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December 31, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(AP photo; previous weekly reviews here)

Texans 42 Jaguars 28

The Texans (8-8) beat the Jaguars (11-5) junior varsity team to achieve their first non-losing season in the team's six year history. The difference in this one was two kickoff returns for TD's and a fumble recovery to set up another by Texans' WR Andre Davis, who the Texans picked up off the scrap heap just before the beginning of the season. Talk about a nice bargain buy.

So, with the final game of the season in the books, now the season of unending media analysis of the Texans' sixth season opens. The lead-up to the game prompted yet another incoherent outburst from Chronicle sportswriter Richard Justice (compare that to this largely contradictory blog post from less than two weeks ago), whose inept coverage of the Texans over the past several years (see here and here) rivals fellow Chronicle columnist Jose de Jesus Ortiz's coverage of the Stros for sheer incompetence. For an even-handed and insightful evaluation of the Texans' season by position, see this Lance Zierlein blog post.

Despite their 8-8 finish, the harsh reality is that the Texans have not made much progress since the end of Year Three, when they finished with a similar 7-9 record and comparable statistics versus the league. Based on the steady progress of the Texans during their first three seasons of existence, former Texans coach Dom Capers made the ill-fated decision to make several fundamental changes on both offense and defense between Year Three and Four in an effort to elevate the Texans to playoff-contention status. As we all know now, those decisions had precisely the opposite effect, leading to a disastrous 2-14 record in Year Four.

That experience prompted Texans owner Bob McNair to clean house, change the management structure of the team and effectively start over with an untested assistant coach as the new head coach. Through Year Two of the Gary Kubiak era, there is still no clear indication whether the Texans will be any more successful under Kubiak than those first Texans teams were under Capers.

On the positive side, the defense has a nucleus of young players with potential, so with proper seasoning, that unit could develop into an above-league average unit over the next couple of seasons. Similarly, Kubiak & Co. have made a number of savvy personnel moves, particularly in improving the wide receiving corps. On the other hand, Kubiak's supposed area of expertise -- i.e., the offense -- has been plagued by a couple of really bad personnel decisions, initially the decision to keep QB David Carr, then the decision to go long on over-the-hill running back, Ahman Green.

Is Kubiak the coach to turn the Texans fortunes around? I don't know, but I am impressed by his willingness to recognize mistakes and make changes, which reflects that he is not burdened with the stubborness that often undermines NFL head coaches. Inasmuch as continuity in coaching staffs and personnel is one of the most common elements of successful NFL teams, my sense is that Kubiak has shown enough that McNair would be prudent to endure the mistakes of this young coach on the hope that such stability will ultimately be rewarded with a winner. Goodness knows McNair deserves it, given the excellent facilities and support that he has always provided to the Texans football operation.

But just don't count on big improvement next season. The better bet for a Texans playoff drive is the 2009 season.

Texas Longhorns 52 Arizona State 34

The Longhorns (10-3) dominated Arizona State (10-3) in an entertaining Holiday Bowl game that firmly established Longhorn Coach Mack Brown's son-in-law -- Chris Jessie (pictured above) -- as one of the most unlikely "almost-scapegoats" in the storied history of Texas football. Despite the satisfying win, the Horns have several big issues to resolve during the off-season, such as shoring up a leaky defensive unit and replacing star RB Jamaal Charles if he elects to turn pro. The Horns are loaded with talent, but it's unlikely that they can overtake Oklahoma in the Big 12 South without substantial improvement in their defensive unit.

Penn State 24 Texas Aggies 17

Do you think it's possible that A&M's Alamo Bowl experience could have gone any worse?

First, an Aggie Yell Leader at a pre-game pep rally exclaimed that legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was "on his death bed" and "needed a casket." Check it out:

The Yell Leader's bad judgment prompted embarrassed university officials to fall over themselves apologizing to Paterno, who was gracious in playing down the incident.

Then, after taking a quick 14-0 lead in the game, the Aggies turned the ball over three times in allowing Penn State to dominate the rest of the game. The killer turned out to be a failed fourth-and-less than one yard call midway through the 4th quarter inside the Penn State five yard line. Rather than simply diving for the first down, Aggie QB Stephen McGee fell down for a loss on a busted option play while pile-driving 275 lbs RB Jovorskie Lane sat on the bench. That prompted Lane to break down crying (h/t Jay Christensen).

Thus, the demoralizing Alamo Bowl defeat was a fitting end to the disappointing Coach Fran era at A&M. New Aggie coach Mike Sherman has a number of pressing personnel issues to address, not the least of which is what to do about QB McGee, who returns next season for his senior season. A QB's performance is often adversely affected by peer effects, so McGee's poor showing this season may be the product of an obsolescent option offense and below-average WR's. But my sense is that McGee does not pick up secondary receivers well enough to flourish in the pro-style passing offense that Sherman wants to implement next season. As a result, don't be surprised to see a new QB under center for the Aggies next season.

TCU 20 Houston Cougars 13

As noted earlier here, it's far from clear at this point as to whether former University of Houston head football coach Art Briles made the right career decision in leaving UH to take the Baylor head coaching position.

However, one thing is clear. Briles' decision to bail out on his UH team before its bowl game -- along with taking his top two offensive assistants with him -- probably cost the Cougars their first win in a bowl game in 27 years. The way Briles abandoned his UH team has hurt his reputation, particularly considering that new A&M coach Mike Sherman and new UH coach Kevin Sumlin both completed their responsibilities with their current teams before assuming responsibility for their new jobs. Briles will need his good reputation if things don't work out at Baylor, which is not an easy place to improve one's reputation as a football coach even under the best of circumstances.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

December 30, 2007

What's wrong with the Houston Rockets?

Dave Berri breaks it down. The bottom line is that no player on the Houston Rockets is playing as well as they did last year. Moreover, Tracy McGrady is no longer a dominant player -- indeed, he is now just another above-average NBA player. Add in the fact that, as of mid-December, Yao Ming ranks as only the 9th most productive center in the NBA so far this season and you have all the ingredients necessary for an underachieving team.

My younger daughter and I took in the Rockets' victory over the Toronto Rapters at Toyota Center on Saturday night, which pulled the Rockets back to a .500 record (15-15) on the season. The Rockets were playing the backend of back-to-back games, so they pulled out the win even though they played without McGrady (who is out for a few games with a sore knee) and were a bit sluggish overall.

However, my sense from watching the game is that Rockets Coach Rick Adelman has finally settled on his rotation. Yao will take most of the minutes at center with Luis Scola taking the balance, Chuck Hayes, Scola and promising newcomer Carl Landry will share the minutes at power forward, McGrady, Bonzi Wells and Shane Battier will share the minutes at small forward, and McGrady, Wells and Luther Head will share the minutes at the two guard. Rafer Alston and speedy rookie Aaron Brooks -- both of whom looked good on Saturday night -- will share the minutes at the point guard position. Once McGrady returns, my bet is that Battier is the one who has his minutes reduced from last season more than anyone else.

That's not a bad rotation. If Adelman sticks with it and barring injury, I will be surprised if the Rockets do not improve their record substantially over the 52-game balance of the season.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 29, 2007

More on the Mitchell Report

Following on my posts earlier this month on the Mitchell Commission Report, I have been meaning to pass along several additional items:

Malcolm Gladwell follows his earlier post on the Mitchell Report with another one in which he makes the following observations:

An aging pitcher is suffering from a variety of persistent injuries. They are healing slowly. He is depressed and lethargic, and anxious about his career. He goes to see his doctor. The doctor finds that the patient's testosterone count is low. He prescribes the pitcher a small dose of testosterone, as part of his rehab. The patient is desperate, and the doctor agrees to experiment with testosterone, and see if it speeds recovery.

Questions:

1. Has the pitcher violated MLB's drug policy? As far as I can tell, yes. Testosterone is on baseball's list of banned substances.

2. Has the patient violated the law? Of course not. Testosterone is an FDA approved medication.

Next, John Brattain over at the Hardball Times examines the actions of both MLB management and the MLB Players Association management in regard to performance enhancing drugs, and his conclusions are not pretty for either group:

Management didn’t care; player turnover is a fact of life in baseball. Somebody is always available to take the spot of somebody not performing should someone become injured due to steroid usage. They found an indirect ally in the MLBPA; higher profits translated into higher salaries and the interests of the salary bar were being served. Citing privacy issues, [MLBPA President Donald] Fehr and [key Fehr aide Gene] Orza long resisted drug testing. This suited ownership just fine and it finally took government action to get both to deal with the issue in a substantive way.

Who was protecting the players now? Both sides were allowing them to take risks with their health to play in the major leagues.

Finally, Jonathan Cole and Stephen Stigler review the anecdotal evidence and reach the following conclusion after comparing the "before" and "after" performance of the alleged PED-taking ballplayers cited in the Mitchell Commission Report:

But the results here are intriguing, and could send a simple message to America’s youth who aspire to fame and fortune as professional baseball players: Don’t use these drugs — not only can they increase the risk of serious illness, they also don’t enhance your performance on the diamond.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 28, 2007

Review of The Player Course at The Woodlands

It's been awhile since I've posted a review of one of Houston's largely underappreciated large number of fine golf courses (previous ones are here, here and here). So, I'm going to pass along a couple more during this holiday season, the first of which is The Player Course here in my hometown of The Woodlands, Texas.

The Player Course is one of the newest of the seven golf courses that wind through The Woodlands, the bustling planned community/golf haven of about 85,000 people located 30 miles north of downtown Houston. The Player Course is named after PGA Tour great Gary Player, who designed the course as a part of The Woodlands' effort to have one local golf course designed by each of the former Big Three of the PGA Tour -- Player, Arnold Palmer (The Palmer Course at The Woodlands, opened in 1991) and Jack Nicklaus (The Nicklaus Course at Carlton Woods, opened in 2001). When Player completed the Player Course in 2002, The Woodlands was the only community in the U.S. that had a golf course designed by each of the Big Three. It may still be the only one.

Player was the third of the Big Three to design a course in The Woodlands and his legendary competitive nature drove him to produce a real gem. Located in the western part of The Woodlands, the terrain produced a golf course with gently rolling, tree-lined fairways, numerous lakes and wetland areas, natural grass backdrops and deep bunkers. As with the other courses in The Woodlands, The Player Course is quite enjoyable to walk while playing.

The course is not easy. Although a very good course overall, I think that Player went overboard on about five green complexes that ratchet up the difficulty of the course unnecessarily. The course can be stretched to over 7,200 yards from the tips, but Player also installed a variety of tees that allow for less lengthy alternatives all the way down to 6,200 yards. The Slope rating from the back tees is 151, which is one of the highest in the Houston area and in the state. By way of comparison, the Slope rating from the back tees of the Tournament Course at Redstone -- where the Shell Houston Open PGA Tour event is played -- is 138. As a result, The Player Course has already hosted several U.S. Open qualifiers and top amateur tournaments during its 4 1/2 year existence. Although still quite young, The Player Course is clearly one of the top 15 courses in the Houston area.

The pictures below are from a round that my brother Bud and I played at the Player Course this past September. We played from the green tees, which were at about 6,700 yards that day (140 Slope rating). Take a moment and enjoy a quick trip through The Player Course at The Woodlands.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 27, 2007

Stan Binion, R.I.P.

Houston lost one of the true gentlemen of the Houston legal community on Christmas Day.

Longtime Houston trial attorney, Stan Binion, died on Tuesday at the age of 71. Stan was a charming man who was a fixture of the local trial bar over his 40+ year legal career, primarily on the defense side in business cases. I met Stan as a young attorney back in 1982 shortly after I started my original law firm with a couple of other young friends, and he could not have been more gracious and supportive. Over the years, I worked on the same side and against him in several cases, and it's a tribute to Stan's fine character that he was just as cordial and professional to me when he was opposing counsel as he was when we were co-counsel.

Born in Brownwood in West Texas, golf actually brought Stan to Houston. An outstanding high school golfer, Stan was recruited to the University of Houston by the legendary UH golf coach, Dave Williams. Stan sunk a key birdie putt late in the final round of an NCAA Golf Championship in helping the Cougars to one of their record 16 NCAA National Championships that they won under Coach Williams.

After graduating from UH, Stan became one of the finest amateur golfers in the area and one of the best players at Champions Golf Club, which is saying something. Over the years, Stan and stout local amateur John Paul Cain won several Champions Cups, the annual amateur golf tournament at Champions that consistently generates one of the best fields in amateur golf. Stan also qualified to play in the US Senior Open and several US Senior Amateurs.

Stan graduated from UH with a business degree in 1960, obtained his law degree from UH Law Center in 1962 and went on to become a tireless supporter of his alma mater. He was a former president of the UH Alumni Association and a lifetime member of the H Association of former UH letterman -- in fact, I bumped into Stan at most UH football and basketball games that I have attended over the years. Stan also donated his time in helping fellow UH golf alums Jim Nance (the CBS sports announcer) and PGA Tour pros Fred Couples and Blaine McCallister in developing and putting on their successful Three Amigos Charity Golf Tournament, which raised funds for the UH Athletic Scholarship Fund and other charities.

Finally, one anecdote sticks out in my mind in remembering Stan. In the mid-1980's, Stan donated his time in representing the UH in connection with an NCAA Infractions Committee investigation and subsequent hearing. In the 1990's, when Stan found out that I was involved in representing a UH coach in a UH-related NCAA Infractions Committee investigation, he called me and offered to provide any help, insight and background information that I needed. We were able to resolve that investigation favorably for the University, so I didn't need to call on Stan's assistance. But I deeply appreciated his offer -- it says much about the kind of man Stan Binion was.

A Memorial Service for Stan will be conducted this Saturday at 2 p.m. at George Lewis & Sons at 1010 Bering and the family will receive friends at a reception afterward. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made payable to "University of Houston" with "Stan Binion Memorial Fund" on the memo line addressed to the UH Athletic Department, 3100 Cullen Blvd., Houston, Texas 77204-6002.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 26, 2007

Damning with faint praise

As this earlier post noted, Houstonians are currently enduring a glut of sports talk radio stations. With the rare exception of a show such as Charlie Pallilo's, the shows on these stations range from merely unlistenable to truly offensive. To make matters worse, Houston's mainstream professional sports teams are currently horrid, from the Texans' historic mediocrity, to the Rockets' decade of playoff incompetence, to the Stros' downward trend. What on earth is there to talk about?

At any rate, while cruising around doing pre-Christmas errands the other day, one of my sons had a local sports talk radio show on his car radio. One of the talk show hosts made the following observation about the Rockets -- who have lost 14 of their last 21 games -- and the Texans, who had just been thoroughly waxed by the Colts:

"Compared to the Rockets, I am quite optimistic about the Texans."

My son and I cracked up laughing. The host, on the other hand, was dead serious. That pretty well sums up the quality of discourse on Houston sports talk radio these days.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) |

December 25, 2007

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to all Clear Thinkers from my lovely wife Susan and me. We appreciate you checking on our small slice of the blogosphere from time to time.

In my Hayes Carll post from a few weeks ago, I noted the grand tradition of Texas songwriters, one of whom is Robert Earl Keen. A number of years ago, Keen wrote and recorded one of the funniest Texas-oriented Christmas songs that I have ever heard, and now he has the video below to go along with it. For a slice of quintessential Texas culture, don't miss it:

Finally, each Christmas season since 1949, the Wall Street Journal has published the late Vermont Royster's classic op-ed In Hoc Anno Domini, which is passed along in its entirety after the break below. Regardless of one's religious persuasion or whether one has a religion at all, Royster's short essay is a wonderful reminder of the extraordinary impact that an unlikely Jewish man of 2000 years ago had on the course of the human condition:

When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar.

Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long. Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so.

But everywhere there was something else, too. There was oppression -- for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar. There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses. There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed. What was a man for but to serve Caesar?

There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts. There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?

Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.

And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.

So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders.

But it came to pass for a while in divers places that the truth did set man free, although the men of darkness were offended and they tried to put out the light. The voice said, Haste ye. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

Along the road to Damascus the light shone brightly. But afterward Paul of Tarsus, too, was sore afraid. He feared that other Caesars, other prophets, might one day persuade men that man was nothing save a servant unto them, that men might yield up their birthright from God for pottage and walk no more in freedom.

Then might it come to pass that darkness would settle again over the lands and there would be a burning of books and men would think only of what they should eat and what they should wear, and would give heed only to new Caesars and to false prophets. Then might it come to pass that men would not look upward to see even a winter's star in the East, and once more, there would be no light at all in the darkness.

And so Paul, the apostle of the Son of Man, spoke to his brethren, the Galatians, the words he would have us remember afterward in each of the years of his Lord:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) |

December 24, 2007

Behind the scenes in the Skilling appeal and the Nigerian Barge case

I normally throttle down blogging during the holiday season to just one post a day, but I wanted to pass along something that you don't see every day in connection with former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling's appeal of his convictions and in the Nigerian Barge case involving the re-trial of three former Merrill Lynch bankers.

As this CNBC news release reports, the Fifth Circuit last week ordered -- over the Department of Justice's strenuous opposition -- that the DOJ prosecutors must deliver to Skilling's defense team the FBI's notes of their interviews with former Enron CFO, Andrew Fastow. Then, this past Friday, U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein cited the Fifth Circuit's order in Skilling's case in granting the Merrill bankers' motion in the Nigerian Barge case requiring the DOJ to turnover the same notes of the Fastow interviews to the bankers' defense teams.

The DOJ's refusal to provide the criminal defense teams the notes of the Fastow interviews has long been a point of contention in several Enron-related criminal cases. The defense teams suspect that the notes will show that Fastow changed his story during his extensive interviews with FBI agents. Prosecutors in the Skilling and Nigerian Barge cases have have previously refused to turnover the notes to defense attorneys and provided only a prosecution-prepared "summary" of Fastow's statements to FBI agents.

Fastow was a key witness against Skilling and was a central figure in the first Nigerian Barge trial. Thus, if the notes of the Fastow interviews reflect that prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence or induced Fastow to change his story over time, then that would be strong grounds for reversal of Skillings' conviction and dismissal of the remaining charges against the Merrill bankers.

By the way, the re-trial of Merrill bankers Dan Bayly and Robert Furst in the Nigerian Barge case is currently scheduled for January 28th, although the docket reflects a number of dispositive motions that must be ruled on before the case can proceed to trial. The re-trial against the third Merrill banker -- James Brown -- has been severed for a separate trial, which has not yet been scheduled.

Finally, Skilling's appellate team filed his reply brief this past Friday, although my sense is that the document that was filed will likely not be the final version. As with Skilling's first brief, the Skilling team has requested that the Fifth Circuit waive its page limitations for reply briefs. Consequently, once the Fifth Circuit rules on that request, the Skilling team will probably then file the final version of the reply brief, which will include tables of contents and authorities that the current version lacks. I am looking forward to reading the brief over the holidays and will pass along my thoughts after I have done so. In the meantime, both Ellen Podgor and Doug Berman have already posted their typically insightful thoughts on the brief.

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) |

2007 Weekly local football review

(Michael Conroy/AP Photo; previous reviews here)

Colts 38 Texans 15

Call it the dog days of the long and arduous NFL season. The Texans (7-8) are a young and uneven team whose only motivation at this point is attempting to achieve the best record in franchise history (8-8), which isn't saying much. On the other hand, the Colts (13-2) coming into this game didn't have much reason to put out much effort given that had already clinched their fifth straight AFC South title, the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs. So, what was the result?

Peyton Manning carved up the Texans' defense like it was a holiday turkey in generating a season-high 458 yards and 33 first downs. The performance was a big step backward for the Texans' defense, which had been showing progress over the past month or so. Meanwhile, after a couple of productive games over the past two weeks, the Texans' offense reverted to form in generating only 299 yards, even though none of the Colts regular defensive linemen played and the Texans were playing against the Colts' reserves for much of the second half.

Oh well, the Texans still have a decent chance to achieve the best record in franchise history next Sunday at Reliant Stadium if they beat the Jaguars (11-4), who have also locked up their playoff spot and will be playing reserves liberally throughout the game. Another loss for the Texans would leave them at 7-9 for the season, which is the record I predicted for the Texans before the season. Regardless of the season-ending record, however, it's hard at this point to project that this team is going to make substantial improvement in its record next season.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 23, 2007

That Christmas spirit between law partners

Christmas cheer from the incomparable Stu Rees of Stu's Views:

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 22, 2007

Markets in foreclosure desperation?

I swear, you can't make this stuff up.

A Dallas area couple who were in default on their home mortgage filed a bankruptcy case in an effort to avoid a foreclosure sale of their home. However, they ultimately were unable to fulfill the terms of an agreed order that they entered into with the lender during the bankruptcy case, so the lender posted the property for a non-judicial foreclosure sale. So far, nothing unusual.

But a few days before the date of the foreclosure sale, the lender received a fax notice from "Jason" that the Texas debtors had transferred a 1% interest in the property to an individual living in California. And, to put icing on that cake, the Californian had just filed her own bankruptcy case, although she did not list the 1% interest in her bankruptcy schedules. Inasmuch as the lender did not have time before the scheduled foreclosure sale to hire California counsel and get the automatic stay modified as to the 1% interest, the lender passed on the foreclosure sale of the debtors' Texas home.

But this is where the story really gets interesting. The California debtor knew nothing about receiving the 1% interest from the Texas debtors and claimed no ownership interest in the Texas debtors' homestead! As Dallas-based U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stacey Jernigan explains in this decision, the foregoing has become a common practice of anonymous "bankruptcy servicers" that prey on debtors in bankruptcy cases who are facing loss of their homestead to foreclosure.

Here is how the scam worked in this case. The anonymous servicer (approximately 40 (!) of them contacted the Texas debtors to offer their "services") assured the debtors that the servicers could "legally" stop the foreclosure by arranging an eve-of-foreclosure conveyance of a fractional interest in the homestead to one of their California affiliates that would then file bankruptcy to stop the foreclosure. The cost? Just $650 monthly so long as the servicer's "services" were "needed."

In reality, no such affiliate of the servicer existed and the servicer simply inserted the unsuspecting California debtor's name in the deed of the fractional interest. Then, "Jason" sent his fax informing the lender that the automatic stay in the bankruptcy case of the California "owner" of the 1% interest in the Texas homestead enjoined the lender from proceeding with the foreclosure sale.

Inasmuch as this scam only delayed the foreclosure sale in this case for a month, the scammers received just two of the $650 payments before the debtors realized that they have been had. But the scam artists are apparently getting a whole bunch of such $650 payments from desperate debtors who are looking for some way to keep their homesteads. Judge Jernigan looks as if she is intent on getting to the bottom of this, so stay tuned.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 21, 2007

Fifth Circuit Judicial Council slams Judge Porteous

Until recently, it had been years since the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council had sanctioned a federal judge. As of yesterday, the Council has now sanctioned two judges in less than three months.

We already know about the case of Galveston-based U.S. District Judge Sam Kent (previous posts here) -- the Council recently deferred further disciplinary action for 90 days in that case pending the outcome of a Department of Justice investigation.

And yesterday, in this strongly-worded order, the Judicial Council recommended that the U.S. Judicial Council refer New Orleans-based U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr to Congress for impeachment (Peter Lattman's WSJ Law Blog post first reported on the order). The Fifth Circuit panel's proposed impeachment referral is based on findings that Judge Porteous engaged in the following misconduct:

Filing "numerous false statements under oath during his and his wife's Chapter 13 bankruptcy, including filing the petition under a false name." This copy of Judge Porteous' chapter 13 case docket reflects that his case was ultimately administered under the name of "Gabriel T. Porteous." However, the original petition in the case reflects that he filed the case under the name "G.T. Ortous" and then filed an amended petition about ten days after the original petition in which he corrected the name to "Gabriel T. Porteous."

Hiding assets from his bankruptcy estate, failing to list all creditors and not scheduling in his bankruptcy case creditors holding gambling-related claims against him;

Getting short-term credit from casinos after a bankruptcy judge ordered him to obtain prior approval of the court or the chapter 13 trustee before incurring any debt;

Making unauthorized and undisclosed payments to "preferred creditors" during his chapter 13 case and engaging in fraudulent conduct with regard to the claim of Regions Bank;

Accepting "gifts and things of value" from lawyers with cases before him;

Denying a motion to recuse in a case without revealing to the parties that he had a "history of financial relationships" with at least one attorney for the movant; and

Failing to disclose gifts from attorneys on his annual judicial financial disclosure statements for 1994-2000 and failing to disclose debt that should have been on the 2000 statement.

The Council's order was signed by Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Edith Jones, who is one of the leading bankruptcy law experts on the Fifth Circuit. The Council ordered that, for the time being, Judge Porteous will not be assigned any bankruptcy cases or appeals, or cases in which the United States is a party. He is authorized to continue handling other civil cases and administrative duties until such time as he is required to dedicate his time to the defense of any further proceedings against him.

The Judicial Council's order is actually the culmination of at least two investigations of Judge Porteous over the past several years. The Judicial Council's investigation was prompted by information gathered during the FBI's "Operation Wrinkled Robe," which was an investigation of the relationship between Jefferson Parish, Louisiana state judges and New Orleans bail bondsman, Louis Marcotte. Judge Porteous served as a Jefferson Parish state judge before President Clinton appointed him to the federal bench in 1994. Marcotte was convicted of racketeering charges as a result of the Operation Wrinkled Robe probe several years ago and is currently in prison. Judge Porteous has not been charged with a crime as a result of Operation Wrinkled Robe.

In 2003, Judge Porteous recused himself from all civil cases involving the federal government and all criminal cases after a relative of Marcotte alleged that Marcotte had paid for Judge Porteous' car repairs and arranged other favors for the Judge. In May, 2006, Judge Porteous took a medical leave after the sudden death of his wife in December, 2005. He returned to the bench in June of this year.

Peter Henning provides this typically insightful blog post on the legal issues raised by the Judicial Council's order.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Checking in on the oil patch

I've been meaning to pass along a couple of interesting items regarding oil production and prices.

First, several of the bloggers over at the Oil Drum have launched an intriguing new project -- a Wikipedia project in which they and a number of other contributors are accumulating data on all the major, new oil projects around the world and contributing the data to a single database that can be used to document historical trends and attempt to forecast future trends in oil production. The contributors are focusing on basic data for all of the major projects that would add new oil production capacity, including estimates of the peak flow when such information is available. My compliments to the creators of this excellent information resource.

Meanwhile, this John Cassidy column predicts that the price of oil has peaked for the time being and that prices will begin falling to the $50 a barrel range:

. . . the experts who are predicting the worst, based on geology and geopolitics, are missing the crucial role that economic incentives play in determining the price of crude. The tripling of oil prices since the summer of 2003 has unleashed forces that within the next two or three years will bring oil prices tumbling back down to below $50 a barrel. Looking even further ahead, prices could easily fall to $30 a barrel or even lower. So before you trade in your Cadillac Escalade for a Toyota Prius, think twice: $1.50-a-gallon gas might not be gone forever.

In fact, Clear Thinkers favorite James Hamilton also thinks that oil prices have peaked.

Posted by Tom at 12:07 AM | Comments (0) |

Self-deception about calories

This Gina Kolata/NY Times article (previous posts here) explains how many people continue to misconstrue exercise as a primary means of weight-control by overestimating the number of calories they expend during exercise. A well-structured exercise program can assist in controlling a person's weight over the long term, but it really doesn't have much effect on weight over the short term.

On the other hand, my anecdotal experience is that many of the same folks who overestimate the amount of calories that they expend during exercise dramatically underestimate the amount of calories that they are consuming, particularly in regard to restaurant food.

I'm convinced that the combination of these misunderstandings -- along with not having a clear understanding of the difference between exercise and recreation -- has much to do with the obesity syndrome that many Americans battle throughout their lives.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (5) |

December 20, 2007

Criminalizing the legal advisors

Regular readers of this blog know that the federal government's criminalization of business since Enron has been steadily encroaching on professionals who provide advice to business interests. First, it was Arthur Andersen, then the Merrill Lynch bankers in the Nigerian Barge case, and then KPMG.

Now, Nathan Koppel of the WSJ Law Blog reports that the Department of Justice has thrown down the criminal gauntlet on legal advisors by indicting former Refco, Inc outside counsel, Joseph P. Collins, the former head of Mayer, Brown & Platt's derivatives section. A copy of the indictment is here and my previous posts on the Refco case are here.

The indictment crosses the Rubicon in terms of the govenment's willingness to prosecute an outside lawyer for merely advising a client in regard to structuring transactions that are not intrinsically illegal, but it nevertheless raises more questions than it answers. As is typical of most business prosecutions over the past several years that criminalize questionable business judgment rather than clear white collar criminal acts such as embezzlement, the indictment of Collins is a jumble of conclusory allegations of fraud without any specific allegations of Collins' fraudulent conduct.

Although inartfully drafted, the government's indictment essentially alleges that Collins assisted former Refco CEO and controlling shareholder Phillip Bennett in using Refco's credit to reduce indebtedness to Refco of an affiliate controlled by Bennett. That's not a crime, but the government alleges that Collins committed a crime by aiding Bennett in misleading Refco auditors and investors in not telling them about the use of Refco's credit to reduce the affiliate's debt to Refco. In addition, the government alleges that Collins aided Bennett in covering up from investors the dilution of Bennett's ownership interest in Refco to BAWAG, which is characterized as "a longtime Refco customer." Again, the government hinges its criminal case against Collins on the alleged non-disclosure of that dilution.

What's curious about all of this is that numerous lawyers, accountants and investment bankers scrutinized and presumably profited from Refco over the past several years in connection with various investments in the firm, including its well-publicized public offering that valued the company at $4 billion five months before it disintegrated into a bankruptcy case. Not only did none of these professionals uncover the alleged fraud, but none of them other than Collins has been targeted as a criminal. Moreover, as this earlier post asks, if Bennett and Collins were orchestrating a massive fraud at Refco, then why on earth did they take it public where discovery of the fraud would likely lead to far more draconian consequences than if Refco had remained private?

Oh well, I suppose that question will be sorted out eventually. An ominous sign for both Bennett and Collins is that former Refco Capital Markets vice-president, Santo C. Maggio, pled guilty yesterday in New York to two counts of securities fraud, one count of conspiracy and one count of wire fraud under a cooperation agreement with prosecutors. In the meantime, it looks as if Collins and Bennett are not in lockstep with regard to defending their criminal cases. The initial public comments of Collins' attorney suggest that Collins will assert that he had been duped by Refco's fraud. Although that position can't be pleasing to the Bennett defense, it is certainly understandable from Collins and Mayer Brown's standpoint. It appears that Mayer Brown is underwriting Collins' defense and probably will continue to do so as long as Collins is taking the position that any failure of his legal counsel was the result of being duped or, at worst, negligence.

Maintaining that position would appear to be extremely important to Mayer Brown, which has had been having its own business problems over the past year or so (see here, here and here). If a jury finds that Collins was engaged in criminal fraud with regard to Refco, then such a finding would likely constitute grounds for any insurer or reinsurer of Mayer Brown to deny coverage for damage claims arising from Refco-related civil litigation against the firm, as well as any legal fees generated in the defense of such litigation. In that turns out to be the case, Mayer Brown's resulting business problems may make the ones that the firm has been dealing with over the past year look like a piece of cake in comparison.

As always, Larry Ribstein and Peter Henning have insightful thoughts on various implications of the Collins indictment.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Mitchell Report redux

Following on my post on the Mitchell Report, the following are a few interesting observations from the past several days:

Art DeVany agrees with me that MLB didn't get it's money's worth and provides a rather interesting and simple test to evaluate whether a player was likely to have used steroids;

Malcolm Gladwell asks "So what, exactly, is wrong with an athlete--someone who makes a living with their body--taking medication to speed their recovery from injury?"

The New York Times Murray Chass picks up on one of the observations from my post -- that is, there is not much original work product in the Mitchell Report.

Former Florida Marlins and Cincinnati Reds trainer Larry Starr, who was a trainer in the big leagues for 30 years, describes how MLB management and the MLB Players' Association soft-pedaled the PED problem even after being advised in 1988 that use of PED's was becoming commonplace among players.

Finally, Richard Landau and Louis H. Philipson, who are both Professors of Medicine at the University of Chicago Medical School, wrote the following letter to the Wall Street Journal explaining why the risks of taking human growth hormone in an effort to improve athletic performance and endurance, or recover from a non-live threatening injury, is a quintessential example of taking a flyer with too much downside risk:

While some stories noted the many negative effects of androgenic steroids, we have not seen any explanation as to why taking "natural" human growth hormone is also a really bad idea. While growth hormone is necessary for children in particular, athletes are tempted to take growth hormone without a demonstrated positive result on performance. They should note what happens in the disease called acromegaly, a condition of too much growth hormone. In this disease, excess growth hormone causes growth of hands, lips, tongue, feet, nose, chin, forehead and liver. In short, most tissues and organs in the body will enlarge, including the heart, sometimes to the point of heart failure. Diabetes, decreased interest and ability in sex, fatigue, excessive sweating, and disordered sleep are also part of this syndrome.

The only important FDA-approved indications for giving growth hormone are failure to grow due to lack of growth hormone and the HIV-associated wasting syndrome. Despite the relative rarity of these problems, there are nine formulations of growth hormone on the market today, and all list diabetes, leukemia, muscle aches and pain, headache, weakness, stiffness and swelling of male breasts as potential side effects, as well as insomnia, nausea, hypothyroidism and increased blood fats. Also mentioned are pancreatitis and fatigue. Every manufacturer recommends periodic safety monitoring of blood sugar, thyroid blood tests, skin and heart exams. We could easily name quite a few drugs that have been withdrawn from the market with less potential for harm than growth hormone.

Not a single clinical trial has effectively demonstrated that the metabolic effects of growth hormone, even including a temporary increase in lean body mass, have resulted in improved performance. The view of some athletes that a few injections of the hormone might have beneficial effects on sore arms has never been rigorously tested, but is very unlikely to be effective. The risks clearly outweigh the benefits. Our young athletes need to be warned that large muscles are not good muscles, and that these problems are not rare "side effects" but the natural consequence of excess growth hormone, a hormone that affects almost every tissue, not just muscles -- and usually not for the better. Taking any form of growth hormone in the hope of improved athletic performance is misinformed at best, and any mention of this practice should explain why.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

What is Reyes being sentenced for again?

Following on this post from last week that pointed out the illusory nature of the financial damages attributed to former Brocade CEO Greg Reyes' backdating of stock options, the W$J's Holman Jenkins -- who has been the most lucid mainstream media voice condemning the witch hunt mentality that permeated the criminal prosecutions involving backdated stock options -- pens this column on the Reyes sentencing, in which he concludes:

Punishment should fit the crime; dozens of executives have lost jobs over backdating; a few have been asked to disgorge money and sign regulatory settlements that don't require acknowledgment of wrongdoing. Even the trial lawyers have been unable to make a meal out of this scandal, thanks to an absence of demonstrable shareholder harm.

The great flaw in the Reyes prosecution, which was the first of its kind, was the prosecution's attempt to fulfill the media image of backdating, rather than focusing on the venial offense it was. The government has suggested Mr. Reyes should face 10-20 years. Judge Charles Breyer, in a recommendation recently unsealed, proposed 15-21 months. Some law bloggers think it not impossible Mr. Reyes will receive a suspended sentence.

Let's hope so. Because unless we plan to send Steve Jobs and a hundred other executives to jail for backdating, it would be grossly disproportionate to inflict jail on Mr. Reyes.

Read the entire column. By the way, the Reyes sentencing has been postponed indefinitely.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 19, 2007

The remarkable story of Kevin Everett

Three months ago, Kevin Everett, a tight end for the Buffalo Bills who was born and raised in Port Arthur just east of Houston, suffered a serious spinal cord injury during an NFL game. At the time of the injury, there was grave doubt whether Everett would ever walk again.

As this Sports Illustrated article recounts, Everett's recovery from his serious injury has been nothing short of amazing. One of the interesting aspects of Everett's recovery is that it may have been fueled by the gutsy call of a 45 year-old orthopedic surgeon on the scene in Buffalo, but it was certainly facilitated by the remarkable rehabilitation services of the Texas Medical Center's Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (known as "TIRR") and the inspiring resolve of the 25 year old patient. TIRR is regularly ranked as one of the finest rehabilitation institutions in the U.S. and is one of the many reasons that Houston is among the world's finest medical centers.

Posted by Tom at 12:30 AM | Comments (0) |

The pixie dust theory

It has something to do with subsidies for ethanol.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

An appropriate sentence in an inappropriate case

This earlier post reported on the troubling case of Connecticut criminal defense lawyer Phillip Russell, who pled guilty to assisting the commission of a felony by failing to report it while representing a church in connection with a child pornography/child predator investigation. Yesterday, Russell was sentenced to six months of home confinement, a $25,000 fine and 240 hours of community service. Russell has voluntarily agreed to a suspension of his law license and will likely be disbarred.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 18, 2007

That governmental Ponzi scheme

At the end of this common sense post that mostly points out that no useful public policy is served by the government denying grandparents the right to establish Health Savings Accounts for the benefit of their grandchildren, the always entertaining Art DeVany makes the following observation about a common topic on this blog -- Social Security reform (previous posts are here):

By the way, there is no such thing as social security. There are only people who are more or less secure against contingencies. They might pool their risks against these contingencies, but there is no effective way for a society to avoid risk. As a program for risk pooling, Social Security is very ineffective. It is not insurance, it is redistribution among generations. It is a Ponzi scheme because the risk pool is allocated from one generation to another. And, it is fraught with demographic risk and political risk. It will eventually go under or have to be modified substantially by disavowing the contract between generations because it is not sustainable.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Why is U.S. airline service so lousy?

Pico Iyer asks an interesting question: Why is service on U.S. airlines so bad compared with that in other U.S. industries? In particular, he asks:

"Why is it, I often wonder, that US carriers have far and away the worst — most surly, inattentive and often snooty — service in the world?"

Larry Ribstein figured out the answer to this enigma long ago -- creative destruction.

Posted by Tom at 12:03 AM | Comments (0) |

The British have a way of putting things

Charlie Brooker, writing in The Guardian about the dreadful quality of Christmas season television commercials, nails the line of the day (H/T Tim Worstall) with regard to the latest ad featuring those British icons, the Spice Girls:

Speaking of embarrassments, the Spice Girls have managed to imbue their long-awaited comeback with all the glamour and class of a hurried crap in a service station toilet by whoring themselves out to Tesco. The first instalment, in which the Girl Power quartet try to hide from each other while shopping for presents, represents a important landmark for the performing arts: Posh Spice becomes the first human being in history to be out-acted by a shopping trolley.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 17, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(David J. Phillip/AP Photo; previous weekly reviews here)

Texans 34 Broncos 13

It was the Mario Williams show last Thursday evening as the second-year defensive end dominated the line of scrimmage in leading Texans' (7-7) to a convincing victory over the Denver Broncos (6-8). Backup QB Sage Rosenfels chipped in with his second straight efficient performance in leading the Texans' offense to one of its best outputs of the season (358 yds total offense/200 yds passing on 16-27 passes/158 yds rushing). And no one should overlook the fact that the Texans' offense is a different unit altogether when WR Andre Johnson (6 catches for 86 yds) -- who missed eight games earlier in the season with a knee injury -- is punishing opposing teams' secondaries with his special combination of size and speed. About the only thing wrong with the Texans on Thursday night was their all-red uniforms, which made the players look like a bunch of rather large lollypops.

