We Need A Decent President Like John Kasich - Also, fun with Tiger, the KKK and Omarosa

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I just watched Ohio Gov. John Kasich for 10+ minutes on NBC's Meet The Press ... and I couldn't help but feel sad.

He would have been SO much better president than the two people on the 2016 ballot, it isn't funny.

I strongly suggest that everybody who cares about our great democratic republic watch this video:

I can hear my friends from both side of the aisle now. Some of my liberal friends will say he is too conservative on issues such as abortion and say they would worry about the kinds of Supreme Court justices he would appoint. Some of my conservative friends will call him a RINO or "too establishment."

As a registered Independent who is a centrist on most economic issues and left-of-center on most social issues, I am not entirely comfortable with some of his platforms or with his tendency to drift toward religiosity.

However, I am about getting our country moving the right direction again. Kasich knows how to govern, he knows that bringing Americans together (and not dividing us) is the answer, he is reasonable and pragmatic, and I really do think he is a good human being.

Those last three words alone make him a bazillion times better than the immoral, corrupt racist currently in command.

I am disappointed in Republicans for letting themselves get conned into nominating a me-first, un-American, unstable liar - not to mention a guy who, as Kasich pointed out, is neither a Republican nor a conservative.

And I am disappointed in Democrats that they couldn't have put forward a candidate better than the flawed, dishonest person they nominated. As an adjunct, I am disappointed that Dems didn't come out to vote for the person they did nominate. I hope y'all are happy with the results of your apathy: the most corrupt president in history.

Here's hoping Kasich, a true leader who actually wants to lift all Americans rather than divide us, runs for president in 2020.

Unless the Dems nominate somebody really darn good, Kasich will get my vote.

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The last two golf majors have been a lot of fun, mostly because Tiger Woods - who had been sidelined and/or weakened for most of this past decade by personal problems, injuries, swing flaws and lack of confidence - is good enough to contend again.

Sunday's final round of the PGA Championship was filled with thrills as Tiger came charging from behind to pull within a stroke of Brooks Koepka down the stretch. But as had been the case at the British Open last month, Tiger made a couple of crucial mistakes. And as had been the case at the U.S. Open in June, Koepka simply was too good in the clutch for the rest of the field.

It's incredible that golf has gone 10 full years without Tiger having won a single major; he had captured 14 titles in his first dozen years on tour, and seemingly was a shoo-in to surpass Jack Nicklaus' record of 18. Heck, Tiger hasn't won any tournament at all, major or minor, since 2013.

Sunday, he had a drunk driver - it kept steering him miles from the fairway. But he responded by repeatedly escaping from horrific situations thanks to some of the most incredible iron shots we've seen since ... well ... since Tiger was TIGER! a decade ago.

After claiming for several years that "I'm close," he does finally look close to being one of the world's great golfers again. If he had driven the ball even OK at the PGA, he probably would have won.

One thing for sure, though: Today's pros are no longer intimidated by "The Tiger Factor" as they once were

At the British, his playing partner, Francesco Molinari, waved off Woods' comeback attempt to pull off an impressive victory. And Sunday, Koepka ignored the raucous cheers of Tiger's massive gallery to drill 340-yard drives right down the middle of the fairway and follow with practically perfect approach shots.

Given that he has won 3 of the last 6 majors - the 2017 and 2018 U.S. Opens and now the PGA - Koepka certainly has the look of Best Player in the World right now.

Will Eldrick T. Woods, who turns 43 in December, be able to prove he consistently can play with Koepka and the many other fine young pros - guys who were pre-teens during Tiger's heyday?

That will be the story line of the 2019 season.

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After watching the PGA Championship, Roberta and I went with another couple to go see BlacKkKlansman - the Spike Lee film that was based on the true story of a black cop infiltrating the Klan in Colorado Springs in the 1970s.

It was an amazing film, smartly written and extremely well acted. Given the backdrop of the 1-year anniversary of the deadly Charlottesville white-supremacist rally, it was extra interesting.

Several scenes reminded the audience that, even 40 years later, we haven't come as far in race relations as one might have thought or hoped.

Warning: Despite the opportunity to hear white folks use every epithet in the book to describe black people and Jews ... racists probably will not enjoy BlacKkKlansman.

Spoiler alert: The Klan doesn't come out looking very good.

David Duke, don't say I didn't warn you - and your hero, Donald Trump.

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I was proud to be an American on Sunday.

Counter-protesters outnumbered white supremacists by more than 100-to-1 at a "White People Can't Catch A Break In America" whine-a-thon held in Washington on the 1-year anniversary of Charlottesville.

A few Nazis tried to stage a similar "celebration" in Charlottesville, but there too they were dwarfed by the number of decent Americans shouting them down.

What really made me proud is that there was no violence at either location; it would have been easy for protesters to have been egged into it by the racist, anti-Semitic douchebags who have been emboldened by the leaders of our country.

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I wouldn't be surprised if a recording surfaced proving that Trump used the N-word and other racial epithets, as reality-show-personality-turned-presidential-adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman claimed Sunday on Meet the Press.

Nevertheless, Omarosa wasn't an especially convincing person to make that or any other charge.

Like pretty much everybody crammed into Spanky's Clown Car, she spent her time serving the president by being a liar who cared far more about "what's in it for me" than about our country. She admitted to being complicit with our "truly racist" president ... but it rings pretty hollow now, as she makes the circuit to promote the anti-Trump book she wrote after being fired last December.

Still, it was hilarious (and yet sad) to watch her get attacked by members of Spanky's staff - people who have spent two years lying on his behalf.

Her book is "riddled with lies and false accusations," said Sarah Sanders Huckabee, whose job as chief liar for the Liar In Chief depends upon her willingness to lie dozens of times a week.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway criticized Omarosa for turning against Trump after having praised him. Of course, Conway was extremely critical of Trump when she was working for Ted Cruz, but she had no problem turning on Cruz and becoming yet another town liar after Spanky hired her. It was Conway, remember, who coined the term "alternative facts."

The most intriguing part of Sunday's interview was the recording Omarosa played of chief of staff John Kelly firing her in the Situation Room.

Omarosa secretly recorded the interaction, which is against protocol but seemingly not against the law. Holding such a meeting not in his office but in the Situation Room, which is only supposed to be used for top-secret matters of national security, also would appear to go against protocol.

Listeners could clearly hear Kelly threatening and trying to intimidate Omarosa - referring to "difficulty in the future relative to your reputation" if she didn't go quietly.

Many are criticizing Omarosa for making the recordings, but frankly it's hard to blame her. Having swam in Spanky's Swamp for more than a year, she knew exactly what she was dealing with, and she knew nobody would have believed her account.

Again, listening to Spanky sycophants talk about the lack of protocol in the White House is precious, given that their hero uses knee-jerk Twitter proclamations to make policy, lash out at allies, praise dictators and lie non-stop.

As usual, the Trump Administration is an embarrassment to our great nation. It's a dangerous operation with an unhinged leader surrounded by deplorable people.

It is, in a word, a shit-show.
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Long Time No Write ... Good Thing There's Nothing Going On!

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It's been more than 6 months since I've posted, by far my longest blog-free span since I started The Baldest Truth in advance of the Bears' 2007 Super Bowl run.

Hey, I've been busy! 

Writing personal finance articles, coaching basketball, going to weddings, umpiring baseball, dealing with the enormity of having a treasonous pathological liar as president ... 

You know, the usual.

Anyway, enough excuses. Let's catch up a little.

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If you're reading this, it means you probably like my take on things in general, so I'm not going to spend too much time writing about the most corrupt president in the history of our democratic republic.

The whole "preaching to the choir" thing, you know?

July 16, 2018 might have been America's darkest day since 9/11. Our president, given several opportunities to tell the world that he believes our intelligence community and several chances to challenge Vladimir Putin to his face for meddling in our 2016 election, instead did the exact opposite. He sided with the murderous ex-KGB agent, and smiled when Putin rewarded him with a soccer ball for being a good boy.

Can you get more Typical Bully behavior than that? Given the chance to confront a sworn enemy of the United States, President Bone Spurs backed down like the coward he always has been.

