Priorities: President Barack Obama is picking Florida, Indiana, Louisville, Ohio State to reach the Final Four. President Obama filled out an NCAA tournament bracket for ESPN for the fifth straight year. On the women’s side, he selected Baylor, California, UConn and Notre Dame to advance to New Orleans. ESPN will reveal his full men’s and…
Guest Post: To Set Something Aside, No More Honey Boo Boo
According to the consumer research firm Yankelovich, if you live in an American city today, you see at least 5,000 advertising messages every day. Forget television, radio and billboards. In the digital era, we now see ads at the gym, on displays at the grocery store — even in your doctor’s waiting room. No wonder…
When Sports Journalism Is An Oxymoron
Earlier this week the University of North Dakota made national headlines when they suspended a play-by-play announcer, Paul Ralston, for telling the truth when the university’s basketball team pulled off a “choke job” (his words) at the end of a game. Now, it’s undeniable that the team choked. The fans knew it. The coach admitted…
Is It A War On Women To Say A Pretty Lady Is Pretty?
I’m not a football fan at all, so I mostly missed the controversy over ESPN commentator Brent Musburger praising the beauty of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron’s girlfriend Katherine Webb. Ms. Webb is also Ms. Alabama, and is certainly quite striking. Here’s the video if you missed it: Apparently saying a lady is beautiful, and that…
Something Is Wrong With Our Priorities When University Sports Coaches Make More Than Governors
Earlier today I wrote about proposed increases in pay for North Dakota’s executive branch elected officials. Per Governor Jack Dalrymple’s proposed budget, the officials (including the governor himself) would get an 11.4% increase in pay by 2015 over their 2012 levels. People tend to get pretty wound up about how much public officials make, but…