Native Texan Lineup Proves Easier Task

September 7, 2013
Every All Star team needs a pitcher who can respond to critics as Nolan Ran did to Robin Ventura back in the day.

Every All Star team needs a pitcher who can respond to critics as Nolan Ryan did to Robin Ventura back in the day.

Armed with the new (to me) search engine material from Baseball Reference.Com that organizes players in various ways, this time by state of birth, it was far easier coming up with my favorite All Time Starting Nine for the State of Texas Natives than it was for what several of us encountered producing the same outcome for Native Houstonians.

Thank you again, Cliff Blau, for putting me to the wise on that advanced feature of my favorite baseball data site. The data feature, aided by the fact that Texas is also much larger than Houston alone and the birthplace of several Hall of Famers and some others to soon enough be.

Here’s my starting lineup for the Native Texan All Stars:

1) Tris Speaker HOF (Hubbard, TX, 04/04/1888) CF

2) Ross Youngs HOF (Shiner, TX, 04/10/1897) RF

3) Rogers Hornsby HOF (Winters, TX, 04/27/1896) 2B

4) Frank Robinson HOF (Beaumont, TX, 08/31/1935) LF

5) Ernie Banks HOF (Dallas, TX, 01/31/1931) SS

6) Eddie Mathews HOF (Texarkana, TX, 10/13/1931) 3B

7) Norm Cash (Justiceburg, TX, 11/10/1934) 1B

8) Gus Mancuso (Galveston, TX, 12/05/1905) C

9) Nolan Ryan HOF (Refugio, TX, 01/31/1947) P1 & Greg Maddux HOF2B (San Angelo, TX  04/14/1966) P2

OK, Fry me. I couldn’t pick between Ryan and Maddux. Both were great and Texas deserves each of them.

But seriously, would you pay to see that lineup play even a single game with that batting order? I sure would.

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Native Houstonian Lineup Needs Your Help

September 6, 2013
Native Houstonian Frank Mancuso batted .667 im the 1944 World Series as a catcher for the only St. Louis Browns club that ever won a pennant.

Native Houstonian Frank Mancuso batted .667 im the 1944 World Series as a catcher for the only St. Louis Browns club that ever won a pennant.

Sometimes a column idea is either harder than it first looks – or it just takes more time than I immediately have for the job. Most often, that results in me putting it aside and working off the clock on the subject to get it done for some undetermined future date.

Today I’m choosing to a different route by inviting those of you who are interested in joining with on coming up with the best 9-player starting lineup of native Houstonians we can either recall or discover. Feel free to suggest alternatives to the six names I have put forth already, but double-check the birthplaces of those former big leaguers you may want to use. Roger Clemens, Josh Beckett, and Wayne Graham, for example, were all born elsewhere.

Simply put what you have, even if it’s a completely fresh lineup from the one started here, as a comment on the column in the section below – and please include the birth dates of your choices. And please contribute. For the moment. I can’t even come up with the names of native Houstonians who played at least one game of big league ball at 3B, 2B, or SS.

Here is my Incomplete Big Leaguer Batting Order (by date of birth in Houston & position)

ORIGINAL INCOMPLETE NATIVE HOUSTONIAN LINEUP

1) Curt Flood (01/18/1938) CF

2) Carl Crawford (08/05/1981) RF

3) James Loney (05/07/1984) 1B

4) Steve Henderson (11/18/52) LF

5) 3B

6) 2B

7) SS

8) Frank Mancuso (05/18/1918) C

9) George “Red” Munger (10/04/1918) P

IN PROGRESS COMPLETE NATIVE HOUSTONIAN LINEUP

1) Michael Bourn (12/27/1982) CF

2) Curt Flood (01/18/1938) LF

3) Carl Crawford (08/05/1981) RF

4) James Loney (05/07/1984) 1B

5) Chuck Knoblauch (07/07/1968) 2B

6) Kelly Gruber (02/26/62) 3B *

7) Craig Reynolds (12/27/1952) SS

8) Frank Mancuso (05/18/1918) C

9) George “Red” Munger (10/04/1918) P

* Thanks to Cliff Blau for his advisory on to use the state and city features of the Baseball Reference search engine. I will happily take Kelly Gruber as our 3rd baseman as we send Curt Flood out to LF and retire Steve Henderson to the bench,

Also, thanks again to Bob Dorrill, Tom Kleinworth, and Harold Jones for the help.

