You can do it

I was raised on baseball and while I freely admit that I no longer have the time to watch as many Major League games as I would like, there are two things that I will still, no matter what, pay close attention to - I love triples and I love perfect games! They are sacred and should be lauded and hailed by all - die hard and casual fans alike.

I have never really been a fan of Bud Selig as the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. In fairness though, is anyone really a fan of the commissioner of their favorite sport or is he just a figure head you only pay attention to during the draft or a scandal?

Bud Selig was named Commissioner after holding the interim position from 1992-1998. Shouldn't this have been the first clue for fans that this might not really be the man for job? I mean really, a six year interim period?There wasn't a point in year two or year three that the owners said, "Hey why don't we give the job to Bud?" Obviously someone (or several someones) thought that he wasn't the best fit for major league baseball.

During his tenure (including as interim commish), Selig has been accused of collusion regarding former Commissioner Fay Vincent's resignation, racketeering and conspiracy to defraud owners, exceeding his authority when it comes to suspensions, not attending the home-run record breaking game of Barry Bonds and extending the World Series into November in order to help with ratings.

This is not to say that there haven't been some good things to come to the sport since Mr. Selig has been at the helm. He orchestrated realignment of the teams which facilitated the addition of the Wild Card. He oversaw the introduction of two new teams (the Devil Rays and the Diamondbacks) as well as the international move and change of the Expos in Montreal to Washington, D.C. becoming the Nationals. At least 19 new stadiums have opened during Selig's tenure which is a testament to his overseeing an over 400% increase in revenue.

But Mr. Selig is now forced with, what I predict, will be his most difficult decision to date (yes, even more important than the Pete Rose situation). On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers was one out away from pitching the first complete game and first shutout of his career. That was not all though, Galarraga was also one out away from pitching a perfect game. Until, THE CALL. Umpire Jim Joyce called a very obviously (to television viewers and fans in the stands) out Jason Donald of the Cleveland Indians safe a first base.

Without rehashing the call and its aftermath ad nauseum, I clearly acknowledge the extreme graciousness and ultimate sportsmanship of both Galarraga and Joyce. Both men are the epitome of what I wish that all sports figures in today's world could be. An umpire who loves the game of baseball so much that he feels exceedingly horrible for what in his words "just cost that kid a perfect game." A player who in the midst of the hullabaloo that was surrounding his missed opportunity, delivered the lineup for the next day's game to the offending umpire who was still on the umpiring team even when given the opportunity to leave and avoid any uncomfortableness. Pure class.

That class is juxtaposed against Bud Selig who has the power to right this wrong. This isn't some missed call in the middle of the game. This is a blatantly missed call on what should have been the last out in the game. Some would say that the commissioner should not change the outcome of a completed game, that its opening a slippery slope. I politely and completely disagree. If there was ever a time that an overturning of a call was necessary, it is now.

Sports is an outlet for the average American to escape into for a few hours. In this day and age, Americans need healthy diversions as much as possible. These Americans are tired of seeing arbitrary bureaucrats making decisions for them without fully thinking through the consequences of their actions.

My three-year old daughter is easily frustrated when working on a new task as are most three-year olds but my husband and I have taught her that rather than say, "I can't do it" that she say, "I CAN do it." She even now repeats that mantra to her five-year old sister when she gets frustrated. If there was no instance of instant replay in Major League Baseball, I would probably not be as angry or maybe if there wasn't a provision allowing for a commissioner to step in and over-rule this call, then I probably wouldn't be complaining. Bud Selig, you Sir, have the opportunity to show your cherished fans, as well as the rest of the United States of America, that you can right that wrong, that you can fix what was done incorrectly the first time. You can do it.

Wait! Is it too late to call for St. Patrick?

The new week brings the President's nuclear summit to Washington, D.C. Forty-seven world leaders are meeting in our nation's capital to discuss the nuclear future of the world. Noticeably absent are the two biggest nuclear threats within the globe - North Korea and Iran.

