Jim Calhoun Needs to Go

The sleigh ride is over Connecticut.

The clock is about to strike midnight on the national prominence of the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team.

Even if Jim Calhoun survives these current allegations of recruiting violations, his health and age indicate that his retirement is near. In college basketball, it’s all about the coach. Kentucky was once a perennial basketball power. It was considered on the level of UNC and UCLA as a historical basketball power. This year Kentucky was not even a bubble team for the NCAA tournament. Kentucky’s former coach, Rick Pitino, is now at Louisville. Is it a coincidence that Louisville is the Big East champ, a number one seed, and one of the favorites to win the whole tournament? It’s all about the coach.
John Calipari was once the coach at UMass. During those years, UMass went to the final four of the NCAA tournament. Since John Calipari left for Memphis, UMass has barely scratched the surface of the NCAA tournament. Meanwhile, Memphis made it to the NCAA title game last year, and is a strong number two seed in the tournament this year. It’s all about the coach.

Jim Calhoun’s time with UConn is drawing to a close. Even if these recruiting violation allegations end up proving unfounded (which I have my doubt will happen at this point), Jim Calhoun should have known better. Jim was already a hall-of-fame coach before Nate Miles. We’re not talking about a player with the skills of Michael Jordan here. Why a hall-of-fame coach would subject himself to even the smallest amount of risk for a player the caliber of Miles is beyond comprehension. Calhoun did not need Miles. Calhoun did not need any player at this point in his career. He was above all of this. Regardless of the recruiting violations, why did Calhoun let a questionable character like Josh Nochimson hang around the program? Again, a 67-year-old hall-of-fame coach should have known better.

Besides these alleged recruiting violations, Jim Calhoun has had his rocky moments at UConn. Most recently he made national news for going on a tirade at a press conference when a reported asked him about his salary. This was one of many examples of Calhoun losing his temper. Then there are all the questionable kids Calhoun has recruited over the years resulting in several run-ins with the law (laptop, anyone?).

Regardless of the outcome of this most recent mess, Jim Calhoun’s time is drawing to a close. The party is likely over for Connecticut. Unless UConn is extremely fortunate, Jim Calhoun’s successor will be hard pressed to match the basketball success UConn has enjoyed during the Jim Calhoun era. With no pro-teams, UConn basketball is one of the few bright spots to get the state though cold winters. Remember, Connecticut is one of the few states that have actually lost population over the last few years. Let’s face it, unless you’re a wealthy Manhattan business person, it’s not a great place to try to build a life. Property is high. Taxes are high. The general cost of living is high. The weather is poor. The list goes on. UConn athletics has been one bright spot, and one of the best ambassadors for the state. Jim Calhoun was a major factor in building up UConn athletics. However, as much as Calhoun does not like to admit it, he did not do it alone. He had the support of the University, a staff, other programs (i.e. Geno and the women’s team), but more importantly, he had the support of the people of Connecticut. Hopefully, as his time at the helm of the most important team at the flagship university comes to a close, Jim Calhoun does not tear down much of what he helped to build up.

Government Violated A-Rod's Trust

Note: Author is a Red Sox fan.

Alex Rodriguez has a right to be mad. Out of 104 players that tested positive in the supposedly secret and anonymous 2003 MLB steroid testing, his was the only name leaked from the court sealed results.

The government and MLB is presently on a steroids witch-hunt with pending criminal investigations against retired star pitcher Roger Clemens and out-of-work star outfielder Barry Bonds, as well as actual charges filed against all-star infielder Miguel Tejada. However, investigation into the government leaks of supposedly anonymous tests that were sealed under court order have been slower in coming. Perhaps something is in-process on this, but thus far, not much is being mentioned about the lies told to players regarding the testing. The players union agreed to the testing under the auspices that the results would not be shared. This has clearly been violated. Furthermore, the court order sealing the results has also been violated.

This is not just a matter of embarrassment for Alex Rodriguez and the union. This will impact A-Rod financially. His name has been sullied which will certainly cost him endorsement money. If the travails of Mark McGuire are any indication, this could also cost A-Rod election into baseball's hall of fame. It's hard to come down on the side of illegal drug users, but even criminals have rights. This information should never have been made public.