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A Better NCAA Division 1 Football Playoff Plan

September 5, 2013
It's time for a real post-season college football playoff system. Four team are better than two, but 16 is about the lowest number that does service to fairness.

It’s time for a real post-season college football playoff system. Four teams are better than two, but 16 is about the lowest number that does service to fairness.

Forget the barriers of greed and politics from the current bowl game system and its marriage to the egos, status, and coffers of the NCAA and its member conferences, universities, and television networks, the following plan is the simply better system we could have in place now without those obstacles:

(1) It would be a 16-team playoff that begins the 2nd Saturday in December, requiring each participating conference to have completed its regular season and any conference championship games by the 1st Saturday in December.

(2) The 16-team field would contain automatic bids to the five (5) champions of the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and PAC-10, plus the next highest 11 ranked teams from a special all-season poll of the best 25 teams in college division 1 level football.

(3) Round One Playoff Pairings would be based on the usual top seed vs. low seed matches down the line:

16 vs. 1;

15 vs. 2;

14 vs. 3;

13 vs. 4;

12 vs. 5;

11 vs. 6;

10 vs. 7;

9 vs. 8.

(4) All first round games would be played at the home fields of the top 8 seeds.

(5) Round Two Pairings would be based on the same seeding plan already in play. The four games of Round Two would pair teams in this way:

16  – 1 winner versus 9 -8 winner;

15 – 2 winner versus 10 – 7 winner;

14 – 3 winner versus 11 – 6 winner;

13 – 4 winner versus 12 – 5 winner;

(6) All Round Two Pairings would be played on the 3rd Saturday in December at four of the previous Tier One bowl sites on an annually rotating site basis.

The Round Three Semi-Finals would be played on New Years Day at two other rotating Tier One bowl sites:

16-1v9-8 winner versus 13-4v12-5 winner;

15-2v10-7 winner versus 14-3v11-6 winner.

(7) The two surviving teams would meet for the Division 1 College Football Superlative Bowl on the Sunday prior to the NFL Super Bowl at a site that could either be determined by either a rotational schedule among the old top bowl venues – or by competitive community bids to be the site.

While they are at it, maybe it’s time too for the NCAA to abandon their hypocrisy about money and cut the players in for a share of the swag they are raking in in the name of pure amateurism. College football hasn’t been an amateur sport in a long time, if, indeed, it ever was.

Maybe they could even get the Campbell Company involved as a permanent sponsor and just call it “The College Football Souper Bowl”.

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Triple Milestone Targets-2013

September 4, 2013

Bill Gilbert Astro2

 

Triple Milestone Targets – 2013

By Bill Gilbert

9/3/2013           billcgilbert@sbcglobal.net
 Here is a look at who is on target for the milestones of a .300 batting average, 30 home runs and 100 RBIs with 4 weeks to go.
Triple Milestone Targets-2013
With four weeks to go, only two players are on target for triple milestones of a .300 batting average, 30 home runs and 100 RBIs but six others are close.  Only one pitcher is on target for the milestones of 20 wins, 200 strikeouts and an ERA less than 3.00.  No other pitchers are close.
At this point in the season, a batter must have a batting average of .300, 25 home runs and 85 RBIs to be on target.  To be considered close, he must have a batting average of .290, 23 home runs and 80 RBIs.
A pitcher must have 17 wins, 169 strikeouts and an ERA of less than 3.00 to be on target.  To be considered close, he must have 16 wins, 159 strikeouts and an ERA of less than 3.15.
Here are the players who are on target or close:
HITTERS               BA-HR-RBI
Miguel Cabrera  .358-47-122.  Has it made with room to spare.
Robinson Cano  .305- 25- 89.  On target but needs home runs and RBIs.
Chris Davis  .298-47-122.  Needs a couple of points on batting average.
Paul Goldschmidt .295-31-104. Close, but short on batting average.
Adrian Beltre  .327-28-82.  A little short on RBIs.
Adam Jones  .293-28-98. Close and coming on strong.
David Ortiz  .312-24-85.  Close but needs home runs.
Mike Trout  .335-23-82.  Close but needs home runs and RBIs.
PITCHERS            W-L, Strikeouts, ERA
Max Scherzer  19-1, 201, 2.90.  On target but ERA could be a problem.
No other pitchers have more than 15 wins.  Since pitchers wins are not controllable, it’s interesting to look at which pitchers are on target on both strikeouts and ERA but not wins..
PITCHER             W-L ERA-Strikeouts
Yu Darvish           12-6, 2.73, 236
Clayton Kershaw  14-8, 1.89, 231
Felix Hernandez   12-9, 3.01, 200
Chris Sale            10-12, 2.99, 193
Matt Harvey            9-5, 2.27, 191
Adam Wainwright  15-9, 3.14, 187
Steven Strasburg    6-9, 2.85, 174
Jose Fernandez    10-6, 2.33, 173