But the real story surrounding the play of Williams has been the blogosphere's exposing of the vacuous, irresponsible and mostly unwarranted criticism of Williams over his first two seasons by much of the local mainstream media. When the Texans chose Williams over local favorite Vince Young and USC RB Reggie Bush as the first player taken in the 2006 NFL Draft, the local mainstream media crucified Texans management and Williams, even though a few of us in the blogosphere noted at the time that it was not an unreasonable selection.

Then, as Stephanie Stradley masterfully recounts here, the local mainstream media continued to criticize the Texans and Williams throughout the 2006 season and even much of this season. Although Williams pass-rushing ability was hampered during the 2006 season because he played the entire season with a painful injury (planters fasciitis), Williams actually played quite well against the run. Then, this season, with his mobility no longer limited by injury, Williams has continued to play well against the run and, over the past five games, has exploded into one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL. But until recently, much of the local mainstream media continued to characterize Williams as a bust, although Williams' spectacular play over the past couple of games has generated a number of mea culpas.

As distasteful as the local mainstream media's treatment of Williams has been over most of the past two seasons, it is indicative of something important that is happening in the information marketplace. Much of the mainstream media misrepresented Williams' perfomance in order to stoke controversy (and sell papers) over the Texans' decision to pass on Young and Bush in favor of Williams. It was blogs such as Stradley's and several others that provided an objective and accurate assessment of Williams' performance.

Local mainstream media management better review what happened in regard to their reporting on Williams. Stoking controversy with inaccurate reporting may sell more papers over the short term, but it's no way to engender customer loyalty in the long run. Particularly not from customers who now can obtain better information from sources other than the mainstream media.

The Texans travel to Indianapolis to play the playoff-secure Colts (12-2) next Sunday before returning home to play the Jacksonville Jaguars (10-4), which probably will be playoff-secure by the time of that game. Inasmuch as both the Colts and Jags will likely rest and protect key players in those games for the playoffs, the Texans have a decent chance to set a franchise record for wins and finish the season with their first non-losing record in their six year existence.

The University of Houston hires Kevin Sumlin as its new head coach.

After a two-week search, UH Athletic Director Dave Maggard finally selected 43 year-old University of Oklahoma assistant coach Kevin Sumlin to replace Art Briles as the head coach of the Houston Cougars. Sumlin has been an assistant coach in a half-dozen major programs, but he really first made a name for himself five years ago when he was on R.C. Slocum's final coaching staff at Texas A&M. Three games into that season, Slocum named Sumlin to replace Dino Babers as A&M's offensive coordinator and Sumlin did a good job under those difficult circumstances holding A&M's offense together and then actually improving the unit as the season wore on. OU head coach Bob Stoops took notice and hired Sumlin, who rose up through the ranks of the OU staff over the past five seasons to become co-offensive coordinator. Stoops, who is a real "coach's coach," lobbied Maggard hard on behalf of Sumlin, which is a real feather in Sumlin's hat.

Having said that, the performance of Stoops' former assistants as head coaches has been somewhat checkered -- we already have reviewed Mike Leach's uneven performance at Texas Tech; Mark Mangino had a great 2007 season at Kansas, but he is only 36-36 in six seasons there; Chuck Long is 7-17 after two seasons at San Diego State; and Mike Stoops is 17-29 in four seasons at Arizona where he is on the hot seat in 2008.

As with all head coaches, Sumlin's ultimate success or failure at UH will largely depend on the quality of the coaching staff that he puts together. Jack Pardee, the other finalist for the UH job, had already assembled an impressive group of assistants to serve on his staff had he been hired. Sumlin would be smart in filling out his staff to consider several of the assistants who Pardee would have hired.

Posted by Tom at 12:11 AM | Comments (0) |

Satel on desperately seeking kidneys

Sally Satel, the receipient of Virginia Postrel's kidney (see also here), authored this amazing NY Times Magazine article in which she describes the overwhelming emotions that donors and would-be recipients go through under the current system of donating organs:

A week after my 49th birthday in January 2005, half a year after being given a diagnosis of renal failure, a friend and I were drinking coffee at a Starbucks when I wondered aloud if I would find a donor before I reached 50. I wasn’t hinting. I knew she would never offer because she was so squeamish about blood and pain. My friend, whom I met a decade before when we were both new to Washington and worked together on an advocacy project, was a little older than I; she was charming, stylish, smart — and a hypochondriac.

Nor, to be honest, did I want her kidney. Anyone as anxious about health as she was would surely view donation as a white-knuckle ordeal. And the bigger the sacrifice for her, the heavier the burden of reciprocity on me. The bigger the burden on me, the more I would resent her. Then I would feel guilty over resenting her and, in turn, resent the guilt. Who could survive inside this echo chamber of reverberating emotions? Thank goodness my friend would be holding on to her kidney.

But then to my amazement, within a minute or so of my speculating when or if a donor would ever appear, she offered to do it. Later that night we talked on the phone and she rhapsodized about what a “mitzvah” it would be. Yes, her sentiments were lovely, but I felt secretly annoyed because I knew it was her habit to embark upon grandiose plans; when they fizzled, she would just shrug. I told her that giving me a kidney was out of the question — “It would be too weird,” was what I kept saying — but she persisted. I couldn’t quite believe it when she told her family of her decision (they were graciously in favor) and then had blood tests and consulted with my transplant team.

Gradually, I began to believe that she meant it, and I decided to embrace her just as you might accept an in-law, as someone who could drive you a little mad but whom you loved because they were the source of something very precious to you — in my case, not a spouse but a kidney. But then after a few months she stopped talking about it. When I finally broke the silence, she said her doctor had advised against it. More likely, I thought, she was scared. I felt sorry to have put her in this position, but I was also bitter: just when would she have gotten around to telling me?

Such near-transplant experiences are not uncommon. All of the transplant candidates I spoke to, as part of my own small nonscientific sample, mentioned at least one person who promised to donate, had some tests done and then developed cold feet. Transplant teams explicitly, and properly, offer face-saving “medical alibis” to potential donors who don’t really want to go through with it, which suggests that bailing out isn’t all that rare. They might tell the person needing the transplant and the rest of the family, for example, that additional tests on the prospective donor revealed a compatibility problem or some evidence that the donor might be putting her own health at risk.

Inasmuch as the supply-demand imbalance for kidneys and other organs is well known, it seems obvious that the simple solution is to allow markets to fix the problem. However, absent political leadership to change the existing obsolescent system, many patients who need a transplant will remain relegated to long waiting lists. Many of those patients will die before their name is called. As Satel notes at the end of her article:

"But unless we stop thinking of transplantable kidneys as gifts, we will never have enough of them."

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

Giuliani's ideas on transparent government

Jim Dwyer of the NY Times reports that Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani's ideas about transparency in government are quite similar to his crimebuster practices.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 16, 2007

The continuing horror that is North Korea

Amidst the slow progress of the United States' diplomatic efforts to bring North Korea into the community of the world's civilized nations (previous posts on North Korea are here), this recent W$J op-ed by Shin Dong-Hyok -- who lived the first 23 years of his life in a North Korean gulag -- reminds us of the stakes to humanity involved in finding a way to release the North Korean government's death grip on North Koreans:

I was born a prisoner on Nov. 19, 1982, and until two years ago, North Korea's Political Prison Camp No. 14 was the only place I had ever called home. [. . .]

I was a slave under club and fist. It was a world where love, happiness, joy or resistance found no meaning. This was the situation I found myself in until I escaped to China, and then South Korea. There, I was told why I was imprisoned by my distant relatives, who had escaped to the South during the Korean War.

In the midst of that conflict, two of my father's brothers fled to freedom. Because of this "traitorous" crime, my grandparents, father and uncle back in the North were found guilty of treason and crimes against the state, and were arrested. My father and uncle were separated from each other and my grandparents, and were stripped of all identification and property.

I am still not sure why my mother was incarcerated. While serving their sentences in Kaechon, my parents were allowed to marry. (Sometimes, inmates are given permission to marry if they work very hard and find favor in the eyes of the State Security agents). This was how both my brother and I were born as political prisoners.

Although we were a family by fiat, there was nothing familial about us. We showed no affection for one another, nor was that even possible.

When I was 14 years old, my mother and brother were arrested while trying to escape. Although I had no idea they were planning to run away, I was detained in another part of prison. The State Security agents there demanded that I reveal what my family was conspiring to do. I was tortured severely for seven months. To this day, I still carry the scars on my back and shudder at the memory of that time.

On Nov. 29, 1996, my mother and brother were found guilty of treason and sentenced to public execution. I was taken outside and forced to witness their deaths. [. . .]

As I sit here writing this op-ed comfortably in Seoul, I can't help but wonder at the vastly different lives South Koreans and inmates of Political Prison Camp No. 14 live. In South Korea, although there is disappointment and sadness, there is also so much joy, happiness and comfort. In Kaechon, I did not even know such emotions existed. The only emotion I ever knew was fear: fear of beatings, fear of starvation, fear of torture and fear of death. [. . .]

These political prisoners live with no dignity as human beings. They are treated, and taught, that they are merely beasts without intelligence, emotions or dreams. If a prisoner attempts to escape, he is severely punished and will most likely be publicly executed.

Humans should never be treated this way. It is time for us to stand up for those being persecuted in North Korean gulags. They do not deserve to die in silence. We must protest these violent acts against humanity. We must become their voice.

Read the entire incredible op-ed.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (3) |

December 15, 2007

$20 million for that?

I've already shared my views many times on performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball, so I didn't want to comment on the Mitchell Commission Report until I had an opportunity to read it. Now that I have, here's my bottom-line conclusion:

$20 million for that?

What is initially most striking about the Mitchell Report is its sloppiness (couldn't they even fix the line spacing and pagination before publishing the damn thing?). The only hard evidence in the 400 plus page report is exhibit D, which contains copies of checks and money orders that players and trainers allegedly used to buy performance-enhancing drugs from Kirk Radomski. Thus, in almost two years of "work," the only hard evidence that the Mitchell Commission could generate is that which was given to them by federal prosecutors who investigated and prosecuted Radomski, and then leaned on him to talk with the commission. There is a discussion dealing with the BALCO and Signature pharmacy investigations, but the product of the rest of the commission's work is statements attributed to anonymous and a relatively few named individuals who contend that they know about certain players who used performance-enhancing drugs.

Meanwhile, the report's lack of perspective is stunning. One section is actually devoted to sportswriter comments on baseball and steroids! What is that doing in a supposedly serious report? There is no mention of the scientific uncertainty regarding the impact that steroids and other PEDs have on performance in baseball. Similarly, there is no statistical analysis to support the report's suggestion that PED use was even a meaningful factor in the elevated hitting levels of the late 1990's. As anyone who follows baseball knows, there were numerous variables besides performance-enhancing drugs that impacted the surge in hitting during the late 1990's.

And that's not all. The report fails to place its findings in the context of the fact that MLB had no enforceable policy or regulation banning steroids until September 2002, did not have a testing program until 2004 and did not ban human growth hormone until 2005. As a number of commentators have already noted, why on earth are Mark McGwire and other ballplayers being condemned for taking androstenedione (a supplement that produces testosterone) when it could be purchased over-the-counter and didn't even violate MLB rules at the time?

But what is arguably most galling about the Mitchell Commission Report is its utter lack of historical perspective regarding the use of PEDs within the highly-competitive environment of professional baseball. Performance-enhancing drugs have been a mainstay of professional baseball for at least the past two generations. Before the steroid era, the PED of choice in MLB was amphetamines, which -- as with steroids over the past decade -- were used liberally and with the tacit consent of the MLB clubs. Amidst the catcalls from some corners that players who used steroids should be denied entry into the Hall of Fame, it should be noted that no serious consideration has even been given to denying a place in the Hall to star players who used amphetamines during their careers.

As with steroids, amphetamine use was the direct result of the physically-draining nature of the MLB season and the pathologically competitive environment that the MLB owners promote and MLB fans love. The players who took steroids and other PED's over the past decade were attempting to improve their bodies' capacity to endure that punishing workload (regardless of whether their protocols were really effective), just as the players who used amphetamines in earlier eras were attempting to improve their attention span and reaction time.

Isn't it ironic that the Mitchell Commission and much of the mainstream media vilifies professional ballplayers who used PEDs in an attempt to prevent their bodies from breaking down, while MLB management and the same mainstream media for decades have lauded "tough" injured players who "played with pain" through their ailments, even as MLB clubs pressured medication on the players, often at serious risk to the players' health and careers?

The Mitchell Commission didn't have access to most of the players because of the Players Union's decision not to cooperate, but the commission did have complete access to employees of the MLB clubs and the Baseball Commissioner's office. Despite that broad access, the report is almost completely silent on the role of MLB management in establishing the culture in which PEDs became an integral part of competing for and maintaining a precious MLB roster spot. Likewise, the report provides precious little information on how the Commissioner’s Office and the MLB clubs addressed the growing problem of PEDs in MLB. The Mitchell Commission's failure to include this readily available information in the report had to be intentional and reflects a concerted effort by the commission to keep the focus of the report on the players.

And Mitchell got $20 mil for his law firm's work? Good work if you can get it, I guess. But not work of which he should be proud.

Update: J.C. Bradbury proposes a creative way to deter PED use in baseball.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (3) |

December 14, 2007

The Tejada deal

Well, one thing's clear -- new Stros General Manager Ed Wade is not risk averse!

The six player deal that is bringing star shortstop Miguel Tejada to the Stros has already been thoroughly analyzed around the blogosphere, so there really is not much to add. From what I've seen, most folks think the Stros gave up too much for Tejada. I'm not sure about that, but I'm not sure that this trade helps the Stros all that much, either.

As regular readers of this blog know, the Stros' decline over the past two seasons since their World Series team of 2005 has been for different reasons. The 2006 Stros fell short in the mediocre National League Central because their strong pitching finally could not overcome the club's chronically anemic hitting. Then, after Stros management took steps to improve the club's hitting for the 2007 season, the Stros pitching staff fell apart as the club's subpar defense contributed to the staff's struggles.

Thus, new GM Wade has been trying to shore up the Stros pitching staff and defense, and his initial deals have addressed those areas. However, frontline Major League-quality pitching is hard to come by on either the trade or free agent markets these days, so Wade has not been able to swing a deal to bolster the Stros starting pitching rotation, which was one of the worst in Major League Baseball last season.

The Tejada deal does nothing to address the Stros pitching and defensive problems and may well make them worse. On a threshold basis, my sense is that the Stros win the trade because they got one of the best shortstops in MLB in return for five players, none of whom is a top prospect. Troy Patton is a promising pitcher, but his peak will probably be a mid-rotation starter. The Stros uncharacteristically pushed him through their system quickly as he made his MLB debut last season before he turned 22. However, his strikeout and ground ball rates decreased dramatically as he moved up the minor league chain. Moreover, Patton came up with a sore shoulder last season after throwing around 150 innings, so given his relatively small physical stature, the Stros probably figure that the injury risk with him is high.

The rest of what the Stros gave up is not top shelf. Luke Scott has been an above-average MLB hitter for the past two seasons, but he is likely best-suited for a fourth outfielder/platoon-type role. Back-end starter-type Matt Albers and Dennis Sarfate (who might turn into a reliever) and minor-leaguer Michael Costanzo do not figure to be even Major League-average players unless there is a substantial uptick in their performance levels. Thus, beyond saving some money and adding depth, the Orioles didn't extract much from the Stros in return for one of their most valuable trading chips.

However, I don't see how the deal improves the Stros all that much in the long run, either. When I heard about the deal, I figured the Stros would put Tejada at third base in place of the eminently mediore Ty Wigginton and simply endure Adam Everett’s poor hitting in return for his stellar fielding at short. But then I learned that the Stros had non-tendered Everett, which means that they are going with the poor-fielding Wigginton at third and Tejada, who at shortstop is a rather substantial defensive downgrade from Everett. Add in the immobile Carlos Lee in leftfield and you have one of the worst left-side-of-the-field defenses in all of MLB. That's not what you want behind an already well below-average starting pitching rotation.

Now, maybe Stros management figures that Everett's broken leg from last year is going to diminish his defensive range. And even before his injury last season, Everett did not play as well in the field as he had in the three previous seasons. So, maybe that reasoning justifies the Stros' decision. But when he is at his best, Everett would save a team probably 25-30 more runs than Tejada with his defense.

Thus, by choosing Wigginton over Everett, my sense is that the Stros did not maximize this trade. With Tejada at 3B and Everett at SS, they could have had an excellent left side of the infield to go along with their improved outfield defense and an above-average offense. Now, it looks as if they will have another bad defensive team with a slightly better offense. Frankly, that doesn't do much to help the Stros' overwhelmed pitching staff, which is where Stros management better concentrate between now and Spring Training if the Stros are going to have any meaningful chance of returning to contention in the NL Central.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

More on the myth of beneficial long-distance running

The increasing evidence that long-distance running is not healthy has been a frequent topic on this blog, and this Lou Schuler/Men's Health article surveying the most recent research and expert opinions comes to the same conclusion:

[No expert] today believes that endurance training confers immunity to anything, whether it's sudden death from heart disease or the heartbreak of psoriasis. Every time you lace up your running shoes, there's a chance your final kick will involve a bucket, and every expert knows this. [. . .]

The highest death rate is among the men who exercise long and hard, and is much higher than that of the men who exercise short and hard.

Schuler concludes that frequent, short exercise sessions that balance strength-training with moderate aerobic exercise is probably the healthiest approach. Read the entire article.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

The Aggies are finally number 1!

It's been such a tough run for the Texas A&M football program this decade that some folks are now questioning the legitimacy of the Aggie football heritage. But not to worry. The Aggies are now number 1 -- in bass fishing!

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 13, 2007

Judge Kent gears up

Embattled U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Galveston (previous posts here) is battening down the hatches with an addition to his defense team -- prominent Houston-based criminal defense attorney Dick DeGuerin.

This John Council/Brenda Sapino Jeffreys/Texas Lawyer article reports that DeGuerin gave the following response when asked why Judge Kent hired him: "When Rusty Hardin became involved and started saying a crime had been committed . . . it became obvious that he [Kent] needed some advice about that." In this related Lise Olsen/Chronicle story, Hardin shot back: "That guy should not be a federal judge. To me, that's the bottom line. Judge Kent has hired an excellent lawyer and it's a good thing — he needs one."

Council and Jeffreys also report that the prospect of a criminal prosecution of Judge Kent appears to be heating up:

U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent — who has hired Houston criminal-defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin — met with Federal Bureau of Investigation agents on Nov. 30 to discuss allegations that he sexually harassed a court employee. [. . .]

DeGuerin says Kent, on his own, "solicited the interview" with the FBI, answered all of the agents' questions and agreed to further interviews if requested. DeGuerin says he did not sit in on Kent's interview with the FBI.

DeGuerin says Kent told him about his interview with the FBI "right after it was done. . . . He called an FBI agent that he knew. He [the FBI agent] contacted another FBI agent that he knew and they interviewed him." DeGuerin adds, "I think he [Kent] did the right thing. I think it strengthens his position that he's had all along. Maybe he's done some things that are a little embarrassing, but he's done nothing wrong."

"Of course the FBI agents don't let on what they're thinking when they interview witnesses," DeGuerin says. "But he felt like they asked all of the right questions."

The article goes on to report that Hardin, the attorney for Cathy McBroom (one of the complainants against Judge Kent), continues to call for a criminal investigation of the Judge by the Department of Justice (see earlier post here). Judge Kent returns to the U.S. District Court bench from his Fifth Circuit Judicial Council-imposed four month suspension after the first of the year.

By the way, as difficult as Judge Kent's case appears to be at this point, it's a piece of cake compared to DeGuerin's other recent Galveston case.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Putting $14 trillion in perspective

Mark Perry provides this creative map that places the enormous size of the U.S. economy in a useful perspective.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Procrastination flowchart

I'll get to that later.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 12, 2007

It could happen here

This earlier post noted that a not very flattering analysis of the economic debacle that is the San Jose, California light rail system might very well describe Houston's light rail system in a few years if we don't come to our senses. Following up on those thoughts, this Randal O'Toole post reviews a San Jose Mercury News newspaper article that reports on the state of the San Jose transit system on the 20-year anniversary of light rail there. It's not a pretty picture:

Santa Clara County taxpayers pay as much or more for transit, yet their transit system carries fewer riders, than almost any system with light rail in the country. “The heavy tax commitment to transit,” the article notes, “means fewer dollars for road upgrades.” Especially since a half-cent sales tax that voters approved of for roads was hijacked by the transit agency in 2000. [. . .]

“The light-rail system should be considered a 100-year investment,” says San Jose’s director of transportation planning. That shows how shallow planners are: within another 20 years, that investment will be completely worn out and San Jose will have to decide whether to scrap it or spend another few billion replacing it.

. . . [the] Silicon Valley, with its jobs spread out more thinly than almost anywhere else in the country, was unsuited for large-bus transit service. So to go from buses to light rail, which requires even more job concentration to work, was a mistake. Having made that mistake, VTA now wants to build BART, which requires even more job concentration. . .

Light rail was the wrong solution for San Jose in 1987, it is the wrong solution today, and it still will be the wrong solution in 2027. We can only hope that San Jose’s leaders and opinion makers, including the Mercury-News, come to their senses by then and decide to junk the whole thing.

Meanwhile, in Houston, as our local "leaders" continue planning to spend upwards of $4 billion on expansion of a light rail system that relatively few citizens of the area will use, alternative transit projects that make much more sense are relegated to discussion in the blogosphere.

The Houston area is a big place with a vibrant and resilient economy. But Metro's light rail system is the one urban boondoggle going right now that has the potential to become a serious economic drag on the local economy in the not-to-distant future. It's far past time that our local leadership noticed and started taking actions to hedge this risk.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

Say what, Jerry Jones?

So, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is lobbying the Texas state legislature to intervene on the National Football League's behalf in the league's dispute with the cable companies over carrying the NFL Network's slate of games. As I understand Jones' argument, the legislators should be upset with the cable companies because they are trying to make a killing by over-charging a few of their customers who would subscribe to the network rather than simply making the network available to all customers and spreading a more reasonable amount over all of them. Or something to that effect.

Based on the numbers contained in this Mitchell Schnurman column on Jones' new Cowboys stadium that is nearing completion in Arlington (options for top-line club seats are being offered for $50,000 each!), does anyone else find it at least a wee bit absurd that Jones is criticizing someone else for trying to make too much money?

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Thoughts from a crowded commuter airplane cabin

Admit it. You've had similar thoughts.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 11, 2007

Conrad Black faces the trial penalty

Former Hollinger International chairman and CEO Conrad Black (previous posts here) was sentenced on Monday to six and a half years in prison as a result of his conviction on three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice stemming from Black and his associates' taking of $2.9 million in non-compete compensation from the sale of Hollinger assets that the prosecution contended should have gone to Hollinger. Lord Black was ordered to report to prison on March 3rd.

Given the severity of the trial penalty (see also here) in criminal cases against wealthy businesspeople these days, Black's sentence could have turned out much worse under the circumstances (sentencing expert Doug Berman had set the over/under on Black's sentence at 8 years). Let's face it -- the American criminal justice system is stacked against defendants such as Lord Black, Jeff Skilling, Jamie Olis or any number of other recently-convicted businesspersons who elect to protest their innocence at trial. The now common practice of the prosecution loading indictments with multiple charges for the same acts (and the judiciary's reluctance to dismiss duplicative charges) virtually ensures that juries will throw a bone to the government and convict on at least some of the counts (Lord Black was acquitted on 9 of the 13 counts against him).

Meanwhile, it's interesting to note the impact that all of this has had on Hollinger. The stock of Sun-Times Media -- which is all of what is left of Hollinger -- is down to about $1 a share, which is a quarter of the share price when the Black trial began and a fraction of its value during the time that Black ran the company. Black himself expressed "deep regret" during the sentencing hearing for the $1.2 billion in shareholder value that has been lost during the tenure of the company management team that succeeded Black's team.

In a very real sense, the government destroyed Hollinger in order to make a statement in destroying Conrad Black. Sound familiar?

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

"Crimebuster" Giuliani?

The NY Times' Michael Powell reviews how Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani made a name for himself prosecuting criminals in New York City. Of course, part of that popular legacy is Giuliani's highly-publicized prosecution of Michael Milken and the related destruction of Drexel Burnham Lambert.

Not mentioned in the article is Giuliani's prosecution of Lisa Jones, which reveals far more about Giuliani's true character than what is presented in the NY Times puff piece.

Larry Ribstein and John Carney have typically insightful comments on the Times article, too.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Making those holiday bowl game bets

The holiday bowl season tends to generate a few friendly wagers in my circles, so it's always helpful to have good information sources to check before finalizing those bets.

As noted earlier in the season, CollegeFootballSeason.com is an outstanding resource that provides the outcome of every game on every major-college team's schedule. It's a great way to check up on how competing teams fared against common opponents.

Also, Covers.com provides a ton of useful information, including this handy chart (H/T Jay Christensen) that shows the record of each major college team against the spread (Kansas led the nation this past season with a 10-1 record against the spread).

Get ready to rumble!

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 10, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip; previous weekly reviews here)

Texans 28 Buccaneers 14

The Buccaneers (8-5) had the incentive of being able to sew up the NFC South Division title with a win over the Texans (6-7) on Sunday afternoon at Reliant Stadium. The Texans could manage to generate only 286 yards of total offense and had two turnovers. The Texans were playing their backup QB, their third and fourth-string running backs, and an offensive line that included a couple of third stringers because of injuries.

So, what happens? The Texans win by 14. So it goes in the wacky world of the NFL.

This was a plucky performance by the Texans, particularly the defense and backup QB Sage Rosenfels. Even though Tampa Bay had to go with their backup QB Luke McCown, the Texans' defense brought consistent pressure and, with the exception of one TD drive, never let the Bucs' offense get into rhythm.

Meanwhile, Rosenfels threw three TD passes and managed the game quite well, allowing the Texans to have a decided advantage in time of possession. Rosenfels still shows his lack of game experience from time-to-time by holding on to to the ball for too long and throwing into coverage. But he is a gamer and as tough as nails, and it's clear that his teammates rally around him. It's amazing to me (and not terribly encouraging) that Coach Kubiak and his staff didn't realize early on last season that Rosenfels was a much better NFL QB than former Texans QB David Carr, who will probably be out of the league after this season.

Finally, with the win, all is well again in Richard Justice's Texans world, who was in a quite different mood after last week's loss.

The Texans take on the Broncos (6-7) in the NFL's Thursday night nationally-televised game this week at Reliant Stadium before finishing up the 2007 season at Indianapolis and then back home against Jacksonville.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (5) |

Backdating options -- the scandal within a non-scandal

As noted earlier here, the mainstream media-driven scandal over the fairly common practice of backdating stock options has been more about demonizing the unlucky businesspeople who engaged in the practice more than anything else. Inasmuch as there is nothing inherently illegal or damaging financially to granting backdated stock options, the real issue has always really been whether the company granting the backdated options disclosed them properly.

Unfortunately, the proper perspective toward that non-disclosure issue has been overwhelmed amidst the demonization of the backdating practice by mainstream media and avaricious prosecutors, many of whom did not bother to learn about how backdating options can be a legitimate tool to provide incentive to key employees. To this day, even many businesspeople and professionals who I talk with don't understand backdated options. One can only imagine the level of confusion among the vast majority of American citizens who probably equate a backdated option with a backdated check.

The sad part about all this is that backdated stock options are really quite straightforward. Traditionally, management has provided key employees "at-the-money" options -- that is, the option to buy stock at the price at which the shares are trading on the day the option is granted. Thus, if the share price goes up, then the key employee makes money. On the other hand, if the share price goes down, then the key employee makes nothing on the options.

But "at-the-money" options aren't the only type of options. There can be "out-of-the-money" options or "in-the-money" options, and each type of option serves to provide a different type of incentive for key employees. If a key employee is granted out-of-the-money options, then a small increase in the share price won't allow the employee to make any money on their options. Rather, it's going to take a large increase in the share price for the employee to make money on the options. However, that large increase in share price can be very profitable for the employee -- a grant of $100,000 in out-of-the-money options is much more valuable if there is a substantial increase in share price than a grant of $100,000 in at-the-money options would be under the same circumstance.

On the other hand, consider "in-the-money" options. These options continue to have value to the key employee even if the share price decreases slightly (because they are still "in-the-money"). But if the share price goes to hell in a handbasket, the options lose their value completely.

So, the different types of options provide management with flexibility in tailoring differing incentives depending on the circumstances that a company faces. A key employee with out-of-the-money options has incentive to take big risks because the only way that those options will become valuable is if the share price rises dramatically. On the other hand, a key employee with in-the-money options has little incentive to take big risks; rather, he wants to prevent the share price from falling because that's the only way the options can lose their value.

Backdated options are simply a form of in-the-money option. Inasmuch as in-the-money options are a legitimate way to incentivize key employees, what's the big deal about backdated options?

Well, there are different tax implications to these types of stock option grants, but whether there is any clear tax benefit from backdating options is far from clear. Heck, how many executives who were involved in backdating options based their decision on the tax implications of the grants? Probably not many. For years, accounting firms advised companies that, so long as the options were issued with formulaic pricing, then backdating the options was not a problem from a tax standpoint. Thus, for example, where companies granted options priced “at the lowest trade date in the month granted,” accountants would routinely advise the companies that these were at-the-money options that need not be expensed.

Moreover, just because backdated options are in-the-money options doesn't mean that the company or its shareholders are losing money. Options are not a zero-sum game where someone wins and someone loses. If management decides to sell the company's stock for $50 when the market price is $100, then that does not mean that the company is losing money. So long as the shareholders know about management's option program and that the company is going to be required at some point to sell a certain number of shares at $50, the shareholders aren't losing money, either. The efficient market will price the dilution into the share price. This point was reinforced late last week when U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer of San Francisco concluded in the sentencing phase of the backdating criminal case against former Brocade CEO Gregory Reyes that the government had failed to "quantify any amount of loss that can be attributed to Reyes’ conduct" (see related Roger Parloff post; Peter Henning also comments on the ruling here).

Which brings us around to the disclosure issue. Some of these backdated options were either not disclosed at all or were disclosed with a public statement such as "no gain to the options is possible without stock price appreciation, which will benefit all shareholders." As can be seen from the above analysis, such a disclosure is wrong or at least misleading.

So, the question is what should be done about such a bad disclosure? Professor Ribstein took the lead early on in the blawgosphere by noting that criminalizing such conduct was akin to using a sledgehammer where surgical precision is needed. In this recent post examining the deal in which former UnitedHealth Group executive William McGuire agreed to return $620 million in compensation to settle backdating claims, Professor Ribstein contrasts McGuire's deal with what happened to Brocade's former human resources director Stephanie Jensen, who was found guilty of two criminal counts relating to backdating options even though she did not personally benefit from them. "In one [case,] the chief executive and main beneficiary likely will walk away with hundreds of millions of dollars," notes Professor Ribstein. "In the other, an underling who didn't profit from the offenses likely will go to jail."

And the foregoing disparity doesn't even address the Apple Rule as it relates to backdating stock options.

The reality is that criminalizing the practice of backdating stock options was a bad idea from the beginning, the equivalent of mob violence against unpopular businesspeople. The result is more of what Professor Ribstein has coined the "corporate crime lottery" where the winners pay a fine or fade the heat entirely while the losers go to jail. Professor Ribstein concludes his recent post in with the following observation:

[The McGuire and Jenson] cases are only the most recent examples of the lottery in action. Not much is gained from criminalizing this conduct over the many remedies, including the corporation's own right of recovery, available for any wrongs that occurred (mostly inadequate disclosure). But much is lost from the odor of injustice that wafts over these disparate results.

And as Peter Henning reports, that odor of injustice may include the prosecution's use of false testimony to convict Reyes.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

On fairness opinions

Don't miss the Epicurean Dealmaker's clever -- and quite accurate, in my experience -- analysis of fairness opinions in the context of M&A deals.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 9, 2007

The limitations of statistics

I'm as much of a stathead as the next fellow, but the Tour Blog's Jeff Babineau reminds us of the limitations of statistical analysis:

OK, Stat Geeks, here's one to ponder:

Tiger Woods led the PGA Tour in greens in regulation, hitting 71.02 of his greens in 2007. He played 16 events and earned $10,867,052. Nice chunk of change.

Brock Mackenzie led the Nationwide Tour in greens in regulation, hitting 77.55 percent of his greens in 2007. He played 27 events, earned $118,247 and finished 53rd in Nationwide earnings.

Go figure.

I think this is dispositive proof of the adage "you drive for show, but you putt for dough."

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 8, 2007

More on the Incarceration Nation

The brutal nature of punishment in the United States has been a common topic on this blog (see previous posts here, here and here). Along those lines, this Human Rights Watch press release reports that the United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other country:

Statistics released today by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), a branch of the US Department of Justice, show that at the end of 2006, more than 2.25 million persons were incarcerated in US prisons and jails, an all-time high. This number represents an incarceration rate of 751 per 100,000 US residents, the highest such rate in the world. By contrast, the United Kingdom’s incarceration rate is 148 per 100,000 residents; the rate in Canada is 107; and in France it is 85. The US rate is also substantially higher than that of Libya (217 per 100,000), Iran (212), and China (119).

“These figures confirm an unenviable record: the United States is the world’s leading prison nation,” said David Fathi, director of the US program at Human Rights Watch. “Americans should ask why the US locks up so many more of its citizens than do Canada, Britain, and other democratic countries. The US is even ahead of governments like China that use prisons as a political tool.”

The US prison population has increased approximately 500 percent in the last 30 years, and continues to grow. The 2006 increase was the largest one-year jump in the last six years. The per capita incarceration rate has also increased steadily, from 684 per 100,000 residents in 2000 to 751 per 100,000 in 2006.

The new BJS figures also show sharp racial disparities in US incarceration rates, with black men incarcerated at a rate 6.2 times higher than white men. Nearly 8 percent of all black men ages 30 to 34 in the United States were incarcerated as sentenced prisoners at the end of 2006.

So, as we consider the chronically deficient and overcrowded nature of the Harris County Jail locally (see also here), do you think it's about time that we begin to consider alternative criminal justice policies than simply throwing people in prison and throwing away the key?

Update: Sentencing expert Doug Berman provides more insight.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

December 7, 2007

The world according to Americans

This map would be funnier if it wasn't so darn accurate.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

BCS lunacy

A case can be made that the Bowl Championship Series has been bad overall for college football. On the other hand, a case can also be made that it is a reasonable compromise between a playoff system for big-time college football and scrapping the lucrative bowl system altogether.

However, regardless of what you think about the BCS overall, it's clear that the component of the BCS ratings that is based upon the coaches' poll of the top teams ought to be scrapped. If you have any doubts about that, read this Dan Steinberg post regarding the absurd ratings by various coaches in their latest poll. I know Missouri had a good season and all, but how does one rate the Tigers higher than Oklahoma, which beat Mizzou rather handily twice?

By the way, the Las Vegas smart guys contend that the BCS blew it by putting LSU and Ohio State in the title game:

If Las Vegas Sports Consultants oddsmaker Ken White was a matchmaker for the BCS, he said USC would be playing Oklahoma for the title. The Trojans and Sooners were tied atop LVSC's final regular-season poll.

"I think the third- and fourth-best teams in the country are playing for the title," White said. "We have to make USC a slight favorite over anybody except Oklahoma."

White said because of "public perception," the Trojans would be about 1.5 point favorites over the Sooners.

Walker said USC would be about a 7-point favorite over Ohio State.

"I still think USC would be favored over any team on a neutral field," Walker said. "This would be a phenomenal year to have a tournament."

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

The Hall of Shame

Skip Sauer reminds us that Major League Baseball owners have very long memories. Phil Miller also chimes in.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 6, 2007

A forerunner of business ethics?

Mary Flood notes that former Enron Task Force director Andrew Weissmann has been named in this Ethisphere article as one of the "100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics."

They are kidding, right?. If it's acceptable to promote business ethics through abuse of prosecutorial power, then Weissmann is your guy.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (3) |

Cheerleading patience

As the Texans fade to their sixth straight losing season and fifth last place finish in their six year existence, head Texans cheerleader John McClain is preaching patience.

A year ago at this time, the Texans looked deader than a doornail and like a team that was not particularly well-coached. The Texans closed the season by upsetting the Colts and beating a bad Browns team to finish with a 6-10 record.

Then, after the usual pre-season cheerleading and despite the fact that the Texans continued to make questionable personnel moves in the off-season, McClain went batty over second-year coach Gary Kubiak after the Texans opened this season with wins over a bad Chiefs team and an even worse Carolina team.

Now, a couple of months later and a year later after the Texans looked deader than a doornail, the Texans again look deader than a doornail and like a team that is not particularly well-coached. The Texans will have to win two of the last four games against tough opponents just to finish one game better than last season's 6-10 record.

And McClain preaches patience.

Frankly, I'm quite patient with the Texans -- I don't think the team will improve much until Bob McNair is completely comfortable with a management model for the team, gets the right management and coaches in place, and that management quits making bad personnel decisions. However, I'm much less patient with what the Chronicle attempts to pass off as analysis from John McClain.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (4) |

The latest natural gas trader case

This Tom Fowler/Chronicle article (also see later report here) reports on the beginning of the latest in the series of criminal trials nicknamed "the trader cases" among the Houston defense bar involving Houston-based natural gas traders who allegedly manipulated natural gas trading indexes that are used to value billions of dollars in gas contracts and derivatives. The defendants are former El Paso Corp traders Jim Brooks, Wesley Walton and James Pat Phillips, who face 49 charges of conspiracy, false reporting and wire fraud. The trial of this particular trader case looks as if it will last about two months.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 5, 2007

Will the Oracle of Omaha serve up the sacrifical lambs?

So, Warren Buffett finally gets to experience the price of ratting out his business associates (background here, here, here and here).

As noted in the foregoing posts, I seriously doubt that the transactions involved in this prosecution are the product of any criminal conduct. However, does anyone really believe that Buffett did not fully understand the nature, scope and purpose of these transactions? Ah, the benefits of being the mainstream media's folk hero of business.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Now that's pressure

(Dom Furore/Golf Digest photo) My old friend and prominent Las Vegas criminal defense attorney David Chesnoff introduced me to the late Evel Knievel back in the mid-1980's when we bumped into him while playing golf at Las Vegas Country Club. That led to an afternoon of David telling me stories about the high-stakes Vegas golf games in which Knievel regularly played, a good number of which involved Knievel's legendary ability to hold up well under extraordinary pressure.

Knievel's death last week reminded me of another story about Knievel thriving under pressure that Knievel told in this Golf Digest inteview from a couple of years ago:

I was playing 21 at the Aladdin in Las Vegas, betting $10,000 a hand. Arnold Palmer and Winnie are standing right behind me, watching. And I'm losing. The dealer is pulling 20 every time, and although I'm pulling my share of 20s, too, I can't win a hand, and I'm losing a lot of money. And I'm getting really angry. The next hand he deals me a 20, and he's got a face card showing. I'm certain he has 20, and I just can't bear tying again. So I ask for a hit.

