Bonds Pleads Not Guilty

Barry Bonds pleads not guilty. He's a moron. His agent claims that Bonds will play in 2008. The queston to me is, does he deserve time behind bars?
He's facing four felony charges of perjury and one charge of obstruction of justice. Despite as much as I hate the guy, I say no. Perjury is a serious charge, and I'm 100% certain Bonds is guitly. But he lied about cheating on baseball. BASEBALL! I'm not sure if it is the government's job to get involved in the sports world. I feel this matter should have been handled entirely internally within the MLB. Although the MLB does not have the resources, or money, to obtain all of the information that has been turned up, special provisions should have been made to make this happen. The MLB Players association is there to protect the players from the league, but on an issue of this magniture they should have encouraged a complete cooperation between the players and the league to preserve the sanctity of the game. It is disgraceful that players felt they had to do this just to stay competitive. And where was Bud Selig during all of this?
Bonds certainly wasn't the first to attempt to gain a competitive advantage in baseball via performance enhancing drugs, and he certainly wont be the last. Mark McGuire doesn't want to talk about the past, but his past is what spawned this steroid induced streak into the record books for Bonds. Even Slammin' Sammy cheated, and quite possibly during that magical summer of '98. Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for steroids just two seasons ago. He'll end up in the Hall of Fame with his 3000 hits. Ricky Herderson stole more bases than the rest of the league combined in an amphetamine binge that will earn him a spot in the record books for eternity. Doc Ellis threw a no hitter on LSD. I'm not sure that LSD could be considered a performance enhancing drug, but it sure worked. I can't wait to see the Mitchell Investigation. Names we never imagined will turn up. Players we love will be tarnished. Players we hate will get what they deserve. The suspense is killing me.
Bonds will be found guilty, but no time will be served. Bonds will not play in 2008, but that is still up in the air. He could end up in the American League as a designated hitter, after all, the man can hit.

Detroit Tigers Acquire Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis

So the Tigers are looking smarter and smarter as the years go on. I think this trade will work out well for both teams. The Tigers acquire a top pitcher and the hottest slugging third baseman not in New York or Boston, while sending six of their top prospects to Florida.
Florida had more trouble keeping fans interested in the Marlins this season than a sixth grade ADHD victim staring at an advanced calculus problem. The team flat out sucked and is in serious need of a make-over, and these prospects just might be the guys to do it.
The Tigers set themselves up quite well with this trade to be an even more serious competitor in the AL. They really needed another strong pitcher like Dontrelle; and it never hurts to give Gary Sheffield and Magglio Ordonez more protection in the line-up with Cabrera. Not to mention all the runs Curtis Granderson is going to score next season with these sluggers to drive him in.
Boston (2nd largest payroll) hates the Yankees (1st largest payroll) because of their massive payroll, yet they're doing the exact same thing this off-season as their rivals. Detroit currently has the ninth largest payroll (not accounting for these new acquisitions) and is setting themselves up for a great run at an AL pennant next season, maybe even a World Series title.
Lets just hope that the Mitchell Investigation (set to be released two weeks before Christmas) doesn't screw any of this up.

The BCS is Nothing More Than a Gathering of Asshats

LSU vs. Ohio State in the National Championship game? Not to say that this wont be an entertaining game, but a two-loss team against a one-loss team just doesn't equal a true champion to me. It does seem logical to give Les Miles (a Michigan alum, and candidate for a future Michigan head coach) a chance to kick Ohio State's ass, but perhaps an undefeated team like Hawaii deserves a shot.
The other bowl games should be pretty exciting too. Oklahoma vs. Pat White and West Virginia will no doubt be a great match-up. Hawaii gets a shot at a SEC powerhouse, the Georgia Bulldogs, who ended their regular season with six consecutive wins. No doubt that will be a thrilling game. Despite Arizona State's resilience this season they concede the PAC-10 title to USC who will face Illinois in the Rose Bowl. I think I'm more excited to see the Texas/Arizona State game in the Holliday Bowl though. Perhaps that is my regional bias coming through.
This season has been insane, and it just goes to show that a tournament is needed to find a true champion. Maybe the asshats in the BCS will figure this out some day.

Vote? But why?

So I have a test in my U.S. Government class tomorrow and I'll probabaly be up all night finishing my studying, but I came across an interesting loophole in our bi-partisan system.
Each party holds primaries, or a caucus, in each state to select delegates to represent the party in the electoral college from their respective state after their party's candidate is elected to the presidency. However, third parties do not have such primaries/caucuses due to their lack of popularity. So what happens if a third party candidate, or an independent, actually carries a state in the election? There is nobody to represent them in the electoral college for them to recieve votes towards the 270 required to win the election. So does a vote for a third party candidate, or independent, even count? Let's say for example after each party's national conventions the election is between Hilary Clinton (democrat) and Mitt Romney (republican). I don't like either of them, would my vote count?
I raised this question to my professor and she had no answer for me. Of course she couldn't tell me that my vote doesn't count because that would spoil the point of democracy. I guess my next plan of attack would be to pose this query to my uncle, Wayne Roper, who is currently Chief of Staff for Congressman Bob Ingles from South Carolina's fourth district.
Stay tuned, an answer may be forth coming...

P.S. Despite all of this I still encourage all who read my blog to go out and vote. If you're not registered to vote, please copy and paste the below URL into your browser. This website has all of the information you need to get registered.
http://www.vote-smart.org

First Entry

I don't know what exactly I'm trying to prove with this. I feel that sometimes I need a place to release my toughts into the world. Love me, hate me, I dont care, just read me.