The entire world already knew that Putin was smarter, more savvy, more politically experienced and more ruthless than his orange counterpart. The way Putin played him in Helsinki, it's even worse than most of us thought. 

Given Comrade Trumpsky's horrific public performance, every American should want to know exactly what he promised Putin during their private meeting. A few senators, including Republican Marco Rubio, say they are determined to find out. We'll see.

I was heartened to see a few Republicans strongly rebuke "Spanky." But in truth, most of those men only found courage after they decided to not run for re-election. 

Most Republicans were content to say nothing, having long ago sold their souls to a corrupt, racist, cowardly, un-American liar.

All right ... on to happier subjects ...

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Buy One, Get One (Not) Free

2018 has been The Year of Love for our amazing family! 

In March, Ben married Sammi in a beautiful, fun ceremony in Chicago.

Sammi teaches 5th grade in Northbrook. Ben is back in college, even as he works full-time. The two live on the North Side - only a few blocks from Ben's childhood home.

Two months after Ben and Sammi tied the knot, Katie got hitched to "her Ben" in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. (We Southerners say stuff like "get hitched," y'all.)

OK ... they actually had gotten married back in September in Seattle because there would have been too many legal hoops for the American to marry the Canadian in Mexico, but this was the celebration. And oh, what a week-long celebration "Randalls In Sandals" was!

Let's just say the tequila floweth ... and leave it at that.

Katie and Ben Randall live in a Seattle suburb; she works for a large mortgage company, and he is at Microsoft.

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Fun And Games

My first season as an assistant high school basketball coach didn't end quite as happily as we all would have liked, as our Ardrey Kell Lady Knights lost in the state quarterfinals to the team that would go on to win the championship.

It nonetheless was a spectacular season - including a 25-4 record, a regular-season conference title and the regional championship. I learned so much from our coach, Jeff Busieck, and the girls.

Our top three players graduated and soon will be starting their college basketball careers, so we will be a markedly different team next season. 

We had 3 weeks together in June - 7 practices, a team camp at UNC-Charlotte and a summer tournament - and the experience confirmed that we still have a lot of talent, we're well-coached (that's a nod to Coach B, not me!), we're smart, we're tough, and we will not be an easy team to beat in 2018-19.

Even with high school basketball on its summer hiatus, I'm still doing a little coaching, working at a couple of Hornets Hoops camp sessions.

I did a few sessions last summer and was assigned middle-school kids each time. Last week, however, I coached 7- to 9-year-olds. 

A real fun, goofy group. And led by my "Chris Paul" (the kid on the left wearing two different-colored shoes), we won our age-group title.

I also am in my sixth season umpiring youth baseball - mostly fun, and the kids are always great, but sometimes the coaches and parents get a little over the top in their, um, "enthusiasm."

In June, I had only my second-ever ejection of a coach. He was on me and my partner all game. In the 5th inning, when he called us "terrible" after one of my partner's calls (a correct call, BTW), I pointed at him and said, "I've heard enough. Consider this your warning." His response: "Go ahead!" So I did.

As a coach myself (as well as a former newspaper columnist in the early years of very nasty comment streams), I have thick skin and I'll tolerate a lot. As I said: I've had 2 ejections in 6 years. 

But when a guy who is supposed to be a role model for kids instead is a jerk, and then he publicly challenges you, you had better be ready to give him the heave-ho.

July and August are "dark" for the leagues I umpire, as it's in the 90s with high humidity pretty much every day. We'll get back at it in September.

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Mike's Writing Re-Boot

I haven't written about sports for any publication for many years, and (as we've already covered) I haven't blogged much, but I'm still doing plenty of writing.

Since late December, I have written several articles a month for a Web site called Daily Trade Alert. It's a bit of misleading name given that much of their content is not for daily traders but for long-term investors like me.

The folks at DTA have given me a fun assignment: Every month, they provide me with $2,000 in real dough-re-mi, and I invest it on their behalf. I pick the stocks, and I write about why I made the selections. So far, we have bought 13 companies.

We hope it will be a multiple-year project, kind of a primer in building a portfolio based mostly on the Dividend Growth Investing strategy. Click HERE to see my page, which includes more links to follow if interested.

DTA "recruited" me from Seeking Alpha, the investing site I've been writing for since 2012.

As THIS from one of my peers and THIS from one of my former editors show, a few folks at SA have said some very nice things about me. For a while, I was the site's most-read writer in my main category (Dividend Investing), and my Dividend Growth 50 project remains very popular.

However, Seeking Alpha has changed its contributor-pay model a couple of times since I started writing there, and it has resulted in me having to do more work to make less money - never an attractive combination.

I still occasionally write for Seeking Alpha - HERE is Part 3 of a recent series I did called The No. 1 Stock In The World.

But until Comrade Trumpsky really caves in to Puppet-Master Putin, the United States is still a capitalist country, so I'm going to do most of my work for the employer that compensates me the best.

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Which Brings Us Full Circle ...

Even as he sucks up to dictators who would love nothing more than to reduce the United States to rubble, Spanky calls our allies "foes" and our free press "the enemy of the people."

The self-described "very stable genius" actually is dangerously unstable. He is prone to extreme behavioral swings and easily manipulated; he showers adoration on anybody who has been "nice" to him while lashing out at any perceived "hater."

There never has been an American president who has brown-nosed murderous autocrats while defending criminals (Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn), unethical losers (Scott Pruitt), pedophiles (Roy Moore), racists (too many to name), soul-less demons (Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon), accused wife-beaters (Rob Porter), dirty lawyers (Michael Cohen), liars (WAAAAY too many to name) and other assorted thugs, boors and felons.

Where is the Christian right to express outrage? Where is the "family values" party?

We Americans can't wait for Bob Mueller to save us, because he might not be able to.

If Democrats and my fellow Independents aren't motivated to get to the polls this fall, shame on all of us. 

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Well, I think that about covers it for now ... and I didn't even share any musings about pro or college sports this time.

I'll try to check in at least once a month. No promises ... but I'll try.
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Kasich was reasonable and Fiorina was fiery, but only one GOP name seems to matter (Spoiler alert: It isn't Marco Rubio)

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The debate opened with CNN's Jake Tapper asking Donald Trump to comment on a negative comment Bobby Jindal had made about him. So, naturally, Trump responded by blasting Rand Paul.

So you knew it was going to be a fun night.

Before it was over, John Kasich -- the closest the Republicans have to an actual adult male in this whole shebang -- was admonishing his colleagues for their childishness, Paul was calling Trump sophomoric and Jeb Bush was loudly demanding that Trump to apologize to his wife for some perceived slight.

Mike Huckabee's explanation for his defense of the thrice-divorced, homophobe, whack-job Kentucky clerk was ridiculous, but then again he's just trying to land a better TV gig because he knows he has slightly less chance at the presidency than my dog Simmie. Chris Christie, who knows he will never live down hugging President Blackie McBlackerson during the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, failed to impress. Marco Rubio made a cute little joke about his hydration situation but was stiff and overly intense whenever he talked about policy. Scott Walker, my fellow Marquette alum (although he's the one who didn't graduate), is such a lightweight.

Bush, Walker and Paul tried to go back at Trump, but he swatted them away as if they were insects and he was an orange-haired beast.

Carly Fiorina emerged as the star of the debate. She zinged Trump good once, had all of her talking points lined up neatly in a row, drew raucous applause for her takedown of Planned Parenthood, showed some emotion when talking about her stepdaughter who died of drug addiction and had the best answer on the throw-away "woman on $10 bill" question. (The latter wasn't really fair, as she was the only one who could correctly label it a token gesture without getting in trouble for disparaging women.)

She also was one of the many loud voices in the Obama Is Wrong About Iran Tour.

I actually like Fiorina, but she has a pretty big problem: As the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, she oversaw a financial trainwreck. Years after the company sent her hewlett packing, it is STILL laying off tens of thousands employees. And she's supposed to be the one with the business acumen?