The dealer freaks out, shuts the table down and screams for Ash Resnick, who runs the casino. Ash comes along and is told I want to hit 20. He looks at me for a long time and then says, "Give the kid a hit." The dealer gives me an ace, and when I turn around, Arnold's eyes are this big, and Winnie looks like she's going to be sick.

"I know what pressure is," Arnold said, "but you're too much."

Read the entire interview here.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

For the uncommonly curious

I swear, there isn't much that you can't find out something about on the Web these days. Check out this list -- 25 Unexpectedly Useful Websites for the Uncommonly Curious.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 4, 2007

Did the DOJ hide the ball in the Olis case?

This earlier post reported on how the full story about the Department of Justice's sordid prosecution of former Dynegy executive Jamie Olis is finally starting to come out in connection with a civil trial earlier this year by Olis' former attorney and Olis' recent motion to set aside his conviction.

Now, Ellen Podgor reports that Olis' new legal team has filed a motion that Olis be released from prison on bond pending the outcome of the motion to set aside his conviction, and the basis of the motion is that the DOJ failed to turnover to the Olis defense in violation of its obligation under U.S. v. Brady evidence regarding the DOJ's frequent communications with Dynegy's employees and attorneys during the prosecution of Olis. As Professor Podgor asks:

"What was the collective knowledge of the government here, and was the discovery properly provided to [Olis'] defense counsel prior to trial?"

This is getting very interesting.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

The government and health care finance reform

EconLog's Arnold Kling is one of America's best thinkers on economic issues relating to the U.S. health care finance system (previous posts here), so this recent TCS Daily op-ed is required reading for anyone interested in the proper role of government in a reformed health care finance system. In so doing, Kling summarizes well the current state of stress in the U.S. health care finance system:

All of our health care finance systems are under stress. The government system is completely unsound--the Titanic headed toward the iceberg of unfunded liabilities. Employer-provided health insurance is a questionable concept in theory that is unraveling in practice. The individual insurance market is a disaster, with something like 3/4 of all families who do not get insurance through work or government electing to remain uninsured.

Kling sums up his view of the proper role of governement in reforming the health care finance system in the following manner:

I believe that there are things that government can do to enhance access, improve quality, and lower the cost of health care. However, I believe that we would be best served by having government focus on the policies that I put into the "good" category--clinics in poor neighborhoods, vouchers, high-risk pools, and better information on the effectiveness of services and the performance of providers. If we look to government to take a larger role in running our health care system, then my prediction is that things will get ugly.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Dallas SWAT takes on the VFW poker game

Previous posts here, here and here reported on the Dallas SWAT team's dangerous and absurdly over-the-top campaign over the past year to terrorize participants in private poker games.

Now, Reason.TV has produced the video below with Drew Carey narrating about Dallas SWAT's latest debacle -- raiding a regular poker game at a local VFW Hall in Dallas. This is certificable proof that Dallas SWAT does not have enough work to stay busy. H/T Radley Balko.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 3, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey; previous weekly reviews are here)

Titans 28 Texans 20

Let's see here. The Texans (5-7) lose another game on their way to their sixth straight losing season and lose their starting QB Matt Schaub to injury. Schaub is injured after being brutally hammered two plays in a row when two different Titan defensive ends waltzed virtually untouched threw the Texans' offensive line, which has been a chronic weak spot of the team for its entire six year existence. Schaub has now had to leave three different games this year with injuries and missed one game entirely (Oakland) that the Texans won.

Viewing this landscapte, the Chronicle's Richard Justice reacts to all this by expressing concern that second-year coach Gary Kubiak might not be the right coach for the Texans:

Now the Texans are at another crossroads. They've got four games left in a season that's again going nowhere. I hope Bob McNair takes a hard look at his franchise and asks this question: ''Are we headed in the right direction? Are we getting the pieces in place? Are Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak the guys that can get us to the playoffs?''

He can ask himself that question today, but he really should answer it at the end of the season. Kubiak and Smith have had two. That's enough to know whether they're what he hoped they'd be. When you see the turnovers and penalties, when you see leads consistently disappear, it makes you wonder.

Of course, this is the same Richard Justice who wrote the following only two months ago:

Do you think Gary Kubiak is the coach that will lead us to the playoffs? Not this year, but ever? Do you believe he is doing all he can do after the injuries to add talent to the team and positions?

My point is that there are a dozen different ways to do it. All NFL head coaches have to be smart, and Kubiak is plenty smart. They all have to understand the game, and he certainly does that.

Successful coaches all have a strength--dignity? toughness?--about them. If the rumors about what Kubiak said to Mario Williams after the summer speeding incident are true, he's got plenty of toughness.

So in the things that can be measured--knowledge, organizational skills, etc.--he's got plenty of all those qualities. Does that mean he can put it all together and lead a group of men to the playoffs?

Based on what I've seen, I'd say he definitely can. He has to get the right kind of players. He has to get guys who care. He has to get talented players. But I think if the Texans do their job in the personnel department, Kubiak is plenty good enough to take them to the Super Bowl.

Of course, that was absolutely restrained in comparison to what Justice wrote about Kubiak just a week earlier:

Gary Kubiak is smart and Rick Smith is competent and Matt Schaub is on the fast track to the Pro Bowl. If they win this afternoon (against the Colts), the Texans will be the NFL's best story. [. . .]

With two solid rookie classes and the addition of 10 veterans with playoff experience, this group isn't burdened by those past failures.

"That's right," Ahman Green said. "You've got people in here now who've won and expect to win."

Thus comes a cautionary tale. The Texans might have crossed one threshold but many more are ahead. [. . .]

That's the road the Texans finally have started down. They've put themselves in the conversation around the NFL. In other words, they're legitimate. Now comes the fun part.

And the foregoing doesn't even compare with how Justice was extolling the Kubiak regime before the season.

Of course, anyone who reads this blog regularly knew before the season that the Texans continue to make questionable personnel decisions and probably wouldn't improve much this season over the 6-10 record of last season. Frankly, I remain unsure whether Kubiak is the right fellow to be head coach of the Texans, but nothing that has happened this season has changed my view or been particularly surprising or unexpected.

The Texans return home next week to face a tough Tampa Bay (8-4) team, and then have Denver (5-7) and Jacksonville (8-4) at home sandwiched around a trip to Indianapolis (10-2) to close out the season. The way Justice's attitude about Kubiak goes up and down, the Texans better win one soon or else he will have soon have him in the same boat with Dom Capers.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) |

Art Briles moves from Houston to Baylor

Art Briles resigned last week as head coach of the University of Houston football program and accepted the same position at Baylor University and the change generated the usual knashing of teeth some sectors of the UH community that typically follows such moves. However, Briles' move surprised no one, except for perhaps a few folks in West Texas who figured that he would hold out at Houston until Mike Leach at Texas Tech moved on and Briles could lay claim to his dream job.

Although Briles was reasonably successful at Houston, he never really seemed at home as the Cougars' coach. Most folks don't realize that Houston's program is still relatively young by college football standards and Briles never was comfortable with the multi-tasked job of leading the Houston program into a Bowl Championship Series conference. The Houston program burst on to the national stage during the 25 year tenure of Bill Yeoman, the outstanding and innovative coach of the Cougars from 1960-85. When UH hires a new head coach to replace Briles, that will be the sixth head coach in the 22 years since Coach Yeoman retired. And during that span, there have been even more UH athletic directors than football coaches.

In many ways, the UH football program reflects the struggles of the University overall. As noted repeatedly on this blog, the University of Houston is a relatively young state research university (only since the 1963) that the State of Texas has consistently shortchanged in financial support in comparison to Texas' two flagship research institutions, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University. Inasmuch as the UH football program is also relatively young in comparison to the UT and A&M programs, it pales in terms of fan and financial support in comparison to its older and better-endowed competitors. Nevertheless, Houston's football and other athletic programs competed quite well with its better-endowed neighbors during the 20 year period in which UH participated in the old Southwest Conference. As with the University of Houston generally, the UH athletic program has produced more "bang for the buck" than any other athletic program in Texas over the past 50 years.

Despite that legacy, Houston's football program had been lagging badly for a decade coinciding with the demise of the Southwest Conference when Briles took over in 2003. Former Coach Yeoman campaigned hard at the time to have UH hire his former player Briles (who was a Texas Tech assistant coach at the time), even though it was clear even then that Briles had his eye on the Texas Tech head coaching job. Briles has been angling for the Tech head job for years because Tech Coach Leach apparently has been trying to get out of Lubbock almost continuously since he got there. Unfortunately for Briles and other prospective coaches for the Tech job, Leach doesn't seem to perform nearly as well in those pre-hiring interviews as he does while directing his high-powered offense on Saturday afternoons.

Thus, when the Baylor job came open, Briles elected to take it and stake his claim to a program in a Bowl Championship Series conference. And that's the real difference in the two jobs. Houston has the potential to be one of the top non-BCS conference programs, but Baylor is already in a BCS conference. Thus, Baylor has the advantage of having access to a share of the considerable sums of money that the BCS pays to the BCS-member conferences. As a result, even a downtrodden program such as Baylor in a BCS conference is likely to have more resources than a potentially better-situated but non-BCS conference program such as UH, at least for the time being.

My sense is that Briles is a reasonably good hire for Baylor. He is West Texas through and through, and that should fit in well in Waco. He did a good job at UH, although his teams' offensive flair was offset by often-poor defensive play.

Briles took over a UH program that had gone 8-26 in the previous three seasons, including an ugly 0-11 slate in former UH Coach Dana Dimel's second season in 2002. Briles immediately brought in talented freshman QB Kevin Kolb, around whom he built his innovative offense, which includes variations on the spread, the Wing-T and the Single Wing offenses. Briles and Kolb led the Cougars to a 7-5 record in that first season, including a close bowl loss to Hawaii. In 2004, the Cougars took a step backward during an uninspired 3-8 season, but bounced back the following season when they went 6-6 with a blowout bowl loss to Kansas in the Fort Worth Bowl.

In 2006, everything came together for Briles, Kolb and the Coogs as they went 10-4,won UH's second Conference USA championship and lost the Liberty Bowl in a close game to South Carolina. This past season, Briles led the Coogs to an 8-4 record and Texas Bowl berth in his first "after-Kolb" season, although Houston's progress appeared stunted late in the season around the time the Baylor job came open. I don't know if Briles' interest in the job had anything to do with that downturn, but Briles and a number of key members of his staff have bailed out on coaching the Cougars in the Texas Bowl. I'm reasonably sure that has not left a pleasant taste in the mouth of UH Athletic Director, Dave Maggard.

Although Briles' did a good job of turning around the UH program, it would be a stretch to say that his UH record was outstanding. Based on final Massey Composite ratings, Briles had one top 70 team at UH, the 2006 C-USA championship team. UH under Briles was 6-24 against teams that finished in the Top 75, including 1-8 against non-conference teams in the Top 75. Moreover, Briles tenure at UH coincided with a downturn in the quality of C-USA teams as teams such as Rice, Marshall, SMU, and UTEP entered the league and powers such as Louisville, Cincy and USF left. In C-USA games, Briles' teams were 5-14 against C-USA teams with a winning a record and won only one road game against a C-USA team that had a winning record. Briles' teams were 28-4 against teams that finished out of the Top 75 or were Division 1-AA, so his teams didn't lose much to bad teams -- about once a year. UH's best win under Briles was over Oklahoma State in 2006, but really Briles' record at UH is nothing out of the ordinary.

Whether Briles' decision made a good decision in taking the Baylor job is a tougher call. While Briles could have had as long a contract as he wanted at UH, Baylor has become a coaching graveyard. Recently-fired coach Guy Morriss is a well-respected coach within the profession and he couldn't get over the hump in the five seasons that he coached there. Briles' Baylor contract calls for $1.8 million annually over seven years, but a buyout of that contract is almost certainly far less than that. So, if Briles stinks up the joint in Waco over his first three seasons, then he could very well be looking at the same fate as Morriss while making considerably less than if he had simply stayed at UH.

Expectations at Baylor at this point are not the same as UH, so Briles first goal will simply be to get the Bears to a .500 season in the Big 12 South. Taking a peak at the 2008 Baylor schedule, that does not appear to be likely in his first season:

Aug. 30 Wake Forest (probable loss)
Sept. 6 Northwestern State (toss up)
Sept. 13 Washington State (toss up)
Sept. 20 at Connecticut (probable loss)
Oct. 4 Oklahoma (loss)
Oct. 11 Iowa State (toss up)
Oct. 18 at Oklahoma State (probable loss)
Oct. 25 at Nebraska (probable loss)
Nov. 1 Missouri (loss)
Nov. 8 at Texas (loss)
Nov. 15 Texas A&M (probable loss)
Nov. 22 at Texas Tech (loss)

Toss ups: 3
Probable losses: 5
Sure losses: 4

3-9 overall and 1-7 in the Big 12 looks likely, so Briles' honeymoon in Waco will probably be short. And the Big 12 South is not a friendly place in which to experience short honeymoons.

Who should UH hire to replace Briles? Within the coaching profession, the UH head coaching position is considered an attractive one, albeit not one without problems. My sense is that the UH should hire an experienced coach who has recruited in the Cougars' usual pipelines for players and who has experience in raising funds. The next big step for the Houston program is either the upgrade of Robertson Stadium into a decent college football stadium or the construction of a new stadium along UH's entryway on I-45. Either of such endeavors is going to cost between $60-$80 million, so hiring an experienced coach who is interested in working in Houston for the long term while being involved in a facilities fund-raising campaign makes a lot of sense.

Kind of makes you wish that there were still college football coaches like Bill Yeoman out there, doesn't it?

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

The Dickie Scruggs affair

Mississippi plaintiff's lawyer Richard "Dickie" Scruggs has been the subject of a couple of previous posts (here, here and here) regarding the detrimental impact that his litigation approach is having on his home state's insurance markets.

Detrimental impact on insurance markets is one thing. But an indictment alleging bribery of a judge is another level of trouble altogether. Walter Olson's Overlawyered is the go-to site for information on the Dickie Scruggs affair, with posts here, here and here linking to news reports and blog posts in the first week after the indictment. Don't miss Walter's coverage. It's first rate.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 2, 2007

Try to do this at the age of 71

Bob Charles of New Zealand was a very good PGA Tour golfer back in the 1960's and 70's when he won six PGA Tour events, including both the Houston Open and the British Open in 1963. Over his career, Charles has won 70 events worldwide.

However, none of those many achievements is as remarkable as what Charles pulled off earlier this weekend. The 71 year-old shot a 68 in the second round of the New Zealand Open -- a tournament that he first played in 53 years ago -- to become the oldest player ever to make the cut in a European Tour event. The previous European Tour record holder was Christy O'Connor, who made the Irish Open cut in 1989 at the age of 64. The late Sam Snead holds the PGA Tour record, making a cut at the 1979 Westchester Classic at the age of 67.

After his remarkable achievement, Charles talked about how his round was almost derailed before it started by a "senior moment":

Sir Bob later admitted to having had a "senior moment" at the start of the day which nearly scuppered his record-breaking round before it had begun.

Turning up at the wrong tee (the 1st, understandably enough) for his 8am start, Sir Bob was forced to commandeer a buggy to transport him to his true starting tee (the 10th) which he reached with 30 seconds to spare.

"Oh well, I'm entitled to be forgetful at my age," he laughed later.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

December 1, 2007

More heat for Judge Kent

This Brenda Sapino Jeffreys/John Council/Texas Lawyer ($) article reports that an unnamed source close to the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council's investigation of Galveston-based U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent (previous posts here) has disclosed that the Department of Justice has issued a subpoena to the council demanding turnover of transcripts and documents related to the council's investigation:

The person close to Kent's disciplinary matter says last week the 5th Circuit Judicial Council was considering whether to honor a subpoena from the DOJ asking for transcripts and documents related to Kent's disciplinary action. The council's decision on whether to honor the DOJ subpoena may indicate how it will vote on McBroom's request to forward the Kent matter to the Judicial Conference. [. . .]

The person close to Kent's disciplinary matter says the following: The 19-member 5th Circuit Judicial Council has between 300 and 400 documents and depositions related to Kent's disciplinary matter. Some judges on the council are taking the position that the proceedings are confidential and the documents should not be released to the DOJ. But other judges believe the documents should be released to prosecutors, because the information may become part of a federal grand jury proceeding — a process that is secret. However, the person believes that some information will be released to the DOJ.

The Judicial Council's vote to issue the September order admonishing Kent was not unanimous; some of the judges believed the punishment was not harsh enough and that the order did not adequately describe Kent's alleged conduct, says the person close to the Kent matter.

While [former courtroom deputy Cathy] McBroom's initial complaint filed with the Judicial Council contained "vague" allegations of sexual harassment, some judges on the council became alarmed after reading about more serious allegations relayed by McBroom's family and friends in the Houston Chronicle article after the Judicial Council released its September disciplinary order, says the person close to Kent's disciplinary matter. "The more serious allegations that have come out in the press, [Judicial Council] members have said, "I don't remember that,' " says the person close to Kent's disciplinary matter.

This is getting more interesting each week. Now it is looking as if a federal grand jury may very well be investigating Judge Kent when his suspension expires and he takes his new place on the bench among Houston federal judges come the first week in January. That will make for some interesting federal courthouse elevator conversations.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 30, 2007

The real NatWest Three deal

I gave up hope long ago that the mainstream media would ever provide particularly accurate reports regarding the Enron-related criminal prosecutions. However, the mainstream media news reports on the plea bargain hearing earlier this week in the Enron-related NatWest Three case (see NY Times, WSJ, Chronicle) are particularly devoid of any meaningful perspective of what really happened in the case (a copy of one of the plea agreements, which is the same as the other two, is here). The real story of the plea bargain can easily be distilled from the pleadings that are on file in the case. It's a substantially more nuanced story than what you are hearing from the mainstream media.

The prosecution in the NatWest Three case alleged that the three bankers defrauded NatWest, their former employer, by conspiring with former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow and his sidekick, Michael Kopper, to underpay NatWest for its interest in an entity named Swap Sub, which was an affiliate of one of Enron's special purpose entities (LJM1) that Fastow and Kopper ran.

Swap Sub was involved in one of LJM1's primary transactions, which was to hedge Enron's valuable but highly volatile interest in a technology company called Rhythms NetConnections, Inc ("Rhythms"). The NatWest Three were responsible for overseeing the banking relationship between Enron and NatWest, including NatWest's interest in Swap Sub. Another investor in Swap Sub was Credit Suisse First Boston ("CSFB"), which owned the same percentage interest in Swap Sub as NatWest.

In early 2000, Fastow and Kopper offered to buy NatWest's interest in Swap Sub for $1 million. NatWest evaluated its interest in Swap Sub in response to the offer and concluded that its interest was worth zero. At the time, NatWest was in the process of being taken over by Royal Bank of Scotland and, thus, was amenable to disposing of the Swap Sub interest. So, NatWest agreed to accept Fastow's $1 million offer, Fastow and Kopper created an entity called Southampton specifically to buy NatWest's interest in Swap Sub, and the deal closed on March 17, 2000.

After NatWest had agreed to accept Fastow's offer to buy the bank's Swap Sub interest, Fastow offered to sell a portion of that interest to the three bankers personally for $250,000 upon Southampton's completion of the purchase of the interest from NatWest. The NatWest Three still worked for NatWest at the time of Fastow's offer, but they were all contemplating leaving the bank because of the impending takeover by the Royal Bank of Scotland. Inasmuch as acceptance of Fastow's offer while they were still working for NatWest might run afoul of the bank's conflict of interest rules, the NatWest Three took an option to acquire the Swap Sub interest rather than buy it outright.

Subsequently, one of the bankers (David Bermingham) resigned from NatWest, exercised the option in late April, 2000 and paid Southampton $250,000 for the interest. At the time that Southampton bought NatWest's interest in Swap Sub, the NatWest Three did not disclose to NatWest that they had bought the option to acquire a portion of that interest through Southampton. That non-disclosure ultimately became an important fact in the plea bargain of the NatWest Three.

Shortly after Fastow offered to buy NatWest's interest in Swap Sub for $1 million, Fastow and Kopper -- unbeknownst to NatWest or the NatWest Three -- offered CSFB $10 million for its interest in Swap Sub. CSFB, like Natwest, also evaluated its interest in Swap Sub at the time of the offer and concluded -- as did NatWest -- that the interest had zero value.

Inasmuch as Fastow and Kopper didn't have $10 million to buy CSFB's Swap Sub interest, they reached an agreement with Enron on March 22, 2000 to unwind the Enron-LJM1 hedge transaction on the Rhythms stock, the result of which was that Enron would buy a large chunk of Enron stock from Swap Sub for $30 million. Inasmuch as the unwind transaction would not close until the end of April, Fastow borrowed $10 million from Enron on March 22nd to pay CSFB for its Swap Sub interest. Neither NatWest nor the NatWest Three knew anything about these developments.

Subsequently, in late April, 2000, Fastow arranged with former Enron chief accountant Richard Causey to close the unwind transaction between LJM1 and Enron on the Rhythms stock. The transaction has since been subject of a substantial amount of scrutiny in the various investigations and litigation relating to Enron and it appears reasonably probable that Enron should not have paid a dime (much less $30 million) to LJM1 for agreeing to unwind the hedge. The best explanation that I have heard is that Fastow and Kopper pulled a fast one on Causey, who received nothing from the unwind transaction.

After receiving the $30 million in connection with the unwind transaction, Fastow used $10 million to repay the loan from Enron that he had used to pay CSFB for its interest in Swap Sub and paid the NatWest Three $7.3 million for their interest in Swap Sub. Fastow spread the balance of the money around to some of his underlings, including Enron treasurer Ben Glisan, who received about $1 million. Glisan's failure to disclose his receipt of that $1 million eventually led to his termination in early November, 2001 as Enron's treasurer. It also formed the basis of the criminal case against him.

Interestingly, the first time that the NatWest Three had any indication that the $7.3 million that they had received for their interest in Swap Sub may have resulted from a Fastow fraud on Enron was when they heard that Glisan had been fired in early November, 2001 over his failure to disclose his receipt of $1 million from Southampton. As a result, the NatWest Three immediately and voluntarily reported everything to the UK Financial Services Authority (the UK equivalent of the Securities and Exchange Commission) -- their involvement in the sale of NatWest's interest in Swap Sub to Southampton, their purchase of the option from Fastow to acquire a portion of that Swap Sub interest, their non-disclosure to NatWest of the option at the time, their exercise of the option and purchase of the Swap Sub interest from Southampton, and their eventual receipt of $7.3 million for that interest.

The UK authorities passed along that information to the SEC and, the next thing you know, the NatWest Three had become the subjects of a criminal complaint filed on June 27, 2002 in Houston (that really encourages voluntary disclosure of information, now doesn't it?). No US investigator ever contacted the NatWest Three to get their side of the story before filing the criminal complaint against them. UK criminal authorities never pursued any charges against the them.

The Enron Task Force originally alleged that the NatWest Three knew at the time they took the option to acquire a portion of NatWest's interest in the Swap Sub that Fastow and Kopper were going to unwind the hedge on the Rhythms stock. Thus, the Task Force asserted that the NatWest Three knew that the unwind transaction would make NatWest's interest in Swap Sub worth far more than either the zero value that NatWest placed on it at the time or the $1 million that Southampton eventually paid NatWest for it. In that connection, the Task Force contended that the $10 million that Fastow arranged to pay CSFB for its interest in Swap Sub and the $7.3 million that the NatWest Three eventually received for their interest in Swap Sub was conclusive proof that the bankers had defrauded NatWest of the true value of its interest in Swap Sub.

Alas, the government's theory of the case appears largely to have fallen apart over the past year and a half. NatWest and CSFB's zero valuations of their respective interests in Swap Sub at the time Fastow offered to buy them proved to be valid and accurate. Given those valuations, the $250,000 that the NatWest Three agreed to pay at the same time to buy a portion of NatWest's Swap Sub interest was clearly a speculative bet that placed the three bankers at considerable risk of loss of their entire investment.

Similarly, it also turns out that Fastow had a good reason to pay CSFB more for its interest in Sub Swab (i.e., $10 million rather than the $1 million paid to NatWest). At the time, CSFB was providing a myriad of other financial services on Enron-related deals for Fastow. Thus, buying the Swap Sub interest for $10 million was a convenient vehicle for Fastow to curry favor with CSFB. It did not mean that CSFB's Swap Sub interest was worth anything close to $10 million.

Finally, considerable evidence emerged during the case that confirmed that the NatWest Three knew nothing about Fastow and Kopper's plan to unwind the Rhythms hedge with Enron when they bought a portion of NatWest's former interest in Swap Sub. Importantly, that lack of knowledge is consistent with the story that the NatWest Three told to UK Financial Services Authority in November, 2001 immediately after learning of Fastow's possible fraud on Enron as a result of Glisan's resignation.

So, after years of litigation, the NatWest Three pled guilty to a single count of wire fraud. The basis of the guilty plea is that the three bankers failed to disclose to NatWest the option that they had taken from Fastow to purchase a portion of NatWest's interest in Swap Sub at the time that NatWest sold that interest to Southampton. Importantly, the basis of the plea deal is not that the NatWest Three knew and didn't tell NatWest that the value of the bank's Swap Sub interest was going to skyrocket soon after Southampton bought it as a result of Fastow completing the unwind transaction with Enron.

Subject to court approval, the plea bargain provides that the defendants will serve 37 months in prison, that they will pay restitution of $7.3 million to the Royal Bank of Scotland (NatWest's successor) and that the prosecution will support the defendants' request that they be allowed to serve their prison sentence in the UK. Under UK rules pertaining to prison sentences of white collar criminals, it is expected that the three former bankers would be released from their UK prisons after serving approximately half of their sentence.

As noted earlier here and as the Financial Times' Martin Wolf observes here, this plea deal appears to be the product of the draconian trial penalty that the three bankers faced if they availed themselves of their right to a trial and lost. Under those circumstances, the defendants were facing possible sentences of 35 years each, although the sentences would likely have been considerably less than that. Nevertheless, the sentences after a trial probably would have been greater than 37 months and, had the NatWest Three defended themselves at trial and lost, the prosecution almost certainly would never have agreed to support a request to serve their prison sentences in the UK.

Thus, on one hand, the defendants could risk a trial in a virulent anti-Enron environment (see also here) that could result in a long prison sentence that would have to be served in the US prison system thousands of miles away from their families. Or, on the other hand, they could enter into a plea deal that gives them the hope of being able to serve a considerable amount of a definite sentence in the UK prison system near their families.

Given those choices, my sense is that the NatWest Three's choice was a rational and reasonable decision. It's simply not a choice that they should have been forced to make.

Posted by Tom at 11:00 AM | Comments (5) |

Say what, John Edwards?

Following on the previous post, have you heard about demagogue John Edwards' latest proposal?

A two-year ban on advertising for prescription drugs.

Paul Jacob suggests a common sense ban of another sort.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

The key issue in the 2008 Presidential race

As usual, the Onion identifies the issue with precision:

Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Shell's cell phone policy

The Chronicle's Mary Flood reports Shell Oil Co. general counsel has directed attorneys at law firms who do work for his company not to drive and talk on their cell phones while doing Shell business.

I wonder if this means that Shell will also direct its outside counsel not to talk to people riding with them in their car while doing Shell business?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 29, 2007

The return of Coach Slocum on a Mobile

New Texas A&M football coach Mike Sherman was an assistant coach in the A&M program under R.C. Slocum, the folksy former head coach who was somewhat unceremoniously dumped when the A&M reached to hire Dennis Franchione five years ago. As one Aggie friend put it to me earlier in the week: "So, we endured Coach Fran for five years just to turnaround and hire one of R.C.'s former assistants? Why didn't we just do that in the first place?"

At any rate, Slocum had been exiled from the Aggie football program during the Franchione regime. Incredibly, Sherman's press conference earlier this week in which he accepted the A&M job was the first time that Slocum -- who still works for A&M in its alumni relations department -- had been in the new A&M Bright Football Complex. He apparently had never been invited before!

Nevertheless, Slocum is experiencing a rebirth in the A&M football program with the hiring of his former assistant Sherman. And one of the fringe benefits of that new level of involvement is the reappearance of the weekly segment that used to run on John Granato and Lance Zierlein's local morning radio show during Slocum's tenure at A&M, "Coach Slocum on a Mobile."

"Coach Slocum on a Mobile" is comprised of an impersonator doing an incredibly precise imitation of Coach Slocum's folksy East Texas twang as he provides often hilarious answers to questions tossed to him by Granato and Zierlein. Yesterday morning, Granato and Zierlein's new KGOW 1560 AM morning drivetime show carried its first segment of "Coach Slocum on a Mobile," which included the following gems:

On A&M's new offense under Coach Sherman:

"Well, we're bringing back the 'Gulf Coast Offense' with QB Randy McCown."

On A&M's 38-30 win over Texas this past weekend:

"Did you see (former A&M RB) Jamaar Toombs run over (former UT DB) Michael Griffin this past Friday? It was great!"

On the insecurity of big-time college coaching positions:

"You know, I've always said if you can go 7-5 and have the opportunity to go to Shreveport, maybe Houston, for a bowl game, you ought to keep your job."

The old "Coach Slocum on a Mobile" segments during Coach Slocum's head coaching days at A&M were classics, which included such pearls of wisdom as "1/2 of the teams in America lose every week and so I don't think there's any shame in losing," that the tight end position in the Gulf Coast Offense is a "supertackle," that "Baylor is the Notre Dame of the South," and -- channeling former UT coach Darrell Royal's observation about passing -- "Three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of 'em ain't good."

If you want a taste of pure Texas football culture, then tune in to a few segments of "Coach Slocum on a Mobile." You won't be disappointed.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

The real issue behind the Ashby high-rise

Don't miss this Christof Spieler post in which he identifies the real issue that needs to be addressed in regard to the controversial Ashby high-rise condominium project -- the issue of the project's scale in relation to the rest of the neighborhood. Thus, enacting a "hurry-up" city ordinance addressing a not-as-important issue (i.e., alleged traffic congestion) is a prescription for making poor public policy. Solid analysis. (H/T Charles Kuffner).

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

That's what you call a plug

I thought what occurred to the football after the punt in the video below only happened to my golf shots on soggy courses. I guess that's what you get from re-sodding a football field immediately before a several-inch deluge:

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 28, 2007

Todd Graham's Inferno

Rice University gave Todd Graham his first opportunity to be a head coach of a college football program. As noted earlier here, Graham in his first year on South Main led the Owls to their first bowl game since the early 1960's, was named Conference USA Coach of the Year, renegotiated his contract, and then announced a couple of weeks after the bowl game that he was leaving to replace his former boss as head coach at the University of Tulsa. By virtually all accounts, Graham handled the job change about as badly as possible.

Well, as predicted in my post at the time of Graham's job change, it was just a matter of time before Rice's notorious Marching Owl Band ("the MOB) would have an opportunity to comment on Coach Graham's antics, and that opportunity presented itself this past Saturday during halftime of the Rice-Tulsa game at Rice Stadium. The MOB performed a halftime show entitled "Todd Graham's Inferno," which concluded with the following comment over the stadium public address system:

You know, that reminds me of a joke: A priest, a nun, and a rabbi walk into a bar. Now, I forgot how the rest of it went, but I think in the end "Todd Graham is a douchebag."

Ladies and gentlemen, the two-thousand seven Marching Owl Band. Please send all complaints to: your mom at mob dot rice dot E-D-U.

Childish for sure, but nothing out of the ordinary for the MOB. And it was certainly not even as clever as the MOB's theme for their halftime show during Rice's bowl game against Troy last year -- "Troy Loses. Read Homer"

So, how did the University of Tulsa respond? By doing precisely what the MOB probably wanted -- fueled the inferno by filing a complaint against the MOB with the C-USA commissioner:

The University of Tulsa has sent a formal complaint to Conference USA regarding Rice's halftime show during the Golden Hurricane-Owls football game on Saturday.

The performance by the Rice marching band was titled "Todd Graham's Inferno" and depicted a search for the former Owls coach through different circles of Hell, based on Dante's "Divine Comedy."

After taking numerous jabs at Graham, the show ended by calling the Tulsa coach a "d-----bag" over the public address system.

"We filed a formal complaint with the conference and that's where it stands now," TU athletic director Bubba Cunningham said.[. . .]

When asked what he wanted the complaint to accomplish, Cunningham said, "We need to provide an environment where a student-athlete can participate and fans can enjoy college athletics in a very positive way."

Sportsmanship has been a point of emphasis in C-USA, the Tulsa athletic director said.

"When we don't meet those standards, we need to look at ourselves as a league and find how we can make that experience better," he said.

Yeah, that was real sportsmanship displayed by Cunningham and Tulsa last year when they lured Graham away from Rice right in the middle of recruiting season.

At any rate, all of this provides the opportunity to pass along again the following anecdote about football coaches that legendary Houston sportswriter Mickey Herskowitz tells:

In the mid 1960's, the Los Angeles Rams had hired George Allen off of the coaching staff of George Halas in Chicago.

Halas was furious that the Rams failed to ask for his permission and threatened to take Allen to court. At a league meeting after the issue was resolved, Halas used the occasion to vent his anger at his former defensive coach.

"George Allen," Halas raged, "is a man with no conscience. He is dishonest, deceptive, ruthless, consumed with his own ambition."

At that point, Vince Lombardi leaned over to the owner of the Rams and whispered: "Sounds to me like you've got yourself a helluva football coach."

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) |

Hedging the trial penalty

Although some have questioned his business ethics, no one has ever questioned that legendary Houston oilman Oscar Wyatt is good at hedging risk. After Wyatt was sentenced yesterday to a year in prison as a result of his plea deal (previous posts here), my sense is that Wyatt hedged the trial penalty risk (i.e., a life sentence) in an reasonably effective manner.

Meanwhile, in another plea deal, a tenured economics professor at the University of Pennsylvania faces a likely prison sentence of 4 ½ to seven years for bludgeoning his wife to death. The professor says he "just lost it." What must Jamie Olis think about that as he finishes serving what will almost certainly be a longer sentence than the professor will serve?

And what about Chalana McFarland, a first-time offender who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme. Ellen Podgor is following that case Or former Enron executive Jeff Skilling, who continues to serve a 24-year sentence for simply availing himself of a forum in which to defend himself against charges that are far more nebulous than murder or mortgage fraud?

Finally, tomorrow afternoon in Houston federal court, the NatWest Three, three former bankers from the U.K. who have been forced to live in Houston apart from their families in the U.K. for the past year and a half, will likely enter into a plea deal in order to hedge the considerable risk of a lengthy prison sentence if they were to defend themselves in a U.S. court from Enron-related charges that U.K. authorities concluded were too weak to merit a prosecution there (see previous posts here and here).

Is the draconian trial penalty in the American criminal justice system really generating the type of results that a truly civil society wants?

Update: The real NatWest Three deal.

Posted by Tom at 12:07 AM | Comments (0) |

The NY Times on the DeBakey-Cooley rapprochement

Following on this earlier post about Todd Ackerman's fine piece on the rapprochement between longtime Texas Medical Center rivals, Dr. Michael DeBakey and Dr. Denton Cooley, this New York Times article examines the history of the feud and the recent reconciliation.

The article passes along the following famous anecdote from the investigation into Dr. Cooley's use of an artificial heart back in the early 1960's without proper authorization:

Dr. Cooley recalled that a lawyer had once asked him during a trial if he considered himself the best heart surgeon in the world.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Don’t you think that’s being rather immodest?” the lawyer asked.

“Perhaps,” Dr. Cooley responded. “But remember I’m under oath.”

Read the entire article.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

November 27, 2007

The Sherman hiring

Well, Texas A&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne's "nationwide search" for a new head coach to replace Dennis Franchione took a couple of days and extended all of about 100 miles southeast of College Station as A&M hired Houston Texans assistant head coach Mike Sherman as its new head coach yesterday. The deal is for seven years at $1.8 million per year. Ryan over at TAMaBINPO has a nice overview of Sherman's coaching career.

Although some in the Aggie nation were disappointed that A&M didn't hire a "big-name" coach de jour, my sense is that hiring Sherman is a reasonably good move. A&M is currently in the latter stages of a somewhat divisive search for a new president, so the A&M Board of Regents doesn't need more faculty flak from another flank. Moreover, A&M overpaid badly to hire Franchione, so the buyout of Coach Fran's contract is going to be expensive, even by A&M standards. Under these circumstances, eschewing a high-priced, big-name coach is certainly understandable.

Within the coaching profession, Sherman has an excellent reputation as a hand's-on coach, which frankly Franchione did not have when A&M hired him. The only negative comment that I've heard about Sherman is that he was not a particularly good evaluator of talent as Green Bay's general manager from 2001-04. That trait has certainly reared its head during his stint with the Texans -- Sherman was among those who blessed the questionable decision to pick up an expensive option to keep former Texans QB David Carr around for another year and he lobbied hard for the Texans to overpay old and injured RB Ahman Green. Those two decisions are costing the Texans big-time in terms of salary cap space.

Nevertheless, Sherman will have plenty of assistance in picking talent for A&M's football program and he inherits one of the richest bases for recruiting good football players in the U.S. The initial problem that Sherman faces in the recruiting wars is that three Big 12 South programs -- Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech -- have been clearly superior to the Aggies' program for a prolonged period now, although the reasons for each program's superiority are different. UT and OU have had better overall talent than A&M, while Tech has simply outcoached A&M while deploying comparable talent.

At this point, the OU and Texas programs are two of the select few big-time college football programs that are recruiting almost entirely high school prospects who project to have the potential to develop into players capable of playing in the National Football League. A&M does not yet have that luxury in recruiting players into its program, so Sherman will be dealing with a talent deficit to programs like OU and UT for at least the first 2-3 years of his tenure at A&M. With the exception of A&M's last two victories over UT, Franchione's A&M teams did not generally compete well against teams that had superior talent. How Sherman's teams deal with that talent deficit during his initial A&M seasons will largely determine whether Sherman succeeds or fails in Aggieland.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Reviewing the Kindle

This John P. Falcone/Webware article does a good job of providing a preliminary evaluation of the new Amazon Kindle reading device:

The Bottom Line: With its built-in wireless capabilities and PC-free operation, Amazon's Kindle is a promising evolution of the electronic book (and newspaper, and magazine)--but overpriced content could be its Achilles' heel.

The six-minute Amazon video on the Kindle is here.

Update: The WSJ's technology reviewer, Walter Mossberg, is not particularly impressed after using the Kindle for a few days, while the Chronicle's excellent technology columnist, Dwight Silverman, is a bit more optimistic, but not yet sold.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

How the Shark was hooked

This earlier post noted that former PGA Tour member Greg Norman had duck hooked his divorce and was probably going to have to pay for dearly for doing so. After a cooling off period, Norman and his former wife settled matters quietly. Or so they thought.

Now, it appears that the Shark is calling a rules violation (H/T Stu Mulligan) on his ex-wife over her public disclosure of the details of Norman's affair with former tennis star, Chris Evert. As you might expect, tails are wagging among the Palm Beach society crowd:

Golf legend Greg Norman has a message for his ex-wife: You won't get any more of my money!

