Saturday, March 21, 2009

I'm beating Bob Costas

No, but really...I am. When it comes to the NCAA tournament bracket challenge on ESPN.com, I am beating Bob Costas and tied with Mike Greenburg (of my favorite Mike & Mike in the Morning show).
Just so you know: I've got Louisville, UConn, Pitt, and North Carolina as my final four. Not super-original, I get it, since they're all #1 seeds, but what can I say? The ranking system keeps getting better and better, and those teams are good.
Once I finish interviews, it's back to the games. :)

Monday, March 9, 2009

You stay classy, Buffalo




At least they only signed him for one year.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

For what it's worth....


...here is my opinion on the sports topics of the day. To clarify, I am as un-athletic as they come, but I watch a lot of sports and listen to lost of sports talk. Disclaimer: Most of my facts/understanding of football terminology is probably erroneous. I'm no journalist. But I enjoy talking about sports, and felt like weighing in. What else is a blog for?

First of all, I would like to address the Terrell Owens situation. The facts are that he has just been released by the Dallas Cowboys one year into a four year contract, which means that the Cowboys can no longer use the 9 million left on that contract to pay another player. Silly? Maybe. Terrell Owens is an incredible football player and leads the league in touchdown receptions in a career. He also has put himself in a situation where no one will throw him any passes so that he can make more touchdown receptions. Tony Romo, Jeff Garcia, and Donovan McNabb - all great quarterbacks - are on the list of people who will never throw to #81. The issue? No, not TO's ridiculous off-the-field lifestyle or outrageous comments to the media, but the fact that he can't handle sharing the spotlight. His latest issue is with tight end Jason Witten, whom he suspects has been secretly meeting with Tony Romo to create plays that exclude Owens. This claim has spilled over into discontent among other players, concern among the coaching staff, and enough locker-room drama that even Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is willing to eat his words and send Terrell Owens back into the world of un-signed receivers. This might be a terrible thing to say, but I really hope no one takes on TO for 2009. I think it is important to show that unlike many professional sports, the NFL is not willing to sacrifice the quality of the team in order to let a superstar have his show.
Secondly, and this is just something I noticed on Mike & Mike this morning, the NFL needs to keep the salary cap. This past year, a collective bargaining agreement was not reached between the NFL players union and the organization, which means (I think) that in 2010, it's sort of a free-for-all. Right now, the salary cap in the NFL provides a sense of equality among all teams because even if you have more money, you can't use it to recruit players over a certain amount. Then I saw this about baseball's recent salary spending:
The New York Yankees budgeted $441 million for this year to sign 5 PLAYERS. The next closest team spent about $127 million dollars for 8 players. Is it any wonder that the Yankees are the "winningest" franchise in baseball history where World Championships are concerned?
Based on this, in my honest opinion, the NFL needs to keep the salary cap. Also, selfishly, I love my Steelers, and the Rooneys are notoriously frugal. On the other hand, you can afford to be frugal when you build your team through the draft!
This whole post probably bored many of you. But I had fun writing it. ;)

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

I'm Weird


I just finished the Financial Peace University course offered at my church, and created by Dave Ramsey, financial guru. Mostly Dave Ramsey reminds me of my Dad because he won't let you spend any money. (Just kidding, Dad!) But seriously, I enjoyed this course because it made me think more about how I manage God's money when it's in my wallet. In the final lesson, The Great Misunderstanding, it really was made clear to me that money is not, was not, and never will be mine. I simply use it to glorify God and to do his work. Throughout high school and college, my schools and churches have all had different ways to manage money and to budget. What I like about the Dave Ramsey one is that it balances out the necessity of saving money and having it for important things like college tuition and retirement, it's also very clear in saying that unless you are giving money away, it is a detriment to you. So having money is not bad, but "the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil". I think it has really put a lot of things in perspective for me, and I really want to take the class again sometime to better understand the details!
For all of you who are unfamiliar with Financial Peace University, I'm including the 7 Baby Steps to Financial Peace. Here they are:

1. Have $1000 in the bank for an "emergency fund"
2. Develop a debt snowball (pay off debts!)
3. Save 3-6 months of expenses
4. Invest 15% of your income
5. Save for college tuition
6. Pay off your house early
7. Build wealth and give it away

Since I don't have kids or a house, I only have 5 baby steps right now. :) Whew! I highly encourage anyone to take this class - it seems impossible to do, but it's not when it's all broken down this way.