Now, let me ask the question that all the readers are asking. WHO? The Murray State Racers are now 20-0 this year, with their last victory over Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville last night. Now trust me, I’m no bandwagon, but you have to respect any team that is undefeated at this point in the year, whether it is mighty Syracuse or mid-major (if you can call them that) Murray State. Murray State did make a splash in the 2010 NCAA tourney, beating Vanderbilt in the first round and narrowly losing to Butler, who went on the Cinderella Story journey by losing to Duke in a photo finish game in the Championship game. Other than that, no one really knows about Murray State and what they have done. They don’t have the élite schedule that most top teams have, but what sticks out to me is that they have beaten a ranked team, which was Memphis. They won’t face another ranked team for the rest of the regular season, but when you face a ranked team and beat them when you have the chance to is rather impressive to me.

Now I will admit, I am a fan of the Racers at this point, but there are some naysayers. For example, my dad says they should not even be ranked at this point because of the weakness of their schedule. I argue that they have beaten a ranked team and they beat Morehead State, who ousted Louisville in the first round of the Tourney last year. Now obviously, other than Memphis, they don’t have much competition, but here is my point of view on it. I highly doubt that the high ranked teams want to play a team like Murray State, which would most likely hurt their strength of schedule, which is crucial to the seeding in the Tournament. That isn’t Murray State’s fault. It isn’t their fault that they aren’t a big name team. But most importantly, it isn’t their fault that the teams that they have faced have not been able to beat them.

Finally, I come to my conclusion. I’m not vying for Murray State to be a number one seed. I’m not saying they’re going to win the March Madness tournament. All I’m saying is that you have to respect a team that is undefeated this far into the season, whether it is the powerhouses, or in this case, the Murray State Racers. I think that a small name school being the only undefeated team in Division I basketball is, quite frankly, amazing and inspiring. So go ahead and do your thing, Murray State, you now have my, and the rest of the nation’s, undivided attention.

He’s 85 now, with lung cancer and a broken pelvis. He sits in a wheelchair, trying to heal as he goes through chemo treatments. His wife is devoted and they have a loving, solid marriage with lots of great-grandchildren to dote on.

Yes, all the factors that I’ve just mentioned weigh heavily on a public that wants to forgive an elderly man for the mistakes he’s made. We are a forgiving people, as God forgives us daily for our sins and He has taught us to turn the other cheek time after time when we are being sinned against. Yet we are torn, we want to forgive but…

JoePa, in an interview today with the Washington Post, indicated he wished he had done more than he did when he heard of the rape in 2002. He said he had never heard of an instance of the rape of another man before this and he had no idea what his response was supposed to have been. He also said his assistant was reluctant to share all the details with him at the time.

His assistant came to him on a Saturday. Joe didn’t call his superior until Sunday. A meeting was set up with the campus police chief and the school’s athletic director. In the meeting, Joe’s  assistant was more forthcoming, according to the story. He said he had been reluctant to be more graphic with Joe out of respect for the then 75-year-old coach.

(Authors Note: Read the interview here: http://wapo.st/xycCKB)

Jerry Sandusky has been charged with 50 counts of sexually abusing young boys over a 15 year time span. Jerry was Joe’s assistant coach for the Penn State football team for 30 years, from 1969 to 1999. Sandusky ran a youth foundation, called Second Mile, in addition to his duties as coach. In fact, Sandusky only retired from his football position after he found out that he would not succeed Paterno as PSU’s coach. After he retired, Jerry ran football camps for youth out of Penn State Facilities and had keys to those facilities as well. In fact, he used those facilities for some of his attacks on young boys.

If only Paterno had done more….then maybe some kids that were raped and abused after the 2002 incident would be living normal lives now. That’s why I’m not willing to give Paterno a free pass. He could have done more and he should have done more. I have a hard time relating to someone like Paterno, who admitted that he had to think through the problem and then act. As a society, we should, without hesitation, protect the defenseless, like children and women. There is no thinking involved, except where is the phone to dial 9-1-1.

He may not be guilty of any crime, but he is culpable of gross stupidity and showed a total lack of care for the victim of the rape.

Ultimately, though, forgiveness is and will be elusive for Paterno. Forgiveness should not come from us, the spectators in all of this, it should come from the post 2002 victims, whom he failed to protect.

By the way, we’ve all heard that Paterno was “fired” from his job at Penn State. He wasn’t. He still on the payroll as a tenured professor. Read about that here: http://cbsloc.al/yOEkT8

Huntsman and Perry are done, leaving Ron Paul as the lone variant if the evangelicals decide to support Romney. Paul is but a thorn in Romney’s side and will not really threaten the King’s coronation.