Norman's legal eagles have filed a lawsuit against the sport's former first lady, Laura Andrassy, alleging that she has already breached their two-month-old divorce settlement.

The filing asks a Martin County judge to award damages. Several sources close to the case - who asked to remain anonymous because no one familiar with it is legally allowed to talk about it - said those damages could include Norman's keeping a large part of the settlement he still owes her. [. . .]

So, why's the fair-haired golfer ticked off?

According to Norman's filing, it's because Andrassy squawked to the press about her broken marriage, former tennis champ Chris Evert, Norman's new love, and how Evert "stole" the Australian from her.

In an interview for papers in Oz and another with Page Two in late September, Andrassy described in detail how Evert befriended her while visiting the Normans' home on Jupiter Island, then moved in for the "kill." Andrassy said she suspects Evert, then married to former Olympic skier Andy Mill, first hooked up with her hubby last year when the two couples were on a fishing trip.

Fine and dandy! But the problem, according to Norman's filing, is there's supposed to be a confidentiality agreement between him and Laura - and she breached it.

"The confidentiality agreement is really not that specific, and besides, I didn't talk about Greg. I talked about myself and Chris, and I have no agreement with her," Andrassy said by telephone as she drove through California's Napa Valley on Tuesday. [. . .]

Norman's new high-octane attorney, Jeff Fisher, did not comment. Said Norman's White Shark Enterprises CFO Jack Schneider: "At least we abide by our agreement."

Evert "hooked up" with Norman on a fishing trip and then moved in for the "kill"? Stay tuned for the next episode of the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 26, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(Jay Janner/Austin American photo; previous weekly reviews here)

Texas Aggies 38 Texas Longhorns 30

For the second straight year, the Aggies (7-5/4-4) upset the Longhorns (9-3/5-3), this time as a resignation present for Aggie head coach Dennis Franchione. I trust that dirty look that Franchione gave to A&M athletic director Bill Byrne at the post-game press conference when he announced his resignation is an indication of how buy-out negotiations have gone. A&M officials have scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. today to introduce Texans offensive coordinator Mike Sherman as the Aggies' new head football coach while hoping that Aggie fans didn't notice the Texans' offensive gameplan in yesterday's game (see below).

At any rate, the Aggies dominated this game as the porous Longhorns defense made A&M QB Stephen McGee look like Joe Montana, and that's really hard to do. But the irony of the victory is that the Ags gameplan was precisely what A&M fans thought they were getting when A&M hired Franchione five years ago -- diverse offensive production, forcing turnovers, creating big plays, exciting trick plays and consistent wins over top tier teams of the Big 12. Unfortunately, this second straight win over the Longhorns came way too late for Coach Fran.

Meanwhile, almost as interesting as the Aggies' coaching search is the quandry that faces Longhorn coach Mack Brown. With the defeat, the Horns have now lost to Texas A&M and Oklahoma in the same season for the first time since 1993. The Horns have also lost two straight games to unranked and underachieving Aggie teams and have squandered BCS bowl berths in two consecutive seasons. And that's even after the Horns played one of the their easiest schedules in recent history.

However, most troubling for the Horns is a defense -- and even more precisely, a pass defense -- that has plummeted over the past year far below UT standards. As noted above, the Horns defense made McGee, who is a mediocre college QB, look like an NFL prospect while throwing for 362 yards. And that was not particularly unusual, either. Against a weak schedule, the Horns defense gave up an average of 533 yards in its final three games, gave up 28 points or more in half of their games as well as 35 points per game over their last four. My sense is that Coach Brown will be taking a hard look at whether staff changes are in order this off-season.

The Aggies and Longhorns now await bowl assignments, although it appears likely that the Aggies will meet Michigan or Penn State in San Antonio's Alamo Bowl. The Longhorns are probably ticketed for yet another appearance in the Holiday Bowl, which was their typical destination before the now fading-in-memory 2005 National Championship.

Browns 27 Texans 17

I'm not making this up. After the Texans' (5-6) recent two game winning "streak," the Texans' cheerleaders in the local mainstream media were actually mentioning the word "playoff" in their media pieces. Then, the Texans in this game proceed to score one TD in the first 57 minutes against the NFL's worst defense, convert only two third-downs all game, and commit three turnovers, giving the team 29 on the season, four more than last season's 6-10 team. Message to local mainstream media -- the words "playoffs" and "Ron Dayne, starting running back" are incompatible. It would also be nice if the Texans defense didn't make the Browns' (7-4) RB Jamal Lewis look like he had just become five years younger. The Texans travel to Nashville next Sunday to face Vince Young and the fading Titans (6-5) before returning home for three of their last four games of the season.

Tulsa 48 Rice 43

The feisty Owls (3-9/3-5) made a game of it, but ultimately simply did not have the horses to stop Tulsa (9-3/6-2) and win the Todd Graham Revenge Bowl. It would have been a nice victory for the Owls and the Houston Cougars, who would have won the C-USA West Division for the second straight year if Tulsa lost. But Rice returns its offensive nucleus of QB Chase Clement, WR Jaret Dillard and HB James Casey, so next season's Owls will still be able to score some points. Now, if they could just find someone to tackle . . .

Houston Cougars 59 Texas Southern 6

Remind me again -- why was this game scheduled? It seemed absolutely appropriate that the game ended up being played in a mush pit caused by a cold, driving rainstorm. The Cougars (8-4/6-2) have accepted a Texas Bowl berth at Reliant Stadium on December 28th against probably a Big 12 team, either Oklahoma State (6-6/4-4) or Colorado (6-6/4-4). If the Big 12 qualifies two teams for BCS bowls, then the Coogs will play an at-large opponent such as TCU (7-5/4-4).

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

Arena wasteland

Anne Linehan over at blogHouston.net has been having fun (as has Tory Gattis) watching Houston city officials try to rationalize how the city is not really going to have to cough up any money to subsidize a portion of the Houston Dynamo's proposed new downtown stadium. Anne's coverage of this issue is particularly timely given this recent San Antonio Express-News article that reports that the San Antonio Spurs are seeking another $164 million from the local government for the ATT Arena that is only five years old!

To make matters worse, San Antonio -- which has its share of infrastructure problems -- has not enjoyed any of the economic growth around the ATT Arena that was predicted by promoters of the arena when it was approved back in 1999:

When Bexar County asked voters in 1999 to approve a $175 million arena for the San Antonio Spurs, officials promised it would spark "economic development opportunities" for the neglected East Side.

Today, few businesses have opened their doors near the arena — even as the Spurs ask for more tax dollars to upgrade the 5-year-old AT&T Center.

A new tattoo parlor on Houston Street appears to be the latest investment in the neighborhood. It opened in a stretch of boarded-up buildings in early 2006, said David Leon, the shop's ornately tattooed owner.

Business is good, Leon said. But no customers stop by after a Spurs game.

"I think they're too scared to even stop, because of how bad the label of the East Side is," Leon said.

Despite a lot of talk and studies, the neighborhood around Leon's shop hasn't changed much since Nov. 2, 1999, when voters overwhelmingly agreed to subsidize the arena with a venue tax on hotel rooms and car rentals.

The team wants to tap into the venue tax again, a move that will be up to voters. The Spurs started with a wish list of $164 million in improvements for the AT&T Center. The county told the team to whittle their proposal to $75 million.

But so far, the arena has failed to accomplish everything voters were once promised by the county. Sluggish growth near the AT&T Center has troubled those who argued against the location.

"It's been disappointing to me that there hasn't been more development in that area," said former Mayor Howard Peak, who tried unsuccessfully to have the arena built downtown. [. . .]

From the Spurs' perspective, spokesman Leo Gomez said the NBA team is proud of its neighbors. But he emphasized the Spurs never promised a new arena would bring them an economic boom.

"We know better than that," Gomez said. "It hasn't worked in any other community in the country. And it's not going to happen here."

Gomez said the real question for voters is simple: Should the AT&T Center continue to be a top-notch facility for San Antonio? If so, he said, it needs more tax dollars to keep it that way.

Within view of the arena last week, a woman stood across from Leon's tattoo parlor, hawking purses to passing motorists. . .

As noted earlier here, the notion that professional sports stadiums promote economic development is a myth. Maybe there is a good reason to provide public financing for a downtown soccer stadium in Houston. But building it to spur economic development is not one of them.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

A Texas Medical Center giant

This Alexis Grant/Chronicle Q&A column interviews one of the truly outstanding physicians who has made the Texas Medical Center one of the most extraordinary medical centers in the world -- Dr. Ralph Feigin of Texas Children's Hospital. Take a moment to review Dr. Feigin's remarkable biography and the interview, and then take a moment to appreciate this man's tremendous contribution to pediatric medicine in Houston over the past 30 years. It's a legacy that will not soon be matched.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 25, 2007

The Rockets crash

After a quick 6-1 start, the Houston Rockets have fallen flat on their collective faces, losing six straight games before beating Denver at home last night. Inasmuch as the fawning local mainstream media fails to provide any meaningful analysis of what ails the Rockets, the blogosphere steps into the vacuum as this Dave Berri post analyzes the problem precisely -- Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming and Chuck Hayes are playing reasonably well, but the rest of the Rockets' production is among the worst in the NBA. As Berri points out, why on earth did the Rockets acquire two washed-up guards -- Mike James and Steve Francis -- who absorb minutes at the two-guard position that forces McGrady to play small forward, which forces Shane Battier to play power forward where he is far less effective than at the small forward position. Yes, peer effects in basketball make a big difference.

By the way, just how long are the Rockets going to wait before either acquiring or developing at least an NBA-average point guard? For the record, it's been over a decade since the Rockets have won a playoff series.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 24, 2007

Hayes Carll's show in The Woodlands

One of the highlights of the Kirkendall family's Thanksgiving holiday was a family outing one evening that my older son Andy and his friend Jon Charbonnet arranged to enjoy a show by Hayes Carll, the emerging Texas singer-songwriter who grew up in The Woodlands.

The location of the show was Dosey Doe's, a delightful coffeehouse/restaurant/bar that has become the go-to club venue over the past year in The Woodlands and Houston's north side for performing artists. The show we attended was recorded as a segment in KVST-FM 99.7's series, "Real Life, Real Music," which airs from 6:00-7:00 p.m. on Sunday evening.

When Carll burst on the national scene with his 2002 album Flowers and Liquor, some critics assumed that it was just a matter of time until he became another local Texas singer who made "good" in the mainstream Nashville country music scene. But Carll followed up his first album with the 2005 Little Rock, which cemented his reputation for remaining steadfast to his Texas-rooted songwriting in the same vein as such legends as Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett.

Carll put on a wonderful show for my family and the other local folks, intermingling his soulful and heartfelt music with humorous and self-effacing memories of growing up in The Woodands, his college days in Conway, Arkansas, and "competing" for preeminence in the distinctive club scene of Crystal Beach, Texas during the early days of his performing career. At one point in the show, Carll admitted that he was struggling with naming his third album (scheduled for release in April, 2008), but that his mother -- who attended the show and still resides in The Woodlands with Hayes' father -- suggested the title "He's a Very Good Boy."

Check out Carll's touring schedule. If you enjoy Texas country/folk/rock music, then you will not be disappointed if you take in one of his shows (he is playing the Mucky Duck in Houston on December 1st). In the meantime, enjoy the video below of Carll singing "It's a Shame," which is on Flowers and Liquor. There is a reason that some are calling Hayes Carll the new "Bob Dylan of Texas."

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

November 23, 2007

The 2007 UT-A&M Game

Although the 113 year-old rivalry game between the Texas Longhorns and the Texas A&M Aggies is always interesting, this year's edition at 2:30 p.m., CST today in College Station (ABC) has an added element of intrigue over the typical UT-AM slugfest.

First, just a season removed from arguably saving his job by guiding the Ags to an upset of the Horns in Austin, embattled A&M head coach Dennis Franchione will almost certainly be coaching his final game for the Aggies. Franchione did not fit in at Aggieland and never seemed capable of winning big games consistently -- his Aggie team followed up that big win over the Horns last year with a humiliating 45-10 loss to Cal in the Holiday Bowl. You never know what to expect from players who are playing their final game for their coach. Could be good, could be bad.

Second, the 13th-ranked Horns (9-2/5-2) need a win if they are going to keep their slim BCS Bowl game hopes alive. With a win and an Oklahoma loss on Saturday against Oklahoma State, the Horns would win the Big 12 South division and play either Missouri or Kansas in the Big 12 title game in San Antonio on December 1st. But a loss to the Ags not only would end those hopes, it would earmark the Longhorns to a middle-tier bowl game for the second straight season.

The Horns are a 5 1/2 point favorite, but there really is not much difference between the two teams this season. Texas throws the ball more effectively than A&M, but that's not saying much because the Aggies act as if the forward pass is a new-fangled innovation that cannot be perfected until some uncertain date in the future. Both teams run the ball with about equal effectiveness and neither team's defense has been particularly dominant. Although the Horns have reeled off five straight wins since their loss to Oklahoma, the wins came over teams with a combined conference record of 12-26.

The Horns have dominated the series with an overall record of 73-35-5 record, but that record is a bit deceptive, particularly with regard to how close the series has been in recent decades. If you back out the Horns' dominant 31-3-1 record during the period from 1940 through 1974 when A&M was being transformed from a small, male-only military institution into a large, co-educational state university similar to UT, the record is a more balanced 42-32-4. In fact, since 1975, the Aggies actually lead the series 17-15.

Finally, for once, the UT-A&M game will not be the biggest game in the Big 12 this weekend. That moniker goes to the Border War showdown on Saturday night in Kansas City between no. 2 Kansas (11-0/7-0) and no. 4 Missouri (10-1/6-1). Take a moment to read this fine Joe Posnanski column on KU head coach Mark Mangino, a fellow for whom it is really easy to cheer.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) |

November 22, 2007

A butcher's turkey carving instructions

I've been carving the family's Thanksgiving turkey for the past 25 years, so I speak with a bit of expertise in saying that this NY Times article and accompanying video provides the best turkey-carving instructions and tips that I've come across in quite awhile.

Have a restful and joyous Thanksgiving, and thanks for reading Clear Thinkers.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

November 21, 2007

The Chronicle continues to defy reality

As noted in this earlier post on the improbable Astrodome hotel redevelopment project (previous posts here), the Chronicle continues to beat the drum in support of the deal without any meaningful financial or economic analysis. The intro to the editorial reveals the depth of the Chron editorial board's analysis -- "The public favors preserving the world's first indoor stadium; all parties should cooperate to do that."

Here are just a few of the questions that the Chronicle editorial board should be asking:

If the Astrodome were not in Reliant Park, would anyone in their right mind even be thinking of investing over a half billion dollars to build a 1,300 room resort hotel in the middle of Reliant Park?

If the answer to the prior question is "no," then why should anyone in their right mind even be thinking of investing over a half billion dollars to build a 1,300 room resort hotel in the middle of Reliant Park simply because the decrepit hulk of the Dome is there?

In one of the tightest credit and equity markets in years, and with many economic forecasters predicting a U.S. recession over the next 12-18 months, who realistically is going to fund the half billion dollars that the promoters claim is necessary to convert the Dome into a resort hotel?

If the promoters have not been able to put together a viable plan for redevelopment of the Dome in over three years of trying, then why are we still talking about this?

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

The red-light camera scam

Anne Linehan over at blogHouston.net has been doing a good job of following the City of Houston's red-light camera scam on its citizens. As Anne's post notes, it's not at all clear that the red light cameras are reducing accidents or that they are even generating enough revenue to justify the cost of the program.

Although red-light cameras sound peachy in theory, my sense is that they are quite likely to cause more accidents, not fewer. As drivers become aware of the cameras, more rear-end collisions will likely result as drivers slam on their brakes at the first sight of yellow to avoid the risk of being photographed running a red-light. The red-light cameras should have been carefully evaluated first and then installed only after it was established that they truly increase safety. That they were installed without such an evaluation reveals that the cameras are nothing more than another local government money grab. And not even a particularly effective one at that.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (3) |

Lubbock is just a tough place, period

As this earlier post notes, Lubbock -- the home of the Texas Tech Red Raiders -- is a tough place to play for visiting college football teams.

But the video below shows that Lubbock is also a tough place for at least a couple of the hundreds of excited Tech fans who rushed the field after Tech's Saturday night victory over fourth-ranked Oklahoma.

What on earth are these police officers thinking?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (3) |

November 20, 2007

A real insurance fraud

I've been meaning to pass along this James Q. Wilson/WSJ ($) op-ed that lucidly describes the crisis that has developed in property insurance markets along the Gulf Coast as a result of the litigation risk and attendant cost of clearly inapplicable claims being asserted against property insurance policies:

When Hurricane Katrina hit our southern coast, it was the worst natural disaster in American history, killing 1,800 people, forcing more than a million to evacuate the area, and putting four-fifths of New Orleans under water. In the struggle to recover from this event, people turned to their insurance companies for help. Thousands of claims were handled, but for some people there wasn't any coverage. The problem was they were not insured against flooding.

Insurance companies' policies are quite clear on this, and state insurance departments, including the ones in Mississippi and New Orleans, have approved these rules. The homeowners' policy issued by State Farm, for example, says that water damage from a flood, waves, tidal waves, or a tsunami are not covered. . . .

The reason for the exclusion of water damage is quite clear: Hardly any insurance company wants to encourage people to build or occupy structures in places where such damage is likely. If they did allow this, either the company would go bankrupt from losses it could not pay or it would have to charge a premium so high that hardly anyone could afford the insurance. Even without water-damage coverage, insurance companies paid out around $40 billion to Katrina victims. [. . .]

Not content with these policies and rules, trial lawyers and politicians in Mississippi demanded that insurance companies should be required to pay for flood losses even though they were not covered by the policies. Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, a veteran of class-action suits, and Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood worked together to create a lawsuit that would retrospectively ban the flood exclusion rule. (Mr. Scruggs was a major source of campaign money for Attorney General Hood.) At the same time, Rep. Gene Taylor from Mississippi urged Congress to require a retroactive payment of flood insurance. Never mind what the homeowners' insurance policies said or what their coverage was, demanding money to which they were not entitled became "good public policy." [. . .]

In time some measure of sanity was restored. A federal district court judge upheld the flood exclusion in insurance policies, a view that was affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. More recently, the Fifth Circuit has affirmed that there is no coverage when an excluded peril (such as flooding) and a covered one (such as windstorms) both contribute to the same damage. A Louisiana state judge agreed that policies not written to provide flood insurance did not, in fact, provide it. . . .

But the return of sanity was of short duration. In June Mr. Scruggs filed a lawsuit against State Farm saying that it engaged in racketeering, and Attorney General Hood filed a new civil lawsuit -- and then followed up with another grand jury investigation contrary to his prior agreement with State Farm. One wonders how its claims adjusters feel when they are told that they are no better than members of the Mafia.

In light of all this, State Farm announced earlier this year that it would no longer sell new homeowners' policies in Mississippi, not to punish people there but because politicians had made it impossible to do business in an orderly way. In response, Attorney General Hood demanded that the governor order State Farm to write new policies. Gov. Haley Barbour replied, quite reasonably, that he does not have the authority to tell a private company that it must do business in his state. There will no doubt be congressional investigations of the insurance business because it did what it told people it was doing.

And Hood calls himself a public "servant" (see earlier post here)?

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Nicklaus sours on the public corporation

This Bloomberg video interview reveals that you can count legendary PGA Tour champion Jack Nicklaus as another businessman who has had enough of the public form of corporation:

The biggest mistake I ever did was let my guys talk me into taking a part of the company public. That was the biggest mistake I ever made. I had no idea what--what the rules and laws were of a public company. And we did a public company. And a lot of people lost money, including me...It was a great lesson. But, you know, if you're gonna get into that business, you better know what the devil you're doing.

Nicklaus discusses a number of different topics during the 20 minute interview, including his golf course design business and the evolution of Tiger Woods. Check it out.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

The economics of divorce lawyers

Tim Harford passes along some interesting data on the economic impact of hiring a lawyer in connection with a divorce:

The Austrian economist Martin Halla has collected data from divorce proceedings in his home country, and he finds a curious pattern. Husbands end up paying the smallest alimony when no lawyers are involved. If the husband hires a lawyer, but his wife does not, the alimony payment rises (and then there are fees to be paid, too). If the wife hires a lawyer, or the couple hires a joint lawyer, the husband forks out still more. Worst case scenario for hubby is if both sides hire their own lawyer. On top of that the proceedings are longer and more expensive.

One of the funniest war stories about attorneys' fees that I've ever heard involved a couple of old Houston litigators fighting over a divorce estate. Remind me to pass it along when we bump into each other.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 19, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(AP Photo/Dave Einsel; previous weekly reviews here)

Texans 23 Saints 10

The Texans (5-5) enjoyed the return from their bye week with a convincing win over the Saints (4-6), who appear to be a shadow of the team that played in the NFC Championship Game last season. QB Matt Schaub (21/33 for 293 yds, 2 TD's, no ints), who had his best game as a Texan, and previously injured star WR Andre Johnson (6 rec, 120 yds, 1 TD (73)) were particularly effective, while the Texans defense led by DE Mario Williams and an undermanned but feisty secondary kept the Saints' offense off-rhythm for much of the game. The Texans go on the road over the next two weeks for games against the Browns (6-4) and the Titans (6-3) before returning home for three of the season's last four games.

Houston Cougars 35 Marshall 28

The Cougars (7-4/6-2) kept their fleeting Conference USA title hopes alive with a close win over Marshall (2-9/2-5) as the potent Houston offense came alive in the 2nd half after taking a long nap during the debacle last week against Tulsa and during the first half of this game. The Coogs finish up their regular season with a non-conference game next Saturday against hapless Division I-AA Texas Southern (0-10) while awaiting the outcome of Rice's grudge match against Tulsa at Rice Stadium. If the Owls can pull off the upset against Tulsa, then the Coogs win the CUSA West division title and advance to the conference championship game on December 1st against Central Florida.

Tulane 45 Rice 31

The Owls (3-8/3-4) modest three game winning streak came to an end as Tulane RB Matt Forde rolled up 194 yards and 5 TD's against Rice's overwhelmed defense. Rice's Chase Clement was 35-of-55 passing for 353 yards and four touchdowns, and -- with 379 total yards -- set a Rice season record for total offense with 3,319 yards. The Owls could do a big favor for their cross-town rival Cougars by upsetting Tulsa (8-3/5-2) in the Todd Graham Grudge Match next Saturday at Rice Stadium. However, without a meaningful defense, the Owls offense will probably have to put 60 points on the board against Tulsa for Rice to have a chance to win the game.

Texas (9-2/5-2) and Texas A&M (6-5/3-4) were idle this weekend as they prepare for their annual Friday afternoon (2:30 p.m./ABC) game, which has taken on added importance with Oklahoma's (9-2/5-2) loss to Texas Tech (8-4/4/4) on Saturday night. If the Horns beat the Aggies and a beat-up OU loses to Oklahoma State (6-5/4-3) next Saturday, then the Longhorns will win the Big 12 South Division and represent the division in the Big 12 championship game in San Antonio on December 1st.

And finally, in another type of football, the Houston Dynamo won its second straight Major League Soccer Cup Title, defeating the New England Revolution 2-1. The Dynamo are the first team to win back-to-back MLS Cups since D.C. United did so in 1996-97. The Dynamo will celebrate their latest championship on Tuesday at Houston City Hall from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Transit survey raises more questions than it answers

Isn't it interesting the different reactions that Anne Linehan, Charles Kuffner and Tory Gattis had to the 2007 Houston Area Survey regarding transit options? The Chronicle and other light rail enthusiasts immediately seized upon the survey as evidence that Houston-area residents want to dump more money into the light rail money pit.

But the problem with such surveys is that they generally ask people questions in a vacuum and do not address Peter Gordon's three elegantly simple questions regarding economic choices:

1) At what cost?

2) Compared to what? and

3) How do you know?

For example, assume for a moment that the persons surveyed were informed of the fact that the average urban freeway lane costs about $10 million per mile and that the average light rail line costs about $50 million per mile while carrying only one-fifth as many people as the freeway lane. And these are only average figures -- as Randal O'Toole recently pointed out, Seattle's recently rejected light rail expansion was projected to cost $250 million per mile, a whopping 125 times more expensive at moving people than a freeway.

Moreover, let's also assume that the persons surveyed are informed that the expenditure of a billion or so of public money on expanding a poorly-used light rail system has real consequences, such as leaving inadequate funds to make improvements to Houston's infrastructure that would dramatically decrease the risk of death and property damage from flooding. Or whether the billion or so being flushed down the light rail drain would be better used to fix various area traffic "hotspots" where accidents or bottlenecks occur with high frequency.

No one knows for sure, but my bet is that the survey results would be dramatically different if the foregoing costs and alternatives were included as a part of the survey. It's a shame that neither the City's current leaders nor the mainstream media are asking the simple questions set forth above that would generate a meaningful cost-benefit analysis and ensuing well-informed debate regarding continued investment in expensive public works projects such as Metro's light rail system.

Instead, we get this:

Metro executive vice president John Sedlak led off [a presentation to the Transportation Policy Council, a group of elected officials and agency staffers that sets priorities for transportation spending in the 13-county Gulf Coast planning region] with a slide show describing the [proposed Metro University light rail line] project and told the panel its approval was needed so Metro could get federal funding and start engineering work.

If there was a short delay, Holm asked, "What would be the consequence?"

Sedlak replied that the project is on "an aggressive schedule" and that a delay "would send a message to Washington that there are issues with our overall program."

Holm asked why Washington would think there were issues and not just loose ends to tie up.

"They watch every activity that takes place very carefully," Sedlak said. "The federal government is aware we are having this meeting today."

Holm asked what the application deadline was. Sedlak said it was "in the month of December."

"If the delay was just a few days, would it jeopardize the funding of the entire program?" Holm asked.

"I truly believe it could," Sedlak replied.

Kemah Mayor Bill King had questions, too.

How many more passengers would the rail carry than the buses on Richmond do now?

Sedlak said he did not know, but Metro could get him the answer.

King asked how the line would impact traffic on Richmond.

Sedlak said there would be some negative effects, but the finished line should "take vehicles off the street." Numerical estimates are in the line's environmental impact document, he said.

Holm spoke again, her voice a little shaky.

"There are cities," she said, "that have never been turned down for a funding request. It's not because they agree on everything they want. It's because they do their due diligence and they do their battles at home.

"We need to still build consensus in this community. We need to be able to walk hand-in-hand in supporting a project," she said.

Update: As usual, Tory Gattis has additional insightful thoughts.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (2) |

"In the Hamptons"

As economists such as Nouriel Roubini increasingly predict a recession and a hard landing for the U.S. economy, Merle Hazard channels Merle Haggard, Arthur Laffer, Milton Friedman, Mac Davis, Ben Bernanke and Elvis -- to name just a few -- in expressing Wall Street's current trepidation. It doesn't get any better than "In the Hamptons" (H/T to the NY Times via Larry Ribstein):

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 18, 2007

Thinking about the Bonds case

Two topics on this blog are legal matters and baseball, so Barry Bonds has been a frequent subject of posts here over the past four years. Inasmuch as this post from over two years ago speculated that Bonds would be indicted, regular readers of this blog weren't surprised when the shoe finally dropped on Bonds this past week.

The Bonds indictment was met with typical self-righteous vindication by much of the mainstream media, but the blogs have thankfully provided a much more measured analysis of the charges. For example:

Peter Henning provides this excellent analysis (see also here) of the indictment and the probable course of the prosecution. Also, JC Bradbury compiles some thoughts from other legal commentators about the Bonds case, and Keith Scherer provides this extensive analysis of the Bonds case;

Norm Pattis provides this interesting post that analyzes the probable prison sentence that Bonds is facing, which is far less than those typically reported in the mainstream media. Thankfully, Bonds does not appear to face a draconian trial penalty if he chooses to defend himself at trial;

Reason's Hit & Run blog provides this balanced compendium of blog posts and articles from over the years that remind us that witch hunts are common when a controversial person such as Bonds is prosecuted for covering up an alleged crime when the investigation was actually into the alleged crime, not the cover up; and

Along those same lines, Scott Henson questions the prosecution's motives and judgment in pursuing Bonds.

And as Bonds is being singled out while more popular ballplayers have had a pass on being investigated for alleged illegal use of steroids, I'm trying to figure out why the Apple Rule is not available to protect Bonds? Could it be for the same reason that it was not available to former heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson during an earlier era?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

November 17, 2007

The managing partner

The incomparable Stu Rees of Stu's Views passes along a common experience shared by most attorneys who have had the "pleasure" of managing a law firm:

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 16, 2007

Mike Leach's selective memory

By now, most folks who follow college football know that Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach received a record fine and public reprimand from the Big 12 Conference for his post-game comments questioning the integrity of the referees who officiated last weekend's Texas-Texas Tech game in Austin in which the Horns hammered the Red Raiders, 59-43.

But not as well publicized as Leach's outburst is Leach's hyprocrisy in making the remarks in the first place. One of Leach's main gripes with the officiating crew last weekend was that one of the officials on the crew was from Austin, referee Randy Christal. However, what Leach failed to mention is that the last two Tech-Texas games also have had a Lubbock resident as an on-field crew member -- Tim Pringle last year in Lubbock and Kelly Deterding this past weekend in Austin.

Moreover, this week's Tech-Oklahoma game in Lubbock renews a similar controversy after the controversial ending of the 2005 Tech-OU game in Lubbock, but Leach wasn't complaining about the referees after that game. Both Lubbock resident Deterding and Austin resident Christal were on the officiating crew during that 2005 game when the officials flagrantly missed a spot on a key fourth down play that kept a last ditch Tech drive alive and then allowed Tech to win the game on a disputed Taurean Henderson touchdown run on the final play of the game.

The video of the blown spot call that kept the final Tech drive alive is below. It's 4th down and 3, Tech QB Cody Hodges' pass is batted in the air and Tech WR Danny Amendola and an OU defender come down with the ball well-short of the first down mark. After the play, both television announcers observe that, even if Amendola caught the ball cleanly, he was stopped well short of the first down marker. The announcers are incredulous when the officiating crew spots the ball and gives Tech a first down:

Of course, that play is followed by the last play of the game where the video shows Tech RB Henderson s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s the ball over the goal line. At least Henderson's TD stretch was a closer call than the Amendola "phantom first down" catch.

To his credit, Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops didn't make a public issue of it at the time even though he had a better case than Leach did after his recent outburst in Austin. Stoops' maturity is one of the many reasons that he is a better and more successful coach than Leach.

By the way, that controversial 2005 Tech-OU is also famous for the following video, which establishes that Lubbock is not only one of the toughest places for a visiting team to play, but also one of the toughest places for a visiting player to give a post-game press interview:

Update: Tech upset the Sooners, 34-27.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (9) |

Remembering 1968

In 1968, I was a 15-year old concentrating on playing various high school sports in Iowa City, a Midwestern college town. However, even in that somewhat sheltered environment, it was impossible not to realize that 1968 was an unusually tumultuous year. This Daniel Henninger/Opinion Journal op-ed reminds us of just what a wild ride 1968 was:

In 1968, Nicolas Sarkozy was 13 years old. John McCain was 32 and Hillary Clinton was 21. Barack Obama was 7. It is not beyond imagining that the precocious Messrs. Sarkozy and Obama were alert to events in 1968, but for the first wave of baby boomers just touching adulthood that year, it was the beginning of a strange journey.

Nearly any one of the events that went off in 1968 would have been enough to dominate another year. To list what actually happened that year even today boggles the mind, and spirit.

The year began with sales of the Beatles album, "Magical Mystery Tour." In retrospect, it was a premonition. In late January, North Korea captured the USS Pueblo and crew members. A week later, the North Vietnamese army launched the Tet offensive.

On Feb. 27, Walter Cronkite announced on CBS News that the U.S. had to negotiate a settlement to the Vietnam War. On March 12, Sen. Gene McCarthy defeated incumbent President Lyndon Johnson in the New Hampshire primary, aided by antiwar students that Sen. McCarthy called his "children's crusade." Two weeks later, LBJ announced on TV that he would not run for re-election. One week later, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. It was only April 4.

There were race riots everywhere. On April 24, students occupied five buildings at Columbia University, protesting the war. In May bloody student riots erupted in France, likely witnessed by the impressionable Mr. Sarkozy.

On June 3, Valerie Solanas shot Andy Warhol in a New York City loft. Two days later, Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In August, the Soviet Union occupied Czechoslovakia. Seven days later, antiwar demonstrators at the Democratic convention fought pitched battles with the Chicago police.

On Nov. 4, having absorbed all this, the people of the United States voted. They gave 43.4% of their vote to Richard Nixon and 42.7% to Hubert Humphrey. Alabama Gov. George Wallace got 13.5%. Four years later, George Wallace was shot while running for president. 1968 lasted a long time.

Whatever civic culture the U.S. had until the 1960s, it was now transformed. After '68, we had a new kind of political and social culture, pounding like a jackhammer into the older bedrock. The country cracked. Look at those 1968 popular vote numbers; half the country went left and half went right.

Read the entire piece.

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (0) |

The nation's worst-managed transit system

Tom Rubin is an accountant who has audited many transit agencies and is an expert in transit system accounting. Randal O'Toole channels a Rubin presentation in describing the nation's worst-managed transit system:

Participants in the Preserving the American Dream conference were encouraged to ride [the] light-rail line to one of the conference events. What they saw was not a pretty picture. Trains were infrequent (one of the supposed advantages of rail is that they run so frequently that riders don’t need to consult schedules), the in-street tracks are dangerous (one conference goer slipped on a rail and fell into a curb), and the fellow patrons are not always people you want to be around (several conference goers were treated to the scene of someone becoming violently ill on board, leading one of our members to say, “So that’s what they mean by ‘vibrant streets’”).

Beyond these impressions, Rubin observes that [the light-rail system] has “the worst operating statistics of any American transit operator.” The reason for this, he says, is that [the area] — being built mostly after World War II — is one of the most spread-out urban areas in the country. Not only are people spread out, but jobs are spread out, with no job concentrations anywhere.

This makes large buses particularly unsuitable for transit because there is no place where large numbers of people want to go. So what was [the transit system's] solution when its bus numbers were low relative to other transit agencies? Build light rail — in other words, use an expensive technology that requires even more job concentrations.

Now it has one of the, if not the, poorest-patronized light-rail systems in America. So what is its solution? Build heavy rail, a technology that requires even more job concentrations.

What transit system are O'Toole and Rubin describing? Well, it sure sounds like it could be Houston's, but it's not. They are talking about San Jose, California's system.

But how long do you think it will be until Houston's light rail system is in similar shape?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 15, 2007

What goes up, usually comes down

The BBC's Evan Davis provides a short article on how to keep the recent spike in oil prices in perspective:

It's clear that $100 a barrel is very high. Although it's worth saying, it's still not a record.

1864 was in fact the most expensive year for oil. It was over $104 in today's money. Notwithstanding that record (and most of us in the media will ignore it when talking of record highs in the next few weeks - we'll be using the high of $104.7 reached in 1980 after the Iranian revolution) we can at least say an impending $100 barrel is getting historically significant.

And Davis provides the following observation about the market for oil that echos that of former Exxon chairman, Lee Raymond:

But the point of volatile market is that it swings both ways.

The longer we have higher oil prices, the more we can economise on oil - by switching to smaller cars for example. And the more oil that gets produced – a small excess of supply over demand - and the price can plummet.

The lesson of history, is that when oil prices soar up to record levels, they usually then fall back down.

And here's one final price of oil thought for the day, courtesy of Shai Agassi:

The cost of the average used car in Europe is now cheaper than the cost of gasoline to drive it for a year . . .

Posted by Tom at 12:24 AM | Comments (0) |

Edwards returns to demagoguery

After an effective television ad, the John Edwards campaign returns to Edwards' usual form of demagoguery against business interests in the ad below:

By the way, one of Edwards' proposed ways in which to force Congress to take action on his call of universal health care coverage won't fly.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

The Philly reaction to the Lidge deal

Tuck depicts the quintessential Philadelphia reaction to the Lidge deal.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 14, 2007

Jumping to conclusions on Judge Kent

Embattled U.S. District Judge Sam Kent is an easy target these days (all previous posts here). Along those lines, Chronicle legal columnist and blogger Mary Flood makes the following statement in this blog post on the Chronicle's latest story about the allegations against Judge Kent:

The law sees the judge as innocent until proven guilty of these allegations, though so far he faces no criminal or civil lawsuits over the matter anyway. But it is important to note that his fellow judges removed him from work (albeit with pay) for the last four months of the year and reprimanded him for sexual harassment (emphasis added).

Flood's above assertion may be correct, but we do not know that at this time. The Judicial Council's order certainly says no such thing. The order states that a judicial complaint alleging sexual harassment was filed against Judge Kent and that a special investigatory committee reviewed the allegations and expanded the investigation to review other allegations of "inappropriate behavior" toward other federal employees. The order goes on to state that, after completing the investigation, the investigative committee recommended a reprimand and other "remedial courses of action." The Judicial Council accepted the committee's recommendation of reprimanding Judge Kent and concluded the proceeding "because appropriate remedial action had been and will be taken, including but not limited to the Judge's four-month leave of absence from the bench, reallocation ofthe Galveston/Houston docket and other measures." The Judicial Council's order also admonished Judge Kent "that his actions . . . violated the mandates of the Canons of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges and are deemed prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts and the administration of justice."

Thus, here's what we know. A judicial complaint alleging sexual harassment was filed against Judge Kent. An investigation ensued and was expanded beyond the allegations contained in the initial complaint to other "inappropriate behavior." Judge Kent presumably defended himself in regard to the allegations, but he is precluded by applicable rules relating to such investigations from discussing the matter publicly. The Judicial Council reprimanded and admonished Judge Kent, but the findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which the council based its reprimand have not -- and probably will never will be -- made public.

Thus, at this point, stating that Judge Kent was "reprimanded for sexual harassment" is speculation. He may have been, but the reason could also have been inappropriate behavior not related to sexual harassment, such as a drinking problem or simply acting badly toward subordinates. Further legal proceedings appear to be likely, so I'm inclined to wait to see what information develops in a forum where he can defend himself before jumping to conclusions in the matter of Judge Kent.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Weary's Taser lawsuit

Houston Texans offensive lineman Fred Weary -- who was Tasered under dubious circumstances by a couple of HPD officers on the side of one of Houston's busiest freeways last year around this time -- has filed a civil rights lawsuit in Houston federal court against the City of Houston and the officers involved in the matter.

The misdemeanor criminal charges against Weary that supposedly justified the Tasering were dismissed in short order shortly after the arrest. A copy of Weary's complaint is here and the case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Gray Miller, who worked as a Houston Police officer while he went to law school at the University of Houston in the late 1970's. Weary is represented by Joseph Walker of the Houston firm of Franklin Mosele & Walker.

