Thoughts for the Day, December 18, 2024: In the Christmas spirit I am giving two onions today, the state legislature and the NCAA.
I couldn’t say it any better
I feel like a broken record with my constant harping about the lack of transparency in our state government. Rather than me bitching about it one more time, I am going to share the comments from Detroit Free Press columnist Kahlil Alhajal.
Cowardice.
If this Legislature fails, once again, to finally make the Freedom of Information Act whole, that will be the only explanation.
Spinelessness.
Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act gives residents access to documents created by elected or appointed government officials doing taxpayers’ business, on taxpayers’ dime. FOIA laws give anyone the right to request emails, contracts, recordings, personnel records, travel expenses and any other records from any government office in Michigan, from township treasurer and local water board to the attorney general and secretary of state.
But Michigan remains the only state in the nation that provides the governor’s office an explicit exemption from its public records law.
The Legislature gets the same absurd exception.
They get a special pass, and no one knows why.
Lawmakers can change that, with the legislation that would do so right in front of them, but they’ve chosen not to act for nine straight years, and they're closing in on 10.
As I said yesterday, I am not holding my breath.
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And then there is this
From the Detroit News today, the Michigan House has adjourned after nearly five hours of session Wednesday, during which they were unable to cobble together a 56-member quorum in order to pass any legislation.
The chamber is expected to return to session at noon Thursday, which is scheduled to be their last of the year, unless additional session days are added to the calendar. There are no plans currently to add session days, said Jess Travers, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Joe Tate.
House lawmakers' abrupt departure shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday came after the entire House Republican caucus and one House Democrat refused to attend session unless their policy demands were met. The absences left Democrats with 55 members, a vote short of the 56-vote quorum needed to pass any bill through the 110-member House.
In the Senate, Democrats also struggled with attendance after state Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, refused to attend session with policy demands of her own. Her absence left Democrats with 19 members, a vote short of the 20 needed to get any policy priorities across the finish line without Republican help.
Santana's announcement Wednesday morning came hours after state Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, confirmed Tuesday night that she would not attend House session until a list of demands are met by Democratic leadership.
The state legislature gets my Onion of the Day
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All is not lost
Even though the Lions lost to the Bills and continue to be decimated by the injury bug, the guys in Vegas who make a living in predictions still feel the Lions are favorite to make the Super Bow and to possibly win it.
One major sportsbook, BetMGM, still lists the Lions as the favorite to win the Super Bowl, though the gap between the favorite and second favorite has shrunk. BetMGM lists the Lions at +400 to win the Super Bowl, just ahead of the team they just played, the Bills, who jumped out to plus +425.
Another major sportsbook, DraftKings, has the order reversed, with the Bills (11-3) the favorite at +425 (up from +700 last week), with the Lions (12-2) right behind at +450 (down from +260).
It is going to be harder for the Lions, but we shouldn’t throw in the towel. Vegas isn’t throwing in the towel, and neither is head coach Dan Campbell. Here is what he said yesterday.
"You win 11 in a row, and you lose, and then the sky falls. I hate to say it, but we're not going to be able to win 11 in a row again for the rest of the season. We're just not going to be able to do it. What happens is, you get used to eating filets — and I'm talking all of us — and boy everything is good, life is good. But you forgot what it was like when you had nothing and you ate your f------ molded bread, and it was just fine and it gave you everything you needed. Sometimes you've got to get punched in the mouth and remember what it used to be like to really appreciate where you are, and we'll do that. We've got a bad taste in our mouth, we got kicked around the other day, we lost a few guys. And you know what? It's exactly what we needed. This is exactly what we needed." This is my Quote of the Day
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The triple doubles keep coming for the Pistons’ Cade Cunningham.
In the Pistons’ overtime win against the Heat on Monday, Cade Cunningham continued his stellar performance. He scored the winning basket which capped another stellar night for Cunningham — 20 points, 18 assists, 11 rebounds — in a season where they’re multiplying quickly. This was his sixth triple double this season, which sets a Piston record for most in a season. With more than 55 games remaining in the season, Cunningham is going to obliterate the previous record.