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Astros Show Signs of Improvenent in August

September 3, 2013

Bill Gilbert Astro2

Astros Show Some Signs of Improvement in August

By

Bill Gilbert

9/02/2013

            Before finishing the month of August with a disappointing five game losing streak, the Astros had shown some signs of being competitive.  Though the team’s record in the month was only 8-21, the Astros led in 22 of their 29 games.  That they only won 7 of these games pinpoints the team’s most glaring of their many weaknesses, the bullpen.

The numbers below illustrate just how bad the Astros have been this season:

BATTING

Category                        Astros   MLB Avg.            Astros Rank

Runs/Game                    3.87             4.19                 23rd of 30

Batting Avg.                   .239              .254                 T 27th

On-Base Pct.                  .299              .318                    29th

Slugging Avg.                 .382             .398                  T 23rd

OB + SLG                         .681              .716                 29th

Strikeouts                       1273                                     30th

PITCHING

Runs /G                           5.28          4.19                    30th

ERA                                  4.86         3.88                     30th

Starters ERA                    4.62         4.02                    28th

Relievers ERA                5.28         3.59                     30th

                  The Astros are clearly well below the major league average in important hitting and pitching categories with the biggest deficiency being in relief pitching.  Former GM, Gerry Hunsicker once said that the bullpen is the easiest part of a club to build.  If that is true, GM Jeff Luhnow should have a rebuilt bullpen in place for 2014.  Hunsicker also once said that he expected Morgan Ensberg and Jason Lane to achieve the same level of success in the major leagues as Lance Berkman.  We know how that turned out.

Despite the poor overall performance in August there were some bright spots.  Jason Castro continued his breakout year in August, batting .338 with 5 home runs and an OPS of 1.067, and won his second AL Player of the Week award this year.  Three young starting pitchers, acquired in trades by former GM, Ed Wade, joined the starting rotation and performed well.  Brett Oberholtzer was 2-1 with an ERA of 3.24, Jared Cosart was 0-1 with an ERA of 2.10 in 5 starts, and Paul Clemens was 0-0 with an ERA of 1.50 in his only start.

The Houston minor league teams continued to play well.  All four full-season clubs at the AAA, AA and Class A levels are in the playoffs starting after Labor Day.  Two of the short-season clubs are in first place headed for the playoffs.

On a personal note, we made a weekend trip to Houston in August and I saw my first two major league games this season.  Surprisingly, the Astros scored two decisive wins over Toronto, 12-5 and 6-2 in the games I saw.  What are the odds of going 2-0 with a home record of 21-47?  It was the 49th straight year that I have seen major league games in Houston.

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September Song

September 2, 2013
Can the changing of the leaves be far away?

Can the changing of the leaves be far away?

It’s back. The first day of the real new year slipped quietly through our fingers yesterday. September’s here again. The time for fresh beginnings is at hand. – And so – what truly is so special about the month of September,  anyway?

1) School Starts Again with the Same Old Great Expectations.

2) The Baseball Season Pennant Races are Wrapping Up.

3) The World Series will be here soon.

4) Football season is back – and ready to fill our weekend social calendars with tailgates and ESPN TV game marathons.

5) Yard raking in Houston will commence with the coming of the first “norther” that bears both the blow and cool power to dip this far south and stun the leaves of our deciduous trees.

6) It’s time to see Halloween costumes on our store shelves. By the middle of September, move that stuff over for the Thanksgiving Holiday and Christmas Season items. – Happy New Year, Everybody!

7) After months of Houston Life at the rim of Dante’s Inferno, the possibility, if not the probability, of cooler weather is again on the board. Prepare to relish the first morning, whenever it does arrive, that we all wake up to temperatures in the 60’s to 40’s and that more comfortable one-third of the year that makes the other two-thirds of Houston’s weather bearable.

8) Think outside the Houston box. Maybe this will be the year you finally fly to New York City during the first two weeks of October and rent a car to drive up the Hudson River Highway to West Point to see what a real changing of the leaves during the fall season looks like. – It’s a real breath-taker, if you do, and a trip you will never either regret or forget.