As noted in the prior post and as reflected by the summary dismissal of the charges against Weary, the police conduct in stopping and then Tasering Weary doesn't pass the smell test. My bet is that it won't play well in court, either. Stay tuned.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

Tiger v. Vijay

Although it's off-season for golf, I've been meaning to pass along the video below for awhile. I'm not sure about Peter Kostis analysis, but one thing is certain -- these are two very good golf swings.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 13, 2007

Vince Young's $5 million donation to UT

Michael Lewis (previous posts here) -- author of Moneyball and The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game (previous post here) -- pens this NY Times op-ed in which he addresses a frequent topic on this blog -- that is, the shameful economic exploitation of athletes by many universities in the business of big-time college football (see previous posts here, here and here):

College football’s best trick play is its pretense that it has nothing to do with money, that it’s simply an extension of the university’s mission to educate its students. Were the public to view college football as mainly a business, it might start asking questions. For instance: why are these enterprises that have nothing to do with education and everything to do with profits exempt from paying taxes? Or why don’t they pay their employees?

This is maybe the oddest aspect of the college football business. Everyone associated with it is getting rich except the people whose labor creates the value. At this moment there are thousands of big-time college football players, many of whom are black and poor. They perform for the intense pleasure of millions of rabid college football fans, many of whom are rich and white. The world’s most enthusiastic racially integrated marketplace is waiting to happen. [. . .]

If the N.C.A.A. genuinely wanted to take the money out of college football it’d make the tickets free and broadcast the games on public television and set limits on how much universities could pay head coaches. But the N.C.A.A. confines its anti-market strictures to the players — and God help the interior lineman who is caught breaking them. Each year some player who grew up with nothing is tempted by a booster’s offer of a car, or some cash, and is never heard from again. [. . .]

Last year the average N.F.L. team had revenue of about $200 million and ran payrolls of roughly $130 million: 60 percent to 70 percent of a team’s revenues, therefore, go directly to the players. There’s no reason those numbers would be any lower on a college football team — and there’s some reason to think they’d be higher. It’s easy to imagine the Universities of Alabama ($44 million in revenue), Michigan ($50 million), Georgia ($59 million) and many others paying the players even more than they take in directly from their football operations, just to keep school spirit flowing. (Go Dawgs!)

But let’s keep it conservative. In 2005, the 121 Division 1-A football teams generated $1.8 billion for their colleges. If the colleges paid out 65 percent of their revenues to the players, the annual college football payroll would come to $1.17 billion. A college football team has 85 scholarship players while an N.F.L. roster has only 53, and so the money might be distributed a bit differently. [. . .]

A star quarterback, . . . might command as much as 8 percent of his college team’s revenues. For instance, in 2005 the Texas Longhorns would have paid Vince Young roughly $5 million for the season. In quarterbacking the Longhorns free of charge, Young, in effect, was making a donation to the university of $5 million a year — and also, by putting his health on the line, taking a huge career risk.

Perhaps he would have made this great gift on his own. The point is that Vince Young, as the creator of the economic value, should have had the power to choose what to do with it. Once the market is up and running players who want to go to enjoy the pure amateur experience can continue to play for free.

Read the entire piece.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (3) |

UT's Sooner legacy

This post from earlier this fall noted that this season was the 50th anniversary of the legendary University of Texas football coach Darrell K. Royal (previous posts here) taking the reins of the then faltering Longhorn football program and turning it into one of the most successful programs in the country over the next 20 years. If you are interested in this fascinating man, then don't miss this excellent Wann Smith article on Coach Royal, which passes along the story of why Coach Royal elected not to return to his alma mater (the University of Oklahoma) after the 1963 season when famed OU coach Bud Wilkenson finally stepped down:

After Bud Wilkinson resigned following the 1963 season, there was a groundswell of support for the idea of bringing Darrell Royal back across the Red River. Royal was inundated by calls from old schoolmates and friends urging him to take the OU job.

But Royal wasn't interested in returning to his home state. He had made it clear from the start that he had no interest in the Oklahoma coaching vacancy. However Royal's decision to stay in Austin had nothing to do with any enmity for either the State of Okahoma or for his Alma Mater.

"I had been searching for something," said Royal. "And I found it in Texas. . ."

Read the entire article.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

The ins and outs of college football recruiting

An all college football series of posts today starts out with this IndyStar.com article titled "Recruiting 101" by a former high school football coach who passes along his experience in what college coaches are looking for in high school football players. The article contains many interesting insights, including the former coach's final one, which runs counter to the specialization of athletes that is the clear trend at most big high schools:

Regardless of position, it appears that in the recruiting of [big-time college football] players that being a multisport athlete at the high school level is the norm. I encourage athletes to play as many sports as long as they can. The benefits of multisport participation are many.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

November 12, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(Eric Gray/AP photo; previous weekly reviews here)

Texas Longhorns 59 Texas Tech 43

The Texas Longhorns (9-2/5-2) had been left for dead after losing to Oklahoma six weeks ago, but the resurgent Horns are in solid contention for a BCS bowl game after defeating the defenseless Red Raiders (7-4/3-4). Although Tech closed to within 10 points a couple of times during the 47 point 4th quarter, this one was really never in doubt because Tech's defense simply could not slow down, much less stop, the Horns' offense. At least Coach Leach didn't fire his defensive coordinator or blame his players after this defeat. This time, Tech's loss was apparently the fault of the referees. Referring to Randy Cristal, the head referee for Saturday's game, being an Austin resident, Leach asserted the following in post-game comments:

"That can be argued in a variety of directions. Maybe it is something as simple as guys sitting over the water cooler in their office, in Austin, talking to their friends about the great game they are going to see, the great players they are going to see. Perhaps a preconceived notion has developed how it's going to come out."

Leach apparently forgot that Tech was the beneficiary of a couple of dubious hometown calls at the end of one of Tech's rare victories against Oklahoma. The reality is that Leach is a mediocre coach of a one-dimensional program that is 1-11 against ranked teams and 2-13 against UT and OU during his tenure at Tech. The Horns close their regular season against Texas A&M (6-5/3-4) in their annual rivalry game the day after Thanksgiving.

Update: Here is Leach's after-game rant. The remarks will almost certainly result in the Big 12 Conference levying sanctions on Leach.

Update 2: Leach was fined $10,000 by the Big 12 on Tuesday and received a public reprimand. According to a Big 12 press release, Leach is “on notice that any future such behavior will result in a more serious penalty, including a possible suspension.”

“Coach Leach’s public statements called into question the integrity and competence of game officials and the Conference’s officiating program,” Dan Beebe, the Big 12 commissioner, stated. “Accordingly the seriousness of this violation warrants a public reprimand and the largest fine issued to date by the Conference.”

Tulsa 56 Houston Cougars 7

The Cougars (6-4/5-2) laid a major egg in their effort to win their second straight Conference USA title when they laid down and rolled over to Tulsa (7-3/5-2). Houston has had problems with its defensive unit for years, so giving up 56 points to Tulsa is not all that surprisng. But It's hard to understand how a team such as the Cougars, that is averaging almost 550 yards per game, would generate less than 400 yards of total offense against a poor Tulsa defense, 97 of which came in the Coogs' only TD drive of the game while behind 56-0. The Cougars will attempt to regroup next week against an improving Marshall (2-8/2-4) that has won their last two games. Meanwhile, perhaps Houston head coach Art Briles won't be such a hot commodity for other head coaching jobs after the Tulsa debacle.

Missouri 40 Texas A&M 26

The Aggies (6-5/3-4) actually were in a position to pull ahead during the 2nd half of this one when Aggie head coach Dennis Franchione called a series of plays that is typical of why he will be fired come season end, if not before. Early 4th quarter, the Aggies were marching down the field pounding the rushing game against a tired Mizzou (9-1/5-1) defense after closing to within 24-19. After reaching a 1st and 10 on Mizzou's 12 yard line, the Aggies telegraphed a dive play on first down that was stopped for a one yard gain, QB Stephen McGeen threw an incompletion on second down and, on 3rd and long, Franchione inexplicably called a middle screen pass that was completed for a seven yard loss. Thus, rather than continuing to pound the rushing game against an overwhelmed defense in clear four down territory, Franchione inexplicably turned to the Ags' ineffectual passing game, which stifled the drive. After Aggie kicker Matt Szymanski pushed the 36 yard field goal attempt wide right, the Aggies had completely lost the momentum, prompting the Tigers to score 16 fourth quarter points to put the game away. The Aggies close their season on the Friday after Thanksgiving in their annual rivalry game against the Longhorns (9-2/5-2).

Rice 43 SMU 42

What more can you say about the resilient Owls (3-7/3-3)? This time, the Owls came back from a 15 point 4th quarter deficit to pull out the victory on a game-winning 31 yard field goal. The potent Owls offense generated 535 total offense, including 365 yards passing from QB Chase Clement. The Owls finish with two home games, next week against Tulane (3-7/2-4) and against Tulsa (7-3/5-2) on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

The Texans (4-5) were off this past weekend. Next Sunday, they play Reggie Bush and New Orleans (4-5), which is coming off a loss yesterday to previously winless St. Louis.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (4) |

Why is the Chronicle beating this dead horse?

The Chronicle continues its apparent campaign to breath life into the second largest local urban boondoggle (second only to the Metro light rail system) -- the proposed Astrodome hotel project (previous posts here). Rice professor and local political pundit Bob Stein comments about the apparent dilemma:

"For public officials, it's like being in a maze," Stein said. "You don't know which turn you make is going to help you. You have the rodeo and the Texans — the stakeholders — and then you have the public."

In reality, there is no dilemma at all. As USC economics professor Peter Gordon observes with regard to such issues, three simple questions need to be addressed: 1) At what cost? 2) Compared to what? and 3) How do you know? Despite the public's fondness for the Dome, it is an obsolescent hulk that serves no useful purpose and costs a considerable amount each year just to mothball. The cost of the renovation is enormous and will almost certainly require some type of public contribution, particularly given the currently spooked credit and equity markets. Even if the deal could be financed without a large public contribution (I doubt it can), the county still has to face the prospect that the project will fail (many new hotels do) and that large operating subsidies will be necessary in the future. To make matters worse, there is inadequate demand for the city's existing supply of hotel rooms, much less a supply that is increased by 1,300 rooms that the Astrodome hotel project would contribute. Finally, the current tenants of Reliant Park object to the hotel project.

So, in the face of all of the foregoing, why does the Chronicle continue to beat the drum for the project? Inquiring minds would like to know.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

More on the matter of Judge Kent

The Houston Chronicle continued its investigative series into the matter of Galveston U.S. District Judge Sam Kent with this Lisa Olsen/Sunday edition article that provides the most detailed account to date of courtroom deputy Cathy McBroom's sexual harrassment allegations against Judge Kent (previous posts here). The Chron's account is based primarily on the Chronicle's interviews with a close friend -- Charlene Clark, a San Antonio schoolteacher -- with whom McBroom apparently confided after the alleged incident with Judge Kent, Ms. McBroom's mother and another former courtroom deputy of Judge Kent, Felicia Williams.

Under the Judicial Council of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sanctions order relating to the matter, Judge Kent is barred from commenting on the matters relating to the investigation and his attorney -- Maria Wyckoff Boyce of Baker & Botts -- has refused all requests for interviews and referred all questions to the Fifth Circuit. Judge Edith H. Jones, chief judge for the Fifth Circuit, has also refused comment on the investigation.

According to the Chronicle's account of McBroom's friend, the following is what McBroom told her occurred:

McBroom was summoned to the judge's chambers on Friday, March 23, at about 3 p.m.

Her hands were full of legal papers when the judge — a former high school athlete who is more than 6 inches taller and at least 100 pounds heavier — asked for a hug.

She told him she didn't think that was appropriate, but reluctantly approached.

The judge grabbed Mc-Broom, pulled up her blouse and her bra and put his mouth on her breast. Then, Kent forced her head down toward his crotch.

As McBroom struggled, Kent kept telling the married mother of three what he wanted to do to her in words too graphic to publish. The papers fell to the floor. The pet bulldog Kent kept in his chambers began to bark.

The incident was interrupted by the sound of footsteps from another staff member in the corridor, and the judge loosened his grip. As she left, the judge said McBroom was a good case manager and then made suggestions about engaging in a sexual act.

McBroom ran out crying. [. . .]

Between 2003 and 2007, McBroom experienced about 15 to 20 other incidents of alleged harassment, five involving improper touching, according to Clark and another source.

"He talked incredibly crudely when he was under the influence," Clark said. "He described sex acts. . . "

Olsen reports that McBroom, Ms. Williams (the other former case manager) and at least three other women later gave statements to Fifth Circuit investigators regarding Judge Kent's alleged abuse of employees. According to Olsen, women with knowledge of Judge Kent's actions contend that the first incidents of alleged harassment and unwanted physical contacts with female court employees began about ten years ago. Williams, who is now retired, also spoke with Olsen regarding her experience with Judge Kent:

Williams, who had worked for Kent from 1993 to 2002, said her firing came days after she apparently offended the judge with a comment she'd made about his arriving late for a hearing, though she says she was given no official reason at the time.

Williams told the Chronicle that over the years she frequently had seen Kent appear inebriated at work after long lunches with lawyer friends, was regularly asked for "hugs" and subjected to lewd remarks.

The judge said he could "service me when my husband was being treated for prostate cancer," Williams said. "He told me sexual dirty jokes, and (I) was expected to listen to his rude comments regarding other people."

Williams said she never told co-workers or even her husband about most of the comments out of loyalty to the judge — and out of fear that he would retaliate.

"I need to relay how Cathy and I felt threatened due to (Kent's) power and authority and were always concerned about our positions and knew we could be dismissed at a moment's notice," Williams said. "Since (I) no longer work for him, I feel more comfortable talking but will always feel the emotional pain."

Williams later worked at the federal courthouse in Houston until her retirement in 2006 with 33 years of U.S. government service.

McBroom filed an internal judicial conduct complaint against Kent on May 21st. On Sept. 28th, the Judicial Council's formal reprimand was issued and, about a month later, Judge Kent was reassigned to Houston. Judge Kent remains on a leave of absence until January, 2008.

With these latest revelations, my bet is that the matter of Judge Kent is headed to the House Judiciary Committee after the first of the new year.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 11, 2007

Why didn't the mainstream media expose Spitzer's abuses?

Regular readers of this blog know that former New York attorney general and current NY governor Eliot Spitzer's abuses of power have been a frequent topic for a long time, particularly Spitzer's dubious prosecution of former New York Stock Exchange chairman, Richard Grasso.

Well, as the years pass from Spitzer's odious term as AG, additional information is beginning to filter out that indicates that Spitzer's abuses of power were every bit as bad as suspected. Dealbreaker's John Carney has posts here and here reviewing Charles Gasparino's new book, King of the Club: Richard Grasso and the Survival of the New York Stock Exchange (Collins 2007) in which Carney summarizes Garparino's research on Spitzer's dubious tactics in investigating Grasso. Suffice it to say that Spitzer's tactics would have qualified him for a key position in any of the secret police units of the former Eastern European totalitarian regimes.

In Carney's latter post, he makes an excellent point about the mainstream media's myopia regarding Spitzer's abuses of power, which were regularly noted in the blogosphere, but rarely mentioned in the mainstream media outside of the Wall Street Journal. Carney observes:

Why didn’t [the mainstream media covering Spitzer's investigation of Grasso] reveal the slimy tactics of the Spitzer squad? We suspect part of the problem was the fear of being “cut off” of access. Reporters compete for scoops, and often those scoops depend on sources who will leak information to them. In the NYSE case, reporters assigned to the story were largely at the mercy of the investigators, who could cut-off uncooperative reporters, leaving them without copy to bring to their editors while their competitors filed stories with the newest dirt. They probably felt—not unrealistically—that their very jobs were on the line.

This reveals an unfortunate state of affairs. Playing bugle boy while government officials call the tunes from behind a veil of anonymity is not investigative journalism—it’s hardly journalism at all. It’s closer to propaganda. It would have been far better had the journalists turned their backs on the Spitzer squad, or even revealed these tactics to the public. Sure they may have lost some “good” stories but they could have painted a truer picture of what was going on. But that’s probably too much to hope for.

Exactly.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 10, 2007

Jerome Solomon's real bad Aggie joke

Kevin Whited catches Houston Chronicle sports columnist Jerome Solomon making arguably the worst attempt at an Aggie joke in history:

It is sad that Texas A&M has spent the '00s playing the role of little brother to Texas' big brother.

While the bratty Longhorns constantly rub A&M's nose in national championships — no matter how infrequently they come — the Aggies have to play with matches to get attention. (emphasis added)

Earth to Jerome, Earth to Jerome. The Aggie Bonfire collapse in 1999 was a horrific tragedy for not only Texas A&M University, but the entire state. Making light of it is in extremely poor taste.

My sense is that Mr. Solomon should sit in the corner for awhile after that one.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

November 9, 2007

The Lidge deal

New Stros General Manager Ed Wade's first major move was to end Brad Lidge's career with the Stros. Wade traded Lidge and utilityman Eric Bruntlett to the Phillies for CF Michael Bourn (a Houston native and former University of Houston player), reliever Geoff Geary and AA 3B Michael Costanzo.

I'm a firm believer that you evaluate trades primarily on the front end. A Major League ballclub wants its general manager to take reasonable risks in an attempt to improve the club. Because of the nature of risk, a reasonable trade can turn out bad. The Jason Jennings trade is a good recent example. It was a decent trade on the front end, but injury risk undermined the Stros' purpose for the trade. Sure, many local pundits condemned the trade after the Stros risk was realized, but that's an unfair way to evaluate a trade. If a GM is going to be ridiculed after the fact for taking risks to help the club, then that's going to deter the GM from taking those risks. That's a poor policy for developing and maintaining a successful ballclub.

Thus, evaluating this trade on the front end, it looks like a pretty good deal for the Stros, despite having to give up Lidge. One of the favorite pastimes of Stros fans over the past couple of seasons has been to psychoanalyze Lidge, who has taken it all in good-natured stride. His story is a compelling one. During the 2004 season, Lidge burst on the scene in essentially his second season of Major Leage Baseball and was, at least for a part of that season, the best relief pitcher in MLB and one of the primary reasons why the Stros won 36 out of their final 46 regular season games to make the playoffs and eventually come within a game of the 2004 World Series. In 94.2 innings that season, Lidge had a microscopic 1.90 ERA and saved 26 more runs than an average National League pitcher would have saved in the same number of innings (RSAA, explained here).

Lidge was very good again during the 2005 season (2.29 ERA/14 RSAA in 70.2 innings), but the first cracks in his armor began to show late that season. With the Stros one out away from the 2005 World Series and Lidge dominating the Cardinals, Albert Pujols hammered a game-winning Game 5 NLCS shot that still has not come back down to Earth. Lidge's confidence seemed to evaporate in the wake of Pujols' massive tater.

By the end of the following season (2006), Lidge had performed worse over the course of the season than virtually any other regular member of the Stros' pitching staff (5.28 ERA/-6 RSAA in 75 innings). It was not really difficult to understand why -- Lidge lost the ability to throw his devastating slider for strikes consistently. As a result, hitters laid off Lidge's slider and laid into his fastball, which Lidge does not locate particularly well. Moreover, Lidge has a long history of arm and specifically elbow problems owing to his violent mechanics -- as a starter in the low minors, he appeared in just 19 games from 1999 to 2001. His struggles with his control over the past couple of seasons just might indicate that the future injury risk for Lidge is quite high.

Lidge did make a nice comeback in 2007 (6 RSAA/3.36 ERA in 67 IP) from his horrifying 2006 season, but he still struggled with his control frequently. Curiously, the Stros delayed his knee surgery to remove loose cartilage until after the season, so it's clear now that they were showcasing him for a possible trade. Lidge is talented and an asset for any pitching staff, but his one dominant season (2004) does not mean that he will regain his stature as a dominant closer. My sense is that Chad Qualls may well end up being a better fit for that role.

Inasmuch as the Stros need to re-stock the young talent on their big league club and in their minor league system, trading veteran talent such as Lidge in his last year before free agency makes sense. Bourn is a potential leadoff man with on-base skills that Willy Taveras never mastered, and he runs and plays CF well. The downside risk on Bourn is that he will be an inexpensive OBP and defensive tool for a couple of years. Finally, picking up Bourn allows the Stros to move Hunter Pence to right field and dangle Luke Scott as trade bait for more pitching.

The prospect in the deal -- Costanzo -- is not a top notch prospect at third, but he projects as an average MLB 3B by his 270 AVG./.368 OBA/.490 SLG in his age-23 season in AA ball. Inasmuch as it is doubtful that Ty Wigginton is the long range answer for the Stros at 3B, it is conceivable that Constanzo could make Wigginton available as trade bait before the end of next season. That's the kind of flexibility that the Stros have lacked over the past several seasons as their minor league system became depleted.

Geary can be a serviceable reliever for the Stros, but I'm not going to get too excited about him until I see how he adjusts to the short porch in Minute Maid Park's left field. He pitched very well for the Phillies during their playoff stretch drive this past season, but ge is not a flamethrower. Right-handed offspeed pitchers (starting with the forgettable 2000 performance of Jose Lima) don't generally do all that well at Minute Maid. especially pitchers such as Geary who do not generate an overabundance of ground balls.

Nevertheless, I like this trade. Bourn has the potential to be what Taveras probably will never be, Geary can contribute right away and Costanzo is a solid prospect. All in all, a good day's work for the Stros new GM.

Update: Jeff Albert provides this optimistic analysis of the Lidge deal from the Phillies' perspective.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

The smog Olympics

The photo on the left is from this James Fallows post, which describes the dubious air quality at noon in downtown Beijing, the site of the 2008 Summer Olympics. As Fallows asks:

"But, seriously: how is this not an all-out emergency from the Olympic committee's point of view?"

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Nice guys on the PGA Tour

Golfweek's Jeff Rude provides this entertaining column in which he passes along some of his experiences with the truly nice fellows on the PGA Tour, the nicest of which, in Rude's view, is Beaumont native and former University of Houston great, Bruce Lietzke:

[Lietzke] had all the attributes you want in a next-door neighbor: Self-deprecation, humor, a pleasant nature, a realness, a playfulness, a deep sense of family and a vintage car collection to die for. With Lietzke, you could walk next door and get a golf lesson, borrow a wrench and, for the umpteenth time, hear his famous banana-under-the headcover story or about the time he revved one of his hot cars up Magnolia Lane.

My favorite Lietzke story, and the one that clinched his status as No. 1 favorite, happened in 1995. I needed to interview him but our schedules were conflicting. I was leaving for the British Open, and he was going on one of his long summer vacations and time was running out. So I read him the list of questions while in a taxi on the way to the Dallas airport and asked him to leave his answers on my answering machine. I told him I’d then listen to his answers and transcribe the quotes during a layover in Chicago on the way to Scotland.

When I retrieved messages at O’Hare Airport, sure enough Lietzke had called. Problem was, my voice mail cut off after two minutes. So to make this work, Lietzke had to call back and continue with his answers. And call back and continue. And call back and continue. When I got done writing down his answers, I realized he had called my answering machine 13 times.

I mean, telemarketers looking for cash don’t call my answering machine 13 times. And this was a PGA Tour player with 13 victories. I mean, some winless players don’t have 13 seconds (as in time) for someone carrying a notepad and pen.

Professional athletes in need of media training don’t need a seminar. They just need to hang out with Lietzke for a day.

Read the entire piece. I had the pleasure of playing a round with Liezke years ago at a University of Houston function and concur with Rude that he is a perfectly charming fellow.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 8, 2007

An expensive illusion

As I've noted several times previously, EconLog's Arnold Kling is among the clearest thinkers in the U.S. on reform of the health care finance system. He has been addressing health care finance issues again this week, first in this podcast interview with Russ Roberts, and also in posts here and here addressing issues raised by Greg Mankiw's NY Times article on the misleading nature of certain statistics that are frequently tossed around in the health care finance debates. But the most insightful Kling health care finance post this week was this Cato-at-Liberty post in which he analogizes the third party payor health care finance system to subsidized prostitution:

Suppose we were 20-year-old guys who hung out together, and one of our friends was down on his luck with women. He’s really depressed about it. We decide–not necessarily the brightest idea–to hire him a prostitute. We don’t want him to know she’s a prostitute, so we all chip in and pay her, tell her to meet our friend at a bar, and make him feel better about himself.

Next morning, we ask him how it went. He says, “Great. I really feel better about myself. In fact, I’m going to see her again tonight.”

As friends of the guy, we look at each other and realize that he will be devastated if he learns the truth. So we chip in again and pay the prostitute to make our friend feel better about himself. This keeps happening day after day, and eventually maintaining our friend’s illusion about his love life gets to be really expensive.

Similarly, free health care is an attractive illusion. It’s just gotten to be really expensive to maintain the illusion.

Before the blogosphere, discussion and analysis of health care finance -- which has become one of the key domestic issues of our time -- was largely buried in technical books, economic or medical journals and an occasional op-ed on the editorial pages. As a result, health care finance was largely misunderstood by the public and even a large segment of the medical profession. Now, through the leadership of economic bloggers such as Kling, the important issues relating to health care finance reform are instantly available for the world to review as a virtual cornucopia of economic bloggers has emerged to provide commentary and insight. That's a wonderful legacy for Kling, and one for which we should all be appreciative.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

The DeBakey-Cooley rapprochement

The longtime feud and resulting intense competition between Houston cardiovascular surgeons Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley was a part of what catapulted Houston's Texas Medical Center into the upper tier of the world's great medical centers over the past 40 years.

Now, the Chronicle's fine Texas Medical Center reporter, Todd Ackerman, reports in this article that the DeBakey-Cooley rift is no more:

It's considered one of medicine's best-known feuds: two brilliant and egotistical doctors on the frontiers of cardiovascular surgery, whose falling-out divided a community and became the stuff of legend.

Immortalized in a Life magazine cover story, the rift persisted for decades. Although the competition spurred them to achievements that transformed the Texas Medical Center into the world's heart treatment center, the former collaborators avoided each other and barely spoke.

But recently, Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley buried the hatchet.

"I'm glad the rivalry may have passed by," Cooley said on Oct. 27, presenting DeBakey with a lifetime achievement award at a meeting of Cooley's Cardiovascular Surgical Society. "I hope this is not just a temporary truce or cease-fire (but) ... a permanent treaty between us."

DeBakey, 99, responded that he was glad to be there for two reasons: "One is, I'm alive. And the other, of course, is to get this award. Denton, I am really touched by it."

Read the entire article.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

What's really wrong with Ahman Green

Leading Texans cheerleader, Chronicle pro football columnist John McClain, reports on the baffling nature of the injury that is holding back the Texans' high-priced running back, Ahman Green:

Meanwhile, the Texans asked running back Ahman Green, 30, to have his sore right knee examined by [Dr. James] Andrews to see if he can find something that might help him stay on the field.

"We're trying to find out what's really going on, why it's swelling and giving me pain and discomfort," Green said after practice Tuesday. "I've had three MRIs, and they still don't know from that, so I'm going to fly over there and see what we can find out." [. . .]

"I'm hoping we'll finally know," Green said. "I hope we can find a solution for this. We'll have our finger on the dot to see exactly what it is. Once we find the problem, we'll have a solution.

"I know what I bring to this team, and my teammates depend on me a lot. And when I'm injured, I can't do the things I know I can do."

In reality, the acquisition of Green was a mistake -- and a very expensive one at that -- from the beginning. Moreover, that it was a mistake should not have been a surprise to anyone. As noted in my annual preview of the Texans' season:

An example of the dubious decision-making regarding offensive personnel is the signing of RB Ahman Green, formerly of Green Bay. Green was a great running back in his prime with the Pack, but he has averaged less than four yards per carry for the past two seasons. Inasmuch as the Texans agreed to pay Green $23 million over four years ($8 million guaranteed in the first season), the chances that the 30-year old Green will be worth the value of this contract this season are tenuous, at best. The chances of him still being worth the contract a couple of years from now are so speculative as to be off the charts.

In short, you won't read about it in McClain's columns, but Green represents another indication that the hiring of current Texans coach Gary Kubiak has not changed the legacy of dubious personnel decisions over at Reliant Park.

Ahman Green = eventual salary cap hit.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

November 7, 2007

Last weekend's truly biggest game

The grudge match between LSU and Alabama was certainly the most watched big college football game of this past weekend. But for my money, the most interesting game of the weekend was Navy's dramatic 46-44 triple overtime victory over Notre Dame at South Bend, ending a 43 year losing streak by the Midshipmen against the Fighting Irish. The win was made even more satisfying for the Middies because a blatant "hometown" pass interference call by one of the referees gave Notre Dame another chance to tie the game at the end of the third overtime, but Navy stuffed the Irish on the retry to preserve the victory.

John Feinstein provides this excellent analysis of what Navy's victory means:

Skeptics will point out that this is a bad (now 1-8) Notre Dame team. It doesn't matter. Every Notre Dame team should dominate Navy on the football field. At one point during the game, NBC -- also known as the Notre Dame Broadcasting Co. because it pays the school millions of dollars a year to televise all its home games -- did a promo for a high school All-Star game it televises in January. Only the country's top-rated high school seniors are invited to play.

"Twenty-one of the current Irish players have played in that game in past years," NBC play-by-play announcer Tom Hammond said.

That would be exactly 21 more than are currently playing at Navy. Or, as Hammond's partner Pat Haden pointed out: "With all due respect, Navy doesn't get to recruit blue-chip football players."

Just blue-chip people. [. . .]

The best description I ever heard of what it is like to play football at Navy, Army and Air Force came from Fred Goldsmith, who coached at Air Force: "At a civilian school the hardest part of a football player's day is football practice," he said. "At an academy, the easiest part of a football player's day is football practice."

Navy can't possibly beat Notre Dame. Except on Saturday a group of youngsters who were too small or too slow (or both) to play big-time college football did just that.

With all due respect to Notre Dame and all its blue-chip players, Navy's celebration should be our celebration.

By the way, the game included one of the worst coaching calls that I've ever seen. Notre Dame's Charlie Weis decided to go for it on 4th and 8 at the Navy 24 yard line with 45 seconds remaining in regulation instead of attempting a 41-yard field goal that could have won the game. If a 1-8 record at Notre Dame doesn't get Weis fired, then that type of coaching decision almost certainly will.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) |

Final PGA Tour money lists

After last weekend's final PGA Tour tournament of the year, the PGA Tour money list has been finalized for purposes of qualifying for the 2008 PGA Tour events. The top 125 on the list are fully exempt next year and the top 30 gets into the Masters. The Nationwide Tour money list is also finalized. The top 25 on that list earn a PGA Tour card for 2008.

Players not otherwise exempt that finish between 126-150 on the money list usually still get into 16-20 events in the following year, but they have little control over their schedules because they do not know what tournaments will be available for them. Many of these players in that part of the list also rely on past champion and sponsor exemptions. The players who are really in a tough spot are those who finished outside of the top 150 and have no other type of exemption status.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

Bad judgment alert

As if corruption in the Texas Youth Commission, the bursting state prison system, reform of the judicial selection system, or reorganization of TSU isn't enough to keep Texas legislators occupied. Now, a local state legislator is teaming up with a colleague to confront a truly important issue -- that Texans are not going to be able to watch certain NFL football games on certain cable television networks:

Cable companies and the NFL Network are competing for Texas lawmakers' support in their national fight over whether cable customers should be charged extra for the football channel.

While some cable companies have agreed to carry the network's eight regular-season games, Time Warner Cable, the largest in Texas, has not come to terms with the network.

Pressure has been mounting on all parties as the Dallas Cowboys' Nov. 29 matchup with the Green Bay Packers approaches. The game will only be shown on the NFL Network.

"I've had a lot more people contact me about NFL football the last two months instead of child protective services, windstorm insurance or worker's compensation, which are frankly more important issues," said Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale, R-Tomball. "I don't control what constituents call me about." [. . .]

Van Arsdale and Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, said last week that they would consider introducing consumer-oriented legislation in the 2009 session if the two sides don't reach an agreement.

"Cable companies need to focus on giving their customers what they want, which is football," Brimer said. [. . .]

Five Democratic members of the Texas House from Bexar County have sent letters to the Federal Communication Commission asking it to intercede in the argument.

Of course, all of these games are readily available on the Dish Network, so no consumer is prevented from buying that product if they want to see these NFL Network games bad enough. However, that doesn't stop the seemingly limitless amount of bad judgment in legislative circles over defining a legitimate legislative issue.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 6, 2007

30 year anniversary of the first angioplasty

Angioplasty has been a common topic on this blog, so it seems fitting to pass along this article and related video about Dolf Bachmann, the first patient to undergo balloon angioplasty. Bachmann was 38 years old when he underwent the procedure on September 16, 1977 and now is a healthy and happy 68 year-old who enjoys an "excellent life" that includes hobbies such as "hiking, Nordic walking, skiing, working in my garden and playing cards."

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Dell quietly complies

One of the fringe benefits of the turmoil at Merrill Lynch and Citigroup last week is that Austin-based Dell Inc quietly filed five 10-Qs, a proxy statement and last year’s 10-K (see this previous post about Dell's delinquent filings). The filings contain restated financial information stretching from 2003 to the first fiscal quarter of 2007 and brings Dell into compliance with Nasdeq rules regarding filing of periodic financial reporting. Jack Ciesielski in this AAO Blog post does the heavy lifting in analyzing Dell's filings.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Winning by losing

Dr. Michael Lewis penned this NY Times op-ed last weekend in which he asserts that Major League Baseball's present revenue-sharing formula does little to affect the quality of the various teams on average, even though small market teams do well now and then:

The Colorado Rockies’ appearance in the World Series last month may have looked like evidence of success for revenue-sharing. Like the Oakland Athletics, the Minnesota Twins, the Detroit Tigers and the San Diego Padres last year, a small-market team proved competitive enough to reach the playoffs. But revenue sharing, as it is now structured, actually makes lasting success less likely for all five of these teams. [. . .]

Since 1998, millions of dollars have been transferred from richer teams to poorer ones in an attempt to let all teams share in the economic advantages associated with playing in big markets — a large fan base, lots of press coverage and lucrative local cable television contracts. Last year, more than $300 million was transferred.

Yet since revenue sharing began, at least one team from each of the big four markets — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston — has appeared in every World Series except 2006. In the 10 years before 1998, in contrast, only two Series included one of those big-market teams.

The problem is that the teams receiving payments have come to use them as a primary source of income — rather than to build winning teams. . .

As John Palmer sums up:

Revenue sharing has little impact on the expected marginal revenue and marginal costs of ticket sales, and it especially has little impact on the expected marginal revenue product and marginal factor costs of hiring more talent for the team. As a result, many teams like, say, Tampa Bay, respond to what is essentially a lump-sum transfer by pocketing the extra cash. [. . .]

So revenue-sharing also reduces the marginal revenue of an expected win, and not just for the big-market teams that are taxed to support the programme; it also reduces the incentive for small market teams, the recipients of revenue-sharing, to win too.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 5, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(Sue Ogrocki/AP photo; previous weekly reviews here)

Texans 24 Raiders 17

The banged-up Texans (4-5) gamely beat a dreadful Raiders (2-6) team in front of a few close friends and relatives in a nearly-empty Oakland Coliseum. Although the Raiders are one of the worst teams in the NFL along with Miami and St. Louis, the Texans played hard and overcame injuries to their starting QB (Matt Schaub), their best defensive back (Dunta Robinson) and their best running back (Ahman Green). The Texans get a badly-needed bye week next weekend before returning weekend to face the revived Saints (4-4) at Reliant.

Oklahoma 42 Texas Aggies 14

As one columnist put it:

Texas A&M chewed up considerable chunks of Owen Field turf with precise execution Saturday night.

And then the Aggie Band left the field.

A comment from an Aggie friend pretty well sums up how far the Aggies (6-4/3-3) football expectations have fallen under Coach Fran: "Well, at least it wasn't 77-0."

With less than 9 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, with the Aggies already down 28-0 and with a first down on the Oklahoma 44, check out the following sequence:

1st and 10 at TA&M 47 -- Jorvorskie Lane rush for 9 yards to the Okla 44.
2nd and 1 at OKLA 44 -- Stephen McGee pass incomplete.
3rd and 1 at OKLA 44 -- Stephen McGee pass incomplete.
4th and 1 at OKLA 44 -- Justin Brantly punt for 27 yards, fair catch at the Okla 17.

4th and 1, in Oklahoma territory, down by 28, and Coach Fran doesn't have the Aggies go for it? My sense is that the Aggies have surrendered. Another lopsided loss is likely at Missouri (8-1/4-1) next week before the Aggies' regular season mercifully ends on the Friday after Thanksgiving in College Station against UT (8-2/4-2).

Texas Longhorns 38 Oklahoma State 35

With under 12 minutes to go, the Cowboys (5-4/3-2) led the Horns (8-2/4-2) 35-14 and had outgained the Horns 495 yards to roughly 300 yards. Less than 8 minutes later, the Longhorns had tied the score and, a couple of minutes later, Longhorn K Ryan Bailey kicked the winning field goal to pull out the victory.

During that 4th quarter, Texas had 311 of its season-high 589 yards of total offense and scored on all four possessions, including drives of 91 and 99 yards. QB Colt McCoy completed all eight of his passes in the 4th quarter for 145 yards and came up with a 14-yard scramble that put the Horns within range of Bailey's game-winning field goal.

But the real story was RB Jamaal Charles, who had an incredible 4th quarter for the second straight week. Charles had 125 of his 180 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the 4th quarter, which means that he has 340 rushing yards and five TDs in the 4th quarter during the last two games!

As noted a couple of weeks ago, this relatively mediocre Longhorns team remains in the hunt for a BCS bowl game if they can beat Tech (7-3/3-3) at Austin next Saturday and the Aggies in College Station on the Friday after Thanksgiving. On the other hand, this Horns team is eminently capable of losing both games. Now, that's entertainment!

Houston Cougars 38 SMU 28

The Cougars (6-3/5-1) dodged an inspired bullet in beating the Mustangs (1-8/0-5) in the ESPN Sunday night game at the Rob. The Mustangs, who clearly were playing with enthusiasm for their recently-fired head coach (Phil Bennett), gave the Coogs all they could handle. Only a revived Houston defense in the 4th quarter and the usual 500+ of total offense from the Coog offense pulled this one out. And, oh yeah, the Cougars all-everything RB Anthony Alridge even threw for a TD in this one. The Cougars go on the road for their C-USA showdown game with Tulsa (6-3/4-2) next Saturday.

Rice 56 UTEP 48

How on earth did the Owls (2-7/2-3) manage to win this game despite committing seven turnovers and allowing UTEP to recover two onside kicks? QB Chase Clement was outstanding (395 yards passing and six TDs; 103 yards rushing and two TDs), while WR Jarett Dillard (11 receptions for 168 yards and two TDs) was merely very good (he lost a fumble after a 60 yard catch and run). Ever since last year's Rice-UH game, I've been a big Clement fan, so it would not surprise me if the Owls win their final three games of the season (at SMU (1-7/0-4), at home against Tulane (2-7/1-4) and Tulsa (6-3/4-2)), particularly if the Owls can mount any meaningful defense in those games. Clement and Dillard are the real deal.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Risky business

The tragic death Saturday morning of 28-year-old veteran marathoner, Ryan Shay, during the United States Olympic trials marathon in Central Park in New York City reminds us of a very important health tip -- long-distance running is not particularly healthy.