But to support Romney, the evangelicals have to overlook a number of material and essential differences they have with Romney. The first item is that Romney is a Mormon. The teachings of Mormonism differ greatly from the teachings of Christianity. In fact, more than a few evangelical leaders have, in the past, called Mormonism a cult. For them to backtrack and support a Mormon for President is quite a leap. Another difference is moral in nature: Romney’s time at Bain Capital has become problematic for them, as he often engaged in legal but questionable business practices such as looting companies and laying people off. This practice started in the 1980′s by the way, but it nonetheless is unsavory and the question for evangelicals is, was it moral to do what he did? Was it Biblical? What would Jesus have done? Of course, Romney says that to attack or question his record is an attack on capitalism itself, which is a silly response, one that the Democrats are lying in wait to respond to. Romney also has to defend his own conservatism, which is questionable at best. He is perceived, rightly so, as being too moderate for the mostly conservative evangelical coalition. All they have to go on is his record as Governor of Massachusetts, and during his time there he governed from the center, not from the right. So on issues like immigration, they can only go on what he has done before. I could go on, but my point is made. It will be a major undertaking for evangelical leaders to convince the faithful to support Romney.

My guess is they will agree to support him, but only because there is really no one else to throw their support to. They had hoped for another candidate to emerge but none did. When Santorum failed in New Hampshire, their last hope was dashed. Santorum was never organized properly, nor financed sufficiently to run a national campaign. The evangelicals miss the days of the Christian Coalition, that’s for sure.

So when their surrogates stand before the faithful this weekend, a determination will be made as to who will be the next Republican Nominee for President. The 150-200 in attendance will then begin to send the message to their flocks as to whom to support at the polls. The South Carolina primary, in my opinion, will send a loud and clear message out to the rest of the country as to who the party’s nominee will be.

In its infancy, liberalism did not imply democracy. For example, the Whigs tended to be the wealthy property owners in England and many classic liberals were suspicious of democracy: They believed that responsible political participation required two things: Education and property ownership. As a matter of fact, up until the end of the 19th century, participation was limited to those that met these requirements all throughout Europe. It was only until Andrew Jackson’s election in 1828 and his subsequent abolition of property requirements for voting, that democratic principles achieved a major victory here in the States.

In Europe, meanwhile, the exclusion of many from political power and the rise of the industrial working class, gave rise to Marxism. The Communist Manifesto was first published in 1848, the year that the revolution spread all throughout Europe, except for the United Kingdom.

And hence began a long competition between ideologies: The Communists were willing to forgo multiparty elections in favor of economic redistribution vs. Liberal democrats, who believed in expanding participation while maintaining a rule of law protecting individual rights, including property rights.

Marxism started to get undermined by the mere fact that many people rose from the working class into the middle class. Also, the size of the working class began a decline in the second half of the 20th century as services began to displace manufacturing in what were labeled postindustrial economies. Finally, a new group of poor and disadvantaged people emerged below the industrial working class – a mixture of racial and ethnic minorities, recent immigrants, and socially excluded groups, such as women, gays, and the disabled.

Marx believed that the middle class would always remain a small and privileged minority in modern societies. What has happened instead is that the middle class has exploded to constituting the majority of populations of most advanced countries, thereby posing problems for socialism. For a long time, popular thinkers have believed that a stable democracy rests on a broad middle class and that societies with extremes of wealth and poverty are susceptible either to oligarchic domination or populist revolution. When much of the developed world succeeded in creating middle-class societies, the appeal of Marxism vanished.

There is a broad correlation among economic growth, social change, and the health of liberal democratic ideology in the world today.  There is no rival ideology looming on the horizon but there are some very troubling economic and social trends, that, if they continue, will threaten the stability of contemporary liberal democracies and possibly dethrone democratic ideology as it is now understood.

For instance, in the United States, median incomes have stagnated in real terms since the 1970′s. This situation has been abated by the emergence of two income earners per household. Also, Americans of this generation have been living with subsidized mortgages for low-income households which is a highly dangerous method of redistribution. This has been brought about by the flood of money from China and has given the U.S. a false sense of security. An illusion that the standard of living was rising. The huge housing bubble that burst was but a correction, however cruel. We enjoy relatively cheap cell phones, clothing, and Facebook, but we can’t afford health insurance, pensions, or our homes.