9) While you are in upstate New York, amble over to Cooperstown for a quiet and beautiful trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame. In my book, it’s the best time to go there to the shrine of our greatest game.

10) Enjoy Labor Day, September 2, 2013, in love and peace, with family and friends. Like all our other days, it only got here by itself, and we only get to enjoy it from moment to moment, one day at a time, as the clock ebbs and flows from the only time that ever truly exists for us – in the ever-present here and now.

Happy Labor Day, Everybody! 🙂

 

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Mike Vance on the Nov. 5 Astrodome Referendum

September 1, 2013
THE UH Cougars played their home football schedule in the Astrodome from 1965 to the 1990s.

THE UH Cougars played their home football schedule in the Astrodome from 1965 to 1995.

Yesterday, in response to my August 31st column, Astrodome Area Ramblings on a Friday Night , friend and SABR colleague Mike Vance, who also serves as a force in the save “Our Astrodome” campaign, wrote some comments that I felt were genuinely deserving of their own bright spotlight on the seminal issues we are finally facing with the iconic Houston landmark.

With the November 5th Astrodome referendum now only weeks away, we are heading toward either a new start or a sad end to an architectural landmark that could mean more to the rest of the world than it does to the active voters of Harris County. If we lose the Astrodome to local apathy, greed, or misinforming information on the cost of its recovery to local taxpayers, what a both tragic and mortifying result that would be.

Read what Mike Vance has to say about it. He will have room below to respond to any questions you may have – and he certainly will have a blank date invitation to write his own new column on this subject as a guest writer for The Pecan Park Eagle any number of times he wishes to take it on between now and November 5th.

All we will do here is quote Mike Vance from his comments to TPPE on August 31st. Any elaboration or expansion to this column is also available today to Mike Vance should he have both the time and desire to take it on now. In the meanwhile, the PP Eagle will pose questions that logically fit with the answers that Mike provided yesterday.

1) How many choices remain among the many ideas that have been suggested for the Astrodome’s new use?

“The proposal that will be on the ballot on November 5 is the ONLY one we will get. It is either approve that plan to adapt the Astrodome for a multi-purpose venue that will be used by the OTC, Rodeo and all other major events at Reliant Park or it gets demolished. The time for other ideas is past.” – Mike Vance, 8/31/13.

2) Won’t that multi-purpose venue you speak of cost us arms and legs in new taxes?

“… the “higher taxes” will amount to a little less than $8 a year for a property owner whose house is valued around $200,000. (The Harris County average is $188k).” – Mike Vance, 8/31/13.

3) Houston tears down tons of old buildings every day. What’s the big deal with the Astrodome?

“For those of us who are passionate about saving the Astrodome, by far the most important building that has ever been constructed in our city, we need to educate the voting public. We have 12 weeks to do so.” – Mike Vance, 8/31/13.

4) Aren’t we talking about spending a lot of money on saving the Astrodome memories of a few long-term Houstonians? Isn’t that what we are doing – just asking people to spend money on emotional issues that have no economical basis?

“Then I suggest answering them on the economic merits. As I mention above, the cost is miniscule. Less than they spend on parking for one game or one beer.

“But that aside, the repurposed Astrodome is not about memories. It will enable Houston and Harris County to attract more of the very large conventions that bring millions of dollars into a local economy. The floor space of the New Astrodome will compliment Reliant Center to greatly increase capacity.

“The New Astrodome will also be a key component in the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four and other large sporting events that we wish to bid on. All of those, much like the OTC are huge plusses for Houston business.

“We can get something viable and vibrant or we can spend $100 million on a few more parking spaces to make the Texans more money. Anyone who cares about Houston, whether they’ve been here a long time or not, should support something that makes us a better city.” – Mike Vance, 8/31/13.

5) So what if some of us do value the Astrodome as an architectural icon and international symbol of Houston, a lot of our fellow Americans, and Houstonians, just don’t care about things of that nature – or history either – for that matter. What’s the point of even trying to save the Dome?

“Some understand the case for history, and where the Astrodome is concerned it is a history that far exceeds sports. The building was world famous and contains a litany of architectural firsts. More importantly, it is the very soul and embodiment of Houston’s can-do, bigger than life modern image.

“But for those who see dollars and cents, the case can easily be made that a facility that keeps the OTC happy and in town, that provides a state of the art space to lure large conventions and special events and one that can provide a revenue stream TO THE COUNTY as opposed to spending close to $100 million to get more surface parking that provides revenue for the Texans is the more solid idea.