Trump was Trump. After getting called out for his offensive remarks about Fiorina's looks, he was at his patronizing best by saying she has a beautiful face. Big "ick" factor there. He tried to bully Bush, Paul, Scott Walker and even those who weren't there. He offered nothing of substance, as usual, and came across as an arrogant jerk, as usual.

So you know what will happen, right? He'll shoot up another 5% in the polls.

The Trumpster could call the Pope's robe "a stooopid gown" and could follow that up by urinating on little Scotty Walker's head, and he'd probably move up 10% more! It's the damnedest thing, no?

Ben Carson continued to play the role of the anti-Trump: soft-spoken, understated, calm. But he does share one thing with the Trumpster: He has no realistic plan on any issue. Of course, in this Year of the Outsider, he's running second in the polls.

As a pacifist who really hates getting involved in every other country's wars, I happen to agree with most of Paul's stances on that subject. But Republicans love a good war or two or 10 or 100, so he has no freakin' chance. (He actually has no chance for many reasons, but that's a biggie.)

Kasich remains the one Republican I'd consider voting for. He actually answered questions he was asked, talked about his many accomplishments, displayed great restraint on the Iran situation and discussed some of his goals and ideas.

The Ohio governor, who almost surely would win a state the GOP will need to recapture the presidency, again sounded intelligent, reasonable, confident and competent.

All of which probably will work against him in this crazy race.

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I had an interesting softball game Tuesday.

First, I thought it started at 7:45 and got there at 7:15. I went to the schedule to see which field we were on, only to see that our game actually was at 8:45. So I had a LOT of time to warm up.

One of the things I did while warming up was take the bat out of our manager's bag, swing it a dozen or so times and then put it back. I later found out that I put it in the wrong bag, and so far it still hasn't been returned to Pat. Slick move, Mike.

Also before the game, I told Pat that this would be my last appearance for awhile because I am undergoing hernia surgery next week. He did a nice job of telling me how much I'll be missed, even if he had to make it up!

Once the game started, things went well. We went up 3-0 and, even after we messed up some in letting our opponents go ahead 5-3 in the bottom of the inning, we came right back to tie it at 5 in the second. I had a line-drive hit up the middle and scored in that inning.

As the game went on, though, we played quite poorly and ended up losing 18-10. Playing second base, I made a diving stop of a grounder and a decent scoop of a low throw by the pitcher, but I also didn't pursue a pop-up behind first base aggressively enough and it fell for a hit. I got an RBI single to right and drew a walk, but I ended the game by taking Strike 3.

Yep, I started the game by losing my manager's bat and ended it by not swinging the bat I was using. Ugh.

Here's hoping that Pat gets his bat back and that the Sons of Pitches get back to our championship form before I come back in 4-6 weeks.
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Fun With Numbers

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Here are some of the more interesting statistics and numbers I've seen (or experienced) recently ...

0-for-39

Shaq Thompson, a linebacker from the University of Washington who last week was the Carolina Panthers' No. 1 draft pick, also once was enough of a baseball prospect to have been selected by the Red Sox in the 18th round of the 2012 MLB draft.

In his very brief professional baseball career, however, Thompson arguably put up the ugliest statistical line in the sport's history.

In 13 Gulf Coast (Rookie) League games, Thompson went hitless in 39 at-bats -- with an incredible 37 strikeouts. He did draw 8 walks ... so in 47 plate appearances, he put the ball in play in fair territory exactly twice. Twice!

No wonder he's now an ex-baseball player. Michael Jordan was Babe Ruth compared to this guy.

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4-0

That's the record of the mighty Sons of Pitches so far this season.

I'm not hitting squat (although I've got more hits than Shaq Thompson had), and I'll blame my bum shoulder for that (gotta have an excuse, right?), but I'm still having a blast being part of this talented and fun group of fellow 50-and-overs.

Maybe we'll do what Kentucky couldn't!

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13

In his first game at Davidson College, Stephen Curry committed 13 turnovers. Folks had to be wondering if Wildcats coach Bob McKillop had lost his mind offering the skinny son of Dell Curry a scholarship. Winthrop had been Steph's only other Division I suitor.

I guess McKillop's decision ended up working out all right for Davidson, for Curry and for the Golden State Warriors. Steph was just named NBA MVP.

Here's what I wrote shortly before the 2009 draft:

NBA teams are in love with the potential of Spanish teen Ricky Rubio, who is expected to be either the second or third player drafted Thursday. 

Well, he might be the goods. Or he might not be. Nobody really knows.

Give me Stephen Curry. He can handle the ball, he's an excellent passer and he'll be a big-time 3-point shooter.

A stiff breeze could carry Curry into the next county, true, but we know he has a lot of game.

Can anybody really say as much about Ricky Rubio?

When healthy, Rubio has been a pretty good NBA point guard. Much to the chagrin of the Timberwolves and their fans, however, he hasn't been Steph Curry -- truly one of the great shooters ever to lace up a pair of sneakers.

Hey, even I get one right every now and then.

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$99.95

The amount of money I'm very proud to say I didn't spend to watch Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao paw at each other for 36 minutes.

For one thing, I wasn't going to give a serial woman-beater and reprehensible human being like Mayweather one dime of my money.

For another, I used to love boxing years ago but I can't get into such barbarism now. I guess I've gone soft, and not just in my belly.

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26-14-13

That was Blake Griffin's box-score line in the Clippers' Game 1 playoff victory at Houston.

L.A. needed its all-star forward to come through big-time with Chris Paul being unable to play due to a hamstring injury, and he delivered as the Clips stole home-court advantage from the Rockets

Will this be the year Griffin and the talented Clippers finally realize their potential? I am rooting for them -- and my old Marquette friend, Glenn Rivers (we didn't call him Doc back then). I hope Paul gets back in the lineup soon.

Those who say they "hate" the NBA for whatever reason, and therefore refuse to watch it, recently missed an instant sports classic: Game 7 from the Clippers-Spurs series.

Playing on one leg, Paul was incredible. He scored 27 points, including a last-second circus shot to win the game (and the series) in a performance every bit as impressive as Jordan's "food poisoning game."

Yes, your average January NBA regular-season game can be a bore, but playoff basketball is often sensational. These guys very well might be the best athletes in the world. Add in the motivation of a possible championship, and it's pretty special stuff.

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60,000

Thanks to good initial readership, and then to links imbedded in subsequent articles, my Dec. 17 piece for the investing Web site Seeking Alpha just passed the 60,000 page-view mark.

I used to reach hundreds of thousands of readers back in my sportswriting days, so I'm not getting overly excited about this milestone. Still, 60K is a pretty big number for a single article on most financial sites. It's almost twice as many as any other article I've written has received.

I get paid per page-view, and the money I'll get from that article will help fund the new siding I just found out our house needs.

It's hard to beat that for a fun way to spend one's money! But hey, at least I didn't give any of it to Floyd Mayweather.

^^^

0

The number of declared presidential candidates for whom I want to vote.

If these men and women are supposed to be our best and brightest, that's pretty effin' depressing.

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THE JOY OF SIX: The Masters, the presidential race and the return of the Sons of Pitches

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6. How 'bout that Jordan Spieth, huh? Every time Phil Mickelson or Justin Rose or anybody else drew within a few strokes of him at the Masters, the 21-year-old Texan would birdie the next couple of holes and re-open a commanding lead. He ended up breaking a bunch of records and tying Tiger Woods' mark for best Masters score ever. Pretty impressive.

I know that I'm looking forward to many years of him dueling with Rory McIlroy, the reigning king who is only 25 himself. Then again, I remember Tiger and Sergio Garcia going toe-to-toe as youngsters in the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah and thinking, "Wow, it's gonna be fun watching these guys go at each other for the next decade or two."

How has that worked out?

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5. At one point, CBS showed a list of the last 10 Masters champions -- reminding me that the one and only Masters I ever covered (or ever will cover) was won by the "least good" (to borrow a phrase from former Bears coach Dick Jauron) champion in decades. Maybe ever.

Despite shooting a 75 in the final round, Trevor Immelman beat a field that never really showed up. Woods tried to rally but got no closer than 3 strokes. Immelman hasn't won since and, since 2012, he has missed the cut more than he has made it. In 10 starts so far this year, he has made the cut twice.