Some may argue that A-Rod took the illegal drugs, so he's getting what he deserves. The argument is that regardless of how it come out, and regardless of the repercussions, in the end justice is served. To me, that's not the issue. A-Rod's rights were violated. He, and all the players in MLB were lied to. If the testing was truly for the purposes of understanding the impact of steroids, samples should have been collected without traceability, i.e. no identification should have been put on the samples to trace a particular sample back to a particular player. The samples should then have been destroyed. Major League Baseball, lead by the commissioner, has struck out on this one.

I rarely come down on the side of unions, but I hope the players union sues MLB for this violation.

MLB is one thing, but what's the government's culpability in this matter? The results were sealed under court order. Courts are part of the judicial branch, and the last I checked, the judicial branch is part of the government. In my mind, the players, specifically A-Rod, may have a case against the government. The government was responsible for keeping the results secret. They were entrusted with this data. They broke that trust. What if the blood tests showed a player had an embarrassing disease or condition not related to baseball performance that he wished to keep private? Would it be acceptable for that information to be leaked too? This situation is a great argument for the civil libertarians that are against the government collecting data on citizens. This plays into the whole government sponsored health care debate. President Obama is presently pushing for a program to digitize all patients health records to improve medical industry efficiency. Based on how well the government kept the MLB steroid testing data, would you trust this same government to keep your health records safe? Imagine your health records are leaked to your employer. Imagine your insurance company dropping you after getting a look at your government leaked health records. In the state in which I reside, they require a finger print in order to own a hand gun. I can understand the good intentions of such a rule, but I don't want the government to even have my fingerprint data on record. Who's to say that this could not be inappropriately used against me in the future? People scoff, but it could happen. I may sound a bit paranoid, but take a moment to consider all the corruption in government brought to light just in the last year (e.g. Blogo, Geitner, Dodd, Frank, Daschle, Hartford mayor Perez, former CT governor Rowland, ACORN etc, etc, etc). I may fall on the paranoid side, but someone who thinks the government is fully on the "up-and-up" is naive.

This is yet another example of why the government can not be trusted. They can not be trusted with our personal data, our medical data, or our dollars.

Why Are the Red Sox Not Making Any Moves?

The Mets have signed 2 top quality back-of-the-bullpen pitchers. The Yankees have signed 2 big free agent starting pitchers, and are in discussions for another pitcher. They continue to be in the mix for top free agent sluggers. Even if they make no additional signings, the Yankess have clearly gotten better. Yet the biggest move the Red Sox have made thus far is to announce new uniforms.

The Red Sox were beat out by a divisional rival (Tampa Bay Rays) last year in the playoffs. Yet the Red Sox have done nothing to get better this winter.

In baseball, if you're standing still, you're going backwards.

Red Sox Nation is starting to get restless. The Sawx need to fire up the hot stove! Rumor has it that the Blue Jays are dangling Vernon Wells and BJ Ryan. Wells would certainly be a nice upgrade offensively in center field without sacrificing defense. BJ Ryan would finally give the Red Sox that 8th inning guy they've been struggling to find for two seasons. Oh, and let's not forget Mark Texeria. The Red Sox need to get that deal done to legitimize their Manny-less lineup. Pedroria, Ortiz, Texeria, Wells, Youkilis, Bay, Drew would be a formidable offense, especially if the bullpen were improved. The Rockies have bullpen help available. The Red Sox could still use an upgrade at shortstop, and need to deal with their catcher situation.

There are lots of moves that could be done, should be done, and need to be done. I could go on and on. The point is, Theo and the gang need to get going to bring a merry Christmas to Red Sox Nation.

Understanding the Liberal Mind -- Part 2

In my on-going quest to understand the liberal mind, I again try to find some analogies to display the absurdness of liberal ideology.

Let's look at some examples of what the sports world would look like if the same principles liberals wish to apply to our government applied to sports.