Update: Another participant in the marathon died afterward.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

Edwards scores

I've criticized John Edwards over the years for his demagogic tendencies. However, I must admit that the video below by the Edwards campaign is darn effective. Don't you know that Team Hillary will be working on those debating skills in the coming weeks?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

November 4, 2007

The Houston-Cleveland connection

Other than bad NFL football teams, what do Houston and Cleveland have in common? Not much, except that they are the only U.S. markets in which the Patriots-Colts game this afternoon will not be available for home viewers via network television.

The Browns play the Seahawks on FOX at the same time as the Patriots-Colts game, so the Cleveland market gets that game. Similarly, Houstonians must endure the Raiders-Texans game on CBS rather than the Patriots-Colts game. Oakland area residents wisely didn't buy enough tickets to sell out the Raiders-Texans game, so that game is mercifully blacked out in the Bay Area, allowing viewers there to watch the Patriots-Colts game.

It's painful enough having to watch the Texans all the time. Isn't it about time for the NFL to ditch these absurd rules that prevent the best games from being viewed in certain markets?

Posted by Tom at 12:18 AM | Comments (1) |

November 3, 2007

Texas Haute Country

The New York Times discovers what we in Texas already know -- the Texas Hill Country is wonderful!

Posted by Tom at 12:40 AM | Comments (0) |

November 2, 2007

Lyle Lovett turns 50

While the subject of the previous post is a new Houstonian, the subject of this Tennessean.com article is one of my favorite native Houstonians, the humble and multi-talented, Lyle Lovett.

Lovett performed and received the "Trailblazer Award" at the Americana Music Awards and Honors in Nashville last night. He also turned 50. As the article notes, Lovett's marvelous talent has generated a remarkably consistent musical product throughout his 21 year recording career:

A back-to-back listen to his self-titled debut album and to new album It's Not Big It's Large offers evidence that Lovett has broadened but not changed his sound or style during his career. His songs have always been layered, intelligent and emotionally precise, written in moments of inspiration and whittled to marrow. Back then, they called his stuff "country." Now it's "Americana." Go figure.

A marvelous songwriter, Lovett passes along arguably his most important songwriting quality:

"I don't feel like [songwriting is] harder as you go along," he said. "I've always felt like it's hard. I'm always blocked as a writer, always. And every time I write something I'm happy with, I have this feeling like, 'That could be the last one.' "

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

The Rockets' stathead

Check out this excellent Jason Friedman/Houston Press article on new Rockets general manager, Daryl Morey. As noted in this previous post, I liked Les Alexander's decision in hiring Morey, who is a stathead. That quality has been sadly lacking in the Rockets' management suite over the past decade as the team declined from its mid-1990's dominance. Now, if Morey can just find the Rockets an above-average point guard.

By the way, if you want to read a blog that Morey almost certainly reads, then check out Dave Berri's Wages of Wins. Berri is one of the co-authors of the popular Wages of Wins (Stanford 2006) that shows how statistical analysis debunks a large amount of the conventional wisdom regarding professional sports. In this post prompted by Friedman's article on Morey, Berri explains how the traditional basketball boxscore often misleads the reader as to the effectiveness of the participants in a particular game. In my view, Berri is writing the most insightful analysis on the NBA in the blogosphere right now, and his insights on the NFL aren't bad, either.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Why is Richard Justice analyzing sports, part II

Chronicle sports columnist Richard Justice's inability to analyze the subject that he covers has been a common topic on this blog (see also here and here). Following up on that theme, Matt over at DGDB&D provides this clever post on his attempt to engage Justice in a dialogue over the latter's constant criticism of Texans' defensive end Mario Williams. He also notes that most of the articles and columns generated by the Chronicle sports staff about the Texans can be categorized into one of three columns:

At this point in the season, the majority of columns proffered by that group (that aren't pure Megan Manfull rumormill) can be lumped into one of three categories: (1) Richard Justice bashing Mario Williams like a jilted schoolgirl, (2) blame-laying columns that excoriate the whipping-boy du jour (these are sometimes disguised as Vince-Young-praise columns that excoriate the fact that he was not drafted by Houston), and (3) jump-off-the-bandwagon pieces from the same people who profess to be the biggest cheerleaders.

The specialized blogs covering the Texans -- DGDB&D, Stephanie Stradley, and Texans Tail Gate, to name just three -- are far superior to the Chronicle in providing insightful analysis of the local team. Those layoffs that occurred this past week over at the Chronicle happened for a reason -- readers are gravitating toward better analysis than what the Chronicle is providing. Absent an influx of new talent on the Chronicle sports desk, that drift is not likely to change.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) |

November 1, 2007

Look who is hosting another "charity" golf tournament?

So, this Chronicle article reports that former PGA Tour golfer and longtime Houstonian Doug Sanders is hosting another charity golf tournament, this time at the Palmer Course in The Woodlands on November 12th. The article notes that Sanders has signed up 16 foursomes for the event, but would like to have 20.

I wonder if Wayne Dolcefino has put a foursome together yet?

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Speaking with authority

I swear, you can't make this stuff up.

On Tuesday morning, Ohio congressman and chronic Democratic Party presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich questioned President Bush's mental health:

"I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health," Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, said in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board on Tuesday. "There's something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact."

On Tuesday evening during a debate between Democratic Party presidential candidates, Kucinich confirmed that he had once seen a UFO and that it was O.K. because former President Jimmy Carter once admitted that he had seen a UFO, too.

As the blog post notes, at least Carter didn't admit it on national television.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

A Halloween harbinger?

From the incomparable Stu Rees of Stu's Views:

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 31, 2007

Mayor White's L.A. moment

Houston Mayor Bill White is capriciously manipulating local governmental power to sidetrack development of a condominium project (nicknamed the "Ashby high-rise") in a neighborhood where he raises a substantial political campaign funds. The incident has received some national attention through this Wall Street Journal ($) article, which somehow suggests that Houston's phenomenal growth over the past 50 years has been in spite of -- rather than because of -- the city's lack of zoning and liberal land use policies.

At any rate, it's really a sad reflection of the state of political discourse in Houston that the Mayor has been given a pass on undermining a project for the benefit of his campaign war chest. The property was valued and sold to the present owners on the assumption that a large-scale redevelopment would be built there and the owners followed all the city's rules and regulations in obtaining the necessary permits to proceed with construction. When a few wealthy neighbors of the development pulled Mayor White's chain, he blithely ordered one of the city's approvals to be revised to delay the development and now is attempting to ramrod two ordinances through city council to stop the project altogether.

In short, the developers invested a substantial amount of money in buying the property and followed the laws in preparing the large-scale redevelopment, dozens of which dot Houston's landscape. Mayor White and his friends don't like the development, so White is changing the laws. And this is political leadership?

At any rate, all of this reminded me of this excellent Virginia Postrel/Atlantic.com article that compares the radically different land use policies of Los Angeles, on one hand, and Dallas (which are quite similar to Houston's), on the other. Suffice it to say that the likes of Mayor White favor the Los Angeles approach over that of Dallas and Houston. Think about that the next time you vote for mayor.

Update: The website for the group opposing the project is here. A copy of the proposed "emergency" ordinance is here.

Update 2: A recent West U Examiner article on the project is here.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (7) |

"A rusted-out battleship in a spruced up port"

Amazingly, the silly notion that it might be economically feasible to convert the Astrodome into a Gaylord Texan-type convention hotel has been making the local rounds for over three years now.

Maybe the combination of the Texans and the Rodeo coming out against the proposal will finally put the nonsense to rest. As the Chron article notes, even County Judge Ed Emmett is skeptical about the merits of the proposal:

County Judge Ed Emmett signaled in September that he isn't convinced the project is viable. While attending the Texans' home opener in September, he said the Astrodome struck him as an aging, rusted-out battleship that remains in a spruced-up port.

It occurs to me that the Astrodome hotel promoters decision to obtain a financing commitment for the project before getting the consent of the Reliant Park tenants to the project put a very large cart before the horse. Sort of like Oilers' owner Bud Adams unveiling a model of a proposed new downtown football/basketball stadium back in the mid-1990's without telling Rockets owner Les Alexander and Mayor Bob Lanier about it first. And we all know what happened after that imbroglio.

All of these machinations over what to do with the Dome would be relatively harmless except for the fact that the Dome continues to "eat" -- that is, it costs Harris County a hefty sum (probably at least $3 million or so annually) just to mothball the Dome. Hopefully, the opposition of the main tenants at Reliant Park to the hotel redevelopment plan will finally lead to the Dome property being used for the best land use, which is probably parking. That's not as sexy as a big hotel, but it provides something that is actually needed and will generate some revenue.

By the way, a good sign that a project is almost kaput is that its supporters become delusional. According to the Chron article, that's already happening to certain promoters of the Astrodome hotel project:

Willie Loston, director of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp., said the county attorney's office is researching whether the county could approve the project over the objections of the Texans and the rodeo if the sports corporation determined the development would not hurt their operations.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

The booming Texas Triangle

Clear Thinkers favorite Tory Gattis does the calculations and concludes in this post that the Texas Triangle Megalopolis -- the area between Houston on the southeast edge to Dallas-Ft Worth on the northern tip down through Austin and to San Antoinio on the southwest edge -- is the 10th largest economic mega-region in the world (and fifth largest in the U.S.) with $700 billion in GDP (based on 2000 numbers).

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 30, 2007

Coach Fran's nightmare worsens?

Just when it seemed as if Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione's season couldn't get much worse, it looks as if it just might.

As noted in previous posts over the past two years here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here, Coach Fran's tenure at A&M has been on the thinnest of ice for quite some time. The latest thud in Coach Fran's reign in Aggieland was the thorough trouncing that the Kansas Jayhawks laid on A&M this past Saturday night in front of 85,000 demoralized Aggie faithful.

But that game against Kansas may look positively pleasant in comparison to what faces the Aggies next Saturday night on ABC -- playing the sixth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners in Norman.

Now, playing OU in Norman is never a picnic. But the subplot to this particular game is that Coach Fran inexplicably gave OU extra motivation with a preseason jab against the Sooners. In speaking to the Houston Touchdown Club in early August, Franchione said he wasn’t sure who would be the Sooners’ starting quarterback, but "that may be the only question mark they have . . . other than what jobs they are going to work this year. That is a joke. I couldn’t resist." Coach Fran was making light of OU’s recent NCAA violations involving players receiving unearned compensation from a Norman automobile dealership.

Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops -- who already strikes fear in at least one other Texas big-time college football coach -- was asked yesterday during the Big 12 weekly coaches' news conference if he plans to remind his players this week about Coach Fran's preseason comments:

"We don’t need to do that,” Stoops said.

Yeah. Right.

Franchione is 0-5 all-time against Stoops-coached teams (four of which have been while at A&M), including the worst lost in A&M history, a 77-0 debacle in 2003.

Things could get very ugly on Saturday night in Norman.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) |

"A glorified club championship?"

The first run of the PGA Tour's Fed Ex Cup did not exactly transfix golf fans. However, this Bob Harig/ESPN.com article makes the Fed Ex Cup look like the Masters in comparison to the PGA Tour's initial Fall Series:

Dubbed the Fall Series, the final seven events on the PGA Tour schedule will mercifully come to an end next week in Orlando, where the biggest stories will revolve around players losing their full-time status (despite making $700,000 this year) or secure veterans who try to fit in golf around visits to the Disney theme parks.

"There were 100 people following the final group last Sunday in Scottsdale," said PGA Tour veteran Steve Flesch. "It's like a glorified club championship. I don't think that's what the tour intended. And I think they need to address it."

Ah, the ever-widening Tiger chasm.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

The Brits get it

The New York Giants beat the winless Miami Dolphins in London on Sunday in the National Football League's first regular season game played outside the United States. And based on this Tom Lutz/Guardian Unlimited op-ed on the game, it looks as if the English sports reporters are already catching on to the style of their American brethren:

"Some Dolphins fans have complained that they've been deprived of a home game, but judging by their team's inept performance, the NFL has done them a favour."

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 29, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(AP photo by Mark J. Terrill/prior weekly reviews are here)

Chargers 35 Texans 10

No change from last week's analysis in regard to the Texans (3-5), including continued fawning local mainstream media treatment of Coach Kubiak (well, perhaps a little less fawning). The game was not as close as hte score indicates. By the way, would somebody arrange a reception so that the Texans' secondary could be introduced to Chargers TE Antonio Gates? The Texans play at Oakland (2-5) next Sunday before a badly-needed bye week. It is becoming increasingly clear with each passing week that Coach Kubiak has some difficult personnel decisions to make, both with regard to the players and assistant coaches. The Texans were a poorly-prepared football team for the second week in a row.

Kansas 19 Texas Aggies 11

The Coach Fran Death March continues as the Aggies (6-3/3-2) were dominated in this one by Kansas, which managed to keep the score closer than it should have by missing three makeable field goals and having a TD run called back by a penalty. At least Aggie angst over the situation has mellowed to the point where it is producing hugely entertaining YouTube videos. The Aggies are looking forward to next week's ABC-televised Saturday night game at Oklahoma (7-1/3-1) about as much as hemorrhoid surgery.

Texas Longhorns 28 Nebraska 25

Through three quarters of this game, the Horns (7-2/3-2) were looking to be embarrassed by the undermanned Cornhuskers (4-5/1-4). Then, Longhorn RB Jamaal Charles went Anthony Alridge on Nebraska during the 4th quarter. Charles ended up with 290 yards rushing on 33 carries in the game, including 216 yards and 3 TD runs (25, 86 and 40 yards) in the 4th quarter alone (key tip to Nebraska defense -- blitzs can backfire on running plays, too). The Horns travel to Stillwater next Saturday to face the suddnely famous Mike Gundy and the Oklahoma State Cowboys (5-3/3-1) before finishing up the regular season against Texas Tech (6-3/2-3) in Austin and A&M at College Station.

Houston Cougars 34 UTEP 31

Ho-hum, another game, another double-digit deficit, another 520 yard offensive performance, and another comeback win. The increasingly red-hot Coogs (5-3/3-1) were led by star RB Anthony Alridge (204 yards on a career-high 27 carries) and redshirt freshman QB, Case Keenum (13/20 passing for 116 yds/ 72 yds rushing on 10 carries). The Coogs host SMU (1-7/0-4) next Sunday night in a televised game and then head to Tulsa (5-3/3-2) for the game that will probably determine the C-USA Western Division champion.

Marshall 34 Rice 21

Key tip of the week to the Owls (1-7/1-3) -- it's hard to come back from a 24 point deficit, even to previously winless Marshall (1-7/1-3). The Owls host UTEP (4-4/2-2) next Saturday.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

A special Houstonian

I criticized Craig Biggio for the way in which he ended his playing career with the Stros, but I have never questioned that he and Jeff Bagwell are the best players ever to have played for the Stros.

Bidg is also a wonderful ambassador for Houston, his adopted hometown. Over the weekend, Chevrolet named Bidg the 2007 recipient of the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award for his tireless work on behalf of the Sunshine Kids.

It is a well-deserved honor for a very special Houstonian. Congratulations on a job well done.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

Ben Stein's nightmare multiplies

This post from last week noted how Felix Salmon had become NY Times business columnist Ben Stein's worst nightmare, sort of how Larry Ribstein had been to Steins' fellow columnist, Gretchen Morgenson.

Now, Stein's nightmare is multiplying exponentially. On the heels of Stein's latest Sunday Times column, Salmon, Yves Smith, and Dean Baker have already pointed out the vacuity of Stein's analysis.

Do the Times business editors even notice that Stein has become a laughing stock?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 28, 2007

O'Neal walking the plank

Merrill Lynch's announcement this past week of a third-quarter loss of $2.3 billion and a $8.4 billion charge for failed credit and mortgage-related investments generated a large number of comments from around the blogosphere on the future of Merrill's CEO, E. Stanley O'Neal, none of which were better than this one from The Epicurean Dealmaker:

I cannot speculate what will happen next at Mother Merrill, but I can guarantee you O'Neal's days at the helm are numbered. Being a CEO at an investment bank is not unlike crowd surfing at a mosh pit: it's a pretty cool way to move around quickly, you are supported entirely by other peoples' efforts, and everyone tries to get a piece of you. Unfortunately, when the crowd loses interest in supporting you, you tend to fall fast, hard, and painfully. In addition, after dropping you lots of your former investment banking subordinates—both friend and foe—have the added charming tendency to skewer you repeatedly with long knives. Et tu, Brute?

Read the entire piece.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 27, 2007

Judge Kent transferred to Houston

In the ongoing saga of Galveston-based U.S. District Judge Sam Kent (previous posts here), the Executive Session of Judges of the Southern District of Texas issued a couple of administrative orders (here and here) transferring the duty station of Judge Kent from Galveston to Houston and delegating the handling of the Galveston docket to other U.S. District Judges of the Southern District. A related Chronicle article is here.

The order transferring Judge Kent's duty station to Houston does not say when, if ever, Kent would be reassigned to Galveston. David Bradley, chief deputy clerk for the Southern District, told the Chronicle that Judge Kent will remain in Houston until a new order is issued to return him to Galveston. One of the above orders does put Judge Kent back into the case assignment rotation as he will receive 20% of the civil cases filed in the Houston Division. However, Judge Kent will not be assigned any criminal cases through Dec. 31, probably because he remains on leave until January, 8, 2008.

Posted by Tom at 12:16 AM | Comments (0) |

October 26, 2007

My concierge health care experience

Bill Lent is one of Houston's finest internists. How do I know this? Well, because I know who trained him (my late father) and he has been my personal physician for the past 15 years or so. Having been blessed with good health, the only medical service that I buy from Dr. Lent in most years is my annual physical, which I generally schedule for about this time each year. I always enjoy catching up with Dr. Lent, who provides me with "on the front line" information regarding the horrific cost of health care regulations, which are literally strangling the market for primary care physicians in the U.S.

It's been particularly interesting watching the evolution over the years of Dr. Lent's internal medicine practice, from one in which Dr. Lent provided an unusually high level of personal care to his patients (something my father emphasized in his teaching) to a high volume, impersonal practice that virtually all primary care practices have been required to adopt to remain even marginally profitable under the present U.S. health care finance system. Over the past ten years or so, Dr. Lent has continually confided to me during our annual visits that he was uncomfortable with the direction of his practice.

So, I was pleased to learn when I scheduled my physical a couple of weeks ago that Dr. Lent is doing something about it. Starting next month, Dr. Lent is commencing a concierge health care practice, administered by MDVIP out of Boca Raton, in which he is limiting his practice to about 600 patients who will pay Dr. Lent $1,500 annually for the benefit of receiving his personalized style of service. Coincidentally, this Wall Street Journal ($) article earlier this week described the proliferation of pre-paid health care plans, which is sort of a lower-priced form of what Dr. Lent is doing. The WSJ article essentially describes how many primary care physicians are simply dropping out of insurance plans -- both public and private -- in favor of prepaid plans that offer unlimited access to basic health care for set monthly fees.

Inasmuch as the employer-based health insurance system typically offers low-copays and deductibles for the vast majority of health care services, a substantial amount of the American health care finance system is basically prepaid health care already. In order to maintain profitability in a highly-regulated market, insurance companies compensate for these low usage fees by charging higher monthly premiums, lowballing doctors' fees, and challenging claims continually. The result has been the evolution of a primary care system that is incredibly bureaucratic (have you ever tried to figure out how your insurance pays claims?) and literally breaking down.

The MDVIP model treats primary care service similar to a health club membership. The model focuses on the delivery of relatively inexpensive, protocol-driven care than can be offered at a relatively low cost while still providing patients more overall access. MDVIP's model is relatively expensive, so low-income patients will have a difficult time affording the fee. However, providing a tax deduction for individual health insurance would make such pre-paid plans more affordable for low-income patients, while providing Medicaid patients with vouchers for prepaid health care would have a similar impact.

Who will be threatened from the proliferation of these plans under the current health care finance system? Well, it's a bit early to speculate, but my sense is that insurance companies with big stakes in employer-based health insurance will not enjoy the competition from MDVIP-type practices. Similarly, speciality providers who depend on state regulatory mandates in comprehensive insurance plans to subsidize their practices will also feel the competitive pressure if these types of plans catch on in a big way.

So, I'm going to enjoy learning about how Dr. Lent's practice changes over the next year under the MDVIP structure. If it is successful, as I suspect it will be, it makes you wonder -- if such entrepreneurial spirit can be generated even in the current highly-regulated health care finance system, then imagine what could happen if we unleashed the power of the marketplace to reform the delivery of health care and the health care finance system?

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (5) |

Free the Koz

Dan Ackman provides this cogent WSJ ($) op-ed that calls for the reversal of the convictions of former Tyco International executives Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz:

Kozlowski wasn't convicted for overspending, nor for defrauding investors -- the most common charges leveled against corrupt CEOs. He was convicted instead of grand larceny, that is, of stealing his bonuses, which were certainly oversized. But even if you believe the worst about Kozlowski and his co-defendant former Tyco CFO Mark Swartz, they were paid according to a contract, and that is not stealing. [. . .]

. . . There is no question that Kozlowski was paid according to the incentive compensation plans that were duly approved by the Tyco board in 1994 and again in 1997. The plans rewarded the CEO and CFO with bonuses based on improvements in company earnings, cash flow and earnings per share. Excessive? That's an understatement. But though the record-keeping was careless, nothing was secret: The contract and the payments were all on the books.

In short, Kozlowski and Swartz were convicted of being greedy, which, the last time I looked, is still not a crime. As Larry Ribstein notes:

Kozlowski and Swartz are headed to Riker’s Island, where they’ll mingle with people who did stuff that seems more obviously bad. And they may get 30-year sentences. I wonder what they would have gotten for a first offense selling heroin to schoolkids. . .

[T]he shareholder suits are still pending. These suits aren’t ideal (lots of money to lawyers) but they can sweep in all the people involved, including the directors who approved the wrongful payments. Unless, of course, the shareholders contracted to indemnify them against liability, in which case we’re back to wondering whether this is wrong.

What was done to Kozlowski and Swartz is quite similar to the equally vacuous prosecution of Conrad Black. But this was even worse.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Comfort Inn's nightmare

Key tip to Comfort Inn: don't ever -- ever -- take Megan McArdle's room reservation and then don't provide her with a room.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) |

October 25, 2007

Goin' Tex-Mex

This NY Times article does a nice job of explaining the special place of Tex-Mex food within Texan culture. But I have one question. How does one write an article about Tex-Mex in Houston and not mention Ninfa's on Navigation? Alison Cook comments along the same lines.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (3) |

The big-time college football arms race

Inasmuch as the NCAA prohibits direct monetary compensation of the professional athletes who provide entertainment for us by engaging in big-time college football, one of the ways in which universities provide indirect compensation for the athletes is by building luxurious "spa facilities" for the athletes to enjoy while providing their services for the benefit of the universities. This means of indirect compensation has resulted in an "arm's race" of such spa facilities between various big-time college football programs. The latest institution to jump into the arm's race is Oklahoma State University, which is riding the crest of the Boone Pickens' $250 million contribution to the institution's athletic programs. Check out this video depicting the new facilities that will result from Pickens' contribution.

And this isn't professional football?

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

A good scorching?

The United States Golf Association has been widely criticized often over the last several years for the absurdity of its setups for the U.S. Open. And we in Houston certainly know that golf course designer Rees Jones has endured more than a little criticism over his work. So, a few eyebrows were raised when GolfWeek's Rex Hoggard passed along the following tidbit about the Rees Jones-renovated Torrey Pines South Course -- which is the site of next year's U.S. Open -- from the practice tee of this week's PGA Tour event in Port St. Lucie, Florida:

Big talk on the practice range here at the Tesoro Club, site of this week’s PGA Tour stop, is on the wild fires that were raging in southern California.

One update late in the afternoon suggested Torrey Pines, site of the annual Buick Invitational and next year’s U.S. Open, is in danger of being scorched.

“Good,” snorted one player, among the many who don’t like the changes to the venerable South Course. “They need to start over anyway.”

Ouch.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 24, 2007

Coach Leach channels Judge Ito

Sticking with the sports theme of today's posts, Missouri's surprisingly decisive victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders last Saturday apparently prompted Tech head coach Mike Leach to channel the judge in OJ Simpson's murder trial to explain the Raiders' pratfall:

"What happens with players, [it's] just like Judge Lance Ito gets in the middle of a big trial and decides it's more important for him to be a movie star than it is to be a judge," said Leach, referring to the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial. "He had problems doing his [job] from one snap to the next.

"So if it can happen to good old Judge Ito, I'm sure it can happen to 18-22-year-olds."

It can happen to football coaches, too.

Leach has developed an idiosyncratic and generally effective offense at Tech, but he has largely ignored the development of a strong enough defensive component to make Tech a truly balanced, conference championship-caliber program. Earlier this season, immediately after Mike Gundy went batshit, Leach unceremoniously fired Tech's defensive coordinator, who happened to be Tech's most experienced and admired assistant coach. Leach elevated a position coach to defensive coordinator and Tech's defensive limitations were disguised during its next three games, which were wins over teams with easily-defended offenses (Northwestern State, Iowa State and Texas A&M). However, when exposed to Missouri's salty offense this past Saturday, the Red Raiders' defense wilted, just as it did earlier in the season during the Oklahoma State game. The Red Raiders have suffered from a similar syndrome during each of Leach's eight years at Tech.

Thus, Leach's teams run up big scores and statistics against teams of inferior ability, but struggle against well-balanced teams of equal or better ability. Tech under Leach has never played in a Big 12 championship game. His treatment of assistant coaches is unlikely to result in the development of a strong coaching staff. Despite his relentless self-promotion, Leach's Tech program appears to elevate form over substance and may well have peaked. If it has, the descent is not likely to be pleasant.

Update: Coach Leach has a selective memory, too.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (3) |

Sizing up the 2007-08 Rockets

The beginning of the National Basketball Association's regular season is about a week away yawn, so Dave Berri provides this excellent statistically-based evaluation of the 2007-08 Houston Rockets. Despite the local mainstream media hype, Berri's evaluation of this edition of the Rockets is the same as mine -- probably quite good and better than last season's good team, but likely still not good enough to beat any of the the top three teams in the Western Conference, Dallas, San Antonio and Phoenix.

For the record, it's been over a decade since the Rockets won a playoff series.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

A special moment at the sports book

Anyone who has placed a bet or two at one of the sports books in various Las Vegas casinos can relate to the hysteria that was generated by the end of last Saturday's Florida-Kentucky game:

A new, but obscure college football rule caused some confusion and uproar in Las Vegas on Saturday after Florida defeated Kentucky, 45-37, barely covering the seven-point spread.

Kentucky scored a touchdown on the game's final play, yet rather than attempt an extra point, the Wildcats, following an NCAA rule put in play last season, walked off the field while the Gators celebrated.

The rule states that "if a touchdown is scored during a down in which time in the fourth period expires, the try shall not be attempted unless the point(s) would affect the outcome of the game."

Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay said Kentucky backers thought they were going to get a push, and Florida supporters started to deflate.

"That all quickly changed when the crowd began to realize the rule," Kornegay told the Associated Press.

"The reversal of fortune happened within just a few seconds. It was priceless."

Kornegay said the game was probably one of the more heavily bet games of the day and most football fans don't know the rule.

At the MGM Mirage, people went "nuts," sports book manager Jeff Stonebeck said.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 23, 2007

Tiger's peer effect

All those PGA Tour players who have folded like limp dish rags while paired with Tiger Woods over the years will be a bit skeptical of the conclusions of this recent study (H/T to Tim Harford):

This paper uses the random assignment of playing partners in professional golf tournaments to test for peer effects in the workplace. We find no evidence that the ability of playing partners affects the performance of professional golfers, contrary to recent evidence on peer effects in the workplace from laboratory experiments, grocery scanners, and soft-fruit pickers. . . . We offer several explanations for our contrasting findings: that workers seek to avoid responding to social incentives when financial incentives are strong; that there is heterogeneity in how susceptible individuals are to social effects and that those who are able to avoid them are more likely to advance to elite professional labor markets; and that workers learn with professional experience not to be affected by social forces.

In other words, PGA Tour pros do not generally suffer from peer effects. Except while playing with Tiger Woods, that is. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Ben Stein's worst nightmare

First, Larry Ribstein became NY Times business columnist Gretchen Morgenson's worst nightmare by exposing the vacuous nature of her columns.

Now, Felix Salmon has become part-time NY Times business columnist Ben Stein's worst nightmare (see also here) in much the same way:

Stein's main point is that reality is fine; it's just the media which is making things look bad. "Newspapers (which often sell on fear, not on fact) talk frequently about a mortgage freeze," he says. Although if you do a Google News search on "mortgage freeze", you find exactly one newspaper article: this one, by Stein. Meanwhile, he says, and I swear I am not making this up, "there is still a long waiting list for Bentleys in Beverly Hills". Well in that case there couldn't possibly be a housing crisis!

"This country does not look like a country in economic trouble," concludes Stein. Well, maybe if you live in Beverly Hills and you have lots of money invested in the stock market, then that might seem to be the case. But Stein doesn't seem to consider that most Americans might not fall into that category.

Read the entire post. Do the Times editors even review Stein's blather before publishing it?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

Sizing up the 2007 World Series

That northern breeze you felt in Houston yesterday was actually a huge sigh of relief heaved by Major League Baseball and network television executives on Sunday night as the Boston Red Sox beat the Indians in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series to advance to the 2007 World Series against the National League champion Colorado Rockies. Nothing against Cleveland, but the TV ratings of a Cleveland-Colorado World Series would have been about the same as a non-major PGA Tour event.

A few tidbits about this year's series:

The opening day payroll for 25-man roster of Colorado Rockies was $54,424,000, while the opening day payroll for the Red Sox was $143,026,214. The highest paid Red Sox player is LF Manny Ramirez at $18 million per year, while the Rockies' highest paid player is 1B Todd Helton at $16.6 million annually.

The Rockies have played only two series at Fenway, one in 2002 and one this past June during interleague play. Colorado outscored Boston 20-5 in winning two of three during during that latter series.

The Rockies have won 10 straight games and have won 21 of 22, but the eight days they have had off in-between postseason games is the longest such break in the history of Major League Baseball. The Rockies’ 10-game winning streak entering the World Series is also impressive, but not the longest streak coming into a World Series. The 1960 Yankees had a 15-game streak and the 1970 Baltimore Orioles had a 14-game streak. The Rockies are the ninth different team to represent the National League in the World Series over the past 10 seasons, and the seventh wild-card pennant winner over all in the past six years.

Red Sox hitters scored 61 more runs than an average American League club would have using the same number of outs (RCAA, explained here) and Red Sox pitchers saved 163 more runs than an average American League pitching staff would have saved in the same number of innings (RSAA, explained here). In comparison, Rockies hitters generated a solid 41 RCAA and the club's pitchers produced a respectable 78 RSAA. Thus, based on regular season statistics, the Red Sox are the clearly superior club, but Colorado has the advantage of being hot when it counts, although one has to wonder how much of the Rockies' winning edge wore off during that eight day layoff. A pdf of the player statistics for the two clubs is here.

Finally, for disappointed Indians fans, this insightful Russell Roberts post reminds us that failure -- even in baseball markets -- is often a necessary precursor of success.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 22, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(AP Photo/Dave Einsel; previous weekly reviews here)

Titans 38 Texans 36

The local mainstream media view of the Texans (3-4) -- most recently reflected by Richard Justice's Sunday column of yesterday (see also this earlier column) -- is that the team has improved dramatically under second year coach Gary Kubiak and that it's just a matter of time before the team becomes a playoff contender. As noted in my annual preview, I'm not so sure.

When Texans owner Bob McNair decided to fire original Texans General Manager Charlie Casserly and head coach Dom Capers after the team bottomed out with a 2-14 record during Year Four (2005), he changed the management model of the team from its original "strong GM" model to the "strong head coach" model that the Broncos have used during the Shanahan era. Inasmuch as Kubiak had no head coaching experience when McNair hired him to lead the Texans' strong coach model, I thought the decision at the time was certainly open to question.

Through seven games of Kubiak's second season, the decision remains open to question. Kubiak had a pass during his first season (6-10) last year and probably has another one this season as he incorporates a new QB into his system. The team's personnel has certainly improved, but that would have happened under virtually any competent coach that McNair would have hired. The Texans' offense -- Kubiak's supposed speciality -- remains generally awful as Kubiak overpaid for an aging and marginally productive running back this past off-season rather than upgrading the chronically deficient offensive line, which has become hazardous to the health of Texans QB's.

So, the clock will be ticking quite loudly next season unless the Texans begin to show dramatic improvement (even Justice is starting to question Kubiak). After losing four of their last five and with a West Coast swing against the Chargers (3-3) and the Raiders (2-4) coming up over the next two weeks before the Texans' bye week, the under bet on my pre-season over/under number for Texans' victories (7) is starting to look pretty good.

Texas Aggies 36 Nebraska 14

The Ags (6-2/3-1) trampled the outmanned Cornhuskers (4-4/1-3) into submission in the Buyout Bowl. Unfortunately for the Aggies, each of the Aggies' remaining opponents have the ability to slow down A&M's rushing attack. And we know what happens when the Ags have to utilize such modern innovations as the forward pass. The Ags host Big 12 surprise team Kansas (7-0/3-0) at Kyle Field next Saturday.

Texas Longhorns 31 Baylor 10

The Horns (6-2/2-2) allowed Baylor (3-4/0-3) to hang around for most of the game and almost paid for it. The Horns have struggling Nebraska (4-4/1-3) at home next Saturday before closing at Okie State (5-3/3-1), home against Tech (6-2/2-2) and at A&M (6-2/3-1). Incredibly, a BCS Bowl game is not out of the question if the Longhorns win out.

Houston Cougars 49 Alabama-Birmingham 10

This one was over before halftime as the explosive Coogs (4-3/3-1) finally put together a complete game against the overmatched Blazers (2-5/1-2) at a nearly deserted Legion Field (holds around 75,000 or so) in Birmingham. The Cougars have generated over 1,200 yards in total offense and 15 touchdowns in the past two games. The Cougars will likely have a considerably tougher game next Saturday in El Paso against UTEP (4-3/2-1), though.

Memphis 38 Rice 35

The Owls (1-6/1-2) generated over 500 yards to total offense and lost because their injury-plagued defense cannot stop a hard-chargin' marching band, much less a reasonably competent offense. The game was played before less than 10,000 fans at Rice Stadium, which holds over 70,000. Isn't Conference USA football great? The Owls have a winnable game next Saturday against winless Marshall (0-6/0-2).

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) |

Continuing to rationalize a boondoggle

The big transit news in these parts last week was the announcement that the Metropolitan Transit Authority's board Metro's board approved the final route for the east-west University line and decided to deploy the much more expensive light rail rather than bus rapid transit in four other transit corridors. Kevin Whited, Lou Minatti and Tory Gattis were among the local bloggers commenting on this development.

What is perhaps most galling about all of this is the sheer lack of any perspective from the local mainstream media regarding the dubious nature of Metro's urban economics. The Chronicle article on Metro's announcement is typical of the vacuity of media coverage of Metro -- the fact that light rail systems are notoriously uneconomic and underused relative to cost is not even mentioned. Meanwhile, Metro continues to insist upon investing billions of tax proceeds in an inflexible light rail system that will cost millions in additional annual tax proceeds to subsidize. To make matters worse, the money that Metro is throwing away on what will be a underutilized and expensive light rail system would go a long ways toward dramatically ameliorating the Houston area's flood control problems and traffic hotspots, two public works projects that would provide far more benefit for far more Houston area residents than the light rail project. In short, wasting huge amounts of public funds on a boondoggle simply does not occur in a vacuum. Such waste will negatively impact more pressing public works projects in Houston for decades.

Transit expert Randall O'Toole recently published this Cato Insitute policy analysis, Debunking Portland (related blog posts here and here), on the failures of Portland’s light rail system, which was built in a far more densely-populated area than Houston and is often touted by light rail advocates as an example of one of the rare successful systems. As O'Toole points out, the Portland system has not been a success. 9.8% of Portland-area commuters took transit to work before the region built its light rail system, while today, just just 7.6% of the area commuters use the system. The fact that Portland’s light rail system led to billions of dollars in economic development is largely a ruse -- such development received billions of dollars in subsidies and, before the city started offering those subsidies, not a single transit-oriented development was built along the Portland light rail line. Finally, light rail cost overruns forced Portland to raise bus fares and reduce bus service.

As O'Toole observes, that’s considered a success?

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Now even deer hunting regulations are running amok

As deer hunting season approaches, check out what regulations you have to follow simply to bag a deer in Texas these days:

When state game wardens hit the woods and fields in the wake of Texas' Nov. 3 opening of the general deer season, those 500 or so officers can pretty much predict the violations they're most likely to encounter.

"Tagging is the No. 1 (deer hunting-related) violation we see," said Maj. David Sinclair of TPWD's law enforcement division. [. . .]

In most cases, a hunter taking a deer in Texas must, immediately upon taking possession of the animal, attach to it the appropriate tag from the hunter's license. [. . .]

Deciding which tag to use isn't all that daunting. Five detachable tags valid for tagging whitetails are attached to the perimeter of a Texas hunting license. . . . Three of those whitetail tags are valid for tagging a buck or an antlerless deer, and two are valid only for tagging an antlerless deer.

It's a simple thing to detach the correct tag — a buck tag for a buck whitetail and antlerless tag for a doe.

But then some people drop the ball.

To legally tag a deer, the hunter must fill out, in ink, the requested information on the back of the tag — the name of the ranch or lease on which the deer was taken and the county in which that hunting area is located.

Also, the month and date the deer was taken has to be cut out of the tag. Cut out. Not marked with a pen. Cut out. [. . .]

But the most common deer-related violation was failure to complete the white-tailed deer log on the back of the hunting license.

The deer log was created this decade when the state seemed to be moving away from requiring tags be attached to deer. The log, printed on the back of the license, was seen as a way to keep track of how many deer, buck and doe, a hunter had taken, where they were taken and when.

The move to do away with deer tags has lost momentum. But the deer log remains. And it's surprising how many deer hunters don't know about the log requirement, forget to complete it or ignore it.

This past year, TPWD game wardens issued more than 500 citations for failing to complete the deer log.

As with the other tagging-related violations, hunters charged with not completing the deer log face a Class C misdemeanor. Conviction brings a fine of as much as $500.

Sheesh! Let's hope the regulators don't start piling on similar rules for hunting these.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 21, 2007

The 15 Greatest Catches

As you settle in for an afternoon of watching NFL football games, check out this entertaining post providing videos of the 15 greatest football catches of all-time. Some of the comments are pretty clever, too, such as the one relating to the catch of Oklahoma State wide receiver Adarius Bowman that made the list:

"[The catch] was even more impressive because that catch was made under the enormous pressure that comes with playing in the Independence Bowl."

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

October 20, 2007

The benefits of going batshit

As noted in the review of the Texas-Iowa State game earlier this week, big-time college football coaching is a wacky way to make a living.

Take, for example, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy. When he went famously batshit during a post-game press conference earlier this season, I figured that it was just a matter of time before Boone Pickens and the university athletic director carted Coach Gundy off to a padded cell and replaced him with another coach. I mean, it's not as if Okie State (4-3, 2-1) is having all that great a season this year.

But now, according to this New York Times article, Coach Gundy's decision to go nuclear may have saved his job:

The incident was one of YouTube’s most-watched videos last month and has been spoofed by a Norman, Okla., car dealership in a television commercial.

