Thursday, March 3, 2005

Happy 850th Bob Knight

Congratulations to Bob Knight, whose Red Raiders delivered him his 850th basketball victory at Baylor yesterday. He is now 29 wins behind Dean Smith on the all-time list.

Yeah it was against Baylor. But there's no RPI for all-time coaching victories. Besides, How many directional schools did Adolph Rupp beat up on anyway?

From the "dumb lawsuit" department.

You know those idiot people that try to tell you that you don't have to pay your income tax because of some arcane quirk in the Constitution or because the income tax amendment was improperly ratified or some other thing. Now, it may be a nice feeling to feel that you really don't have to pay that tax and you have some legal recourse, it's all an illusion. There are tons of court cases that say that the income tax is legal and any person or lawyer making any argument that it's not would be laughed out of the courtroom. Yet these people will make the same arcane and irrelevant arguments to you.

Sadly, the good people of Canada now have to deal with similar kinds of idiots.

A Canadian group called
Free Stanley is talking about stripping the NHL of the Stanley Cup if they don't award it to someone in 2005, and are mulling mounting a legal challenge to do so. Never mind that the NHL has owned the Stanley Cup since 1946 and almost every legal authority in Canada recognizes it. Like the people down here who try to sell you on income tax evasion, the Free Stanley people of Canada are using flawed legal logic, an opinion from some law firm, and a statement by the Governor General (who represents the Queen but has no actual power to do anything) to justify their case.

It doesn't matter.

The NHL owns the Stanley Cup now. Anything else that happened before is irrelevant. To say the Stanley Cup is owned by anyone other than the NHL is as legally nonsensical as saying the Vince Lombardi Trophy is owned by Vince Lombardi. Why? Because even Canada has property rights. Even in Canada, you can't repossess someone's property unless they break the law, owe taxes, or default on a loan.

If they want to fight the NHL on this, good luck to them. They'll lose.

Just like Americans who think they don't have to pay income tax.

The best hot stove league around

NFL Free Agency is off and running.
Derrick Mason has reportedly signed with Baltimore, giving them the top reciever they couldn't get last offseason when Terrell Owens got traded to Philly instead of Baltimore. Lamont Jordan is apparenly ready to sign in Oakland and provide a compliment to Randy Moss.

The Rams, meanwhile, signed former Dallas Cowboy Dexter Coakely. While I'm sorry to see him go because he was a great talent and one of the few draft picks from the post-Jimmy Johnson era that actually wound up being a big contributor, the reality is that he wasn't going to fit in Parcells' 3-4 scheme. He probably fits better with what the Rams are doing on Defense, and it wouldn't surprise me if he made the Pro Bowl next year. Good luck to him.

Meanwhile down in Valley Ranch, the Cowboys signed Jason Ferguson and Anthony Henry. Ferguson is supposed to aid the Cowboys' transition to the 3-4, Henry is supposed to solidify the corner opposite Terrence Newman. Whether either comes true, we shall see. I'm a little skeptical of any Dallas free agent signings at this point because of the Bledsoe deal.

One more note: The Patriots' ability to keep winning year after year will be tested as Troy Brown and Ty Law have both been released and key offensive lineman Joe Andruzzi is now a Cleveland Brown.

Conference Tournament Watch

The Southern Conference was the only tournament in action yesterday. No major upsets. The SoCon's top seed, the Davidson Wildcats (RPI: 50). plays it's first game later today against the Elon Phoenix(RPI: not even worth mentioning).

Also back in action today is Winthrop (RPI: 85), the top seed in the Big South.

Tomorrow: More NFL Hot Stove & Conference Tournament Watch
Monday: Big 12 Tournament Preview.

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