Another key factor that gnaws at the middle class is technology. Technology is great, we enjoy it, but it takes our jobs away and ultimately, it could take our way of life away. In 1974, the top one percent of families took home nine percent of GDP; by 2007, that share had increased to 23.5 percent. This is due to the disproportionate number of people that have reigned in technology because of their standing in society. They are most talented and well-educated, but their activities cause massive inequality. Every great advance for Silicon Valley likely means a loss of low skill jobs elsewhere in the economy, a trend that is unlikely to end anytime soon.

Don’t misunderstand me, inequality has always existed, a s a result of nature and talent and character. But today’s tech world vastly magnifies those differences.

The last factor that undermines middle-class incomes is globalization. Transportation and communication is cheaper and to put it succinctly, things can be performed elsewhere far cheaper than they can here. It’s inevitable that jobs will continue to be outsourced.

Smarter ideas and policies could have and might still contain the damage. Germany has succeeded in protecting a significant part of its manufacturing base and industrial labor force. But the U.S. and United Kingdom happily embraced the transition to the postindustrial service economy. Free trade became the ideology. When some in Congress tried to retaliate with trade sanctions against China for keeping its currency undervalued, they were charged with protectionism. So our leaders simply capitulated and sold us down the river.

So, where do that leave us? Well, for my brothers and sisters on the left, it leaves us without ideas. Hence, the title: Help Wanted: Ideas Needed. The only ideas being leveled now are from the right – by the Tea Party, God Forbid. The Tea Party serves the interests of those we rail against, the privileged few.

“On matters of race, on matters of decency, baseball should lead the way.”

“There are a lot of people who know me who can’t understand for the life of them why I would go to work on something as unserious as baseball. If they only knew.”

“It’s designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything is new again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains comes, it stops, and leaves you to face the fall alone.”

“The banishment for life of Pete Rose from baseball is a sad end of a sorry episode. One of the game’s greatest players has engaged in a variety of acts which have stained the game, and he must now live with the consequences of those acts. There is absolutely no deal for reinstatement.”

“No one man is superior to the game.”

“All I ever wanted to be president of was the American League.”

A. Bartlett Giamatti was the 7th commissioner of baseball and in my opinion, the last effective one.

We now have Bud Selig, a spineless clerk who has diminished and sullied the game many have spent countless hours shedding blood, sweat and tears protecting legacies and stories of athleticism that have transcended generations.

I grew up loving the game of baseball, both as a spectator and a participant. Attending many minor and major league games, I simply fell in love with the sport that has captured the hearts of many. Lately, I’ve been chagrined by the appearance of people who love money more than the game itself. I’m talking about the ones who are stewards of the game. Namely, Bud Selig.

I know, the athletes, you think, are greedy too. I don’t think so. My argument is that they sell their skills to the highest bidder and that is who they play for. The owners and the commish, all they look for, by and large, is more money. And Bud Selig is their boy. By the way, they pay Bud pretty well. I think 22 million per year, or thereabouts.

So, what has Selig done in his long tenure as commissioner? In his position since 1992, Selig has been busy. He implemented the Wild Card into the playoff structure, thus enabling an inferior team to advance to the playoffs without having won their division. Think about the shift in strategy here as the season progresses for certain teams that realize they are not elite.

He oversaw the 1994 Players Strike and cancelled the World Series that year.

He was also there for the 2002 work stoppage. You remember that year, don’t you? It was the year that he declared the All-Star game a tie when both teams were down to their last pitchers. How embarrassing! And later, he decided to spice up the All-Star game by giving home field advantage in the World Series to the league who won the game.

And then there are steroids. Selig, the steroid commissioner. Head in the sand for so many years while rogues cheated. And still, he really does nothing. I mean, a 50 game suspension is better than nothing but come on, who’s he kidding? The baseball purist in me tells me that cheaters should be sent packing, permanently.

So, ladies and gentlemen, there you have your Selig biography. I’m sure he’s proud, laughing all the way to the bank. One things for sure, though, he ain’t no Bart Giamatti, never will be. Would things have been different if Giamatti had lived longer? Oh yeah, you better believe it.

Robertson: “I think He showed me about the next president, but I’m not supposed to talk about that so I’ll leave you in the dark – probably just as well – but I think I know who it’s gonna be,” he said on Tuesday’s broadcast of CBN’s “700 Club.”

So, if he does speak about it, then he will be de facto admitting that he is in violation of God’s direct order. Hmm, I wonder if there is a FCC rule about such things?

