Thoughts for the Day, February 6, 2025: I cannot believe it. I agree with Trump and the NCAA

This is a corrected version with the correct video of the day

The world must be coming to an end.

I didn’t think it was possible for me to agree with Trump and the NCAA, but it happened in the last 24 hours with Trump’s executive order and the NCAA’s decision prohibiting transgender females from competing in female sports.

I have spoken out against this issue multiple times in this blog about what a travesty it was to have transgender females compete in female sports. It was an unfair advantage for the transgender females. Although there are very few transgender females competing in NCAA sports, no female athlete should have ever been forced to complete against a transgender female athlete.

My Orchid of the Day goes out to Riley Gaines, the former University of Kentucky female swimmer, who spent the last three years speaking out around the country against having to compete against transgender female swimmers.

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When you don’t go about it in the right way, the courts are going to intervene

Per multiple sources, a federal judge in Massachusetts barred the Trump administration on Thursday from imposing a midnight deadline on federal workers who were offered the chance to take a deferred resignation, pausing the initiative until a hearing on Monday afternoon.

The offer, which had been set to expire at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, is part of a sweeping effort by President Trump and the billionaire Elon Musk to drastically cut the size of the federal government.

Judge George A. O’Toole Jr., a U.S. District Court judge in the District of Massachusetts, stopped the Office of Personnel Management from moving forward with the program until Monday.

The “Fork in the Road” plan, which had been detailed in an email sent to roughly two million federal employees last week, offered workers the chance to resign and be paid through the end of September. Labor unions had challenged the legality of the program and urged employees not to accept the offer ahead of Thursday’s deadline.

“I enjoin the defendants from taking action to implement the so-called Fork directive, pending the completion of briefing and oral argument on the issues,” the judge said.

I have no problem with offering buyouts to employees as an incentive to eliminate positions and cut expenses. I have no problem with letting people know they could be facing layoffs. I never liked laying people off, but it is a reality CFO’s face every day.

I learned it must be done with compassion, empathy, and understanding. It must be done according to company policy and union contracts. It must be done in accordance with state and federal rules and regulations. It must be thought out and implemented in a professional manner. Communication is a must. Flexibility is a must.

Unfortunately, that is not how Trump and Musk operate. As a result, the courts are going to intervene every step of the way, and the employees are going to ride an emotional roller coaster waiting for clarification on their future.

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Ugly is being kind.

The last eight minutes of Michigan’s 80-76 victory over Oregon in a B1G men’s basketball game was as ugly as I have seen in a very long time. In the last eight minutes, Michigan had one field goal and Oregon had two field goals. It wasn’t that the defense was so good, it was the offense was so bad. When the teams weren’t turning the ball over, the shooters were clanking balls off the rim. Fortunately, Michigan was efficient at the foul line, which allowed them to hang on after blowing a 12-point lead with less than ten minutes to play.

Michigan has a penchant for blowing big leads and hanging on to win close games. As I said a few weeks ago, this team is going to drive me to start drinking again.

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This was not ugly

Danny Wolf, Michigan’s seven foot forward, made one of the best moves I have ever seen by a seven-foot college player. It was a combination cross over/jab step/step back/three pointer which caused the announcer to say, “Hang it in the Louvre”, which is my Quote of the Day. See my Quote of the Day below for a video of Wolf’s move.

I feel Izzo’s pain.

For the second game in a row, the MSU Spartans failed to win on Tuesday, delaying for another game, Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo’s chance to tie Bobby Knight as the all-time winningest men’s basketball coach in B1G history.

Yesterday, the Piston’s lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers on a buzzer beater three point shot. The loss prevented the Pistons from winning their 26^th game of the season, which also prevented me from cashing in my pre-season bet on BET MGM that the Pistons would win more than 25.5 games for the season.

The good news for Izzo is that he has nine more opportunities this year to achieve his record, while I have 31 more opportunities to win my bet. I like our odds.

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Quote of the Day:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1887289437333196859

Orchid of the Day: Riley Gaines. Her work has paid off. See above story.

Onion of the Day: The game of basketball. It was set back years during the last eight minutes of the Michigan/Oregon game yesterday.

Lyrics of the Day: I suppose I could collect my books and get on back to school, or steal my daddy's cue and make a living out of playing pool, Or find myself a rock and roll band that needs a helpin' hand

If you think you know the answer, send me your answer in the comments section of the blog.

Answer to Lyrics of the Day for February 5, 2025: “Renegade” by Styx. a theme song of the Pittsburg Steelers. See my Video of the Day

“Question of the Day: MSU’s Tom Izzo is on the verge of becoming the winningest men’s basketball coach in B1G history. Does that make him the greatest B1G men’s basketball coach? If not, who is?

Video of the Day:

A follow-up to yesterday's Lyrics of the Day.

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