The problem with NCAA basketball

The events of the last week at the University of Florida are emblematic of the problems inherent in the current arrangement of the NCAA.

First, after announcing his departure and signing a contract with the NBA's Orlando Magic, Billy Donovan asked to be released from that contract to return to Florida. The Gators welcomed him back with open arms, and for most practical purposes it is as though he never left.

In returning to Gainesville, Donovan accepted a six-year contract worth $3,500,000. At the same time, Florida football coach Urban Meyer received a six-year contract for $3,250,000.

Compare this treatment of college coaches with the treatment their players receive; if a player even retains an agent, it is unlikely he will ever be allowed to play college basketball again. At best he might be allowed to return after sitting out half of a season. And don't even think about paying your players; the "student-athletes" are supposed to be grateful for their college scholarships -- scholarships they only need so they can play basketball for a few years before entering the NBA.

Coming soon: How to fix basketball.

Running off

Kentucky holds its Gubernatorial primary election today. Despite approval ratings which rival the President's, incumbent Governor Ernie Fletcher is expected to win the Republican nomination easily.

The Democratic nomination is a different story. It seems to be a relatively even four-way race among Steve Beshear, Steve Henry, Bruce Lunsford, and Jody Richards. In the most recent polls, Beshear has held a modest lead, followed by Lunsford, Henry, and then Richards; however, the four have traded the lead throughout the campaign, and none have even come close to achieving majority support. If no candidate reaches 40% of the vote, a runoff will occur, forcing the candidates to spend money that could otherwise be banked for the general election.

This creates a peculiar dynamic, in which front-runners try to steal votes, not from each other, but from the other candidates. Imagine Bush and Gore attacking Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader, respectively, rather than debating each other. (OK, so Gore did attack Nader, that's exactly the point!)

The problem is that, too often, political candidates argue that we should vote for them because they are likely to win, rather than because they are the best candidate.

The much bigger problem is that, all too often, this tactic succeeds.

The new twist in delayed flights

I haven't flown in several years, and I have never been a frequent flyer. It seems like airlines are doing everything they can to keep it that way.

From long lines to check in, to delays and cancellations, to lost luggage, flying has never struck me as an attractive way to travel. If it didn't have the virtue of being far faster than any alternative, would anyone ever fly?

Things have apparently gotten much worse. Not only are flights being delayed, seemingly in record numbers, but there is apparently a new trend of people being forced to wait on the plane for hours. Consider this story of 180 people trapped on a 757 for 10 hours.

Passengers on the flight say they will always remember the pizza. After about five hours, a flight attendant announced that “an American executive” had ordered pizzas to be delivered from the airport. Five boxes arrived.

Flight attendants, who, according to one passenger, had been “missing in action most of the time,” cut the slices into tiny pieces — 70 in all. Flight attendants said that only those who “really needed it” should take one, a passenger said.

Via This Is Broken

Biased financial reporting

Most financial reporting is absolutely terrible, not worth the electricity it takes to transmit it. There are many, many problems with financial reporting, but for this morning I want to pick out a subtle bias.

This is an image of Google Finance before US markets open in the morning.

Here's a close up.

By showing marks descending only to -0.25% but rising to +0.5%, it is implied that market declines will be less (and less likely) than increases. While this is true on a long term (multi-year) basis, for a single day it is false.

If even such a basic (and presumably objective) tool as a chart is so badly biased, what does this say about the state of financial reporting?

I'm back!

After a hiatus of more than a year, I am back and ready to blog!

I am setting a goal for myself of at least one blog post every week through the end of 2007.

They may have been entertaining in person...

...But the Rolling Stones' Super Bowl halftime show on television was a snooze-fest. Maybe ABC shouldn't have censored them, but I don't think that would have helped.

This halftime show should have showcased some of the great musicians who have come out of Detroit: Eminem, the White Stripes, and Motown (I know they did that a few years ago) to name a few. Instead we have aging hipster has-beens giving us this dreck.

On another note, although I am a fan of Aaron Neville's music, his rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" was one of the most hiddeous I have ever heard. It's a good thing Dr. John and Aretha Franklin were there to maintain some semblance of listenable music.

Tags: music, Super Bowl, Rolling Stones, halftime show, Aaron Neville

When is a monarchy not a monarchy?

When the people vote for it.

Tags: Nepal, government, war

Great blonde joke

Thanks to Deane at Gadgetopia, here is the best blonde joke ever!

Tags: blogs, jokes, funny

Request for help

It has recently come to my attention that my blogs (this one and also The Book Report are displaying correctly in Opera and Mozilla, but not Internet Explorer. If you can help me with this, please contact me at C M A D L E R at G M A I L dot C O M. Thank you in advance!

Tags: blogs, help, HTML

Gay priests?

All the recent talk about the Catholic church allowing or barring homosexual men from serving as priests seems to gloss over one key point.

How do you tell the difference between a heterosexual and a homosexual priest?

This is the beginning of a great joke, but I am not going to share it here, because it also raises a valid point. If all priests take and (in theory) adhere to a vow of celibacy, what is the big deal? The question that follows is whether people are judged by their actions or their thoughts. I suspect that most all men have have fantasized about sex. Other people do not have access to our thoughts; the only realistic way humans can judge other humans is by their actions. So let me phrase my question another way:

If someone is celibate (as Catholic priests are expected to be), how do you know their sexual orientation, and does it matter?

Tags: Catholic, priests, sexuality, celibacy