Sports Talk with Jackrabit1*

*With apologies to the guys at "Sports Talk with Craig and John" at KWSN!

Realizing it's been a few weeks since I had a sports-related blogging, I figured I'd ponder a few pernicious points of ponderance (How's THAT for alliteration!)

1) State Legislature to force renewal of State/USD rivalry?

The mavens over at SDSUFans.com have been buzzing with the rumor that some of the State legislators are floating the idea of a bill to compel South Dakota's two Division-I schools to play each other every year in football and basketball. I don't know if this is true, per se, but if it is, there's a few legislators that really need to re-focus their priorities.

Let's face it... South Dakota is facing a budget crisis that it hasn't seen since the Great Depression. Falling tax revenues, added strain on state resources (i.e. unemployment insurance), and these yahoos are plotzing because State and USD aren't playing each other in tiddlywinks? Government and Sports just don't mix... just ask anyone involved with the Congressional Steroid Hearings.


2) Scale back the playoffs.

The South Dakota High School Activities Association is looking at possibly doing away with the first round of the State Football Playoffs. The Association says that the current system is a burden on some schools who have to take time out to travel, as well as the non-competitiveness of most of the first-round games (which usually end on the "mercy rule").

Instead of cutting back on the number of rounds, per se, why not do away with an 11-man class and a 9-man Class. Right now, almost everyone and their grandma makes the playoffs for 11-AA and some of those teams couldn't even beat a nine-man intramural squad. So why not take the upper half of the 11 man teams (by population) and make that the new 11-A; the bottom half would be 11-B. Same for the nine-man schools.

Frankly, we need to get away from this touchy-feely "every body wins and no score is kept so we can boost our precious little darlings' self-esteem" crap in sports where everyone gets a chance and everyone gets a ribbon. Honestly, how in the HELL does that prepare someone for real life?

Frankly, it's best to say this... Life isn't always going to be fair. You're not always going to get what you want. The true test of your character is not how you deal with your success, but rather how you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and handle the disappointments. It's called "Real Life", folks. The sooner these kids realize that, the more mature and well-adjusted they'll be.

And on that vein...

3) 100-0.

I'm a competitor, I'll make no excuse for that. I like to win. I like to do well. But I've always believed in this following mantra...

"Win with humility. Lose with dignity. Do both with class."

Last week, the sports world was buzzing when Covenant High School in Dallas, Texas played Dallas Academy, a private school that works with students that have learning disabilities and deal with such issues as autism. Covenant won 100-0.

Blowouts are going to happen no matter what. That's a fact of life... just ask my old high school football teammates! But the Covenant coach should have realized he was playing a team that had no chance of even competing and should have adjusted accordingly. In other words, empty your bench, run four-corners offense to take time off the clock and not launch three-pointers to try and get 100 points.

But the "Coach" was unapologetic about his shameful behavior. He was fired. Good.

I think the guy must have been confused, though. Where it says "Do it with class," he must have read it as "Do it like an ass!"

Giving through the nose (or arm)...

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.

-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

As much as I love to gush about the generosity of the folks in Madison, it's sometimes easy to forget other area towns that also shine in their generosity.

Case in point, my hometown of Dell Rapids, where the community of 3200 people just had its 4000th donor give blood, since blood drives started there in 1976.

Bravo, Dell Rapids! Give yourselves a pat on the back... and grab an extra cookie and OJ! Now, if I could only do something about my fear of needles!

IT'S ALL OUR FAULT!!!

For those of you numbed with all the wonderful business news as of late, this'll come as a nice little wake-up call.

IT'S ALL OUR FAULT!

The Housing crisis? The Business bail-outs? The general gloom and doom that seems to be hitting Wall Street? Our fault! High Taxes? Lower standards of living? Our fault, too!

Health Care Crisis? Credit Card Debt? Look in the mirror and you'll find the problem.

I'm serious! We are rocketing away from being the independent, self-reliant pioneers of our forefathers and becoming co-dependent crybabies. We've abandoned our sense of accountability for feel-good politics and talking heads promising "Change".

Want proof? Okay.

Housing Crisis... Sub-prime mortages. People borrowing more than they can afford because the rates were so low. What they forgot to do was look at the fact those interest rates were VARIABLE, meaning they change. So when rates changed upwards, people had to pay more, and they got in debt deeper and deeper til the banks started to foreclose.

Debt... Two words, credit cards. I used to work at Citi, so I know all about interest rates, penalties, and the like. When I got a credit card eariler this summer, you best believe I made DAMN SURE I read the fine print.

Some people figure it's free money and charge like the Light Brigade in the Crimean War. And with about the same results, too! The average American has $6000 of credit card debt. And you can forget making the Minimum Payments. That only pays for the interest and a miniscule part of the actual debt. So if you're making minimum payments, you're paying through quite a few orifices for years! But hey, it's free money!

Priorities... It's funny... When times are good, money is secondary to our desires and impulses. It is only when we find ourselves in financial straits that we really take a look at our finiancial priorities. Hell, it happened to me and it was a damn good wake-up call. But some others are oblivious to this fact and continue to spend, and charge, and blow their money on wants and not on needs (like health insurance, mortgage payments, retirement, etc.).

Then when the crap hits the fan, they cry poor and ask the taxpayers for a handout!

I realize there are some people with real problems, and this is not geared toward them. But when you are making millions of dollars a year and you're crying poor, perhaps you best re-think the need for 15 houses and 200 cars! It's called living on a budget, people. Try it sometime. You just might surprise yourself. I sure as hell did!

Health Care... People complain that our health care system is in the tubes. Despite the fact we are among the world's leaders in medical innovation. Granted, not every job provides health care. But if that's the case, shouldn't you include at least some major medical coverage in your budget or better yet, find a different job? Or perhaps you can get medical coverage, only to turn it down because you can't swing that and your Jet Ski payments. Hello? Priorities, anyone?

And speaking of which, one of the biggest health issues today is obesity. Now granted, I wasn't always the picture of health, but I'm getting in much better shape and nipping this thing in the bud before I develop real problems. How many times a week do you eat fast food? When's the last time you turned off the TV and took a walk around the block? We're due for a major health care crisis and it's our own making. Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!

These are but a few of the issues. I could go about more but the simple fact is there is no politician, government program, or politcal party that is going to solve all this crap. The solution lies within us and our resolve to improve our finances, our lives, our way of life.

THAT'S when we'll have REAL change in this country... change for the BETTER!