1) The Windfall Bating Average Tax
Alex Rodriquez, Manny Ramirez, and Albert Pujols are 3 of the best hitters of all time. They have devoted their lives to being the best at what they do. From a very young age they have spent countless hours practicing and honing their craft. They have lifted thousands of pounds of weights, and participated in thousands of drills for hand-eye coordination improvement. They have worked themselves to exhaustion in the batting cage. They have studies video and reviewed scouting reports until their eyes glazed over. They have made sacrifices to be the best. When others were relaxing, they were working to get better. This tremendous amount of work, plus the good fortune of some level of God-given talent has paved the way for them to be listed with the greats of the game, and to eventually be enshrined into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. They are without a doubt amount the best at what they do.
However, according to liberal principles, their level of achievement is not fair to many of the other players who are not as good. Therefore, Major League Baseball will institute a Windfall Bating Average Tax. This is how the tax will work: Every player that has a batting average above .300 will be deducted 1 strike. This strike will be given to every player with a batting average below .250. Since the vast majority of player have a batting average that falls between .250 and .300, this tax will only impact a relatively small number of players. With this new tax, players batting under .250 will get 4 strikes per at bat, while players batting over .300 will only get 2 strikes per at bat.

2) The "Spread the Wealth" Act
This act is inspired by Barack Obama's "spread the wealth" quote in his conversation with "Joe the Plumber". The New York Yankees have 26 World Series championships. That's 16 more than the second place team (St. Louis Cardinals with 10)! The Yankees definitely need to spread the wealth. It's totally unfair that they have done all the things necessary to bring 26 championships to their fans, while teams like the Tampa Bay Rays have none.
In 2009, MLB will be awarding an honorary World Series Championship to the Tampa Bay Rays. Celebrate Tampa! Your team did not earn it, but we know deep down inside you really, really wanted a World Series championship.

3) From "Dream Ticket" To "Dream Team"
Even with the occasional stumble, USA basketball is recognized around the world as the standard for high quality play. It is not uncommon for Team USA to blow teams out by 30 or more points. This display of domination could cause angst in teams from other countries. It is not fair that the USA is blessed with so many resources while the rest of the world suffers. We need to understand the plight of these nations, and instead of demolishing these teams, we need to learn to be our brother's keepers. Therefore, Team USA will agree to face these teams on "equal terms". To make the terms equal, Team USA will hereby spot every team 15 points at the start of every game. This will hopefully appease the basketball extremists from other countries that may refuse to play Team USA, or worst, possibly engage in "dirty play" (hard fouls, grabbing, etc.) against team USA.

4) The Travis Knight Rule
Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947. However, since that time the pendulum in all major American sports has swung considerably in the other direction. Even though African Americans make up less than 15% of the population, the players that make up the NBA are approximately 83% African American. The whites that make up some of the remaining 17% are often from European countries. The NFL also has a high percentage of African American players, and MLB is filled with Latin players.

I understand that teams try to field the best players, regardless of background, in order to give them the best chance to win. However, where does that leave diversity? Diversity, not skill or qualifications, is much more critical to creating a team. Therefore, in the name of diversity, starting in 2009 the following requirements will be added to the lineups of the 3 major team sports in the USA:

NBA:
The NBA will be required to start 2 white players, 1 Asian player, and 1 Hispanic/Latin player. This leaves one remaining wildcard spot, which will likely go to an African American player. This line up will better reflect the make up of America, and will truly be a diverse team. After all, Democrats want a presidential cabinet that "looks like America". Shouldn't your starting line up look like America?

MLB:
Baseball has plenty of white players, and plenty of Latin players, and a growing number of Asian players coming over from Japan. However, MLB is still short on African American players. Additionally, with 9 positions per team instead of 5 as in basketball, baseball has a greater opportunity for diversity. Therefore, MLB needs to consider players of Indian origin (they can tap into the cricket leagues), and Middle Eastern origin. Therefore, MLB will be required to field a team with 2 white players, 2 black players, 2 Latin players, 1 Asian, 1 Indian player, and 1 Middle Eastern player.

NFL:
With 11 positions on offense, 11 positions on defense, and 11 positions on special teams, plus many bench positions, the NFL is a treasure chest of diversity opportunity. Sadly, today the NFL is disproportionally filled with players of African American origin, with many white American players. There are almost zero players of any other background. Since there are so many available positions in the NFL, the NFL can be the champion of diversity. Although the details have not been worked out yet, the NFL will definitely be required to increase the percentage of white players, as well as integrate players from dozens of different countries.