“It is up to all of us believers to make this case and make sure everyone goes to vote. I know you are on board. Now we need lots more folks.” – Mike Vance, 8/31/13.

For time-critcal news and endorsements, please check out the following website for further information:

https://www.facebook.com/OurAstrodome

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Astrodome Area Ramblings on a Friday Night

August 31, 2013
The sign above them says it all for Bill and Neal McCurdy and their father/son trip to Reliant Stadium last night, 8/30/13.

The sign above them says it all for Bill and Neal McCurdy and their father/son trip to the UH Cougars opening football game versus Southern at Reliant Stadium last night, Friday, 8/30/13.

The fact it was only tiny Southern and that the Cougars handled them 62-13 hardly mattered in the bigger scheme of things of spending time with the people we love while we each have it is what really matters. ~ Add to that credo the fact that none of us, no matter the state of our ages, health, or life circumstances, can ever count on more than one moment of precious opportunity for contact – and that’s the one we are in at this time, on this day, at this particular sweep of the little second-hand on our watches. ~ Weigh that prospect against the always present possibility of nevermore and it gets easier to devote our precious time to what’s really important to us.

It was an interesting night for random thoughts and observations at Reliant Stadium.

Walking in through the NE gate from the parking lot north of Reliant, one can get a little better appreciation for the state of antipathy that many Texan and rodeo people feel for the Astrodome. I had not truly realized how close that abandoned old icon feels to the new stadium until we came into the place from that angle last night. To anyone with no historic attachment to “the old girl”, it must be close to feeling like having a falling down, abandoned house sitting in the lot next door to your still new, bright, and shiny home.

That environmental contamination feel has to be cured for any rehabilitation of the Astrodome to be successful – and it has to be for a purpose that is compatible with the main business of the neighborhood, Texans football and the rodeo. Nothing else will do ~ so, throw out that monstrous gambling casino idea from the start. You couldn’t get that one by my HOA either.

UH QB John O'Korn, #5, awaits confirmation of his 3rd and final TD pass of the game.

UH QB John O’Korn, #5, awaits confirmation of his 3rd and final TD pass of the game.

My son Neal doesn’t feel too optimistic about the November referendum, even though we both favor a plan to salvage the Dome in some manageable form. Neal fears that there are too many new residents who care nothing about the Dome and too many people who will vote against anything that smacks of higher taxes to get the Astrodome safely home. The park conversion proposal may be the only one that flies aesthetically and financially. It would certainly open up and beautify that proximity of the Dome to Reliant that causes, with neglect, that sore-eyed hovering feel about the place.

As for the game, we Cougars are not delusional about who we beat so badly, but then, neither should Texas A&M today, if they do the same thing to Rice.

UH62SU13 05

I did like the 6’4″ UH freshman QB, John O’Korn, who completed 11 of 15 passes on 5 scoring drives, including 3 TDs by passes.  The Cougar pass defense looked vulnerable and they committed far too many dumb penalties to hope for much success against a good team, but their running game looked really healthy with 372 yards rushing. All totaled, UH garnered 627 yards by ground and air.

It helped make for a nice start to the Labor Day Weekend for us Cougars, in spite of who we actually beat. (I guess I’m still primitively hooked on the idea that it’s better to win than lose, no matter what.)

Anyway, we hope your holiday is great too – and that you get to spend it doing what you want – with whomever you care to share the moment.

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Our Proposed New NCAA Athletic Penalties

August 30, 2013

NCAA In view of that painful half game, 30 minute suspension of Johnny Manziel for signing autographs that may be converted into retail items and actually sold for personal profit by the individuals who received them, perhaps, the NCAA should propose that their not-so-funny penalty hammer should now fall heavily with even greater weight and force upon individuals and schools who are found guilty in the future of violating these other similarly miscreant acts.

We think that he NCAA wants the general public and the ticket-buying fan population to know that, even though this is not a serious and official proclamation of their true intentions, that no one on their rules and enforcement governing committee could think of anything dumber than the recommendations being made here in parody – nor could any NCAA rules maker look us straight in the face and tell us that the Manziel Decision was anything more than a step taken to clear the way for the NCAA’s own profit plans for the 2013 college football and general sports season.

The NCAA should also vow to do all in their power to keep the unpaid exploited amateur athletes who play college sports from getting in the way of the billions of dollars in profits that pass directly to the universities, television sponsors, bowl games, related equipment and uniform supply entities, and the NCAA itself as a result of these healthy, exciting, and popular athletic activities.

