Proof God Loves Us And Wants Us To Be Happy

It’s Time for the Masters.

So sit back, enjoy the Azaleas, and enjoy four days of the best golf all year long.

Oh, and this great theme music for a sports tournament. I could hear this song 365 days a year (366 this year) and never get tired of it.

My prediction is Tiger Woods. Other possible bets: Geoff Ogilvy, Michael Campbell, and Arron Oberholser, in my opinion.

My First Run Through the Brackets

It’s March … It’s Madness. It’s Gus Johnson Time. (If you’ve not noticed, Gus Johnson is this bloggers favorite NCAA announcer. He’s almost more interesting than the game at times.)

But, the brackets are out, which means tomorrow no work will be done as office pools are initiated and brackets are to be passed out and collected. Here are my first thoughts on the brackets. I’ll give my picks per round. This is just me rushing through the picks for right now.

East (winners are listed)

Round 1:  UNC, Arkansas, Notre Dame, Winthrop, Oklahoma, Louisville, Butler, Tennessee

Round of 32: North Carolina,  Notre Dame, Louisville, Tennessee

Sweet 16: North Carolina, Louisville

East Regional Champ: Louisville

Midwest

Round 1: Kansas, UNLV, Clemson, Vanderbilt, USC, Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Georgetown

Round of 32: Kansas, Clemson, USC, Georgetown

Sweet 16: Kansas, Georgetown

Midwest Champion: Georgetown

South

Round 1: Memphis, Oregon, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Stanford, Miami, Texas

Round of 32: Memphis, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Texas

Sweet 16: Memphis, Texas

South Champion: Texas

West

Round 1: UCLA, Texas A&M, Drake, UConn, Purdue, Xavier, West Virginia, Duke

Round of 32: UCLA, UConn, Xavier, West Virginia

Sweet 16: UCLA, Xavier

West Champion: UCLA

Final Four

Winners: Georgetown, UCLA

Champion: UCLA

I Misremember My Name Sometimes

Here are a collection of thoughts from the week that was in life, sports, politics, and everything else we can think of:

It was horrifying to hear again of another campus shooting this time at Northern Illinois. Steven Kazmierczak opened fire on a classroom at the DeKalb, Ill., school before turning the gun on himself. In all, five students were killed and 16 were wounded. Kazmierczak was described as an outstanding student, though erratic at times.

We’re less than a year removed from the worst of the worst at Virginia Tech and now here we stand in the face of yet another tragedy. One must wonder how do we stop these events, these tragedies, from taking place? How do you get to a Kazmierczak in time before someone gets hurt? I’m not a counseling student, but as a seminary student this question intrigues me, because I don’t know the answer off hand.

I can’t imagine what it must be like for the families involved. The emotional pain they must be feeling - not just the victims’ families, but for Kazmierczak’s family as well - must be overwhelming. I pray they have a support circle they can cling to in times like these.

————-

Roger Clemens went to Washington this week and he misremembered a lot of things. That seemed to be the key word of the day, Clemens’ use of the word “misremember” to describe Andy Pettitte’s use of HGH and a conversation they had about HGH. Sorry, Clemens but we’re just not buying your alibi.

First, you’re wife used HGH before a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue photo shoot. If you’re wife was taking it … have to wonder if the Rocket ever dabbed into the stuff.

Secondly, the way Clemens was on the defensive throughout the hearing had the feel of the “how dare you criticize me” tactic. Clemens, in case you forget that’s Congress you’re talking to and not Mike Piazza.  By the way, you never want to get someone in Congress upset at you on national television (i.e. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.). That’s just not a good sign.

At the end of the day, Clemens is in a heap of trouble. His Hall of Fame candidacy soiled and his reputation forever ruined. The greatest pitcher perhaps of the past 30 years now has the sporting world wondering if he did it the right way. My gut says we will forever remember Clemens and Barry Bonds as the icons of the steroid era in baseball.

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.

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.

Super Bowl XLII Prediction

I’ve made known a few days ago that I’m not psyched for this year’s Super Bowl. Sure, I’m going to enjoy the food, the festivities, and to see which commercial will make me laugh or make me want to turn the television off since I’ll be watching the game with the youth group.

A rematch of the Patriots and Giants season-ending game just doesn’t do anything for me. It’s like going out on a second date with someone you know you really don’t want to go out with again. Sure, you may have fun, and you might actually have a nice time, but the fact of the matter is you would rather it be someone else on the other side of the table.

That is the situation I find myself in with this year’s Super Bowl. I would have preferred someone else to have been sitting on the NFC side of the table. Don’t get me wrong; Eli Manning has done a good job in leading the Giants to the Super Bowl after a mediocre regular season. But, we’ve seen this game. The Giants blew their chance and allowed the Patriots to come back in the fourth quarter. Personally, I would rather see a match-up between Tom Brady and Brett Favre which might have been one of the better quarterback match-ups in recent Super Bowl history.

The Perfect Season - Coaching as an Act of Ministry

For the past few months, I’ve served as a youth basketball coach for the local YMCA here in Kentucky. Coaching is something that I’ve always wanted to do as something to divert attention from school and work and this was really the first opportunity I had to do so.

Now, before I get into discussing the season, I should mention a fact, as I believe I have before. That is I knew nothing about how to coach basketball before the start of the season. I never played the game, on an organized team, growing up so all I knew of the sport is what I covered as a sports writer and watching it on television.  But, I enjoy it, especially on this level where at 7 and 8 the kids are starting to get that fire for competition in their belly and they are still coachable.

My team this season was the Rockets - a group of six very talented girls and boys who were a pleasure to coach. They really were. We finished the season, if scoring was kept, at 5-0-1. Today, we played a great defensive game to “win” in the fourth quarter.