Is it just me or is anyone else worried about the staying power of these agreements given the President's history on campaigning for other people, places or things? And isn't that what this summit is all about anyway? Asking or campaigning for the other attendees to come around to our (as the host) way of thinking?

President Obama campaigned quite fervently for the Chicago Olympic bid for the 2016 games, even going as far as to fly himself and the First Lady and Oprah over to Copenhagen to plead in person. That worked out famously as we all know. The President then threw his support to some high-profile candidates in a few of off-year races that were held in November and the special election to fill Ted Kennedy's seat held in January. Those endorsements were held in such high esteem and voters were apparently fired up and ready to go after listening to the President's justifications for elections since they were able to defeat Jon Corzine, Martha Coakley and Creigh Deeds. Yet even with an 0-4 record, there are still those willing to keep the President campaigning on the country's behalf.

Recently the President made a surprise jaunt to Afghanistan so that he could visit with our troops. During his trip. he visited with the Afghan President Hamid Karzai. That meeting went so well that within a week, Karzai was threatening to resign his Presidency and join the Taliban. That event was on the heels of the announcement (during Vice President Joe Biden's visit) that Israel was going to approve more construction on the West Bank.

Now we have President Obama meeting with the leaders of forty-seven nations trying to hammer out the details on a successful nuclear strategy for the rest of the world. After a productive first day of talks, it was announced that China was on board to maybe possibly think about moving toward the Obama way of thinking on Iran and the Ukraine decided to give up its highly enriched uranium. Given the fact that China could really care less about sanctions on Iran and the President's own spokesperson wasn't sure where the uranium was to be sent (namely to us or to Russia - who might or might not give it to other countries for power generation) I think our not inviting some countries to the summit has allowed us to dodge an onslaught of rats.

I am glad that North Korea and Iran did not attend this summit. We could have been left with the fallout from a boobonic plague of a Presidential campaign that I don't think that we have enough stores of potassium iodide to combat.

When $940 Billion is NOT a Trillion

Only in Washington, D.C. is it a day to celebrate that a proposal that will only cost $940 Billion. The Democratic leadership in DC is "giddy" (to quote a Congressman) that the CBO has come out and stated that the healthcare bill's price tag is under the magic level of $1 Trillion.

Really? Really? If the average American spends $940 on a couch most likely they will tell you that they had spent a thousand dollars. Buy a car for $9400 in most cases you would be hard pressed to find someone who didn't feel that you had spent ten grand. So really democrats, do you really think that the American public is so dense that you can tell us that you AREN'T spending a TRILLION dollars to take over 1/6 of the economy?

And am I the only person who this morning is questioning the supposed non-partisan makeup of the Congressional Budget Office. Can I possibly be the only one who thinks that the delay with receiving the (barely but) under a Trillion price tag is a little suspect. I tend to believe that there was a lot more jockeying back and forth between Dems and the CBO to ensure that this number was what they needed. And now that they have the UNDER A TRILLION price tag they are giddy and moving forward with a vote on Sunday.

I may not be the greatest mathematician but if something costs $940 billion over the first ten years and that figure includes a planned Medicare savings (yeah like that has ever happened) of $120 billion, doesn't that mean that the bill actually costs $1.06 Trillion?? The planned savings from Medicare would include cuts that would affect millions of seniors who will lose a great portion of their benefits and they would be forced to foot even more of their healthcare costs. I thought that Nancy Pelosi wanted to close the donut hole not the other way around. And this is all dependent upon generating these savings. The CBO also projects that "total federal Medicare and Medicaid outlays will rise from 4 percent of GDP in 2007 to 12 percent in 2050 and 19 percent in 2082. So if the CBO predicts that the percent of GDP is going to grow that dramatically, how can they also state that they predict that there is a savings?

Feel free to email the author at stephanie@vpmedia.com