Only Nikola Jokic (10) and LeBron James (seven) have more triple-doubles in the NBA this season, by the way. And while those two have a combined seven league MVP awards between them, Cunningham is merely scratching the surface here at age 23 with the equivalent of only two full seasons (161 games played) under his belt.
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The NCAA is useless
As of 2023 there were 10 transgender females who were born as male and have transitioned to being female who the NCAA allowed to compete as females. There are over 500,000 NCAA athletes, yet the NCAA goes out of their way to allow these 10 athletes compete against biological women. It makes no sense to me. It gives the transgendered female an unfair advantage, especially when strength and physical size is an important factor in the sport. This issue raised its ugly head again this week in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Here are excerpts from an article appearing in the Boston Globe. It’s probably safe to say that Charlie Baker won’t be inviting Josh Hawley to Christmas next week.
The former Massachusetts GOP governor, now NCAA president, was grilled by the Republican U.S. senator from Missouri during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.
Hawley took aim at Baker over transgender athletes being allowed to participate in NCAA women’s sports.
The senator — during the hearing about legalized sports gambling — asked Baker to clarify whether federal law requires the NCAA to permit trans athletes to play in women’s sports.
Hawley continued to interrupt Baker and challenged him, saying, “No federal court has ordered the NCAA to include biological men in women’s sports, right? There’s not a single case that has ordered the NCAA to do so, correct?”
Baker responded, “That’s pretty much what they decided.”
“No, don’t say pretty much,” Hawley fired back. “We’re talking about the law here… It’s not true that the NCAA has been ordered by any court, number one. It’s not true that federal law requires you to include biological males.
“In fact, Title IX explicitly says, ‘No person in the United States shall on the basis of sex be denied the benefits of any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance,’ ” Hawley continued. “You are in court at this moment arguing that Title IX doesn’t apply to the NCAA, which is astounding to me given the amount of federal money the NCAA gets.”
The senator noted that five women’s teams had forfeited NCAA conference games because a transgender athlete was playing on an opponent’s team.
“How is that not denying them the benefits of the sport?” Hawley asked Baker. “Why is this fair to women?”
“This is your policy, which you will not defend, because frankly it’s indefensible,” Hawley said to Baker. “Why are you, Mr. Baker, why are you allowing biological men to play in women’s sports?”
Because we believe that’s consistent with federal policy,” Baker responded.
The NCAA president also noted that the NCAA doesn’t take a dime in federal money.
“Is that why you’re arguing Title IX doesn’t apply to you?” Hawley asked.
“Yes, part of it, yes,” Baker said, adding, “We don’t believe we currently are, and federal court has affirmed that in a number of circumstances.”
“That’s absolutely amazing,” Hawley responded, later adding, “I can’t tell you how disappointed this makes me. But not just disappointed, frankly infuriated for the student-athletes who are suffering because of your policies, and you won’t even defend them. You won’t even take responsibility. It’s outrageous. It’s totally outrageous.”
The NCAA is a joke. The way they treat female student athletes and women’s sports is embarrassing. How can they say Title IX doesn’t apply to them? How can they say it is OK and fair for a biological male to compete in a women’s sport?
Kaitlyn Jenner won the men’s Olympic decathlon prior to her transition, when she was Bruce Jenner. How fair would it have been if she would have declared herself a female at the Olympics and competed as a female. She would have annihilated the competition.
I have been around male and female athletes all my life. Once kids get past puberty, the boys are bigger and stronger. My daughter Katy was a college athlete who played on an NCAA national championship softball team. There were great athletes on her team. They could not throw as hard as men. They could not hit the ball as hard as men.
The NCAA gets my second Onion of the Day
Quote of the Day: See above from Dan Campbell
Orchid of the Day: Cade Cunningham, for his Pistons’ record setting sixth triple double of the season.
Onion of the Day: The Michigan state legislature, see above story.
Second Onion of the Day: The NCAA, see above story.
Question of the Day: Who is more incompetent, the NCAA or the Michigan state legislature?
Video of the Day: Celine Dion ft. Josh Groban -The Prayer
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