It led to a Web site called mikegundyismadatyou.com, which features e-cards from his tirade, prompted an Australian magazine to call it “American football brain explosion” and inspired wildly popular “I’m a man! I’m 40!” T-shirts. [. . .]

Gundy has seemingly benefited on and off the field. Since the incident, Oklahoma State (4-3, 2-1 Big 12) is 2-1, including the Cowboys’ first victory at Nebraska since 1960.

Gundy . . . is now more recognizable nationally, according to marketing experts, and recruits say his defense of Reid makes them more interested in playing for him. Gundy said he was surprised at the attention that the incident sparked, but he insisted he had no regrets.

“Over a period of time, it should make an impact on our program in a positive way,” he said in an e-mail message sent through a university spokesman.

Jordan Bazant, a partner of The Agency Sports Management, said Gundy’s response was already paying off for him from a marketing perspective.

“It’s ultimately going to come down to performance on the field, but people that saw that saw an honest person,” Bazant said in a telephone interview.

He added: “It was really an honest outburst. That’s what people are attracted to. They want to be associated with someone that they view has the same values.”

Bazant said he could not estimate the value in advertising dollars that Gundy received.

“It’s millions upon millions of dollars,” he said. “It would be impossible to get that. You couldn’t even buy that much. You really couldn’t even from a practical standpoint.”

Cyrus Gray, a senior at DeSoto High School and the top uncommitted tailback in Texas, said Gundy’s response to Carlson made Oklahoma State more appealing. [. . .]

“I like that in a coach,” he said in a telephone interview. “He stood up for his players. He cares for them and not just himself.” [. . .]

Kevin Klintworth, the Oklahoma State director of athletic media relations, said that less than 5 percent of the 3,000 e-mail messages the athletic department received about Gundy were negative.

“It was just so overwhelming,” Klintworth said in a telephone interview. “I think some of the people weren’t so much supportive of Mike as they were in support of someone standing up to the media a little bit.”

Of course, after Gundy's outburst, it was just a matter of time before the following spoof Bud Light beer commercial turned up, but it's still pretty clever:

And the recent Saturday Night Live spoof NBC commercial for Notre Dame football isn't bad, either:

Hat tip to Jay Christensen for both of the above videos.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

October 19, 2007

The Futility Bowls

Oh, how far the mighty have fallen!

In Lincoln, Nebraska tomorrow, the Texas A&M Aggies take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in what has been dubbed "the Buyout Bowl," because of the tenuous hold that Aggie coach Dennis Franchione and NU coach Bill Callahan currently have on their jobs. In trying to handicap the game, Wann Smith can't figure out who to favor:

Texas A&M at Nebraska (-2). This game is a real poser. Since someone has to win, we'll pick Nebraska at home. But wait…Nebraska's home field advantage has been a joke this season hasn't it? So, I guess we'll take the Aggies and the points. Just a minute…hold the bus…Franchione has somehow managed to blow both of his road games this season, and by a ton of points each time. Hang on a sec… I'd better consult the Magic 8 Ball. The 8 Ball, when asked if Nebraska would win replied… 'Hazy Now, Ask Again Later.' When asked whether Texas A&M would win, it replied 'Ask VIP Connection.' We tried that but our link was directed instead to firedennisfranchione.com.

Aggies by 3

Meanwhile, over in Florida, nostalgic thoughts about when the annual game between Florida State and Miami actually meant something on the national stage prompted Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel to observe the following about this year's FSU-Miami game, the first in which both foes are unranked since 1977:

This is like showing up at your 25-year reunion and finding out that the couple voted “Best Looking” in the high school yearbook has somehow turned into Paul Shaffer and Yoko Ono.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Do as the NY Times says, but not as it does?

Larry Ribstein notes the sweet irony of the New York Times management not being quite, as the Times business columnists might say, adequately responsive to its own shareholders.

I'm sure that Gretchen and Ben will be right on top of this development.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

The risk of witch doctors

It never fails to amaze me that seemingly rational people continue to seek out witch doctor treatments for anything more complicated than a massage:

On the same shift I saw two very sick patients, both of whom were under the care of chiropractors before they decided to pay us a visit in the Emergency Department. The first was an old woman with a one week history of dyspnea, chest pain, and a cough. Her chiropractor had diagnosed her with a “displaced rib,” and had been dilligently popping it back into place every day for the previous week. After a simple set of vital signs revealing low blood pressure, a slow heart rate, and a slightly low temperature, not to mention a chest x-ray which showed a huge unilateral pleural effusion, it was not hard to come up with the diagnosis of pneumonia with sepsis.

“He [the chiropractor] said she didn’t have a fever and she wasn’t coughing anything up,” said the sister. [. . .]

The second patient was a 70-year-old man who finally came in after a week of ineffectual adjustments for “muscle aches” and general malaise which had evolved, by the time we saw him, into a vague intermittant chest pain related to exertion but which the chiropractor insisted, apparently, was some kind of subluxation. The EKG told the true story, an evolving myocardial infarction. My patient would have probably died if his son hadn’t raised the alarm and insisted his father see some real doctors.

Meanwhile, this article reports that researchers have determined that acupuncture works. But the same research study concluded that fake acupuncture, where the needles are inserted shallowly and in the wrong places, also works:

The results suggest that both acupuncture and sham acupuncture act as powerful versions of the placebo effect, providing relief from symptoms as a result of the convictions that they engender in patients.

My conclusion: On one hand, if you stick pins in people who are complaining about something, then some of them will eventually quit complaining. On the other hand, if you take pins out of some people who were previously complaining, then some of them will also stop complaining.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 18, 2007

The end of socialized medicine

Peter Huber is a Manhattan Institute senior fellow, an MIT-trained engineer and a lawyer who has authored several books, including Hard Green: Saving the Environment from the Environmentalists and Galileo’s Revenge: Junk Science in the Courtroom. In this provocative City Journal article, Huber observes that the complexity of modern diseases virtually assures that a "one-size-fits-all" socialized medical system will fail:

That is the real crisis in health care—not medicine that’s too expensive for the poor but medicine that’s too expensive for the rich, too expensive ever to get to market at all. Human-ity is still waiting for countless more Lipitors to treat incurable cancers, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and a heartbreakingly long list of other dreadful but less common afflictions. Each new billion-dollar Lipitor will be delivered—if at all—by the lure of a multibillion-dollar patent. The only way to get three-cent pills to the poor is first to sell three-dollar pills to the rich.

With almost $30 trillion under management, Wall Street could easily double the couple of trillion it currently has invested in molecular medicine. The fastest way for Washington to deliver more health, more cheaply, to more people would be to unleash that capital by reaffirming patents and stepping out of the way.

On the other side of the pill, molecular medicine can only be propelled by the informed, disciplined consumer. Any scheme to weaken his role will end up doing more harm than good. Foggy promises of one-size, universal care maintain the illusion that the authorities will take good care of everyone. They reaffirm the obsolete and false view that health care begins somewhere out there, not somewhere in here.

Neither Pfizer nor Washington can ever stuff health itself into a one-price uniform, One America box—not when health is as personal as ice cream, genes, and pregnancy, not when every mother controls her personal consumption of carbs, cholesterol, Flintstones, and Lipitor. But the thought that government authority can get more bodies in better chemical balance than free markets and free people is more preposterous than anything found in Das Kapital. Freedom is now pursuing a pharmacopoeia as varied, ingenious, complex, flexible, fecund, and personal as life itself, and the pursuit will continue for as long as lifestyles change and marriages mix and match. Given time, efficient markets will deliver a glut of cheap Lipitor for every glut of cheap cholesterol. And given time, free people will find their way to a better mix.

Read the entire article here.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

The insecurity of big-time college coaches

The Dallas Morning News' Kevin Sherrington observes that the NCAA's the absurdly-high salaries of big-time college football coaches has a high price:

Football coaches at most Top 25 programs draw salaries equivalent to Fortune 500 CEOs, but they don't generate similar revenues.

How do they rate their paydays then? Coaches simply benefit from an arms-race mentality in college sports. You can't compete without an indoor practice facility, luxury suites, a weight room the size of a football field or a head coach drawing less than seven figures.

As noted in previous posts here, here and here, big-time college coaches benefit from the NCAA's regulation of compensation for players. Inasmuch as the NCAA does not allow direct compensation of the players for the money being generated, the money has to go somewhere -- i.e., into the wallets of the coaches. However, if the players were paid market compensation for the income that they generate, then the money paid to the players would not be available for the coaches. In all likelihood, the compensation of coaches would decrease.

As I've noted on several occasions, big-time college sports is an entertaining form of corruption. But if the institutions want to continue competing at that level, treating big-time college sports as a true business and compensating the players for the income they generate sure seems like a more honest way to approach it.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

Kling on GMU Economics

Arnold Kling provides this interesting TCS Daily op-ed on the innovative George Mason University Economics Department, whose members have done a remarkable job over the past several years promoting the understanding of economics issues through the blogosphere. As Kling noted earlier here:

I like to put it his way: at [the University of] Chicago, they say "Markets work well. Let's use markets." At MIT, they say "Markets fail. Let's use government." At GMU, they say "Markets fail. Let's use markets."

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 17, 2007

The Chronicle's vacuum of baseball analysis

It may be football season, but that doesn't stop Chronicle sports columnists from continuing to bludgeon us with their seemingly insatiable capacity to analyze the Stros and matters relating to Major League Baseball badly.

First, there is this blog post from the inimitable Jose de Jesus Ortiz, who already has quite a legacy of poor analysis of the sport that he covers for the Chroicle:

Willy Taveras, who holds the Astros franchise record for consecutive games with a hit, has been a difference maker for the Colorado Rockies heading into the third game of the National League Championship Series.

The Rockies obviously valued his speed and defense, which is why he was added to the NLCS roster even though he hadn't played in three weeks because of an injury.

In Game 2, he was the player of the game after making an awesome game-saving catch in the seventh inning and then driving in the game-winning run with an RBI walk. Oh, he also had doubled and scored a run in a game that was 2-2 heading into extra innings. [. . .]

General manager Tim Purpura and Phil Garner weren't fired until August, but they hurt the franchise tremendously by never understanding the true value of Willy Taveras. They valued Chris Burke out of position over Taveras at his natural position. Because of this mistake, the Astros' pitching staff suffered.

It's pathetic to see Taveras starring elsewhere when he should have been playing here. Cecil Cooper and Jose Cruz saw something special in Taveras and kept working with him in 2006. Unfortunately, Cooper wasn't the manager then.

Do you miss Taveras?

In this prior post, I explained why Ortiz is simply wrong about Taveras' value as a Major League player. But in his latest blog post, how can Ortiz overlook that Taveras had a pathetic .250 on-base average and an even worse .222 slugging percentage during the National League Championship Series? Or that the Rockies won 17 out of their last 18 games to get into the NLCS without any contribution from Taveras, who sat out those games with a hamstring injury?

What Ortiz simply does not understand is that anecdotal flashy plays do not prove that a player is a good Major Leaguer. It only proves that the player is capable of making a good play every once in awhile. To be a good Major Leaguer, a player has to be able to generate more runs consistently for his team than what the team's alternatives would likely generate using the same number of outs as the player. Not only is it far from clear that Taveras did that this season for the Rockies (and the Rockies' late season streak without him suggests that he did not), the fact of the matter is that the Stros' CF-RF combination of Hunter Pence and Luke Scott was far more productive this past season than a Taveras-Pence tandem would have been.

Meanwhile, the equally foggy Chronicle columnist Richard Justice chimes in with this recent column in which he bemoans the Stros' poor evaluation and development of minor league players (for a far more insightful analysis of how the Rockies developed their World Series team, see this Alan Schwarz NY Times article). This revelation comes from the same columnist who contends that the Stros blew this season because the club elected not to re-sign aged free agent pitchers Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, and who continues to beat the drum that Stros owner Drayton McLane made a terrible mistake in allowing former Stros General Manager Gerry Hunsicker to resign after the 2004 season. Of course, Hunsicker's tenure as Stros GM coincided with most of the period from 1997 to date during which the Stros' minor league system has been in decline. Apparently, in Justice's odd world, the man in charge of the Stros' player drafts during those years had nothing to do with the failure of those drafts to produce enough good Major League-quality players for the Stros.

My purpose is not to be overly critical of either Taveras or Hunsicker. Taveras is still a young player who, although a below-average National League player so far in his career, could develop into an above-average player. Similarly, despite his deficiencies in overseeing the Stros' drafts during the period from 1997 to 2004, Hunsicker is still the best GM that the Stros have ever had. My point is simply this: Why do Ortiz and Justice refuse to provide a balanced analysis of them?

It's not all that important in the big scheme of things, but are Ortiz and Justice really the best the Chronicle can do for baseball analysis?

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (6) |

Immune to reason

Paul Howard is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute Center for Medical Progress and the editor of the blog Medical Progress Today. In this Washington Post op-ed, Howard addresses the potential danger to public health of indulging in the current wave of trendy skepticism toward vaccinations:

Sadly, too many parents have lost faith in vaccines. Partly, this is because of a "generation gap." In 1940, U.S. infant mortality rates stood at 40 deaths per 1,000 live births. Tens of thousands more children would go on to be killed or maimed by measles, polio and chicken pox. Today, infant mortality averages about 7 deaths per 1,000 live births, and those other diseases have been largely vanquished by vaccines. A childhood free of serious illness is now taken for granted.

When mysterious disorders like autism strike seemingly healthy children -- at about the same age when childhood vaccines are typically administered -- frustrated parents lash out at doctors and pharmaceutical companies. And today's vaccine inventors must contend with a powerful force that had yet to arise when Jonas Salk created his revolutionary polio vaccine -- mass litigation.

The birth of "liability without fault" in pharmaceutical litigation in 1958 -- captured in Dr. Paul Offit's riveting book The Cutter Incident -- set the dangerous precedent that vaccine companies would be held liable for side effects even when their products were made using the best available science and according to government regulations. [. . .]

The debate over vaccine litigation has thus shifted from a presumption of innocence to a presumption of guilt. While the number of major studies that have failed to find any substantive link between vaccines and developmental disorders or autism is now in the double-digits (including a September 27th CDC study in the New England Journal), critics are effectively demanding that scientists prove that thimerosal does not cause illness -- an impossible standard.

The very success of vaccines has become their downfall. As Dr. Offit writes in Vaccinated, "When [vaccines] work, absolutely nothing happens. Parents go on with their lives, not once thinking that their child was saved."

The entire op-ed is here. This earlier post addresses the devastating impact that the Cutter Incident had on the production of vaccines and public health.

Posted by Tom at 12:04 AM | Comments (4) |

Dyer dissects Judge Kent's case

Folks are finding it pretty easy these days to pile on Galveston U.S. District Judge Sam Kent over the recent reprimand that he received from the Judicial Council of the Fifth Circuit (previous posts here). As regular readers of this blog know, I'm wary of the mobs and simple morality plays that tend to form around such matters, so I was pleased to learn that Bill Dyer had decided to pass along some thoughts on Judge Kent's case.

I perceive to have been a serious campaign of distortion in other publicity about Judge Kent by people who do, or at least should, know better. They say Congress ought to commence an impeachment investigation — but they're not telling you something very important that you ought to know in forming your own opinion on that subject.

Check out the entire insightful post.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

October 16, 2007

Anthony Alridge does it all

In several of my weekly local football reports over the past two seasons, I have been regularly touting the feats of Houston Cougar running back, Anthony Alridge. Alridge is the most exciting UH running back since the consensus All-American Chuck Weatherspoon back in the Run 'N Shoot days of the early 1990's.

Alridge is listed as 5'9" tall and 175 lbs, but my bet is that he is closer to 5'7" and 160 lbs wringing wet. After toiling in relative obscurity as a slot receiver for his first couple of years at Houston, Cougars head coach Art Briles began to use Alridge as a RB midway through last season and the results have been astonishing. Combining blinding sprinter's speed, incredible shiftiness and surprising power for a player his size, Alridge quickly became one of the nation's top running backs. During the Cougars 2006 championship season, Alridge rushed for 959 rushing yards on only 95 attempts, resulting in an NCAA Division 1-A leading rushing average of 10.1 yards per attempt.

Alridge has picked up this season where he left off last season. As noted here yesterday, he was extraordinary in Houston's win over Rice last Saturday, scoring 4 touchdowns while rushing for 205 yards on 24 carries, including 111 yards and 2 TD's in the 4th quarter alone. ESPN ranked Alridge's incredible 50-yard TD run that put away Saturday's game as No. 4 on its top-10 Plays of last Saturdey. Here is the Barry Sanders-type run:

Even after that performance, the video below reflects that the effervescent Alridge still had enough energy after the game to do a pretty darn good job of directing the Spirit of Houston Marching Band, much to the delight of the band members:

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

First it was the moldy roof, now this!

At this rate, Drayton McLane is going to make a full-time living out of suing subcontractors who were involved in the construction of Minute Maid Park.

McLane's latest lawsuit, reported in this Houston Business Journal ($) article, seeks to recover the cost of repairing improper insulation of the pipe system that pumps chilled water for the air conditioning system at Minute Maid Park. Minute Maid Park is cooled by a chilled water system that pumps water through miles of conduits to create chilled air. Insulation is needed to prevent moisture buildup, corrosion, leaking and possible failure of the complex system.

However, as a result of the improper insulation, condensation has developed at various points in the system which, if left unrepaired, would eventually lead to even bigger problems. Inasmuch as retrofitting the pipe system with new insulation could require major infrastructure construction work at Minute Maid, the cost of the repair job could run as much as $70 million.

From the nature of the lawsuit, it appears reasonably clear that the Stros will not be left holding the bag for the repair bill and that it's just a matter of the responsible parties figuring out how to allocate the cost of repair equitably among them. The four defendants are Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum Inc (HOK), M-E Engineers Inc., Way Engineering Co. Ltd., and Performance Contracting Inc. Inasmuch as the repair work needs to be done now, the Stros are proceeding with the repairs and will recover the financing costs related to the repair cost as additional damages in the lawsuit.

Longtime Houston plaintiffs' lawyer Wayne Fisher, who is a lifelong friend of McLane, is representing the Stros in the litigation, just as he did in the litigation with Connecticut General over the disability policy on former Stros star, Jeff Bagwell. That lawsuit has since been settled.

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (0) |

The faux Enron whistleblowers

First, it was Sherron Watkins portraying herself for profit on the rubber-chicken circuit as a whistleblower of wrongdoing at Enron when, in fact, she was no such thing.

Now, this USA Today article raises substantial questions regarding the credibility and veracity of self-proclaimed Enron whistleblower and "corporate integrity" author Lynn Brewer:

Within the world of business ethics, Brewer is considered a star. She is a founding member of the Open Compliance and Ethics Group. She delivered the keynote address at a Sarbanes-Oxley conference hosted by the New York Stock Exchange in 2003 (there are video clips of it on her website, www.lynnbrewer.info). She has spoken in Great Britain, India, Venezuela, Italy, Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand, and given keynote addresses at dozens of other gatherings in the USA. She's also a regular speaker at universities, where she lectures students on the importance of ethics in business.

Brewer has even co-authored an article in Business Strategy Review with noted management guru Oren Harari showing how the leadership skills of Colin Powell could have been applied at Enron.

But to those who worked with her at Enron, when she was known as EddieLynn Morgan (she changed her name after getting married in 2000), her transformation from back-office researcher to international corporate governance heroine is astonishing.

"I don't think people will even believe this," says Ceci Twachtman, a former colleague, speaking of Brewer's transformation. "It reminds me of that movie with Leo DiCaprio with Pan Am," she adds, referring to Catch Me If You Can, a story about a high school dropout who passes himself off as an airline pilot.

"EddieLynn is a good nurse who is trying to claim she was a brain surgeon," says Tony Mends, a former vice president at Enron who was her boss for much of her tenure at the company. [. . .]

When it comes to giving specifics about her whistle-blowing, Brewer contradicts herself. In her book, subtitled A Whistleblower's Story, she recounts her failed efforts to alert her immediate superiors to questionable actions. She also says that just before she left the company in November 2000, she called the employee-assistance help line to complain about criminal activity at Enron. She says she was rebuffed there, but instead of taking her complaints to the chief compliance officer at Enron, or regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Justice Department, she accepted a severance package and left.

In her speeches, Brewer dons a different mantle, presenting herself as one of the collaborators in fraudulent activity at Enron and asking her audience for forgiveness.

Read the entire article. I swear, you can't make this stuff up.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

October 15, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(AP Photo/Phil Coale)(previous weekly reviews here)

Jaguars 37 Texans 17

The conventional mainstream media wisdom coming into the Texans' (3-3) game this weekend at Jacksonville (4-1) was that the Texans' lagging rushing attack would be revived by the return of injured RB Ahman Green. Well, after Green ran for a total of 44 yards on 16 carries and failed to get in the end zone twice from the 2 yard line on the Texans' opening drive of the game, so much for that theory.

As noted earlier here and here, despite the local media's love affair with Texans head coach Gary Kubiak, there is actually much to question regarding the direction of his team, particularly the offense. Green appears to be an overpaid, fragile has-been and the play of the offensive line has not been substantially upgraded since Kubiak's arrival as head coach. Moreover, even though Texans QB Matt Schuab is a decided improvement over former QB David Carr (faint praise, given the latter's incompetence), Schaub failed to get the Texans in the end zone against the Jags after doing it only once against a bad Miami team last week, he had a fumble returned by the Jags for a touchdown and he threw an interception that set up another Jags' TD.

The Texans face former UT star QB Vince Young (injured Sunday, so he may not play) and the Titans (3-2) next week at Reliant before heading on a West Coast swing with games against the Chargers (3-3) and Raiders (2-3) in the following two weeks heading into the team's off week. After a 2-0 start, it's looking as if an above .500 record as of the open week is a longshot for the Texans.

Houston Cougars 56 Rice 48

As noted in several previous weekly football reviews, Houston Cougar games are simply different from typical college football games.

This one was actually three different games in one. Over the 1st quarter, the Coogs dominated the game and led 28-14. But then, from the beginning of the 2nd quarter through about five minutes or so of the 3rd quarter, the Owls pasted the Coogs, 26-0. Finally, the Cougars regrouped behind the phenomenal waterbug RB Allen Alridge and a couple of Rice turnovers to win the latter part of the 3rd quarter and the 4th quarter, 28-8, to pull out the victory.

Although the Cougars rolled up 748 yards total offense, this one was closer than it should have been because of five Cougar turnovers and the Houston defense's inability to stop Rice QB Chase Clement, who threw for a career high 355 yards on 24 of 44 passes. But Alridge (4 TD's, 205 yds on 24 carries, with 111 of those yards and two of the TD's coming in the 4th quarter) and WR Donnie Avery (a record setting 427 total yards, including 346 receiving) were simply too much for the injury-depleted Owl defense to overcome.

The Cougars (3-3/2-1) now go on the road for games against UAB (2-4/1-1) and UTEP (4-3/2-1) over the next two weeks, while the Owls (1-5/1-1) attempt to regroup at home against Memphis (2-4/1-1). Houston's success in its remaining games will likely be related directly to the team's ability to control its turnovers, while I'm mildly optimistic that Rice's improving offense will be able to compensate for the Owls' porous defense by outscoring several foes during the second half of the season.

Texas Tech 35 Texas Aggies 7

The only question remaining after this debacle is whether A&M (5-2/2-1) head coach Dennis Franchione will actually make it through the rest of the season. Based on the Aggies' sorry performance against Tech, don't bet on it.

Remarkably, the Aggies took a 7-0 lead in this one on an opening drive entirely on the ground and were driving for a second TD in Tech territory when the Red Raiders coaching staff decided to stick nine defensive players in the box to slow down the Ags' rushing attack. In an incredible display of coaching incompetence, the Aggies' passing game was so insipid that QB Stephen McGee could not force the Raiders' defenders to take the forward pass seriously. Tech's high-powered offense finally got untracked and the Raiders pulled away to win easily. The Franchione Termination March next travels to Nebraska (4-3/1-2), which is going through a similar meltdown to what the Aggies are experiencing. NU may just be the Aggies' best chance for a victory in their final five games of the season.

Texas Longhorns 56 Iowa State 3

As you may recall, I questioned (here and here) the wisdom of Iowa State's (1-6/0-3) decision at the end of last season to replace my friend Dan McCarney with former UT defensive coordinator Gene Chizik as the Cyclones' head coach. Chizik's first ISU team looked utterly rudderless against the Horns (5-2/1-2), who have another scrimmage next week against Baylor (3-4/0-3).

Meanwhile, my friend is making a substantial contribution to the nation's new no. 2 ranked team.

Big-time college coaching is a wacky business.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

What is Joel Osteen's message?

The Chronicle's Tara Dooley is breathless in this Sunday Chronicle article on the ever-expanding financial empire of Joel Osteen, pastor of Houston megachurch, Lakewood Church (previous posts here):

Osteen and Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, will release the pastor's second book, Become a Better You on Monday. It debuts with at least 2.5 million copies, the largest first run in Free Press's more than 60-year history.

With an initial printing of 136,000, Osteen's first book, Your Best Life Now, attracted an audience just waking up to Osteen and his growing Houston church. The book, which came out in 2004, eventually sold about 5 million copies in the United States and was translated into 25 languages.

Become a Better You meets a public that has grown accustomed to Osteen's face. Taking his place with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as one of the 10 Most Fascinating People of 2006 — according to Barbara Walters — Osteen's national profile has made him an A-list Christian celebrity.

"I'm starting to realize it," Osteen said in an interview. "It wasn't until about a year or so ago that I thought, 'This is something unusual and God has given us a lot of favor.' Sometimes you think it's just people flattering you, but I think it's starting to hit home."

But on Sunday night's segment of 60 Minutes, Michael S. Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California, raised substantial questions regarding the theological substance -- or lack thereof -- of Osteen's basic message:

In the Wal-Mart era of religion and spirituality, every particular creed and any denominational distinctives get watered down. We don’t hear (at least explicitly) about our being “little gods,” “part and parcel of God,” or the blood of Christ as a talisman for healing and prosperity. The strange teachings of his father’s generation, still regularly heard on TBN, are not explored in any depth. In fact, nothing is explored in any depth. Osteen still uses the telltale lingo of the health-and-wealth evangelists: “Declare it,” “speak it,” “claim it,” and so forth, but there are no dramatic, made-for-TV healing lines. The pastor of Lakewood Church . . . does not come across as a flashy evangelist with jets and yachts, but as a charming next-door-neighbor who always has something nice to say.

Although remarkably gifted at the social psychology of television, Joel Osteen is hardly unique. In fact, his explicit drumbeat of prosperity (word-faith) teaching is communicated in the terms and the ambiance that might be difficult to distinguish from most megachurches. Joel Osteen is the next generation of the health-and-wealth gospel. This time, it’s mainstream. [. . .]

This is what we might call the false gospel of “God-Loves-You-Anyway.” . . . God is our buddy. He just wants us to be happy, and the Bible gives us the roadmap.

I have no reason to doubt the sincere motivation to reach non-Christians with a relevant message. My concern, however, is that the way this message comes out actually trivializes the faith at its best and contradicts it at its worst. In a way, it sounds like atheism: Imagine there is no heaven above us or hell below us, no necessary expectation that Christ “will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead” and establish perfect peace in the world. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to find anything in this message that would be offensive to a Unitarian, Buddhist, or cultural Christians who are used to a diet of gospel-as-American-Dream. Disney’s Jiminy Cricket expresses this sentiment: “If you wish upon a star, all your dreams will come true.”

To be clear, I’m not saying that it is atheism, but that it sounds oddly like it in this sense: that it is so bound to a this-worldly focus that we really do not hear anything about God himself—his character and works in creation, redemption, or the resurrection of the body and the age to come. . . . Despite the cut-aways of an enthralled audience with Bibles opened, I have yet to hear a single biblical passage actually preached. Is it possible to have evangelism without the evangel? Christian outreach without a Christian message? [. . .]

. . . “How can I be right with God?” is no longer a question when my happiness rather than God’s holiness is the main issue. My concern is that Joel Osteen is simply the latest in a long line of self-help evangelists who appeal to the native American obsession with pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Salvation is not a matter of divine rescue from the judgment that is coming on the world, but a matter of self-improvement in order to have your best life now.

Horton's collection of essays on Joel Osteen's ministry is here and Tim Challies provides this critical review of Osteen's new book.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

Governor Perry annoys John Daly?

Regular readers of this blog know about the rich Texas legacy in golf (for example, see here, here, here, here, and here). However, it doesn't look as if Texas Governor Rick Perry is doing much to facilitate that grand heritage. Seems that Governor Perry played golf last week in the PGA Tour's Frys.com Open in Las Vegas, where he was the amateur partner of John Daly during the first round. Apparently, "Long John" was not particularly pleased with the pairing:

Daly favors the softer Maxfli Fire but says he has been receiving a much harder ball, which he attributed to a first-round 3-over-par 74 at TPC at The Canyons.

(It was either that or the fact Daly continued losing focus waiting for amateur Rick Perry to reach the green in a timely fashion on most holes. I'm pretty convinced Texas today is by far our nation's most efficiently run state, because it's impossible to believe its governor spends much time playing golf.

Perry did, however, bring along a security contingent complete with those Secret Service-type ear pieces, which would have been interesting if it wasn't so laughable given the only thing most knew about him was that he was the guy you backed up 20 yards from each time he addressed a shot.)

Ouch! H/t to Bogey McDuff.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 14, 2007

For your Sunday enjoyment . . .

First, the somewhat geeky but very funny Yoram Bauman, the Standup Economist:

And clarifying the differences between Persians and Arabs, the quite clever Maz Jobrani:

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 13, 2007

Mistrial declared in the Slade case

The criminal trial of former Texas Southern University president Priscilla Slade (previous posts here) ended in a mistrial Friday afternoon after four days of jury deliberations could not break a deadlocked jury that was essentially evenly split. The trial had lasted a little over a month and a half.

The mistrial was a remarkable achievement for Slade defense attorneys Mike DeGeurin and Paul Nugent, who probably concluded that a hung jury was their best shot at avoiding a conviction of their client after they decided not to allow Ms. Slade to testify in her own defense.

The mistrial increases the likelihood that the venue of the retrial will be changed from Harris County. The defense will hoping for a venue change to a location such as Austin or the Rio Grande Valley, but definitely not New Braunfels or San Angelo. Prosecutors and defense counsel are scheduled to appear before District Judge Brock Thomas on Friday to determine details of the retrial.

Meanwhile, the chronic problem of what to do about TSU continues unaddressed. So it goes.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (5) |

October 12, 2007

As the Aggie Football World Turns

What is it about Texas A&M University that the institution cannot fire a football coach correctly?

The slowly disintegrating status of A&M head football coach Dennis Franchione has been a frequent topic on this blog for almost two years now (see previous posts here, here, here, and here). Although yesterday's development in the saga was bizarre -- A&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne holding a press conference to announce in the middle of the football season essentially that Coach Fran is kaput as A&M's head coach after this season -- it was not particularly unusual in view of A&M's rather dubious tradition in dealing with its football coaches.

Take what happened in 1978, for example. A&M head coach Emory Bellard, the originator of the Wishbone offense while serving as Darrell Royal's offensive coordinator at Texas in the late 1960's, had been hired by the Ags in 1972 to resurrect the flagging Aggie football program. Bellard had led the Aggies to three straight bowl games by the 1978 season, and the Aggies seemed poised to become a national power that season.

By week five of the 1978 season, Bellard's Aggies were rolling at 4-0 and were rated no. 6 in the Associated Press Top 20 poll. Bellard was reaching the pinnacle of his popularity at A&M as the Ags prepared to face Houston, which had not been particularly impressive and had lost in their first game of the season to a Memphis State team that the Ags had crushed at home 58-0 a couple of weeks earlier. Moreover, the week before, the Coogs had barely beaten winless Baylor, 20-18. Thousands of Aggies descended on Houston's Astrodome fully expecting the Aggies to continue their winning ways over the underdog Cougars.

Unfortunately for the Ags, Houston head coach Bill Yeoman, one of the best and most unheralded football coaches of his time, had put together a brilliant game plan for this particular game. Taking advantage of the Aggies unbridled over-aggressiveness, Yeoman devised a series of traps, draw plays and screen passes to supplement his famous Veer option attack that utterly befuddled the Aggies. In the meantime, an aroused Cougar defense stuffed the vaunted Aggie Wishbone and never allowed it to get untracked. By halftime, the unranked Coogs led the no. 6 team in the country 33-0 and the large Aggie contingent in the Astrodome was absolutely stunned. Neither team scored in the 2nd half and the game ended, Houston 33 Texas A&M 0.

Back in those days, most head coaches supplemented their salaries by conducting a show the day after the game in which they went over the film highlights of the previous game. Bellard's show the Sunday after the Houston upset was absolutely brutal. Bellard addressed the camera by himself with no studio host to toss him some softball questions to defuse the anxiety of the humbling defeat. With literally no highlights of Aggie plays from the debacle, Coach Bellard was left to reviewing various Houston highlights from the game and explaining what the Aggie players did wrong in allowing the Cougar players to perform such feats. Coach Bellard looked haggard and utterly demoralized.

After watching the show with me, my late father turned to me and observed: "I hope Mrs. Bellard has removed all guns and sharp objects from their home for awhile."

At any rate, the Ags dropped to no. 12 after the Houston game and began preparations for an 0-5 Baylor team that had played one of the toughest schedules in the country. In arguably one of the worst games in the history of Kyle Field, that winless Baylor squad hammered the listless Aggies 24-6, as a previously unheralded freshman running back named Walter Abercrombie ran over and through the Aggies for 207 yards. In the span of two weeks, what had been the no. 6 team in the land had been outscored 57-6.

Coach Bellard resigned the next day under intense pressure (one large sign hanging from an A&M dorm window at the time urged "Make Emory a Memory"). In only two weeks, he had gone from being the King of Aggieland to quitting the job that he had always coveted. To this day, Bellard's demise and Texas A&M's reaction to it over those two weeks is one of the more fascinating sociological events that I have witnessed during my 35 years in Texas.

So, placed in that context, yesterday's develoments regarding Coach Franchione are not all that unusual in Aggieland. But what is interesting is that the Aggies (5-1/2-0) currently lead the Big 12 South Division as they travel to Lubbock this Saturday to meet their high-powered nemesis, Texas Tech (5-1/1-1). Although the Red Raiders have beaten the Aggies regularly during Coach Fran's tenure and are 8 point favorites to do so again on Saturday, my sense is that the Ags actually have a better chance than usual to beat Tech this time. The Aggies have the type of ball control offense to keep Tech's high-powered offense off the field and Tech's defense is in such utter disarray that Coach Mike Leach recently fired his best defensive assistant coach. So, this might just be the year that Coach Fran's Aggie team breaks through against Tech at Lubbock.

But will such a win save Coach Fran's job? Don't count on it. Even if the Ags upset Tech, they play at Nebraska next, then host a revived Kansas team before playing difficult games at Oklahoma and Missouri. And, oh yeah, don't forget about that traditional final game of the season the day after Thanksgiving against a Texas team that will be looking for revenge after last year's A&M upset of the Horns that may have saved Franchione's job for this season. Heck, Gordon Smith even thinks that A&M may have a decent case for terminating Franchione's contract for cause, which would relieve A&M from the requirement of "buying out" the contract if A&M were to terminate the contract "without cause" or, stated another way, for simply not winning enough football games.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) |

The Achilles Heel of Health Care Finance Reform

In an interview years ago, the late Milton Friedman summed up the basic problem with a nationalized system of health care finance:

There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you're doing, and you try to get the most for your money.

Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I'm not so careful about the content of the present, but I'm very careful about the cost.

Then, I can spend somebody else's money on myself. And if I spend somebody else's money on myself, then I'm sure going to have a good lunch!

Finally, I can spend somebody else's money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else's money on somebody else, I'm not concerned about how much it is, and I'm not concerned about what I get. And that's government. And that's close to 40% of our national income.

However, even more troublesome than the illusion that A will get top-flight service from B when C is forced by government to pay the bills, who is going to provide the health care under such a system?

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

Thinking about think tanks

On the announcement of his retirement next year as president of the American Enterprise Institute, Chistopher DeMuth provides a large dose of common sense in this OpinionJournal op-ed:

Think tanks are identified in the public mind as agents of a particular political viewpoint. It is sometimes suggested that this compromises the integrity of their work. Yet their real secret is not that they take orders from, or give orders to, the Bush administration or anyone else. Rather, they have discovered new methods for organizing intellectual activity--superior in many respects (by no means all) to those of traditional research universities.

To be sure, think tanks--at least those on the right--do not attempt to disguise their political affinities in the manner of the (invariably left-leaning) universities. We are "schools" in the old sense of the term: groups of scholars who share a set of philosophical premises and take them as far as we can in empirical research, persuasive writing, and arguments among ourselves and with those of other schools.

This has proven highly productive. It is a great advantage, when working on practical problems, not to be constantly doubling back to first principles. We know our foundations and concentrate on the specifics of the problem at hand. We like to work on hard problems, and there are many fertile disagreements in our halls over bioethics, school reform, the rise of China, constitutional interpretation and what to do about Korea and Iran.

Think tanks aim to produce good research not only for its own sake but to improve the world. We are organized in ways that depart sharply from university organization. Think-tank scholars do not have tenure, make faculty appointments, allocate budgets or offices or sit on administrative committees. These matters are consigned to management, leaving the scholars free to focus on what they do best. Management promotes the scholars' output with an alacrity that would make many university administrators uncomfortable.

And we pay careful attention to the craft of good speaking and writing. Many AEI scholars do technical research for academic journals, but all write for a wider audience as well. When new arrivals from academia ask me whom they should write for, I tell them: for your Mom. That is, for an interested, sympathetic reader who may not know beans about the technical aspects of your work but wants to know what you've discovered and why it makes a difference.

Read the entire piece.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 11, 2007

Justice Thomas on oral argument

Jan Greenburg passes along a portion of an interview with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in which Justice Thomas explains why, unlike some of his colleagues, he chooses not to participate much during Supreme Court oral arguments. He thinks they are largely overrated:

There's a way that we do business and it is very methodical, and it's something that I've done over the past 16 years.

I have four law clerks. We work through the case, as I read the briefs, I read what they've written, I read all of the cases underlying, the court of appeals, the district court. There might be something from the magistrate judge or the bankruptcy judge. You read the record.

And then we sit and we discuss it, that's with my law clerks. So by the time I go on the bench, we have an outline of our thinking on the case. So I know what I think without having heard argument or anything else. Argument is really not a critical part of the process, the oral argument.

The real work is in the documents, the submissions that we get from counsel. And when you do your work in going through that, it makes the oral argument sort of almost an afterthought.

Oral argument is stimulating and fun, but you've probably already lost the appeal by the time of oral argument unless you have won the battle of the briefs.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

Texas' inexhaustible supply of hog

Anyone who has spent any time in rural Texas understands the havoc that the burgeoning feral hog population (previous posts here) has caused in almost every area of Texas. Chronicle outdoors columnist Shannon Tompkins has been studying the problem for quite some time and, in this article from this past weekend, he puts the hog problem in perspective:

Texas is awash in a rising tide of feral hogs. And Texans appear as impotent as King Canute in stopping that tide from climbing up the beach. [. . .]

