It's Not All About Football

While LSU athletes continue their superiority in the SEC in their athletic skills, when it comes to academics they are dead last according to the recently released NCAA data.

Overall academic rankings for each school were compiled by tracking every student-athlete on scholarship in terms of eligibility, retention and graduation.  Every scholarship student-athlete received a semester academic rating score based upon remaining in school and continuance of academic eligibility.  In the words of athletic director, Scott Woodward, it requires that athletes demonstrate “extraordinary drive and commitment to excel in the classroom and to be elite on the field.”

Several LSU teams excelled in the survey with perfect scores. These included:  gymnastics, women’s golf, softball, women’s cross country, beach volley ball, women’s tennis, men’s track and field, men’s golf, men’s tennis, and men’s cross country.

However, the LSU football team ranked last in the SEC for the third year in a row, which contributed to last place for the school’s academic total ranking, while LSU’s nemesis, Alabama, was second only to Vanderbilt in the overall school academic rankings.

Some might argue that the relevance of such a ranking is irrelevant because, as long as the LSU Tigers keep performing in an elitist fashion on the football field, that’s all that really matters.  But one must not lose sight of the mission of LSU, “As the Flagship institution of the state, the vision of Louisiana State University is to be a leading research-extensive university, challenging undergraduate and graduate students to achieve the highest levels of intellectual and personal development. Designated as a Land, Sea, and Space Grant institution, the mission of Louisiana State University is the generation, preservation, dissemination, and application of knowledge and cultivation of the arts.”

Thanks to yearly draconian academic funding cuts by our esteemed Republican legislators, LSU is finding it more and more difficult to fulfil this mission, and by its continual over emphasis on its athletic successes, particularly regarding football, it further relegates academia to obsolescence.  Additionally, this contributes to people losing sight of why LSU actually exists, which is evidenced by these rankings. It’s not exclusively for football.

As other SEC schools, such as the top four, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss have shown, academics and athletics can co-exist on equal footing in terms of successfulness.  Athletes are students first and athletes second and supporters of the LSU Tigers need to understand and support that fact.

LSU alumni and fans of Tiger football also need to remember that they presently rank last in the SEC in the financial support for the school whose football team they adore.

Maybe the next time they purchase an LSU football ticket, season pass, beer at the game, or a pay-for-view game on their TVs, they should consider giving an equal amount to the university foundation or the academic department of their choosing.  That is, if they truly love them LSU Tigers

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Mask, No Service

Hard to believe all the pushback businesses are getting when they request that customers wear face masks for COVID-19 protection.  We are seeing demonstrations and even physical altercations over this.  Some individuals have even been shot.  People claim it is an infringement on their freedom.

Funny thing is businesses for years have had signs in their windows that read “No shirt, no shoes, no service.”  I don’t recall any protests or claims of restricted freedom over that.  People just comply.

I got to thinking maybe it wasn’t really about one’s freedom after all.  The people of the U.S. have always had the worldwide image as being a very vain population when it comes to their appearance.

Maybe that’s the key to all this foolishness, vanity.  When we cover our faces others can’t see how attractive or handsome we are.  They can’t see our expensive makeup or our expensive plastic surgery nose, cheek, or lip modifications.  They can no longer grasp our natural beauty.  Gee, maybe that’s why Donald doesn’t wear one.

Sadly, these damn masks sometimes make us look similar to each other except for our eye and hair color.  They may even hide that perfectly manicured beard or mustache.  Maybe it’s the perceived loss of our individuality and uniqueness and not our freedom that are the real driving forces behind all this resistance.

If we go along with this temporary request, we will no longer be able to categorize people according to their attractiveness.  Just think if all those online dating sites only included masked individuals.  What a dent that would put in the dating game.  And what about all those bar pickups?

Maybe I’ve carried this a little too far, but then again how do we explain “No shirt, no shoes, no service” is ok, but “No shirt, no shoes, no mask, no service” is an affront to our freedom and serves as the catalyst for protests and refusals to comply.