I was really proud of the team and what we accomplished in growing together as the season progressed. We went from a group of players that didn’t want to play together to a team that played well as a cohesive unit - as much as one as you can at 7 and 8-years old. I told my family, when I called after the game, that I was more proud of being a coach right now with this team than I would be if WVU won a national championship in football.

I’ll let that sink in a moment.

I Only Saw Half of the Fiesta Bowl … but it was a Great Half

Last night, I was traveling back to Kentucky from my week-and-a-half away in West Virginia and North Carolina. I was rushing to get home to watch the Fiesta Bowl featuring West Virginia and Oklahoma. Now, anyone who knows me knows that watching West Virginia athletics is a great stress relief for me and with this being a huge game I wanted to be able to get back.

Well, things prevented that.

The primary thing was the weather. I came upon some heavy winds in Virginia that prevented me from driving at full speed. Then, I had to pick up some stuff at my grandparent’s, but that was planned. But it was what happened after words that perhaps prevented me from seeing the entire first half. In the snow and poor driving conditions in West Virginia, my truck decided that its windshield wippers and washer fluid didn’t need to work.

Solution? For the entire state of West Virginia, I would stop routinely to wash the windshield so I could see at least three feet in front of me. The stops and driving slower because of the windshield prevented me from driving at top speed and at least added an hour to the trip.

When I arrived, it was in the second quarter and West Virginia had control of the game. And what a game it was? West Virginia proved everyone wrong, including myself (I wondered how West Virginia was going to overcome the obstacles in front of it to win),  and won the game playing great offense and outstanding defense, even though the defense gave up some big plays in the secondary. The defense tightened up when it matters the most, on your own side of the field, and held Oklahoma to multiple field goals on long drives and stopped two 2-point conversions following touchdowns.

But how about Bill Stewart? The glue for West Virginia the past few weeks after the loss to Pittsburgh that kept the Mountaineers from playing in New Orleans for the national championship and the loss of Rich Rodriguez as head coach, Stewart was able to keep the team together. That is important. The team came out on fired and ready to prove the nation wrong - this has always been a great motivation factor for West Virginia teams - and win one for their coach.

That coach, by the way, is now to be named the head coach at West Virginia later today. Some will question the decision. How could a top 10 program name an assistant coach who has a poor coaching record from Virginia Military Institute as its head coach? Easily. The coaching game has changed. The head coach is primarily a motivator and manager of the game. Stewart is a great motivator and Tuesday night outcoached one of the better coaches in all of college football in Bob Stoops.

Stewart can get some top-level coordinators and assistants to help run the team. But don’t count Stewart out as a coach. He was the previous quarterbacks coach at West Virginia and most recently worked on WVU’s special teams that has improved in recent years.

Stewart will do well as head coach and after last night it certainly is a great day to be a Mountaineer.

Jimbo choses winters in Florida over West Virginia

After media reports today seemed to indicated that Florida State offensive coordinator and head coach in waiting Jimbo Fisher was close to a deal to take over at West Virginia University now comes word that Fisher will remain at FSU.

In a statement posted at Seminole.com, Fisher said:

“I know media reports are circulating regarding the possibility of West Virginia’s head coaching position. I am a native of West Virginia and love the state but I want to make clear that I am staying at Florida State. I am committed to this university, this program and these players. I am excited about where I am and where Seminole football is headed.”

Had Fisher agreed to come to West Virginia it would have come with a cost. Fisher’s new contract with FSU requires a $2.5 million buyout should he take another head coach position by 2010. Fisher is promised that same amount if he is not named the head coach at FSU by 2010.

It’s back to the drawing board for West Virginia. Fisher’s decision probably leads WVU officials to lean towards a number of potential candidates including former Auburn coach (from 10 years ago) and ABC commentator Terry Bowden, Central Michigan coach Butch Jones, and Florida assistant coach John “Doc” Holliday among others. It’s belived that Holliday is out of the running.

With tomorrow Christmas Eve and WVU expected to be in Tempe, Az., by Dec. 26 for the Fiesta Bowl it’s safe to assume that it will be sometime next week before movement on a new coach.

The Defense Calls Rich Rodriguez to the Stand

In the ever-turning, wacky West Virginia coaching search, leave it to the Detroit Free Press to offer another twist to the story. Writer Shawn Windsor offers a “special report” detailing the ins and outs of how and why Rich Rodriguez decided to leave West Virginia to head north to Michigan.

While the article is well written, it is clear that there is a purpose in the article as it serves as, perhaps, the official Rich Rodriguez explanation for his departure from Morgantown and arrival in Ann Arbor. Interviewed in the article are Rodriguez, family members, and supporters who seem to support Rodriguez’s explanation to the events that have taken place since West Virginia lost to Pitt, 13-9, and ended up in the Fiesta Bowl.

Thus, the article simply can be described as the Rich Rodriguez defense argument.

We contend that Rodriguez did take a better job when it comes to resources and tradition. The main contention with most West Virginia fans has been the way it took place occurring just days after West Virginia lost a shot at the national title and as the team began preparations for the Fiesta Bowl. It also came a year after he was heavily courted by Alabam and had already turned down requests from Arkansas for an interview.

Here is just a snip-it of the article:

But if the school lost, the theory went, Rodriguez would be free to pursue the Michigan job, because no coach would walk away from a championship game.

“Maybe I shouldn’t feel so bad about their anger, because that just shows their ignorance,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve been” coaching “here seven years. If they don’t know me by now … ” And he stopped himself, stunned at the accusation.

Read the article. It is an interesting read especially if you want to be balanced and have both sides of the story in this ever-turning change of events.