doesn't escape. I hope you're prepared.

In the great state of Texas, the legislature obviously has scheduled far too long a session for itself because a senator there has introduced a bill that is wrong-headed and useless on so many levels that it can only be there as a time-filler. This senator from San Antonio - along with a representative from Tomball - want to pass a law saying that no Texas university football team may participate in any postseason championship football games that are not part of a playoff system. So far, the state of Texas has been spared that horror because none of their teams has been invited to do such a horrid thing, but let's not dwell on that. Here is the way in which these politicos show their true weasel nature. If passed, this bill would be null and void on December 2nd - which happens to be just before the BCS bids would be distributed - unless similar legislation is passed in at least 4 other states. So let's review:

This is symbolic legislation that probably has no effect on anything real.

But in case there is a chance for Texas or Texas A&M to play in the BCS game, they'll kill the law if other states don't join them in this symbolic nonsense.

Translation: The BCS is evil and immoral - - but if we can be the ones to get the money and the glory from it, then it's OK.

Up in North Dakota, the legislature must be similarly challenged for meaningful things to do. A senator in North Dakota is sponsoring a resolution there calling on Bud Selig to recognize officially Roger Maris' home run record as the baseball standard because of the possible chemical assistance that people who have broken that record might have had. [I hope you are not too confused with my usage of the contrafactual subjunctive sentence structure there; I did not know how else to try to explain this guy's "thought process".] If I had to come up with a single word to describe this legislative initiative, I think my choices would come down to a Final Four consisting of "feckless", "useless", "worthless" and "meaningless". At that point, I'd close my eyes and pick one because all of them are worthy descriptors of this nonsense.

Here is a constructive idea for these politicos in Texas and North Dakota to think about because it might be a boon to people everywhere. How about devising and sponsoring a plan whereby people can take all the daylight they can save during Daylight Savings Time and invest it in their IRAs? Think about the dividends that will pay for society as a whole. It would be far more useful than the nonsense you are working on now.

Last week's golf tournament was delayed by rain. Eldrick Woods didn't do very well in that tournament. However, he wasn't out there practicing in the rain - the way he does in that commercial. Do you think that maybe he really doesn't do that?

I ran across some stats about Anika Sorenstam that are staggering. Since 2000, she has entered 109 LPGA events and she has won 41 of them (37.6%). More amazingly, she has finished in the top ten of those events 89 times (81.7%). I do not play golf and I do not enjoy watching golf, but that is simply an amazing display of dominance in a sport.

There is about to be a political showdown/decision in NY regarding the building of a stadium for the Jets in Manhattan. The forces in favor of the stadium have been holding rallies and doing all the things that are always done in the time leading up to such decisions. The NFL always supports the idea of having stadia built for its teams as long as someone else is paying the freight and Paul Tagliabue & Co. weighed in with a promise that the 2010 Super Bowl would be played there if the new stadium were built. Some people might call that blackmail; others who are less generous might use the word extortion. I prefer to think of this NFL action as "bait and switch". I remember when the Cowboys and the good people in the Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington area were considering a new playpen for the Cowboys, the NFL held out the carrot of the 2010 Super Bowl there too. But that deal is now signed, sealed and delivered making that carrot available to wave in front of a bunch of other jackasses hoping they will be lured to it. For the record, I don't care even a little bit whether or not that stadium gets built.

Meanwhile the Chicago Bears are in the midst of a "multimillion dollar addition" to their newly renovated Soldier Field. They are adding a Skyline Suite that will have 151 seats - obviously, that is the number that will fit in because there is no other obvious reason for that capacity. Season tickets for the Suite will go for $8K apiece and the amenities include an "upscale buffet" and extra wide padded seating with drink holders. The Bears are obviously seeking to recreate the ambience of my living room for their fans. I promise that I can provide similar amenities for that price without the hassle of traffic and parking...

This rumored trade between the Chargers and the Niners of Philip Rivers for the first pick in the draft has been denied eight ways from Sunday. That does not mean that it hasn't been discussed nor does it mean that the deal won't be consummated sometime in the next eleven minutes, but everyone is focusing on whether it makes sense for the Chargers to cast their lot with Drew Brees as their long-term solution at QB. I think there is another important dimension. The Chargers paid Philip Rivers a signing bonus last year; I don't know if all of it got paid up front or if some of it is deferred and called a "roster bonus" in future years, but let me assume that at least a significant part of the bonus went to him last year. Only about 20% of that bonus counted toward the cap last year and so any trade or release of Rivers would accelerate all of the rest of that bonus money onto this year's cap. Under benign assumptions, that could be an $8M cap hit this year, which is hardly a desirable situation. Then add to that "little problem" that the Chargers would have to fork over another signing bonus in the neighborhood of $15 - 20M to the guy they pick with this year's #1 overall pick.

Maybe Drew Brees is the long-term answer; maybe he isn't. I don't know. But I am pretty certain that this trade is less than desirable from a salary cap and cash flow perspective. And one thing that the Chargers' owners have shown in the past is that they are very savvy about the cap and cash flow and the bottom line.

J.R. Morris - a guard from Seton Hall - declared for the NBA draft. Unless you follow Big East basketball closely, you may not know Morris' credentials off the top of your head, so let me help you out here. He's a junior who played in 80 games at Seton Hall where he averaged 8 points a game and 3.4 rebounds a game. He was doing better this season averaging 10 points a game when he was suspended from the team "for academic reasons". So, when you enter your NBA Draft Pool, be sure to keep all this data in mind as you are considering who will be a lottery pick and who will be taken later in round one...

Finally, the Oklahoma City University Stars announced the resignation of their head basketball coach, Win Case. I guess some headline writer there might say, "Stars Lose Case".

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...

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