Our Proposed New NCAA Athletic Penalties

1) All NCAA athletes found guilty of signing their autograph(s) for persons known to be potential retailers without proof of payment to the athletes themselves must “Take the Manziel” and miss the first half of their next scheduled event.

(100 meter track runners, for example, will be forced to begin their races at the 50 meter mark, but they will be allowed to start running when the starter’s gun fires for all runners.)

2) Team sport players getting “The Manziel” when their next foe is Rice will get the option of (a) either taking the half game suspension against Rice – or else – (b) giving up the consumption of rice, including the little dabs that come with Chinese takeout food orders, for the balance of their respective seasons.

3) Players found guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct will not face suspension for their actions, but they will be required to either (a) lay out their next game, or else, (2) play their next game unprotected by the rules governing unsportsmanlike conduct toward them by other players.

4) Never allow any unpleasant reality to get in the way of the season starting out as an attractive television franchise. Use the half-game suspension, or its 30 minute equivalent, to cover and instantly cure a broad variety of nettlesome pre-season nuisance problems.

That’s enough for now. If we are followed, we should give the NCAA rules committee the power and direction they need to pretty much get better at what they now already do in great abundance, anyway – and that is, doing pretty much whatever they damn well please.

OK. Everybody! – Have a nice Labor Day weekend on these first hot days of the new college football season.

The preceding piece is strictly a fictional mockery of the NCAA and their ruling in the Johnny Manziel autograph signing for dealers case and is not presented as an actual account of any real actions the real NCAA is either offering or presenting.

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Johnny (Football) Be Good

August 29, 2013
Johnny Manzeil, QB Texas A&M, 2012 Heisman Trophy Award

Johnny Manziel, QB
Texas A&M, 2012
Heisman Trophy Award

The Manziel Penalty came down from the NCAA on Wednesday, 8/28/13. …

Johnny Football cannot play for one-half of the home versus Rice game coming up this Saturday as the opening contest in 2013 for both teams. Manziel will undoubtedly sit out the first half versus the heavily outgunned Rice Owls and then pump the TV ratings for ABC/ESPN by starting the second half to a record-roaring full house crowd of Texas Aggie fans at Kyle Field.

That transaction thus nails the issue into the books as closed and resolved. The NCAA did their job by handing out a wrist-slap to the Aggie 2012 Heisman Trophy winner for … what? It wasn’t for Manzeil selling his autographs. That action was both denied and unproven. No, the NCAA penalized Manziel “for perhaps knowingly signing with autograph dealers”.

How’s that? …. “For perhaps knowingly signing with autograph dealers”?

If you sign with an autograph dealer as a star athlete, doesn’t that imply some notion to the possibility that the athlete expects to get paid for his signatures somewhere down the line? And would not that language be contained in what now exists as a contract (legal or not) between the athlete and the dealer?

Or do you actually have to have either a confession or a proof of a cash payment to hold up a signed contract as evidence of a wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Manziel? – Apparently that is the case. I don’t know what he signed his named to do for those autograph dealers, but apparently it doesn’t matter if he denies getting any money from them and the NCAA can’t find any bullets that had been fired from the smoking gun as cash payments.

Now the NCAA, Texas A&M, college football, the TV networks, and the sponsors get to have the 2013 football season they were hoping for before it was discovered this off-season that the Heisman is no award for wisdom, maturity, restraint, or common sense.

Since the NCAA proved today that they were only interested in getting this turkey baked prior to the start of the season, it would have made it more interesting for them to have given Johnny Manzeil at least one option to that cruel half-game penalty versus Rice.

How about this NCAA offer that never happened:

Mr. Johnny Manziel, for cavorting, or otherwise signing with known sports autograph dealers, even though you apparently never accepted or expected to get paid by them for your services, please select one of these two equally weighted options as your penalty for making this the kind of public issue that the NCAA cannot totally avoid:

(1) Sit out half the game that Texas A&M plays at home against Rice this coming Saturday, August 31, 2013; or else,

(2) Give up eating rice in any form, including Chinese takeout, until after the 2013-2014 college football and bowl season is concluded.

Either way, Johnny, work a little harder this season on the business of thinking through the fact that we all, and that includes Heisman Trophy winners, face consequences for every action we take. Do that much and you may even yet grow up to be a real cool version of “Johnny Football”.

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