Trevor Freakin' Immelman won "my" Masters. But hey, at least the weather was perfect and I got to see a golf course that actually exceeded my very lofty expectations.

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4. It seems almost impossible that the race for the GOP presidential nomination could top 2012 for sheer craziness, but the candidates are off to a running start.

Ted Cruz is an absolute loony, which is fitting because he was born in Canada (unlike our current Kenya-born president). Rand Paul is supposed to be a Libertarian but he already is sucking up to the far right. Chris Christie just came out with Social Security reform that looks suspiciously like a liberal re-distribution plan. Marco Rubio is backtracking from his compassionate immigration policy because to the party base, there is no room for compassion in an immigration policy.

I already miss Herman "9-9-9" Cain, Rick "Oops" Perry, Mitt "47 Percent" Romney and Newt "I Guarantee $2.50 Gas" Gingrich.

And isn't there anything anybody can do to get Michele Bachmann to run again? She just predicted that Barack Obama's Iran policy would result in the End Times and usher in Jesus' return to earth, saying: "I believe the Bible is true. And believe what the Bible says is  that our nation and the people of our nation will reap a whirlwind, and we could see economic disasters, natural disasters."

I don't remember any mention of the U.S. of A. in either testament, but I admit I'm no biblical scholar.

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3. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton finally stopped delaying the inevitable and announced online that she would be running for the Democratic nomination.

She's a piece of work, too. She actually might be a bigger liar storyteller than her hubby.

It's gonna be a fun 17 months until November 2016.

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2. The Cubs paid $155 million to a left-hander who gets the yips every time he thinks about throwing to first to hold the runner. In Jon Lester's last start, he threw one so far over the first baseman's head it almost landed in the stands. It's the damnedest thing. So Cubbie.

Fortunately for the Cubs, the right fielder chased down the baseball and gunned the runner out at third base.

Obviously, it was a set play orchestrated by Joe Maddon, the latest Savior Skipper who for sure will take the Cubbies to the pennant.

^^^

1. My over-50 softball league's season has begun and I'm thrilled to be back with the Sons of Pitches. Our manager/pitcher, Pat, traded for me because he knows I'm the ultimate softball stud. Either that or he just wanted to be sure he had somebody to drink with after games. (OK, I guarantee it's not the "stud" thing.)

Pat and I entered the league as teammates in 2012 and played one season with the Blue Thunder. He decided to become a manager the following year and traded for me. The Sons of Pitches capped a very nice two-year run by winning the '14 fall championship, but then in accordance with league rules, we (and all other teams) were broken up for the league-wide re-draft.

For the SoP's latest incarnation, Pat did a nice job of getting 5 of us back together, as Pat and I are joined by Bob, Spike (the other Mike) and Wayne. Our 8 teammates seem like great guys and fine players. Definitely a fun group. I'd list 'em all here by name but I'm still getting to know them.

Our season started Tuesday and we promptly gave up the maximum 5 runs in the top of the first inning. It was a delightful combination of booted grounders, errant throws, walks and other assorted miscues. We only managed one run ourselves and gave up a couple more runs over the next 3 innings to fall behind 7-1 going into the bottom of the 4th.

Pat, who fancies himself as quite the motivator, yelled, "Do you guys wanna win or what?" Duly inspired, we scratched out 3 runs to make it a 7-4 game. We held our opponent scoreless in the fifth and I led off the bottom of the inning.

While coaching third base earlier in the game, I had a brief conversation with the opposing third baseman. He had a great glove and a gun for an arm, but he told me he was having knee problems and wouldn't be able to move very well. I joked that I was going to lay down a bunt.

Now, bunting isn't allowed in slow-pitch softball ... but swinging bunts are another story. I took a mighty cut and the ball traveled all of about 15 feet down the third-base line. Using my cheetah-like speed -- I mean, there's nothing faster than a bald, slightly chunky, 50-something Jewboy -- I beat out the infield hit.

"Real" hits -- the kind that actually leave the infield -- followed, one after the other, and by the time the 5th inning was over, we had an 8-7 lead. The umpire's timer went off during the inning, meaning the 6th would be the last. Pat retired the first two batters before giving up a hit, but he stranded the tying run by inducing a come-backer. After he threw to first, it was time to head to the bar.

There's nothing wrong with winning ugly, because there's no such thing as losing pretty.

The Sons of Pitches are back, baby!
^

Big win for my girls, big jam for N.J. guv

^
Big win Thursday for my lady Eagles!

We had trouble hitting shots all game. On one possession, we had 7 of 'em, mostly from 5 feet and in, and the ball just wouldn't go in the basket.

Tied 20-20 with a few minutes left, our center hit 2 FTs. We later added a clinching layup -- finally, one went in! -- and our defense, the strength of our team, let us hang on to win.

With 3 victories in our last 4 games, we're now 4-5. I'm so proud of how hard these girls battle because we are not the most talented group around. Our next three games are against teams that beat us handily the first time around the league, so we will be heavy underdog. Still, it's comforting as a coach to know that even if we lose, we will never, ever quit.

If I were still a sportswriter, I would dismiss that as coachspeak. But now that I'm a coach, I see it for what it is. Some teams definitely succumb and give up. I love that mine doesn't!

+++

And speaking of succumbing and giving up, how 'bout that Chris Christie, huh?

This has to be my favorite story in months. The New Jersey governor's top staff, including one of his best friends, orchestrated a series of huge traffic jams on the George Washington Bridge as retribution for the mayor of Ft. Lee, N.J., not endorsing him in the last election.

Of course, Christie, whom many consider the frontrunner for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, claimed to have no knowledge of the scheme -- even though one of his best friends was directly involved in it. He also said that, despite his reputation, he is not a bully.

And anybody who disagrees is in for a whuppin' after school!
^

Basketball and football in the enlightened New South

^
Wow, has it really been 3 weeks since I last posted? How time flies when I'm not feeling like writing for free.

It's a big week here in The New South.

Actually, North Carolina used to be The New South. Then we elected a bunch of enlightened gentlemen who have turned back the clock to a more genteel era -- when broads, coloreds, heathens and homos knew their places.

A couple of days ago, Bob Rucho, the Republican state representative who serves the area that includes my town of Matthews, took to Twitter to say this:

"Justice Robert's pen & Obamacare has done more damage to the USA then the swords of the Nazis, Soviets & terrorists combined."

That's right: In the space of 140 characters, this noble public servant managed to insult Jews, political prisoners, 9/11 victims and the grammar police. When numerous people -- including his own party's leadership -- suggested he might want to apologize, he doubled down and said he meant every misspelled, mispunctuated and misused word he twitted.

Yes, we sure are very refined here in The New South.

But I digress ...

Now where was I? Oh yeah. Big week.

First, my Eagles scored our first home victory of the season, and we go into the winter break with our first two-game winning streak. After an 0-2 start, we split our next two games before winning these last two in decisive fashion. More importantly, the girls are smart and coachable and really seem to be having fun. I'm already looking forward to January.

+++

I'm also looking forward to January to see how the Panthers do in the NFL playoffs. That's this week's other thang here in Charlotte (and, I admit, the thang that probably appeals to a few more folks).

If the Panthers take care of business at home Sunday and beat the Saints, they'll be in first place in the NFC South. They will clinch a playoff spot and will have the inside track on a first-round bye.

This is my fourth Panthers season as a North Carolinian, and it's been a blast to have the city be in such good spirits most Monday mornings. A top-notch NFL team has that kind of effect on its town.

+++

Meanwhile, I have less than two weeks to cast my Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. Last year's vote was a difficult one and this is even more challenging, loaded with a dozen all-time greats in their first or second years of eligibility. I've got my selections in mind but I've been preoccupied with basketball and haven't studied it yet. I'll be making my picks in the next few days and will be sure to post them here.

