I have solved college sport's problems

Everyone is so concerned about "collegiate athletics." There are those that say they are students first. They should be happy with their scholarship. That is more than enough in exchange for playing sports. On the other hand, there is the side that say the money making sport athletes need to be paid some sort of stipend. The only problem is title 9 won't allow that to happen because if the school gives money to the star football player they will have to also give money to the last person sitting on the bench of the college bowling team.

In today's world, the system is broken. The schools and the NCAA are constantly playing catch up "trying" to police the programs. When problems are found, the athlete jumps to the NFL or NBA to make millions with no troubles and the program, and more importantly, the innocent student-athletes left behind, suffer.

Here is my solution... no change to the current system if the school is a state school. The student-athlete gets the scholarship (if they are given one). They get the training, the tutoring, the meals, the housing etc. They do not get any actual money from the school/state. If the school is a private school, they can offer whatever they wish to offer.

Here is the real kicker for the athlete... outside of the program they are welcome to get whatever they can get legally (prostitution, drugs etc. are still illegal even if I don't agree). If they can earn money signing shirts, go for it. If they get invited out on a party cruise, have a blast. If the local car dealer wants to give them an exotic sports car, take it. The catch? It all has to be above board and reported as income.

Your average player isn't going to get much of anything. If you are not a star, you are not going to make much. You will get your schooling and that is about it. You might get a free lunch at the local dive if you agree to show up wearing your jersey. You are welcome to try to work whatever deal you can. You will move on in life with a college degree if you choose to finish and live happily ever after. These are the people that fit the philosophy of "I don't know what they are complaining about. They get a free education".

If you are a star, you are going to get tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars of benefits. Good for you. The only players that ever really cause problems with serious money involved are players with a strong chance of moving on to the pros. If you do it the right way, you make a lot of money, report it as income as you go and pay taxes on it. If you do it the wrong way, you make a lot of money, don't report it as income and then suffer fines and penalties. A majority of these players will move on to the pros so the money will be easy to collect by the IRS (as much as I am not a fan).

Tell me what major change this would have on college sports other than breaking down the facade of innocence? Most of the top teams would remain the top teams. Most of the top players would remain the top players. Most of the athletes that are going to school for an education are going to leave school with their education. The best part, I won't hear anymore "shocking" stories of players taking benefits that violate NCAA rules. Welcome to capitalism.

The Yankees attentance is awful

As anyone in Tampa Bay, I am sick of hearing how poor the attendance is to Rays' games. You can't read a paper or turn on the radio with-out hearing just how bad it is. Being into number, I dug in and my conclusion is, attendance at Yankee games is pitiful.

It is really pretty simple math.

The Yankees are averaging 44359 fans per game with a payroll of almost $202 million. It works out to just under 220 fans per game per $1M spent on salary.

The Rays are averaging 19971 fans per game with a payroll of almost $42 million. That works out to just over 476 fans per game per $1M spent on salary.

I will do that math for you. The Rays are averaging more than double what the Yankees are averaging as far as fans per game vs. payroll spent.

I would be curious to see what the Yankees would draw next year if you made a few cuts to bring the payroll down to $41M.

Two and a Half Men

Angus T. Jones, who plays Jake Harper in the show "Two and a Half Men" has lost his baby fat and shot up several inches while the show has been on hold. People are wondering how they are going to write that into the show's script. I know there will be so many people tuning in just to see how they deal with that. I am afraid that could throw the whole show off. I sure hope they can overcome a change as significant as this is.

This is what happens

I saw where the city of St. Petersburg was trying to determine who was going to pay for the demolition of the home where cop killer Hydra Lacy was hidden in. How about this... nobody. Do not harbor known criminals. If you do, you get what you get. You could get hurt or shot in the apprehension of the criminal. You could get your stuff damaged. You never know, you could get your stuff reduced to rubble, put into trucks by a front end loader and taken to the dump to be buried. Congratulations. You are now the proud owner of a vacant lot.

I only wish the police were able to retreat unharmed. They could have then begun "negotiation by flame thrower." Call into the house for the criminal's immediate surrender. Allow 10 seconds for a response. If no response, hit the entire house with the flame throwers. The criminal is now "on the clock." He has the time allotted by the physics of heat, flame and smoke. Leave the next move up to him. The city will save the cost of a prolonged negotiation. Everyone wins....well.... almost everyone.

Then there is Dan Birmingham, a gym owner who knew Hydra Lacy. He knew Hydra to be a "real decent guy." I am sure he meant other than the sexual assault of a child under 13, assaults on police officers, stabbing his wife in the leg and face with a sword, beating her with a rum bottle and stomping on her to put her so badly to put her in the hospital and she couldn't work for 6 weeks, the grand theft auto charges, the armed burglaries and then the shooting of a U.S. Marshall along with the murder of two police officers. I am sure ol' Danny meant to say he was a "real decent guy" other than that stuff.

I didn't know the man but he does sound like a great guy.

Spaghetti with a side of B.S.

I used to think I wanted to be a weatherman. You know all the talk; they can be wrong all the time, they can be vague, they can just say something unexpected happened and that is why they were wrong etc. I have found a better job though. I want to be a "hurricane track predictor" (or whatever their exact title is. You have seen these charts. Many of the predicted courses will make sense. There are always a couple that vary from most but still look like they are determined through the use of valid science. Then there is always at least one that looks like a stoned teenager with a crayon wanted to have a little fun with the map.

I don't blame the stoned teenager... they are stoned and having fun. That is what they do. I blame the television station for not removing the senseless squiggled line from their weather report. Is the weather department so blind that they don't see how worthless it makes their predictions look?

THIN SKIN

There has been a big stink made the last few years anytime any sports commentator makes a military reference about a sporting event. People need to grow some thicker skin. I have heard some people in sports use analogies that were weak, stupid or even down-right offensive. This doesn't mean the person should be crucified for using them (I hope I didn't offend with my use of "crucified"). Personally, I do not see the problem with comparing different parts of sporting events to military situations, events or terms. There was a story in the paper the other day criticizing an NFL color commentator for saying that a player was hurt by "friendly fire. " If you don't understand what "friendly fire" is, it happens when a player hurts their own teammate while trying to deliver a hit on an opposing player. You have got to be kidding me. Who did this offend? I didn't note who the commentator was. It is not important. I don't know what was in their mind but I am pretty sure they weren't trying to say that the injured defensive back deserved a Purple Heart. It was simply a quick and clear way to describe what he saw happen.

I understand that there are "taboo" military/war subjects that should not be used to describe sports or anything else but I think, for the most part, analogies used in sports do not fall into this category.

Now relax and get ready to watch your favorite team as they prepare to do battle.

What the heck is going on???

Memo to 7-Eleven... have Mountain Dew slurpees ready for me when I want them. Since there is no way for you to know when I will want one, go ahead and have them ready at all times. I visited 2 locations on my birthday. One had Mountain Dew but it wasn't frozen. The second didn't have Mountain Dew. I figured I would get one the next day and be happy. Now the location that has always had them, has removed Mountain Dew all together.

They are going to make me angry.... they won't like me when I am angry.