Here is what God supposedly said to Robertson:

Your country will be torn apart by internal stress. A house divided cannot stand. Your president holds a radical view of the direction of your country which is at odds with the majority. Expect chaos and paralysis. Your president holds a view which is at odds with the majority – it’s a radical view of the future of this country, and so that’s why we’re having this division. This is a spiritual battle which can only be won by overwhelming prayer. The future of the world is at stake because if America falls, there’s no longer a strong champion of freedom and a champion of the oppressed of the world. There must be an urgent call to prayer.”

That’s a pretty bold statement to make, Mr. Robertson. Conscripting God to your warped view of the world is reckless and dangerous, sir. You should be ashamed to call yourself a Christian leader when in fact you’re nothing but a lunatic leader of some fringe element on the right. Claiming that you and yours are champions of the oppressed is laughable and disgusting at the same time. Saying that you have a direct line to God is obscene and vulgar, and you sir, are a nothing shy of a charlatan, spewing your filth and vile to those less fortunate who cannot, for whatever reason, think critically and logically and spit you out of their mouths like so many already have.

Overwhelming prayer? Many people have been and currently are praying for our nation, sir. But they are not praying for the sort of nation that you desire, they pray for a nation where people from all backgrounds are welcome to form a marketplace of ideas so that we can compete in a global economy. They pray for fairness and equality in our laws as they have hopes and dreams, not only for themselves and their families, but also for a strong and vibrant nation. And our current president, inspires hope to many around the world.

As a nation, we have struggled the last several years. have you noticed? God, sir, wants us to help people, not oppress them, as your Republican friends want to do. Often times, in the Bible, Jesus is shown extending his hand to the needy but taking the rich to task for their greed and arrogance. Do you understand America? I don’t think so. And the sad part is, I don’t think you ever will.

The bowls have been busy recently with more than a few good games. Defense has been missing, however, in some games. I still feel we can do better by implementing a different bowl system. It seems, from what I read and hear about, a plus one format is on the horizon. It does not answer all the questions but it is improvement toward finding a true national champion. I believe a lot of people have had enough of the current BCS system and their voices have been heard.

I’m hearing where some AP voters are going to vote LSU #1 if it’s a close game, regardless of the outcome. That’s a shame that it could be a split championship if Alabama wins but that is what the NCAA powers have created and tolerated for years. It’s simply not acceptable in my view that this can be a possibility. The system needs changing. You’ve heard me say this before, I know, but make your voice be heard on these matters and they will change the rules. Fans, players, and coaches should not have to put up with this any longer. Let’s change the system. Write letters, hit the phones, etc. but make your views known.

Don’t know if you’ve followed the story out of Tennessee involving Freshman DeAnthony Arnett and coach Derek Dooley. Arnett wanted to transfer from the Vols to a FBS school in Michigan because his dad is sick and unable to travel to see him play at Tennessee. At first, Dooley said that he could only transfer to a choice of 3 schools in Michigan, which did not include Michigan or Michigan State. After a firestorm of protests, Dooley has changed his mind and will allow Arnett to transfer to any school in Michigan. Today, Arnett said he would be enrolling in Michigan State. He was in the ESPNU 150 as a senior in high school.

John Elway and John Fox are expecting more from Tim Tebow this week. Elway wants more aggression and Fox wants better accuracy. Tebow, who has appeared shaken at times, says he is Ok and is looking forward to the challenge. Is he up to it? Going up against a top-tier defense is going to be tough. I think short passes are in order, to build his confidence, then let him try the medium to long ones. We shall see. Tebow believes in himself, no doubt, but he also has to believe in those around him and more importantly, they need to believe in him. He can’t do this by himself.

In a NCAA basketball note, you have to love the Mizzou Tigers. In a game to watch this Saturday, they play Kansas St. at 1:30 EST, Mizzou only has 7 players on scholarship and no player is over 6’6. They are now ranked 6th and undefeated, while K-State is 22nd.

From this perspective, I have a surprise for everyone: President Obama will run as the conservative in this election and the Republicans? Well, they will run as the wild-eyed radicals who want to dismantle what we have so long taken for granted: Safety nets for our citizens and government protection against corporate fraud and abuse (Think Financial Meltdowns).

In addition, the President also will run as a populist, because he will be seen as the one who is trying to support the hopes of reaching the American Dream alive to millions. The President believes that the government is an essential force in the nation’s economy, a guarantor of fairness in competition, a counter force against excessive private power, a check on a sometimes unfair capitalistic system that favors the powerful and well-connected, and as an instrument that can offer a leg up to those that are without advantage.