I'd wish everybody Happy Holidays now, but I'd hate to offend Bill O'Reilly and Sarah Palin with such a generic greeting. So instead I'll give them what they want:

"Merry Kwanzaa from The New South, y'all!"
^

Baldy's back, and just in time for my favorite month

^
10. My Internet buddy (and faithful reader back when my columns appeared in the Springfield, Ill., newspaper), Doug Nicodemus, has been asking me repeatedly why I haven't been blogging much lately. On Monday, after checking TBT regularly the last 5 weeks but finding no new entries, he posted this on my Facebook page:

"no blog for awhile ... are we all done ... maybe ..."

No, I'm not all done. But as I have explained to Doug -- and as I explained earlier Monday to my softball buddy Johnny, whom I saw at a local golf course -- the little bit of writing I'm doing these days has involved me getting paid. Crazy concept, I know.

Not that money is the end-all and be-all, but it buys more things than bupkis. Which is what I get paid for posting here on The Baldest Truth.

So to my tens and tens of regular readers, I thank you for your loyalty but I make no promises other than to say that I'll continue to blog when something strikes me as relevant or when I have some spare time to write pro bono.

9. As much as I'd like to see the Pirates or Rays or A's win for the small markets or the Indians or Reds win for underdogs everywhere, I can't bring myself to predict multiple champagne showers for those teams this October.

I'm thinking the Tigers, with their fine starting pitching and powerful middle of the order, will meet the talented, high-priced Red Sox, for the AL pennant. And the Dodgers, with their incredible pitching, will take on the Cardinals, who always seem to rise to the occasion, for the NL crown. 

If the Tigers had a stud reliever, I'd pick them to beat the Red Sox. But they don't. So I won't. 

I'd like to see the Cardinals do it with Mike Matheny managing, because I always appreciated him as a player, but the Dodgers remind me of recent Giants teams that won championships despite mediocre hitting.

So I'm saying Red Sox vs. Dodgers in the World Series.

The champion? I'm leaning Dodgers, but I'll hold off with an "official" prediction until we get to the Series.

There. I've committed to another blog post later in October. That should make Doug and Johnny delirious with joy!

8. Folks keep trying to find all kinds of reasons that somebody other than Miguel Cabrera should win the AL MVP. Please. This is one of those it's-so-obvious-there-must-be-another-choice situations, like when NBA MVP voters used to try to find somebody not named Michael Jordan to win the award.

Mike Trout had a fine season for a sub-.500 Angels team that finished 18 games out -- a team that started poorly in part because Trout started poorly. And yet Cabrera still had better stats almost across the board, almost won a second straight Triple Crown, and did it all for a team he led to another division title.

This is the no-brainer of all no-brainers. Sabermetricians and other misguided souls need to stop trying to make this "race" something it isn't. 

Cabrera should be the unanimous MVP choice.

7. Meanwhile, if I had an NL MVP vote, I'd be going with Braves closer Craig Kimbrel, the single biggest reason Atlanta led its division from wire-to-wire.

When a team blows a late-inning lead, it's bad. When that happens repeatedly, it's catastrophic -- not only in the standings but in the psyche of every player on that team.

What a great joy and comfort it must have been all season for manager Fredi Gonzalez and all the Atlanta players to know their team pretty much was never going to blow a ninth-inning lead.

6. My "hometown" NFL team, the Panthers, better not have spent their bye week patting themselves on their backs for their blowout victory over the Giants. 

Everybody blows out the Giants!

The only team worse than the Giants right now is Jacksonville. And yes, I said "right now" for a reason. The Giants might still be able to find a new low.

5. I have started umpiring youth baseball, something I hadn't done for at least two decades. My first game was supposed to be this coming Wednesday but the umpiring coordinator was in a pinch and asked me call the bases for three games last Sunday involving 9-year-olds.

The first game began at noon. It went so long -- walks, physical errors, more walks, mental mistakes, still more walks; these are 9-year-olds, after all -- that the second game started 45 minutes late. That game also went long, so the third game started more than an hour late, and didn't end until 6:58 p.m.

So I spent 7 hours standing on a hot, dusty field. I tried to stay hydrated but almost surely didn't drink enough. I ate only an apple. By the time I drove home, I had one of the worst headaches of my life.

Next time I have to work more than one game, I will make sure I sit down between innings, will find some shade between games and will force myself to consume several gallons of water. Oh, and I'll take some Advil before the first pitch of the first game!

4. Because I umped all day Sunday, I watched zero football. Just saw a few highlights on ESPN; I couldn't watch it with the volume on because my head was pounding. 

I couldn't help but notice that Jay Cutler was back to his old give-the-ball-away tricks, playing a huge role in the Bears falling to the Lions.

That team will go only as far as its QB takes it, and I wouldn't want to bet my life savings -- or even one-billionth of my billion-dollar portfolio -- on that guy.

3. October is my favorite month.

The World Series (and the playoffs that precede the Series). The NFL in full swing. College football conference games (rather than the creampuff schedules that permeate September). The start of the NHL and NBA seasons. The start of college basketball practice. Wonderful weather here in Charlotte. 

October also is my birthday month. And given that my immaturity prevents me from getting old, what's not to love about that?!?!?!

2. In Monday's least-surprising sports story, the Cubbies fired manager Dale Sveum.

No matter who is running the show, including current Pooh-bah Theo Epstein, firing managers is what the Cubbies do best. 

They're not so hot at pitching or hitting or fielding or running the bases. Firing managers? They are championship-caliber in that domain!

The hot speculation is that Joe Girardi will be the next sucker. Girardi is a Peoria native, a Northwestern grad and a former Cubs catcher, and his contract with the Yankees expires in one month.

Even if he decided to leave New York, why he would want to manage in Cubbieland? Wouldn't several other organizations that have a chance to win before 2020 be more interesting to him? If he doesn't like the scrutiny in New York, why would he like it in Chicago, where Lou Piniella and Dusty Baker each went from genius to dolt (in the fans' eyes) in the space of less than one season? 

Then again, there does seem to be this amazing allure to the Cubs. Everybody wants to be The Guy to fix them. Piniella and Baker are recent examples of proven winners who went to Cubbieland, made an early splash and soon learned the hard way what all the trappings of Cubdom really mean.

If I'm Girardi, I stay with the Yankees. Or I go to just about any other team where winning actually happens. Or I chillax for a couple of years being a TV yakker.

I do just about anything but sign on to be part of Championship-Free Years No. 106, 107, 108 and 109. 

1. I'd come up with a memorable, spectacular, sensational conclusion to this blog post except I'm so excited about the Republicans in the House voting for the gazillionth time to either repeal or defund Obamacare that it's hard to think!

Never mind that repealing Obamacare was the No. 1 Republican goal of the 2012 election ... which they lost ... handily. Also never mind that the GOP also questioned the constitutionality of Obamacare in front of the Supreme Court ... and lost that, too.

This time, they're willing to shut down the entire government and possibly willing to refuse to pay the bills the country already has due. All for a fight they can't win, all to please the tea-partying extremists, all to avoid being "primaried."

What a country.

^

Really? Three years in N.C. already?

^
It's been three years since Robbie and I moved from Chicago to Charlotte. Here are the questions we get asked most often:

Do you like it there?

Mostly. The weather generally is better. The cost of living, especially real estate, is very good. The people are nice, but most folks we ran across in Chicago also were nice. It's been mostly good being homeowners again, and we never could have afforded a place like this in Chicago. I enjoy playing 12-inch softball again and really like the guys on the team. We have made some good friends. The traffic is a gazillion times better here -- and folks here think it's bad. I'll show 'em bad!

It sounds like there's a "but" there ...

Yeah, and even I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe "but we're so far away from our kids and our long-time friends." Or "but we miss the vitality and urgency of Chicago." Or "but the food here, in general, pales in comparison to that of Chicago." I mean, it's pretty common to miss things about a place where one lived for 16 years, right?

Any "buts" that have nothing to do with Chicago?

Politics. When we decided to live here, North Carolina was considered the centerpiece of the "New South." It was a so-called "purple state," with almost an even split between parties. The big cities leaned left, the outlying areas leaned right and there was a lot of moderation in between. Sadly for this registered Independent, it has become far-right politically. Republicans won huge here in the 2010 midterm election. And even though more people voted for Democrats than Republicans in 2012, Republicans won more statehouse seats because of gerrymandered districts from the 2010 elections. The new governor ran on a ticket of moderation, but he mostly has followed the tea-partiers and other hard-liners.

