Early Baseball Predictions

Spring training is about to being soon, which means that most of my time outside of class will be spent checking the scores for the St. Louis Cardinals.

With baseball starting soon, and because I need some lackluster fluff for the weekend, here are my thoughts for the upcoming baseball season:

- We have seen the last of Roger Clemens in a baseball uniform. No team will be willing to spend $20 million on the controversial pitcher now that he is under allegations of using steroids to help produce the amazing turnaround in the later half of his career. Look for the Clemens’ controversy to surround the early portion of the baseball season and perhaps coming to some conclusion by the end of the year.

- Barry Bonds, as well, may not play in 2008 because of the BALCO investigation and his federal perjury charges that he faces. We have seen the last of the home run king most likely.

- The New York Yankees will get a little older.

- The New York Mets will win the NL East. The Chicago Cubs will win the NL Central. The San Diego Padres will win the NL West. The St. Louis Cardinals will win the NL Wild Card, but barely.

- The Boston Red Sox will win the AL East. The Detroit Tigers will win the AL Central. The Oakland A’s will win the AL West. The Angels will contend for the AL Wild Card, but will lose to the Yankees.

- The Tigers will play the Mets in the World Series, with the Mets winning it all in seven.

Super Tuesday: Winners and Losers

The political process moves on this Wednesday morning as Super Tuesday failed to decide anything last night. On both the Democrat and Republican sides, none of the leading candidates secured enough delegates to take home a victory. However, only one candidate can claim they are close to winning their party’s nomination.

After the dust settled Tuesday night, Republican Sen. John McCain could be close to the finish line with 613 delegates, far ahead of the counts of Gov. Mitt Romney and Gov. Mike Huckabee.  On the Democratic side, Sen. Hillary Clinton holds an 845-765 advantage over Sen. Barack Obama, which could set up a long battle for that party’s nomination.

But who are the real winners and who are the real losers from a day of 24 primaries, caucuses and a convention. Here are my thoughts, from a tired outside observer.

Who I am Today

Many of my friends and family (hey, they’re all family in a way) read this blog from back in my new native of North Carolina since I left North Carolina in August to attend seminary. I also know many of my seminary friends check in from time to time to see what I’m coming up with next to talk about. (I also realized that both groups are a tremendous amount of support for me as I’m here in a place I would rather not be to accept a call on my life that I couldn’t imagine having years ago.)

So, if you’ll allow me for a moment, I want to talk about where I see myself, and who I see that I am right now. I think it’s especially important to reflect as we enter Lent - a time, I believe, of reflection, fasting, and prayer as we head to the cross and Easter Sunday.  Of course, I could probably write today about Super Tuesday, the Super Bowl, or how I refuse to help make pancakes today because my church’s bank account doesn’t have the funds for that many emergency room visits, but I believe this is important.

So Who am I today?

As the Rodriguez Turns

We’ve ignored our favorite topic recently of the Rich Rodriguez Saga involving West Virginia University, sports agents, and the University of Michigan. We’ll return to it this afternoon only because the absurdity coming out of Morgantown is hard to ignore, today.

Rodriguez continues to claim that West Virginia University was in the wrong and that’s why he left to take over the University of Michigan’s football program in December. As part of that claim, Rodriguez wants the University to open the books on its 501(c)3 fundraising organization, the West Virginia Foundation, to show if the institution was financially harmed by his departure. Supposedly, the Rodriguez camp wants to show that WVU was not harmed by his leaving and therefore he should not have to pay his $4 million buyout that was included in his contract.

There are several things that are inconsistent with Rodriguez’s line of reasoning.

The first, is that as a 501(c)3, the WVU Foundation is obligated to file Form 990s to the IRS. These include how much money the organization raised, liabilities, assets, and top salaried individuals. And as fate would have it, or the law in this case, Form 990s are public records. You can access WVU’s Form 990s through Guidestar.com.

Secondly, Rodriguez just left WVU two months ago. That’s too short of a time to prove if WVU has been benefited or lost from Rodriguez’ departure. It may take a full fundraising cycle for WVU to see what the net loss or gain from the decision was exactly. The argument by Rodriguez’ staff that hiring Bill Stewart at a cheaper salary proves his point proves nothing at all. Stewart’s experience did not justify a multi-million dollar-per year contract as Rodriguez was earning. Rodirguez is promoting a non sequitur argument.

Mike Casazza, of the Charleston Daily Mail, made a good point on his blog. He makes the point that WVU’s second BCS bowl win in three years and third-straight bowl win perhaps would give donors reasons to donate to the Foundation. Again, proof that Rodriguez’s camp is hoping not to catch people thinking at WVU … or anywhere actually.

I’m not opposed to the Foundation having its books opened. I believe that should be a requirement of any public institution that raises money through a foundation. However, Rodriguez is trying to throw spit balls at the wall hoping they will stick. They do not in this case.

The fact of the matter is this: Rodriguez signed a contract that included a $4 million buyout should he decide to leave prior to the end of the contract if he was not terminated. Rodriguez certainly was not terminated therefore the buyout becomes in play and becomes a liability for Rodriguez that he must pay legally.