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Liberalism is the triumph of emotion over reason. Any logical person can see the absurdity of the above scenarios. However, all of these ideas are pushed upon our government by liberals, mostly in the name of fairness. Liberals are at war with unfairness. There is this warped feeling that there should be absolutely no hardships to be overcome in the world. Every hardship is labeled as unfair. Liberals scream "Unfair!" at every difficult situation like a kid on the school yard crying when they lose a kickball game.
Whenever liberal ideology is applied to something outside of government (parenting, sports, etc.) the illogical nature of it is clear. However, when it comes to government, emotion takes over the liberal mind and logic goes out the window.

Manny Ramirez Has Officially Jumped the Shark on Red Sox Nation

Note: On occasion, Liberty Alert will comment on events outside the world of politics, government, etc. These forays into other various topics will be occasional, and all fun. I've used this space before to discuss Manny Ramirez, so this entry is a sort of follow up to my previous entry.

OK, I've finally had it! I've been an apologist for Manny being Manny for a while now. I put up with the water bottle in the back pocket, the high fives while the ball is in-play, the bathroom breaks inside the Green Monster, the erratic fielding, the arguments with teammates, and even the phantom injuries. But enough is finally enough! In case you have not heard the latest, Manny Ramirez, perennial all star, World Series MVP, and future Hall-of-Famer has suddenly and mysteriously begged out of the last 2 games due to a supposed knee injury. What's worst is that his sudden unavailability came against the arch rival New York Yankees. The Red Sox have a $20 million team option on Manny next season that they have yet to exercise. Speculation is that Manny, who happens to be one of the top 5 highest paid players in the game, is unhappy with ownership for not yet picking up his option. Therefore, he is using this knee injury as the ultimate passive-aggressive revenge.
What does Manny Ramirez have to be upset about? Red Sox Nation has winced and looked away at all of the previous Manny-isms because the guy has produced at the plate. However, Manny has continued to show a lack of respect for his teammates, the Red Sox organization, the fans, and the game of baseball in general. In case you have not noticed (which I know that you have), Manny's production was significantly down last year. Red Sox Nation was able to look past it because Manny came through in the playoffs, followed by a decent first half this year. Regardless of his production, there comes a point when an organization and fan base needs to stand up for principles. Manny Ramirez is taking advantage of the good will of Red Sox Nation. It's a shame because he's one hell of a hitter, but he's finally gone too far.
I would not have said this a week ago, but I hope the Red Sox stand up and do not pick up Manny's option for next year. Instead of turning into a facsimile of the over-paid, over-arrogant Yankees, I would rather the Red Sox use the $20 million on a player(s) that cares as much about the team as the fans do. Let Manny be Manny somewhere else. What do you think?

Should Red Sox Nation be Fed Up with Manny Being Manny?

These days, as a life-long Red Sox fan, when you hear a report about "Manny being Manny" you cringe until you get the details. The now famous phrase "Manny being Manny" refers, of course, to the other-worldly (and, yes I do mean that in both senses of the phrase) All-Star outfielder Manny Ramirez. These Manny Moment episodes from the future Hall of Famer usually end up being something goofy. Occasionally it's something that goes just far enough beyond goofy to make you a little upset. Then he goes and hits a 3-run jack in the 9th inning, and it's hard to hold a grudge. The latest is a story out of the Providence Journal about Manny shoving the Red Sox press secretary when he could not get 16 tickets to a sold out game for Manny. This on the heels of journeyman pitcher Shawn Chacon being released by the Houston Astros for similar behavior against the team General Manager.

Look guys, Manny Ramirez is like the hot girlfriend. As a guy, you're going to put up with a lot more crap from the hottie than you would from say, Star Jones (before and after her procedure).

The Red Sox organization has to look out for the overall well being of the team. Regardless of how zany Manny is, the team is better with him in the lineup. I'd love for Manny to get disciplined by the team. That may have actually happened behind closed doors. However, the team should not get into a "cut off their nose to spite their face" situation in which they hurt the team by benching Manny for any length of time.

The team should ride the Manny-pony for all it's worth. Get every HR and RBI they can from that horse, then put him out to pasture and move on.