N.C. has been "featured" -- how's that for a nice word for "ripped" and "ridiculed"? -- by national publications and pundits for the incredible, 180-degree turn.

Bills were bullied through in the last hour of legislative sessions. Anti-abortion legislation was inserted into a motorcycle-safety bill and then signed by a "moderate" governor who had campaigned on the promise of never signing such legislation. A voter ID bill was a smokescreen for over-reaching, obviously anti-Democrat legislation that severely restricts voting (fewer days for polling, no same-day registration, etc.); it's supposed to fight voter fraud but doesn't address absentee balloting, where voter fraud actually takes place. Our elected officials enacted a mean-spirited law that deprives long-term unemployed people federal benefits; it's the worst such piece of legislation in the entire country. Teachers AGAIN received no raises, and assistant teachers were canned even as bureaucrats and friends of the governor are getting 35% pay hikes. "Tax reform" was enacted that gives well-to-do folks large tax cuts while making a family of four earning median wages pay more. While GOP governors in many states reluctantly accepted federal funds for Obamacare, ours has chosen to let hundreds of thousands go without healthcare. Why not? After all, he and his family have it. All that campaigning on jobs to get elected? Precious little has been done in that regard and, in fact, the latest numbers saw unemployment actually climbing.

But at least it's now legal to bring loaded guns into bars, so we have that going for us!

Yes, it's been good stuff for Colbert and Stewart ... but it's real-life stuff that hurts real people. Even moderate Republican friends of ours are embarrassed by what's taken place here in just the last few months.

How are the jobs going?

Robbie is working far too hard and far too many hours. When she was hired for the outpatient clinic at the children's hospital, she was, of course, the newby. Within a year, she was the last one standing. She has seen so many colleagues come and go, and each time she has to take up the slack and then train the newcomers. I feel really badly for her. The doctors truly appreciate her, as do the administrators there; in her most recent review, she received the highest grades possible. But it's still no fun to work from dawn to dusk and be dead-tired at the end of every day. We're hoping it improves.

My part-time job at the country club is going fine. I get to play free golf at a great course during the week and my co-workers are fun to be around. Sometimes it's tough to have to work every weekend, because that's the only time Rob is off. We actually like each other and want to spend time together -- imagine that after 30 years of marriage! I also have enjoyed the coaching, officiating, volunteering and other stuff I have done. I do miss having the opportunity to write about major league baseball on a freelance basis, as I did in Chicago. In addition to missing out on the money, I'd at least like the choice of continuing that part of my career.

What's been the best part of living there?

Well, after we got a house we then got our dog, Simmie. She's an absolute joy and we love her so much.

Do you think you'll live there as long as you lived in Chicago -- or at least as long as you lived in Minneapolis (9+ years)?

Difficult question. Right now, I'd have to say that's doubtful. Between Rob's job situation and the politics here and being so far away from Katie and Ben, those are three pretty big factors.

Having said that ...

Rob's job situation certainly could improve. She has had some very good stretches when it's been fully staffed.

And politics change. It had been a century since there was a Republican governor and a GOP statehouse. If these clowns don't stop pushing the public around, they'll get voted out of office just like the Dems did.

And who knows where the kids will be 2, 5, 10 years from now? One or both of 'em might even move down here.

OK, fat chance of that last thing happening. The point is, things change.

Where would you go?

I have no idea, though we might not be opposed to someday trading "y'all," for "aloha"!
^

Today's High 5: Clutch hitting, NL MVP talk, N.C. political hypocrisy

^
5. It was a big Tuesday night for the Sons of Pitches softballers, proving even old men still have fire in their bellies and a few tricks up their sleeves.

Down 10-5 going into the top of the 7th (and last) inning, we rallied with 5 to tie. I had been 0-for-4 and looking quite awful up to that point, but I delivered a bases-loaded single during the rally. After holding our opponents scoreless in the bottom of the 7th, the game went into extra innings ... and we promptly plated 5 in the top of the 8th. (Yours truly drew a walk.) We retired them without any damage in the bottom of the 8th, sealing a very, very satisfying 15-10 victory.

We've lost a game or two like that, so it felt great to pull one out. Everybody contributed. Even the guys who had really rough times at the plate made plays in the field. And several of us who struggled for 4, 5, 6 innings came through in the clutch.

Let me tell you, after the game -- our third straight win after an 0-2 start to the fall season -- the beer was wetter and the wings were wingier!

Coincidentally (or not?), our tying rally started just as my wife walked up to the field. Robbie had worked OT, so she didn't get there in time to see the bad stuff. I mean, she actually thinks we're good!

Maybe we should make her our official team mascot.

4. MLB suspended Ryan Dempster 5 games for intentionally hitting A-Rod in the elbow with a pitch.

That's ridiculous.

Dempster should have been suspended 10 games for missing A-Rod's head.

3. While the AL MVP race is a two-man event -- I'm thinking Miguel Cabrera has a slight edge over Chris Davis right now, with Mike Trout having little chance because his team has been lousy from Day 1 -- the NL MVP race is most intriguing.

At midseason, I liked Yadier Molina, but he's been hurt and his Cardinals have been struggling. Andrew McCutchen is probably the deserving favorite right now because he does everything for the upstart Pirates, and Clayton Kershaw is getting a lot of attention for being the most dominant pitcher in baseball. BBWAA award voters have enough trouble giving the Cy Young to a guy without a lot of wins, however, so it's not going to be easy for Kershaw to sway MVP voters despite his microscopic ERA. Joey Votto and Paul Goldschmidt also are getting some mention.

In a year without an obvious frontrunner, here are two interesting candidates: Braves closer Craig Kimbrel and Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig.

Kimbrel has converted 39 of 42 save attempts and could end up with 50+ saves. He has allowed 6 runs all season, and his WHIP and BAA are incredible. As important as closers have become in baseball, and given Atlanta's fantastic season despite lacking any oh-my-god! hitters or starting pitchers, it's hard to argue that many NL players have been more valuable to a playoff-bound team than Kimbrel.

Puig's stats have come down to earth some, and he actually was held out of the lineup after arriving late for pregame drills Tuesday, but it's impossible to deny the impact he has had on the Dodgers. After losing at Colorado on June 2, the Dodgers were 23-32 and in the NL West cellar, 8 1/2 games behind first-place Arizona. Puig made his debut with two hits on June 3, and since then, the Dodgers are 50-20. They now lead the division, 7 1/2 games ahead of Arizona. Puig is batting .352 with 12 HR, 28 RBI and 48 runs, and his energy has sparked the team while ushering Puig-Mania into L.A. Oh, and even in the game he was benched, he ended up delivering the winning HR in the 8th.

If ever there was a season to vote for a part-year player, this could be it.

2. The Cubs and White Sox are both in last place, a combined 42 1/2 games back.

It's nice to know that, three years after I left Chicago, so little has changed!

1. We can't find money in North Carolina to give our teachers raises, to keep teaching assistants employed or to avoid increasing class sizes. Nevertheless, our Republican governor, Pat McCrory, was able to locate tens of thousands of dollars to give two inexperienced bureaucrats 35+ percent raises -- lifting their salaries to $87,500 and $85,000.

What qualified those young men to work in McCrory's administration for the Department of Health and Human Services? Well, as members of his campaign staff, they helped him get elected.

I guess even 24-year-olds can benefit from the old boy's network.

And I guess it's only important for Republicans to keep government small when dealing with silly "liberal" issues ... such as education.

For the record, this registered Independent voted last November for the Libertarian gubernatorial candidate, Barbara Howe.
^

Fly the friendly skies with knives ... but drop that hair gel!

^
My favorite story this week is that the TSA has changed rules to allow pocket knives, ski poles (yes, the ones with the sharp points on the ends), pool cues and hockey sticks.

"Frankly, I don't want TSA agents to be delayed by these," TSA administrator John Pistole tells Bloomberg News.

Absolutely, because the requirements that we remove our shoes and take our laptop computers out of their cases cause no delay at all. Besides, I'd hate to see anybody clubbed over the head with a Macbook.