To counter that, the Republicans see our government as an evil force, a drag on the economy and an enemy of private enterprise. For example, Rick Perry, Texas governor and Republican presidential hopeful, said last week that he wants to make “Washington, D.C., as inconsequential in your life as he can make it.” The word inconsequential to Perry means more than budget and tax cuts. The GOP is trying to redefine our government. They are trying to turn our form of government into a new, statist society. Let’s listen to what Mitt Romney, another Republican presidential hopeful, said recently: “President Obama believes that government should create equal outcomes. In an entitlement society, everyone receives the same or similar rewards, regardless of education, effort, and willingness to take risk. That which is earned by some is redistributed to the others. And the only people who truly enjoy any real rewards are those who do the redistributing – the government.” Obama believes no such thing! If he did, why are so many Wall Streeter’s making so much money? Romney has said quite a bit about Obama lately that is simply not true. But Republicans now are increasingly inclined to argue that any redistribution, whether it be Social Security, Medicare, student loans, veterans benefits and food stamps is all but a step down the road to some radical socialist society that the left has dreamed up.

As a nation, we are strong believers on the ideals of the New Deal ushered in not so long ago. Remember, no one, Reagan, Bush included has tried to dismantle what we all stand for. But the rhetoric of the 2012 Republicans suggests they want to go far beyond where the conservative policies of Bush or Reagan ever went.

Now, it’s true that the economy is bad and the Republicans might win a referendum on that point. But my guess is that if they are banking on Americans to say they consider their government to be inconsequential, they will face some very disappointing results next November.

No, the purpose of this blog is to talk about Tim and Pat and how parody’s like SNL’s can really get things heated up in a hurry. SNL is not evil, they are entertainment and should be looked at through those lens exclusively. For instance, you would go to SNL for news, right? No, you go to them for laughs and enjoyment. Now if Tim, who is a public celebrity, chooses to profess his faith publicly every time he is interviewed, then he invites or opens himself up to, parodies like the one that SNL displayed last Saturday night. Face it, nothing in our society is really sacred anymore. And you can bet your last dollar that similar parodies are being planned for Robertson.

As a Christian, I know that these things are going to take place, they have in the past and they will continue. But, I am secure enough in my faith and have the knowledge in my beliefs that such behavior cannot cause my value system to waver. It’s really a wasted effort to try to insulate our faith against such things. And what of the SNL skit? Parts were funny, parts were totally stupid. It’s kind of sad, really, to think that some would get their spiritual lessons from a comedy routine anyway.

As for Pat Robertson, I think he is just misguided and out of touch with our culture. He does not represent how I feel as a Christian in my worldview. God wants us to live abundantly and happily, not frumpy and sternly.

By the way, Tim Tebow, in my opinion, is a fine young man. He has a book out, Through My Eyes, that I’m looking forward to reading. It’s on my list. I watched Tim as he grew at the University of Florida and he is a great athlete. I hope he does well in Denver and beyond. God Bless him.

Here is the SNL skit: Tim Tebow SNL Skit

There are now 11 conferences, along with the independents, in the FBS. In the plan, each conference would be required to have a mechanism that would decide a conference champion. Those conference champions, along with the highest ranking independent team, would form what is called the Bowl Championship Series.

From these 12 teams, using our current bowl structure, we would have 6 games, which would give us 6 teams who would advance to the next week. Those 6 teams would play, giving us 3 teams who would advance into the following week. The highest ranked team would receive a bye, leaving 2 teams to play. The result of that game would give us 1 team to advance into the next week to play for the National Championship.

The ranking system would be broken into 2 different and distinct parts. The first part would base the ranking on:

1. Strength of Schedule

2. Wins and Losses

3. Opponents Strength of Schedule

The second part is a radically different approach to what we’ve done before. It would be done with America’s vote. That’s right, the fan’s vote.

Now, I’m not so dictatorial that the two parts should be equal. However, the fan’s should have a say in these matters and their vote should count.

A word about the bowls: Each bowl would have an opportunity to be part of the Bowl Championship Series. The bowls that did not want to be part of it or were not selected would be free to select whatever teams they wanted to play in their bowl as long as they were bowl eligible, which is now 6 wins.

The regular season of each FBS team would be pared back to 9 games each to accommodate this plan.

There you have it, a modest proposal to correct the bowl situation.

There are some radical ideas here, like allowing America to vote and paring back the regular season to 9 games, but it’s time for change to make sense. This proposal addresses many problems. It may not be perfect but it’s a start.