Give me vanity or give me illness, that is the question!

Trump paved the way for sexual misconduct

As Tara Reade becomes a household name for accusing Joe Biden, the person most likely to be chosen to challenge Donald Trump for the presidency, of sexual misconduct,  it’s shameful that very few of Trump’s supporters could name even one of the more than two dozen women who have accused him of sexual assault and misconduct.

The list of public accusers of President Donald Trump include: Kristin Anderson, Lisa Boyne, Cathy Heller, Temple McDowell, Karena Virginia, Bridget Sullivan, Tasha Dixon, Mindy McGillivray, Rachel Crooks, Natasha Stoynoff, Jennifer Murphy, Jessica Drake, Ninni Laaksonen, Summer Zervos, Samantha Holvey, Mariah Billado, Victoria Hughes, Juliet Huddy, Alva Johnson, Karen Johnson, Cassandra Searles, Jill Harth, E. Jean Carroll, Jessica Leeds, and Ivana Trump.

However, all these Trump accusers have become forgotten souls in the coverage of Joe Biden and Tara Reade.

As was the case with Donald, Joe claims “It never happened.”  We shall see how this plays out and whether or not it becomes a major nasty political ad campaign talking point by the Republicans.  How hypocritical will that be?  But when it comes to both Democrats and Republicans, there’s no shortage of hypocrisy.  It’s known as politics.

Fortunately,  for Joe Biden, the President has set the bar very low for sexual misconduct, and has brilliantly molded the voters’  mindset to simply brush off such aberrant behavior as “no big deal.”  Consequently, there should be little backlash for Mr. Biden.

So now we have two upstanding individuals running for president, Donald and Joe.  That is if Joe wins the Democratic nomination.  Is this the best we have to offer? Sadly, yes.

COVID-19 Doesn't Hurt Coaches' Wallets

While many of us suffer in Louisiana from draconian job losses due to COVID-19, and an imploding state budget due to the historical drop in the price per barrel for oil, it’s calming  to know that LSU football coaches will be well taken care of.  Athletic director, Scott Woodward,  has submitted to the LSU Board of Supervisors a request to increase the salaries of coaches a whopping average of 28%.

Apparently for a few of these requested increases this is just a formality because some have technically already been approved.  These include Orgeron’s six year, $41 million contract, and the new defensive coordinator’s three year $2.3 million.  Basically, we are talking about nine additional assistant coaches salary boosts, bring the grand total to over $13.5 million for the LSU  football coaching staff.

Second to Orgeron’s ‘sweet deal’ is the one set for offensive line coach, James Cregg, who will receive a 46% salary increase over his last year’s salary.  The other coaches have salary increases that range from 5% on up. 

So as LSU enters very difficult times in terms of the academic cuts, that will be incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which will affect its future for several years, it should be reassuring to all to know that LSU football staff will continue to be rewarded for their past successes.

One has to wonder yet again just what are the priorities at LSU as it attempts to move forward?  Certainly if it had not been able to turn out all those wonderful healthcare providers over the years our state would be suffering even more deaths from COVID-19.

Maybe the LSU Board of Supervisors should consider redirecting  those salary increases to reward and help continue that success.  

And yes, I am aware that LSU athletics does donate some of its funds to the LSU operating budget, but the new athletic director is pushing  to rollback that policy.

Seasonal Flu Statistics Irrelevant

Mr Chapotone’s recent letter to the Daily Star is a prime example of the confusion individuals still have regarding the implementation of the country shut down in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.  It’s the same confusion our President initially had in the early stages of the onset.

 

It is irrelevant to ponder the decision for the country shutdown by quoting the number of cases, hospitalizations, deaths, and the number of states involved in a typical flu season.

The shutdown was implemented due to the RATE of hospitalizations over a short period of time.  In a typical flu season hospitalizations are pretty much spread out over a six month period from October to March with a peak usually occurring in February.