As for the knives and various sporting sticks, agency spokesman David Castelveter says: "These are popular items we see regularly. They don't present a risk."

Of course not. One look at the typical NHL player's face proves that hockey sticks are completely incapable of inflicting damage. Those guys didn't want teeth, anyway.

Leave it to flight attendants to be sticks in the mud, claiming that the changes will endanger passengers and employees.

Please.

It's not as if the TSA is allowing passengers to bring truly lethal weapons such as Dasani, Head & Shoulders and Skippy through security!
^

Today's High 5: From pigskin to politics

^
5. On the 40th anniversary season of the undefeated Dolphins, it's cork-popping time again for Larry Csonka, Bob Griese, Don Shula, Nick Buoniconti & Co.: The last unbeaten team, Atlanta, fell to the Saints.

I was pretty sure the Falcons weren't about to go 19-0 when they needed about 10 lucky plays to beat "my" Carolina Panthers a few weeks back.

4. Time again for the annual debate about which college football teams get to play for the mythical national championship.

Wake me when the BCS is over.

3. Haven't posted lately because I've been doing other stuff, some of which I actually get paid for.

2. The college-basketball-on-an-aircraft-carrier experiment already has run its course.

There were supposed to be three such games over the weekend. Marquette vs. Ohio State had to be canceled because the court was too slippery. Georgetown and Florida managed to play a half before condensation on the court prematurely ended the game. And the Syracuse-San Diego State game that was postponed by rain Friday finally was played Sunday despite a broken shot clock, messed-up scoreboards, a defective court and windy conditions that barely made the game resemble basketball.

In all three cases, athletes, coaches and fans traveled a long way only to be disappointed.

I get it. We want to honor veterans and we want to create cool, interesting experiences.

There are ways to do that without putting athletes at danger and making a mockery of the game.

If the NCAA really wants to help those who have served our country, hold these games in large indoor facilities and donate all proceeds to veterans' causes.

1. I just can't get enough of Fox News these days.

It was my main source of Election Night coverage, and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the Fair & Balanced Network since then. It's funnier than Saturday Night Live ... and its stars are better actors.

As if listening to Dick Morris explaining why he was slightly off on his prediction of a Mitt Romney landslide wasn't enough entertainment, there's been: Karl Rove blaming the Obama campaign for suppressing the vote; Rick Santorum saying the GOP's failing was not being extreme enough on social issues; Sean Hannity suddenly deciding Latino-friendly immigration reform would be a good thing; and various bloviators saying Barack Obama retained the presidency due to SuperStorm Sandy, the liberal media's Benghazi coverup, the one Black Panther who stood outside one polling place, broken voting machines, etc., etc., etc.

You know, maybe if the Republicans had put up a candidate who could carry the state where he was governor, the state where his dad was a popular governor, the state where he has his newest mansion and the state his running mate calls home, the election wouldn't have come down to conspiracies.

It's been quite an election season. I miss the fun GOP primaries. I miss crazy Michele "Vaccines Make Retards" Bachmann, Herman "9-9-9" Cain, Rick "Oops" Perry, Rick "What A Snob!" Santorum, Newt "Moon Colony" Gingrich and the rest of the gang.

Mitt Romney? I already don't miss him. 

The Best Liar Money Could Buy was a terrible candidate and he would have been a terrible president.

To this day, I can see why sane people would have voted against the very flawed Obama ... but I cannot for the life of me see why anybody not named Romney would have been excited to vote for Mitt, a man who believes in nothing and everything all at the same time.
^

Today's High 5: Frisco is Ex-Cubbie heaven!

^
5. Mike Fontenot and Mark DeRosa won World Series rings with the 2010 San Francisco Giants. Two years later, Ryan Theriot opened the 10th inning with a single and scored the championship-winning run.

If I'm Starlin Castro, Darwin Barney or any other Cubbie infielder, I want to be traded to the Giants pronto!

4. Jets players and coaches were ticked off that the home crowd was chanting for Tim Tebow to replace godawful Mark Sanchez during Sunday's lopsided loss to the Dolphins.

This is the price any team -- especially a New York team -- pays for acquiring the most popular backup quarterback in recent football history.

Never mind that Tebow has trouble completing routine passes. The circus is just beginning.

3. Three cheers for my Carolina Panthers, the best darn 1-6 team in football!

2. CEOs from more than 80 major U.S. corporations endorse raising taxes and reducing spending as part of a balanced deficit-reduction plan. In other words, they support the Simpson-Bowles commission's recommendation. (And psssst ... they ain't liberals!)

That support sets them apart from Barack Obama, who appointed the commission and then promptly rejected its findings. And it also sets them apart from Mitt Romney, who instead favors cutting taxes by trillions of dollars without detailing how our debt-crushed nation will pay for those cuts.

Is it too late to get a candidate do-over?

1. Just saw this headline: "Hurricane Sandy wreaks havoc on presidential race."

As somebody with two brothers living in Philly and lots of friends and relatives residing in the D.C.-to-Boston corridor, the absolute least of my concerns is how the storm will affect the campaign schedules of Obama and Romney.
^

Sandbagging Obama finally scores some birdies

^
In golf, the term is "sandbagging."

That's what Barack Obama must have been doing in the first debate. I mean, there's no way he could have been that bad unless he was trying to be that bad, right?

So yeah, that's the ticket. He sandbagged. He carded double-bogeys, couldn't get out of bunkers, chunked chips and got a terrible case of the shanks. He got Mitt Romney overconfident, gave the Republicans hope and lowered expectations on himself.

Then, just when people were starting to bet on the other guy, though, President Obama showed up for Mitt vs. Barack II and started raining birdies.

Nice strategy, chief!

This time, Obama wouldn't let Romney get away with blatant lies. Obama got the last, best word on oil production, on the auto bailout, on tax policy and on Libya. Not that politicians even seem to care anymore, but the fact-checkers generally confirmed that Romney had less truthiness (how's that for a word?) than Obama.

And the president brilliantly used his closing statement to condemn Romney for his infamous 47 percent of the country is not worthy comments, thereby preventing Romney from defending himself. The challenger didn't have the chance to blame everybody else for the true feelings he had shared with his audience of gazillionaires.

One final birdie in the heart of the cup for the sandbagger.

Had this Jack Nicklaus Obama showed up for the first debate -- instead of Judge Smails Obama -- the election already would be over. But he didn't and it isn't.

The temptation now is to say that the debate score is 1-1. Or maybe that the Obama ticket is even slightly ahead when factoring in Joe Biden's takedown of Paul Ryan in the VP debate. That, however, is not the case.

Obama's victory last night was not nearly as lopsided as Romney's was last time. Plus, by mopping the floor with the president in the first debate, Romney was able to get out from under having called nearly half the country victims, leeches and losers.

Romney completely stole the momentum during No. 1. Obama merely stemmed the tide in No. 2, showing America he was willing to fight.

I'm already looking forward to No. 3. It's been pretty darn good television theater.

---

In much more important news, Blue Thunder, our geezer-league softball team, reached a new high last night. We won 30-5 in a game that was even more decisive than the score might suggest.

In an effort to prevent runaways, the league has a rule that caps scoring in any one inning at 5 runs.  Well, we had six offensive innings last night. And in each of those innings, we scored 5 runs. Our opponent wasn't very good and gave us extra chances, but the fact is that we were smacking line drive after line drive after line drive.

Our leadoff guy, Wheels, went 5-for-5 with four singles and a double -- every time delivering a clean hit, as if he were some kind of line-drive machine. Several players had four hits. I went 3-for-3 with a walk, including my first triple of the season.

All of this happened after one of our core players, our pitcher Pat, got bloodied in the first inning when hit in the face by a hard shot. Pat had to go to the hospital to get a few stitches, but the good news is that he is fine and should be back next week -- when we'll be trying to wrap up a perfect 9-0 regular season!

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Plus, I get paid per page-view. So hey, everybody who clicks can help me fund my own Roth!
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Romney 1, Obama 0

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Insomuch as presidential debates have winners and losers, the challenger prevailed in Mitt vs. Barack I.

I kept waiting for Barack Obama to throw Mitt Romney's words about the 47 percent right back in Mitt's face. I kept waiting for the president to remind Romney that his own party-mates, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry, ripped Mitt for being a "vulture capitalist" during his time at Bain Capital. I kept waiting for Obama to remind Romney of the many stances he changed in kowtowing to the far right, signs that Mitt isn't his own man but a puppet of the extreme GOP fringe.

But no.

A subdued Obama seemed content to defend his own record and take mostly small pokes at Romney's  policies (or lack thereof). Incredibly, in a 90-minute debate about the U.S. economy, Bain never was mentioned. Romney sure was smart to not bring it up.

It was Romney who made the best points of the night, wondering why the president used so much political capital on Obamacare when jobs clearly should have been the main focus in the first two years in office. After Obama called for more teachers to be hired, it was Romney who very cleverly said that Obama could have hired 2 million more teachers with the money he used on green energy projects, many of which failed. Romney simply appeared sharper.

Immediately after the debate, I told my wife Roberta that it was as if it had been the first quarter of a football game and Obama wanted to save the best part of his game-plan for later.

After thinking about it a little more, though, Obama actually reminded me of a football coach who thought his lead was so safe that he decided to play prevent defense.

As most fans know, however, a coach who plays prevent defense often prevents his team from winning.

If I saw all of that, I'm guessing that most media mopes did. And that will be reflected in the polls, where Romney no doubt will get a bump, perhaps even a significant one.
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Olympic cheer: London's still in one piece!

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The Games of the XXX Olympiad are over, having ended without terrorist attacks, without international incidents, without massive violence.

Phew!

I was on vacation the past week and was busy pretty much all the time, so I barely noticed the Olympics even were taking place. Over their 17 days, I'd be surprised if I watched much more than an hour and 17 minutes of action. I didn't see one second of basketball, which used to be my favorite Olympic sport, and saw precious little swimming, diving, tennis, volleyball and others I enjoy watching, playing or both.

Even though I don't care for hype and national jingoism, I really have nothing against the Olympics. My daughter Katie loves 'em to death, my wife Roberta was a casual observer, and lots of friends spent hour after hour in front of their TV sets, riveted by the action. It's just that after covering five Olympics over 10 years during my AP writing career (1988 Calgary, 1992 Albertville, 1994 Lillehammer, 1996 Atlanta, 1998 Nagano), I kind of got Olympic-ed out.

The fact that I was able to pay so little attention to what was taking place across the pond was wonderful, because it meant there was no world-changing bad news.

The Olympics provide all kinds of zealots and wackos the perfect forum for their views, and there was legitimate concern that there could be some kind of major-scale violence in England. As spread out as the event is, it's pretty much impossible to have tight enough security. Mitt Romney was roasted for expressing his concern -- the one time it would have been OK for Mr. Truth-Stretcher to fib, he declined to do so -- but he was right.

So to have the games end Sunday, with a spectacular closing ceremony (or so I've been told) but without any bad news, well, that's a giant achievement.

A giant relief, too.
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Chief Justice Roberts: Unimaginable hero (or villain) in sport-like Obamacare drama

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My single favorite things about sports (or "sport," as Mitt Romney likes to say) is that we just don't know what will happen. We may think we know what will happen, but even the most skilled prognosticators are wrong time and time again.

For me, covering sports meant chronicling different dramas everyday, with new heroes and villains, surprising stars and incredible 3D action.

If only life could be more like sports, how interesting life would be.

Sometimes, thankfully, life doesn't disappoint. Such was the case Thursday, when the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare came down.

Although a majority of pundits seemed to think the law would be shot down, there were plenty who felt it would be upheld. But did any of the folks on either side of the aisle -- even one? -- believe the drama would unfold the way it did?

As it turns out, it wasn't Anthony Kennedy -- Mr. Swing Vote -- who would decide the law's fate, as pretty much everybody had predicted. No, the unlikely hero (for libs) or villain (for cons) was Chief Justice John Roberts, a reliably conservative jurist vetted by Karl Rove and appointed by Dubya Bush, who saved Barack Obama's signature act as president.

Why did Roberts do it? Why did he go out of his way -- seemingly digging and digging until he found something of a loophole -- to uphold the dreaded individual mandate that Republicans hated (even though many GOPers liked it before it was pushed by Obama, who hated it before he liked it)?

We might not know until Roberts writes his memoirs. Heck, we may never know.

In the end, it was something straight out of a John Grisham novel ... except in this one, readers would have shaken their heads in disbelief and said: "Yeah, right. As if that could happen."

But happen it did: a thrilling, impossible conclusion to a hotly contested Game 7, a wild finish that left half the audience elated and the other half crushed.

Pretty cool, just like sport itself.
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Another government cash-grab sham

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A buddy of mine works in the heating and cooling industry. When his inspection and repair business is hopping, he enjoys good steak and fine wine. In rough times - and there have been plenty of those lately - he eats cereal for dinner.

Oh, how he would love a guaranteed money stream. Maybe the state could mandate that everyone who owns a home, apartment complex or business pay 30 bucks a year for a heating and cooling system inspection. Yeah, that would be sweet!

That’s the honey of a deal North Carolina’s car-repair facilities get. Every year, every car - old and new - must get inspected for potential emissions and safety issues. The cost is $30 per vehicle, with the vast majority of the $100 million plus collected annually going to garage owners.

Most states have realized these inspections are shams - classic money grabs by overreaching governments - and only 17 states require them. Even South Carolina is ahead of us on this one, having dropped their inspection program a few years ago.

Cars have been made very well for at least two decades now, and there is little justification for such a sweeping government mandate. To make matters worse, there have been far too many cases of corruption: garages finding problems that don’t exist and charging car owners for repairs; shops actually finding problems but taking payola under the table to pass offending vehicles; lawmakers benefiting through ownership stakes in repair shops.

Many N.C. politicians realize the law smells as rotten as a bad catalytic converter. Pretty much every year, some propose getting rid of it. At the very least, many think newer vehicles should be exempt; after all, how many 2011 cars really have emissions and safety issues in 2012? 

Two weeks ago, the N.C. House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee proposed no inspections for cars three years old and newer. It wasn't what we really needed - scrapping the law all together - but at least it was a start.

As happens every time, however, garage owners, parts suppliers and other interested parties mobilized to protect their cash cow.

Politicians being politicians, they caved in to the special interests again. The provision died in committee, and we’ll have to keep forking over our $30 even for our near-new cars to receive unnecessary inspections.

As Sen. Jerry W. Tillman, a Randolph County Republican, told the Charlotte Observer: "I know a lot of people who do this, and they sell some gas on the side, but most of their profit comes from these inspections. We have 7,500 small businesses who do these inspections."

Don’t blame the car-repair folks, who understandably want the easy money to keep rolling in. Aren’t our elected officials, regardless of party, supposed to be looking out for overburdened taxpayers?

Democrats were in charge in North Carolina for decades and they, too, consistently gave in to the garage-owner lobby. Then again, didn’t our fine citizens vote for a bunch of Republicans, such as Tillman, to get rid of business as usual? Isn’t the GOP against government mandates? Isn't the GOP for the rights of individuals?

If we're going to have mandates that prop up single industries, why stop at car-repair shops when so many business owners would benefit from a little legislative love (and would gladly make campaign contributions in return)?

My friend who does heating and cooling repair wants lawmakers to know that faulty central-air systems can leak toxic fumes outside and lead to illnesses in homes and businesses. Cha-ching! Sign him up for the money grab!

Bikes with bad brakes can result in severe injuries and deaths. Our precious children ride bikes. Shouldn’t we keep our kids safe - and buoy the bottom line for bicycle shops - by mandating $30 annual inspections?

In addition to stinking up an entire neighborhood, a leaky septic tank can cause environmental problems. Think of all the plumbing companies that would thrive under a $30-per-tank-per-year mandate.

Name a business, any business, and its owner would appreciate such a law. Why should owners of car-repair facilities get all the steak and wine?

Hope you enjoyed this edition of The Baldest Truth. That'll be $30, please.

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