COVID-19 on the other hand has had more U.S. hospitalizations during one month than the typical flu season has during its peak month.   Additionally more than 25% of those hospitalized have ended up in the ICU.

To once again bring people up to speed, it was never about the total number of cases of COVID-19, but instead about the rate and severity of the hospitalizations due to its highly contagious characteristics.

Simply put, our entire healthcare system became overloaded from the high rate of infection over a very short period of time, and hospitalization admissions needed to be slowed, thus the “self-distancing” and “shut down”  paradigms.

Sadly, many individuals, like Mr. Chapotone, keep throwing around 6 month seasonal flu statistics in an attempt to show that the COVID-19 is not as serious by comparison, and hinting that perhaps the shutdown measures were unnecessary.  Fortunately, for all, the President came to his senses and realized the rate of hospitalizations needed to be slowed.

In closing, if these individuals who roll out seasonal flu statistics are patient, I predict they will be proven wrong when the same 6 month seasonal flu time frame statics are calculated for COVID-19.   So far during COVID-19’s three month run in the U.S. there are now over 50,000 deaths compared to 61,200 deaths for the entire 6 month 2018-2019 U.S. flu season.   I suspect COVID-19 will surpass every recent seasonal flu statistic, for there is no vaccine available like there is for seasonal flu.

Reopening the French Quarter

This past weekend a full page ad from several business leaders appeared in the Times Picayune as an open letter to the Mayor of New Orleans requesting that the city and, in particular, the French Quarter, be immediately reopened for business.

While it’s easy to rally around this “Open The City” ad, it’s quite another task to instill a sense of infection protection security in potential visitors.  To put it bluntly, before Covid19 hit, the French Quarter was never noted for its sanitary or cleanliness qualities.   Simply reopening the city will not instill a trust among potential visitors that it is indeed free from a high risk of infection.

The city is financially broke and cannot afford the measures necessary to even remotely alleviate visitors’ fears.   Do these businessmen calling for the reopening have a plan and are willing to provide the capital necessary to give tourists and residents assurances that they will have a reduced chance of infection?

To reopen the French Quarter without a plan is foolish and could lead to a total boycott if visitors perceive that nothing changed in its operation to help  protect them.

The N.O. tourist groups are always worried about the crime perception in the Quarter and its effect on potential visitors.  They address it with added police whose presence is visible and reassuring to individuals.

How do they plan to address the Covid-19 perception in the Quarter?

Perhaps the businessmen who posted the “reopen ad” need to post an additional one detailing what they intent to do to help change the sanitary culture of the Quarter, for It would certainly serve a better, more reassuring purpose.

Perception is the controlling factor in the successful return of tourists to the French Quarter.  Simply reopening it without a cultural change may not produce the desired surge in economic revitalization which these businessmen expect.

Not Consumer Friendly Tort Reform

As we approach a new legislative session in Baton Rouge our Republican legislators have made it very clear that one of their  major agenda items will be tort reform in our state.  Particularly as it relates to automobile accidents.  They want to limit one’s ability to sue insurance companies, and claim that such measures will lead to lower auto insurance premiums.

However, what all supporters of tort reform intentionally failed to address is there is NO guarantee that such reform will lower auto insurance rates.  Supporters outside the insurance industry just assume that the big state auto insurers will out of the kindness of their hearts lower their rates as a reward for hindering one’s ability to bring a legal suit against them.

Despite what these companies would want you to believe, one of their biggest money makers is auto insurance.   Why would anyone be so naïve to assume that any change, that would allow them to make even more profit by limiting law suits, would be offset by them lowering their insurance  premiums?

Let’s see how supportive the auto insurance companies and the Louisiana Association of  Business and Industry, which is also pushing for change, would be of auto insurance tort reform if it was tied to a  mandated across the board 25% decrease in premiums charged.

This is the only type of tort reform that would actually benefit the consumer.  As tort reforms are now proposed, only the insurance companies benefit, and that’s just the way they want it.