Texas has about half as many feral hogs as it does white-tailed deer — perhaps 2 million hogs and about 4 million deer. [But] almost all the growth in the hog population has occurred over the past 20 years. Once limited to a few thousand pigs in small pockets of East and South Texas, feral hogs infest all but a half-dozen or so of Texas' 254 counties.

This is an incredible rate of expansion. And with it has come millions of dollars of damage to agriculture, land, water and native wildlife.

What's behind the expansion?

We Texans did this to ourselves. People hauled live-trapped feral hogs all over the state and released them, thinking they would create good hunting opportunities.

Those infections spread.

Also, changing land-use practices — everything from what grows on land, who owns it, average size of tracts, who has access to that land and what they do there — gave feral hogs the conditions they needed to become established and thrive.

Will feral hogs become more populous in Texas than whitetails?

Could happen. Texas' deer population is stable, and deer live on just about every acre that can support them; the herd isn't going to grow.

But the feral hog population continues mushrooming as the animals pioneer into new corners and herds expand to fill the newly infested habitat.

Feral hogs can outcompete and outreproduce deer.

Hogs are omnivores. Deer are browsers. Deer depend on a small suite of plants for food. Hogs can live on almost anything, and in places that will not support deer.

A doe deer doesn't breed until she's a year old, then produces one fawn most years and twins in really good years. On average, half those fawns survive to their first birthday.

A sow feral hog can breed for the first time when she's 8 months old or so, and throw litters of four to eight piglets twice a year, and almost all survive.

Do the math.

It appears impossible to eradicate feral hogs once they have become established at the level we have them in Texas.

Yes, extreme methods — intense trapping, aerial gunning — can clear an area of feral hogs. But it's expensive, time-consuming and only a temporary solution. If intense control is not maintained — constant trapping, brutally efficient gunning over a large area — new hogs migrate to fill the vacuum.

Look; Texas has the most liberal hog-killing regulations in the nation. Feral hogs can be killed by any method other than poisoning. They can be shot from the air or ground. They can be trapped. They can be run down by packs of hounds. Day and night. No limits.

No one has a dependable estimate of how many feral hogs are killed in Texas each year. But it has to be in the neighborhood of a quarter-million or more. Heck, the state's two commercial processing plants that butcher feral hogs for the retail market are annually handling an estimated 100,000 wild swine. Maybe twice that many are taken by recreational hunters and trappers.

Still, the pig population climbs.

Feral hogs are the four-legged equivalent of fire ants, tallow trees, salt cedar, water hyacinth and all the other non-native, invasive species that are damaging Texas' biota. Their only positive qualities are that they provide hunting opportunity, and they are great on the table.

I kill feral hogs whenever I can, even though I understand that assassinating one every now and again from a deer stand or even trapping a dozen or two a year from the deer lease has the same impact as trying to dip out the ocean using a coffee cup.

It's not particularly satisfying work. But I like to think the deer and the quail, squirrel and turkey and every other native creature in the woods appreciates the effort.

Feral hogs have even been seen roaming in parts of Houston's Memorial Park near Buffalo Bayou. And markets are developing for feral hog meat. But the population continues to grow steadily. Any ideas?

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (1) |

A clever Kiss Cam

I can easily do without the Kiss Cam, which is one of the ubiquitous fan participation entertainment segments that most Major League Baseball ballparks run between innings these days. Former President and Mrs. Bush good-naturedly participate whenever they attend Stros games, which always raises a cheer from the crowd. But as much as I generally dislike the Kiss Cam, the one below that ran in Phoenix during the recent Diamondbacks-Cubs National League Divisional Series is a clever reminder of a couple of the mythical reasons for the Cubs' failure to win the World Series since 1908:

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 10, 2007

Did Joe Pa go "Gundy"?

What is in the water that big-time college football coaches are drinking this season?

First, Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy went famously batshit over a newspaper article that was critical of one of his team's professional -- er. I mean, "amateur" -- players.

And now Jay Christensen reports that Penn State head coach Joe Paterno is the primary suspect in a road rage incident.

It almost makes you wonder: "What would Woody Hayes do?"

Update: Paterno provides his side of the story.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Michael Milken on the housing markets

You can usually count on Michael Milken making an interesting observation or two whenever interviewed about markets, particualarly the housing market:

"The idea that any loan against real estate is a good loan has never been a rational thought."

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Thinking about improving the NBA

With the opening of the NBA pre-season tonight ("yawn"), Clear Thinkers favorite Bill James (previous posts here) provides this interesting article on how the study of professional leagues has lagged behind the study of professional teams and how the lack of competitive balance may ultimately undermine a league such as the NBA. David Berri provides this blog post analyzing James' article in which he suggests that the NBA's lack of competitive balance is not really that much of a problem after all. Skip Sauer makes the same point here.

At any rate, regardless of the competitive balance issue, here are my suggestions for improving the NBA, which is often unwatchable before the playoffs:

1. Limit the regular season to 50 games and begin play during or right after the Thanksgiving holiday. Who watches basketball before then anyway?

2. Use the regular season to seed the playoffs and to determine home court advantage.

3. All teams make the initial round of the playoffs and all playoff series are best of seven games except for the first round, which would be the best of nine.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

October 9, 2007

Jamie Olis seeks another chance

A little over a month after I started this blog back in early 2004, former Dynegy executive Jamie Olis was sentenced to over 24 years in prison for allegedly cooking Dynegy's books. That shocking sentence aroused my interest in the Olis case, so I have followed Olis' ordeal closely for going on four years. The tremors from the Olis sentence have been enormous, not the least of which was its impact on various defendants who entered into plea bargains in the Enron-related criminal cases rather than risk a similar quasi-life sentence.

Despite my interest in the Olis case, I have been somewhat frustrated over the years by the lack of available public information regarding the evidence of Olis' alleged criminal acts. Olis had already been convicted before I even found out about his case, so I didn't follow his trial and don't know much about what was presented during it. However, I do know that the structured finance transaction that was the basis of the charges against Olis -- nicknamed "Project Alpha" -- was not a particularly unusual transaction for a large company such as Dynegy at the time. I also knew that the transaction had been approved by dozens of accountants and lawyers both inside and outside of Dynegy.

From my experience in defending several former Enron executives, I also knew that government prosecutors neither understood nor cared much to understand the complex structured finance transactions in which companies such as Enron and Dynegy commonly engaged. Rather, prosecutors knew that obtaining a conviction against business executives in the aftermath of Enron was like shooting fish in a barrel, so it became common for them to criminalize legitimate business transactions (for example, see here, here and here) where it was far from clear that anything was wrong with the transaction in the first place. To the extent such transactions should have been subject to litigation at all, they should have been subject solely to civil litigation where the liability for the alleged wrongdoing could be allocated fairly among the dozens of individuals or companies commonly involved in approving such transactions.

So it was with great interest that I read this memorandum in support of a motion to set aside Olis' conviction that a new group of lawyers (including, interestingly, Houston plaintiffs' lawyer, John O'Quinn) representing Olis filed late last week with U.S. District Judge Sim Lake (Chronicle business columnis Loren Steffy published the memorandum in a blog post over the weekend and Chronicle legal columnist Mary Flood followed up with a Monday blog post here).

The memorandum is the first document that has been filed in the Olis case that lucidly explains how -- as I've long suspected -- it was far from clear that there was anything wrong with Project Alpha and even farther from clear that Olis had anything to do with any alleged criminal conduct. Knowing this, the prosecution veered away from its original charges against Olis and ultimately prosecuted him at trial over a "hide the real deal" theory that was entirely different from the one contained in the Olis indictment. As it turns out, Olis didn't really hide anything and there is substantial evidence to support his disclosures. However, the Olis' defense at trial was limited when Dynegy quit funding it as a result of the government's threat "to go Arthur Andersen" on the company. Thus, Olis' defense counsel was overwhelmed and did not find the exculpatory evidence, which the Olis team did not discover until Olis' lawyer sued Dynegy and recovered a substantial money judgment for failing to fulfill its obligation to fund the Olis criminal defense. The ordeal that Olis and his family have suffered over the past four years is the result of this travesty.

Credit Steffy for getting it right in his blog post calling for Olis' release from prison (related column here). However, Steffy's call for justice in the Olis case is ironic in that he bears a substantial portion of the responsibility for flaming the poisonous anti-business climate in Houston that led to brutal injustices such as the Olis case in the first place. Let's remember that the next time someone starts inciting an angry mob.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Kolata on Good Calories, Bad Calories

NY Times nutrition columnist Gina Kolata (previous posts here) reviews Gary Taubes' new book, Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control and Disease (Knopf September, 2007), which was previewed earlier here. Kolata observes:

His thesis, first introduced in a much-debated article in The New York Times Magazine in 2002 challenging the low-fat diet orthodoxy, is that nutrition and public health research and policy have been driven by poor science and a sort of pigheaded insistence on failed hypotheses. As a result, people are confused and misinformed about the relationship between what they eat and their risk of growing fat. He expands that thesis in the new book, arguing that the same confused reasoning and poor science has led to misconceptions about the relation between diet and heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, dementia, diabetes and, again, obesity. When it comes to determining the ideal diet, he says, we have to “confront the strong possibility that much of what we’ve come to believe is wrong.” [. . .]

Taubes convincingly shows that much of what is believed about nutrition and health is based on the flimsiest science. To cite one minor example, there’s the notion that a tiny bit of extra food, 50 or 100 calories a day — a few bites of a hamburger, say — can gradually make you fat, and that eating a tiny bit less each day, or doing something as simple as walking a mile, can make the weight slowly disappear. This idea is based on a hypothesis put forth in a single scientific paper, published in 2003. And even then it was qualified, Taubes reports, by the statement that it was “theoretical and involves several assumptions” and that it “remains to be empirically tested.” Nonetheless, it has now become the basis for an official federal recommendation for obesity prevention.

But the problem with a book like this one, which goes on and on in great detail about experiments new and old in areas ranging from heart disease to cancer to diabetes, is that it can be hard to know what has been left out. [. . .[

. . . I kept wondering how he would deal with an obvious question. If low-carbohydrate diets are so wonderful, why is anyone fat? Most people who struggle with their weight have tried these diets and nearly all have regained everything they lost, as they do with other diets. What is the problem?

On Page 446, he finally tells us. Carbohydrates, he says, are addictive, and we’ve all gotten hooked. Those who try to break the habit start to crave them, just as an alcoholic craves a drink or a smoker craves a cigarette. But, he adds, if they are addictive, that “implies that the addiction can be overcome with sufficient time, effort and motivation.”

I’m sorry, but I’m not convinced.

John Tierney comments, too.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (4) |

An interesting variation on the Nigerian email scam

I've had my email address for a long time, so I get a receive a lot of spam, which I ignore.

However, I thought I'd already seen every possible variation of the Nigeriam email scam imaginable, but I have to admit the one below that I received a few days ago is more imaginative than most:

From: rebzxxxxxxxxxxxx@peoplepc.com

Luciano Pavarotti (Next Of Kin)

Dear Sir,

My writing to you should be surprising but it’s not a mistake because I believe that I could confide in you on this business deal which would be highly beneficial to both of us only that you should promise me that you would not disappoint me at the conclusion of this deal. The main reason why I am contacting you today is to seek your assistance but firstly let me introduce myself before proceeding to the purpose of this letter.

I am Graham Robson Wallace from London in the United Kingdom and I worked as a personal assistant and attorney to one Luciano Pavarotti who died of pancreatic cancer on the September 06, 2007. I was so close to him that on the 27th of June 2005, before his untimely death, he deposited the sum of Thirty-Seven Million Dollars (US$37M) in the custody of a Security Company in London and Holland and this deposit was made known to me alone. The problem now is that these Security Company has written to me few days ago requesting that I provide the beneficiary and next of kin to the deposited fund hence the real depositor is dead.

I would have claimed the money but the company already knows me as the late Luciano Pavarotti's attorney and personal assistant. So that is why I am contacting you just to present you as the bonafide beneficiary and next of kin to the said fund and I would provide all necessary documents to back up the claim but you must promise me that you won’t disappear into tin air by the time the fund is remitted into you account and also bare in mind that you would be entitled to 35% of the said fund, though the percentage sharing is negotiable.

Please signify your interest by providing me the following: This is to enable me commence immediate preparation of all legal document that will back up our claim.

1. Full Name :
2. Your Telephone Number and Fax Number
3. Your Contact Address.

Your urgent response will be highly appreciated.

Best regards,

Mr. Graham R. Wallace

Based on this earlier post about the late Pavarotti, it doesn't sound as if he had $37 million laying around to give to Mr. Wallace. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 8, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(AP photo/Mike Stone)
Oklahoma 28 Texas Longhorns 21

In an entertaining revival of the Red River Rivalry (previous weekly summaries here), the Sooners (5-1) edged the Longhorns (4-2) by taking advantage of two 2nd half turnovers by Texas RB Jamaal Charles. One of Charles' two turnovers was technically an interception, but he allowed the ball to bounce off his hands, so he should have had it. My sense is that Horns head coach Mack Brown should be about at the end of his rope with the turnover-prone Charles, who was clearly the difference between these closely-matched teams. The Horns go on the road next weekend to play Iowa State (1-5), which is coached by former Texas defensive coordinator Gene Chizik.

Houston Texans 22 Miami 19

Texans' (3-2) kicker Kris Brown's career day (five FG's of 54, 43, 54, 20 and the game winner of 57) pulls out the win over Miami (0-5), which may be the NFL's worst team. Not much to say after the Texans struggle to secure a victory at home over a winless team that was using a backup quarterback. The Texans take their non-existent running game on the road next weekend at division rival Jacksonville (3-1).

Texas Aggies 24 Oklahoma State 23

Coach Fran's job was hanging by a thread from the top deck of Kyle Field in this one as the listless Aggies (5-1) trailed the Cowboys (3-3) 17-0 at halftime. But 275 lbs RB Jorvorskie Lane bulled in for a couple of TD's, threw a 50 yard pass to set up another and caught a TD pass to bring the Aggies back in the second half. Despite the thrilling win, I see little that makes me believe that the Aggies will be able to slow down Texas Tech's (5-1) high-powered offense next Saturday in Lubbock. Tech's defense is in disarray, though, so who knows? The game at Tech begins a brutal stretch for the Ags in whcih they will play Texas Tech, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri on the road as Coach Fran's job hangs in the balance.

Alabama 30 Houston Cougars 24

The Coogs (2-3) looked dead in the water after the 1st quarter in this one, but then dominated Alabama over the final three quarters and were within a final pass play into the end zone of pulling the major upset over the Crimson Tide (4-2). The Cougars now must regroup after two straight close losses before taking on crosstown rival and well-rested Rice (1-4) at Robertson Stadium next Saturday.

Rice 31 Southern Miss 29

With just over 12 minutes left in the game, the Owls (1-4) were driving for another score while cruising with a surprising 31-7 lead over the Eagles (2-3). But then, the Owls missed a chip shot FG and less than ten minutes later, they had to stop a two-point conversion to salvage the win. The Owls take on Houston (2-3) Saturday at Robertson Stadium in their annual crosstown rivalry.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Stros 2007 Review, Part Ten: Season Recap and Report Card

It's been a week now since the Craig Biggio Farewell Tour drew to a close during the final eighth of the Stros' disappointing 2007 season. With the end of the season, the tremendously successful Biggio-Bagwell era in the history of the Stros has officially ended. Accordingly, it's a good time to step back and assess where the Stros are and where they are going.

The final eighth of the season reflected the modest improvement in the play of the club over the final third or so of the season. The Stros (73-89) had an 11-10 record over their final 21 games to finish with only their second losing season during the Biggio-Bagwell era and since Drayton McLane acquired the club in 1993. They continued their season trend of being a National League-average hitting team with a far below National League-average pitching staff. The Stros hitters finished the season generating a precisely National League-average number of runs, (RCAA, explained here), which was tied for 8th among the 16 National League teams. On the other hand, the pitching staff gave up an atrocious 79 more runs than an average National League pitching staff would have given up in the same number of innings (RSAA, explained here), which was 15th and better only than the Pirates' sorry staff among National League teams.

The club's record during each of this season's eight segments are below with a brief description of the segment (the first and final segments each covered 21 games due to the MLB 162-game schedule):

Season Preview - A downturn looks likely.
1st: 9-12 - Stros lose 5 of first 6, win 8 of next 9, then lose next 6.
2nd: 11-9 - Rookie sensation Hunter Pence bursts on the scene.
3rd: 6-14 - Oh my. Stros lose 10 straight while being outscored 72-20.
4th: 8-12 - Poor pitching becomes the norm as Bidg gets his 3,000th.
5th: 10-10 - It's time to preserve and develop assets for the future.
6th: 10-10 - Treading water.
7th: 8-12 - The future doesn't look as bad as this season.
8th: 11-10 - As the Biggio-Bagwell era ends, the club prepares for the future.

The downturn in the Stros' pitching this season was a bitter disappointment for McLane, who ended up cleaning house as a result of that downturn and the gradual deterioration of the Stros farm system over the past 10 years. As the chart below reflects, a club can generally compete with above-average pitching and below-average hitting, but the opposite is generally not the case:

Despite the bottoming out of the Stros this season, I have been surprised of the widespread criticism of McLane's stewardship of the club. He has been the best owner that the Stros have ever had and the club has been one of the most consistently above-average teams in Major League Baseball during his 14 year ownership tenure. Although he bears a part of the responsibility for the deterioration of the farm system over the past 10 years, McLane wasn't the one selecting the players. After logically promoting from within at the end of the successful tenure of former general manager Gerry Hunsicker, McLane quite reasonably decided to clean house and bring in a new GM from outside the organization when it became clear during this season that the club had bottomed out, the Jason Jennings trade had been mishandled, and the 2007 draft was pretty much an unmitigated disaster.

As for McLane's hiring of former Phillies GM Ed Wade as the new Stros GM, my sense is that it was a reasonable move. Wade is about the same age as Hunsicker and has basically the same experience in management of an MLB club as the former Stros GM. Wade's track record with the Phillies was that he drafted reasonably well, but didn't trade as well as he drafted young players. He developed a solid nucleus at Philadelphia that has become the best offensive team in the National League this past season (139 RCAA!), but he generally struggled to add the necessary supporting pieces - particularly on the pitching staff - to put the Phillies over the hump in the NL East against both the Braves and the Mets. Ironically, one of Wade's first tasks with the Stros (in addition to overhauling the scouting system) will be to do what he struggled to accomplish with the Phillies - patch up the Stros' broken-down pitching staff.

As noted earlier here, the Stros are not as far away from returning to contention in the NL Central as their record this season indicates. As I recommended at mid-season, Stros management used the second half of the season to preserve and develop the club's assets. A nucleus of above-average hitters finally exists that has the potential next season to generate the first above National League-average hitting club since the 2004 team. The club appears to have a reasonably solid group of veteran and young pitchers to compete for the no. 3 through 5 spots in the rotation behind the club's ace, Roy Oswalt. As was the case before the 2007 season, the Stros primary need for the 2008 season is to come up with at least one and preferably two veterans to compete for the no. 2 spot in the pitching rotation. Inasmuch as the Cubs won the NL Central with a pitching-dominant 60 net RCAA/RSAA score (118 RSAA/-58 RCAA), the fastest way for the Stros (-79 net RCAA/RSSA score) can begin making up that 139 run deficit is to shore up the club's pitching staff.

The following is my report card for each of the Stros this season, which you may want to compare with the report card from last season. Full season statistics follow the report card and the Stros 40-man roster is here with a hyperlink to each player's statistics and other information:

The A�s

Hunter Pence: A. The irrepressible outfielder was the most pleasant surprise of the season. His hitting statistics were among the best of any rookie (108 games/24 RCAA/.360 OBA/.899 OPS/17 HR/11-16 SB) in Stros history and are quite comparable to Lance Berkman's rookie season (114/21/.388/.561/.949/21 HR). Pence's OPS was the best on the club and he played reasonably well defensively in both CF and RF. I'd like to see him be more patient at the plate (only 26 walks in 484 plate appearances), but Pence nevertheless has the potential to be a fixture in the Stros outfield for the next decade.

Roy Oswalt: A-. Roy O had a below-average season for him (24 RSAA/3.18 ERA), but his RSAA was still 7th best in the National League. Once again, he pitched over 200 innings, the fifth time he has done that in his seven seasons with the Stros. He remains the best pitcher in the history of the club:

The B's

Lance Berkman: B+. Over the past six seasons, the Big Puma has alternated between dominant hitting seasons and merely well above-average seasons. After having one of the best hitting seasons in Stros history in 2006, Berkman was merely very good this season (35 RCAA/.386 OBA/.510 SLG/.896 OPS/34 HR). He struggled for most of the first half of the season with a chronic bruise on his left palm that he has battled the past several seasons, but Berkman came back during the second half of the season to generate an RCAA score that was 13th best in the National League for the season. He remains the only Stros player who has a realistic chance to challenge Jeff Bagwell's career RCAA record for the club:

Chad Qualls. B+. In four big league seasons, Qualls has had progressively better RSAA scores each season and has never been below-average. His 11 RSAA/3.05 ERA/ in 82 ? IP was the best on the staff after Roy O. He should be a candidate for the closer's job next season.

Carlos Lee: B. Lee performed about as expected. An above-average and durable, but not great, hitter (19 RCAA/.354 OBA/.528 SLG/.882 OPS/32 HR/119 RBI), a solid run producer and a liability defensively in LF. I'm still not convinced that he's a good fit for the Stros because his best positions are clearly 1B and DH. As a result, don't be surprised if the Stros consider putting Lee at 1B and Berkman in LF next season. Inasmuch as Lee in his first season with the club almost broke Brad Ausmus' Stros single-season record (30) for grounding into double plays (Lee had 28), he looks like a sure bet to beat that record eventually:

Luke Scott: B. After battling injuries and Phil Garner's inexplicable reluctance to play him for much of the season, Scott came back for the second straight season after the All-Star break to post solid hitting numbers (14 RCAA/.351 OBA/.504 SLG/.855 OPS/18 HR). Come next season, new Stros manager Cecil Cooper would be smart to pencil Scott in each day in right field and fifth in the batting order and leave him there.

Brad Lidge: B. Lidge made a nice comeback (6 RSAA/3.36 ERA/67 IP) from his horrifying 2006 season, but he still struggled with his control frequently. Curiously, the Stros delayed his knee surgery to remove loose cartilage until after the season, which was a mistake unless they were showcasing him for a possible trade. Lidge is talented and an asset for any pitching staff, but his one dominant season (2004) does not mean that he is a dominant closer. My sense is that Qualls may end up being a better fit for that role.

Mike Lamb: B. Lamb had his second straight solid season as a backup 3B and 1B and the club's best lefthanded hitter off the bench (10 RCAA/.366 OBA/.453 SLG/.820 OPS/11 HR). But he doesn't hit with enough power to play 1B regularly and is not really good enough defensively to play 3B full-time. Nonetheless, Lamb is expected to look for a starting position with another team this off-season, so the Stros are not expecting him to return. Both parties would be better off if Lamb returned in his current reserve role.

The C�s

Wandy Rodriguez: C. Rodriguez went from being one of the worst starting pitchers in MLB over the past two seasons to merely being a below-average starter (-7 RCAA/4.58 ERA/182? IP). At least that�s progress. It�s conceivable that he could continue to improve and be a reasonable 4th or 5th starter. Of course, it�s just as conceivable that he could regress to what he was over the past couple of seasons. That�s the hit-or-miss nature of pitching at the non-elite levels of MLB.

Chris Sampson: C. Sampson was the Stros� second most effective starter through the early part of the season, but then broke down. His season numbers (-5 RSAA/4.59 ERA/121? IP) weren�t all that great. However, what on earth was the Stros� management smoking when they thought that a converted infielder who had never thrown more than 150 innings in a professional season could possibly hold up under the physical demands of being a starter for an entire MLB season? Sampson is another reasonable candidate for the 4th or 5th starter slot next season, although long relief may ultimately be his best role.

Dave Borkowski,Brian Moehler, Trevor Miller: C. Borkowski (-7 RSAA/5.15 ERA/71? IP) and Moehler (1 RSAA/4.07 ERA/59? IP) were workmanlike in the thankless task of mop-up duty and, goodness knows, they had plenty of that type of duty during a season such as this one. Miller had his second straight comeback season (-3 RSAA/4.86 ERA/46? IP) as a reasonably effective LOOGY (�Lefty One-Out Guy�). Any of these guys could easily lose what little they have left tomorrow and not even make the team next spring.

Ty Wigginton: C. Let�s see here. In 604 plate appearances with Tampa Bay and then the Stros last season, 3B Wigginton hit 2 RCAA/.333 OBA/.459 SLG/.792 OPS/22 HR�s. In 353 plate appearances, Mike Lamb hit 10 RCAA/.366 OBA/.453 SLG/.820 OPS/11 HR�s and in 324 PA�s between Houston and San Diego, Morgan Ensberg hit -6 RCAA/.320 OBA/.404 SLG/.724 OPS/12 HR�s. Lamb�s career numbers are about the same as Wigginton�s and Ensberg�s are considerably better than either of them. What is the purpose of letting Ensberg and Lamb go in favor of Wigginton?

The D�s

Morgan Ensberg: D. See Ty Wigginton above and here.

Brad Ausmus: D. How is -16 RCAA/.318 OBA/.324 SLG/.642 OPS not an F? Because it is better than the -38 RCAA/.308 OBA/.285 SLG/.593 OPS that Ausmus laid on the Stros last season. The mainstream media and Stros management always touts Ausmus� �intangibles� with the pitching staff as one of the reasons why he is important to have around. Well, those intangibles certainly didn�t help much the pitching staff this past season. One of Wade�s first moves as GM was to announce that he had offered Ausmus a one year deal to return in 2008 at the league average for catchers, assuring that Ausmus will fleece the Stros for at least one more season. Meanwhile, Ausmus retains his stranglehold on the top spot as the worst hitter in Stros history:

Mark Loretta: D-. The cluelessness of some of the mainstream media that cover the Stros was exemplified again by their suggestion that the Stros should re-sign Loretta to take over for Biggio at 2B next season. After a reasonably strong first couple of months of the season, the ruse of small sample sizes wore off and Loretta�s declining hitting skills were exposed (-9 RCAA/.352 OBA/.372 SLG/.724 OPS/4 HR). To put how bad he was for most of the season in perspective, he had only 7 more extra base hits than Ausmus in 114 more plate appearances. To make matters worse, he had only mildly better range defensively than Biggio. The double play combo of Loretta at SS and Biggio at 2B was not as good as several 50-year and up slow-pitch softball combos that I�ve seen.

Adam Everett: D-. Before suffering what amounted to a season-ending broken leg in an ugly collision with Carlos Lee, Everett was having one of the worst seasons of his career. His hitting was worse than even his usual abysmal standards (-12 RCAA/.281 OBA/.318 SLG/.599 OPS). In just 66 games, he uncharacteristically committed 8 errors; he had 7 in 149 games during the entire 2006 season. If his range is limited next season by his injury, then Everett's marginal value to the Stros is lost. Everett is one of those nice guys who you desperately want to succeed, but it�s past time now for the Stros to upgrade at this position.

Eric Bruntlett: D-. Bruntless was screwed around by Stros management when they hired Loretta during the off-season after Bruntlett had played quite well in the reserve middle infielder role last season. However, Bruntlett simply did not play well in 2007 (-6 RCAA/.346 OBA/.283 SLG/.629 OPS/0 HR). His stellar defense even suffered so that Managers Garner and Cooper became reluctant to play him at SS. I'd still take him over another season of Loretta, though.

Eric Munson: D-. Munson had an opportunity to show the Stros that he is their catcher of the future, but blew it by his less-than-stellar defense and lousy hitting (-7 RCAA/.313 OBA/.356 SLG/.669 OPS/4 HR). Let's hope that Towles proves to be ready for MLB next spring. I shudder at the thought of having Munson and Ausmus providing the catching for the 2008 season.

Humberto Quintero: D-. Quintero is the modern version of Luis Pujols (-4 RCAA/.281 OBA/.264 SLG/.545 OPS), which grizzled veterans of Stros history know is no compliment. Throws a mean ball to 2B from his knees, though.

The F�s

Craig Biggio: F. Bidg�s career with the Stros gets an A, but his exit from the Stros gets an F. Biggio should have retired after the 2005 World Series trip when he would have ended his career as an above-National League average player and a certain Hall of Famer. Two seasons later, he is still a certain Hall of Famer, but he has sullied his career with two far below National League-average seasons (-19 RCAA/.285 OBA/.381 SLG/.666 OPS/10 HR in 2007). Meanwhile, he hurt his team with his subpar defense, by batting leadoff when his production did not justify it, and by blocking development of such younger players as 2B Chris Burke and OF Jason Lane, each of whom lost valuable MLB development time at their best position earlier in their career because of the Stros� indulgence of Biggio�s quest for 3,000 hits. Biggio is a Stros icon, but it is no coincidence that the Stros� dramatic decline over the past two seasons on the field has mirrored that of Biggio.

Chris Burke: F. Will Burke even get a chance to revive his career as a first year, full-time 28 year old 2B in 2008? He had a horrible season (-15 RCAA/.304 OBA/.357 SLG/.662 OPS/6 HR), perhaps best reflected by the fact that he had only 5 more extra base hits than Ausmus in roughly the same number of plate appearances. Burke has been the player most hurt by the Stros allowing Biggio to play at least two seasons longer than he should have. That may end up contributing to Burke never being able to handle a full-time MLB job at 2B.

Jason Lane: F. In 1363 career plate appearances, Lane has hit -12 RCAA/.314 RCAA/.457 SLG/.771 OPS/61 HR. Many mainstream media pundits that cover the Stros consider him an abject failure. In 1632 career plate appearances, former Stros CF Willy Taveras has hit -30 RCAA/.338 OBA/.350 SLG/.688 OPS/6 HR. Many of the same mainstream media pundits consider Taveras a great prize that former GM Tim Purpura gave away in a terrible trade. Go figure.

Orlando Palmeiro: F. Why is an aged singles hitting, career pinch-hitter taking up a roster spot on a club than needs to be developing younger players who can contribute regularly? Palmeiro had a bad season (-5/.342 OBA/.262 SLG/.604 OPS/0 HR) and would serve no useful purpose for the club next season.

Matt Albers: F. One of the troika of Stros starters who were among the worst in the National League this season, Albers deserves the most slack of the three because he should have been pitching at AAA Round Rock this season and then trying to make the club in 2008. Thrown to the wolves a season early, the 24 year-old mostly struggled (-20 RSAA/5.86 ERA/18 HR in 118? IP). Despite the rough start, he occasionally flashed sufficient talent that he will probably compete for the 4th or 5th starter role next spring.

Woody Williams. F-. I had doubts about the Williams deal when it was struck, but even I didn�t think it would turn out this bad (-22 RSAA/5.27 ERA/35 HR in 188 IP). He is signed for another season and might compete for a backend starter�s role next season, but he is better suited for mop-up duty and bullpen advice at this stage of his career. Beware of giving fly-ball pitchers in their early 40's an opportunity to pitch a substantial number of innings at Minute Maid Park.

Jason Jennings: F-. The poster boy for everything that went wrong for the Stros in 2007. The Stros traded their best young starting pitcher for Jennings and then failed to discover during due diligence on the deal the extent of Jennings� tendonitis that ended his season prematurely and resulted in surgery. That failure was likely the straw that broke the camel�s back in prompting McLane to fire former GM Tim Purpura. If Jennings can recover from the surgery in time for the 2007 season, it wouldn�t be a bad idea to take a flyer on him for the 2008 seasons for the right price � heck, he was a workhorse at Colorado before coming to the Stros. But there may be too much water under the bridge between Jennings and the Stros to make that work.

The Incompletes

Brandon Backe: I. Backe came back from Tommy John surgery on his elbow and pitched reasonably well in 28? IP (1 RSAA/3.77 ERA). If the Stros are going to contend next season, Backe turning into a solid no. 3 starter would be a big factor in propelling them to that goal.

Troy Patton: I. Patton is a case study in the fragile nature of young pitchers. Although he has just turned 22, Patton has been among the Stros top pitching prospects since being signed out of Tomball High School in 2004. Due to the Stros� poor pitching this season, Patton was jet-streamed though AA and AAA and on to the big league club in August (1 RSAA/3.55 ERA/ 12? IP). However, that whirlwind resulted in him pitching 163 IP this season, which was much more than he had ever pitched before. Moreover, over a third of those innings were at the higher stress levels of AAA and MLB. As a result, he was shut down with a case of bicep tendonitis in September. Patton is probably in the mix for the 4th or 5th starter role next season, but in developing him, here�s hoping that the Stros take note of the sad legacy of such overworked young starters as Mark Pryor and Kerry Wood.

J.R. Towles: I. Towles emerged this season as the Stros� first top catching prospect in years. The 23 year old Crosby naive began the season in high A ball and ended up having a nice stretch of 14 games with the big league club in September (4 RCAA/.432 OBA/.575 SLG/1.007 OPS). Although he will be given a shot at a big league roster spot during spring training, don�t be surprised if needs more seasoning at AAA before he comes a regular at the MLB level.

Juan Gutierrez and Felipe Paulino: I. Two pitchers who are graduates of the Stros� Venezuelan academy, Guiterrez and Paulino (whose full last name is actually �Paulino del Guidice�) both figure to be in the mix next spring for a roster spot. Gutierrez is a 23 year old who was the workhorse of the AAA Round Rock staff this season. He looked a bit overmatched in his cup of coffee this season with the Stros (-4 RSAA/ 5.91 ERA in 21? IP), but he held up under the stress of pitching over 175 IP this season. He looks as if he could develop into a decent mid-rotation starter. The 23 year old Paulino has a nice heater, but he looks better suited to be a reliever than a starter to me. The 131 IP that he pitched at AA Corpus and with the Stros this season (-6 RSAA/ 7.11 ERA in 19 IP) were the most that he has ever pitched in his career.

Dennis Sarfate: I. A late-season waiver wire pickup from the Brewers (they had to let him go because they were out of minor league options on him), Sarfate is 26 year old, one-pitch fireball reliever who has struggled with control (sound familar?) throughout his career. He pitched well in a small sample size with the Stros (3 RSAA/1.08 ERA in 8? IP) , but it is far from certain that he can be a consistent contributor in the bullpen.

Josh Anderson and Cody Ransom: I. Beware of small sample sizes. Anderson is a 24 year old CF and Willy Taveras clone. His small sample size with the Stros (4 RCAA/.413 OBA/.403 SLG/.816 OPS in 21 games) was far better than he generated in full seasons at either AA or AAA. He is not considered a top prospect and it would not be prudent to play him in CF and Pence in RF regularly rather than Pence in CF and Luke Scott in RF. Ransom is a 31 year old, career minor leaguer (or a AAAA prospect, so they say) who fielded better than Loretta and Bruntlett during his stint with the big league club in September. It is not a good sign if he is a prospect to make the club�s roster next season.

The 2007 season statistics for the Stros are below, courtesy of Lee Sinins' sabermetric Complete Baseball Encyclopedia. The abbreviations for the hitting stats are defined here and the same for the pitching stats are here. The Stros 40 man roster is here with links to each individual player's statistics:

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (5) |

More on the Kent case

Chronicle reporters Lise Olsen and Harvey Rice follow up on their previous coverage of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reprimand of U.S. District Judge Sam Kent with this Sunday Chronicle article, which includes the following tidbits:

The episodes of alleged abuse began a decade ago and involved at least three employees, according to interviews with two women and with attorney Rusty Hardin, who represents the third.

In the most recent incident, the judge was accused of inappropriately touching a female case manager in his chambers in March. [. . .]

As the only federal district judge in Galveston, Kent is the ranking federal official in a small fiefdom. The power of his lifetime appointment is reflected by the fear of attorneys and former court employees, who generally declined comment.

The Volokh Conspiracy's Ilya Somin, who once clerked at the Fifth Circuit and has been following the Kent matter closely, has some interesting observations about the latest Chronicle article.

The Galveston Daily News also provides this special section on the Kent matter, and the Wikipedia site on Judge Kent has also become a good source of information.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 7, 2007

A good Sunday story

One of my many beautiful and talented nieces passes along this delightful story carrying on my family's legacy in medicine. Enjoy.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 6, 2007

Rosett on the Wyatt trial

Claudia Rosett is a journalist in residence with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who has written extensively about the U.S. Oil-for-Food program and resulting scandal that recently snared the plea bargain conviction of longtime Houston oilman, Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr. (previous posts here). Rosett attended Wyatt's trial in New York and this Wall Street Journal op-ed on the aftermath of Wyatt's plea bargain pretty much confirms my earlier speculation that Wyatt cut a good deal for himself under the circumstances:

Star witnesses facing Wyatt from the stand included two former Iraqi officials, Mubdir Al-Khudair and Yacoub Y. Yacoub. They have never before been questioned in a public setting, and were relocated to the U.S. by federal authorities this past year to protect them against retaliation in Iraq for cooperating in this probe.

Messrs. Khudair and Yacoub described a system corrupt to the core. Their duties inside Saddam Hussein's bureaucracy consisted largely, and officially, of handling and keeping track of kickbacks. That included who had paid and how much, and via which front companies. When Saddam's regime systematized its Oil for Food kickback demands across the board in 2000, keeping track of the graft flowing into Saddam's secret coffers became a job so extensive that the marketing arm of Iraq's Ministry of Oil, known as SOMO (State Oil Marketing Organization) developed an electronic database to track the flow of the "surcharges," as they were called.

To show how this worked, prosecutors last week produced a silver laptop onto which Saddam's entire oil kickback database had been downloaded by Mr. Yacoub, from backup copies he made just before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. With the laptop display projected onto a big screen before the jury, Mr. Yacoub booted up the system and into a query box typed "Coastal," the name of Wyatt's former oil company. Up came itemized lists of millions of dollars worth of surcharges he testified that Wyatt's company, or affiliated fronts, had paid to the Iraqi regime. These were broken down not only chronologically, but according to which front companies Mr. Yacoub said had channeled the money.

Read the entire piece. Brett Clanton of the Chronicle adds this report on how the Wyatt case highlights the perils of doing business in foreign hotspots. Interesting stuff.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 5, 2007

Slade elects not to testify

The defense rested Thursday in the criminal trial of former Texas Southern University president Priscilla Slade (previous posts here) without the defendant taking the stand in her own defense. Slade told the Chronicle that she felt "wonderful" about the conclusion of her defense, while defense counsel Mike DeGeurin explained on the courthouse steps that "the defendant never testifies if the state has not proven their case. That's just a given rule."

Maybe so, but as noted here and here in connection with a couple of other high profile cases, the decision not to testify in white collar criminal cases is risky. Juries in white collar cases expect to hear from the defendant, and when they don't, they commonly hold against the defendant. That's not it's supposed to work, but that's the reality. As the late Edward Bennett Williams used to advise his white collar criminal clients, "If you elect not to testify, then you better bring your toothbrush with you to the courthouse."

The prosecution finished its rebuttal portion of its case on Thursday. The jury is off on Friday as the judge and lawyers finalize the jury instructions. Final arguments are scheduled to begin on Monday.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Primers for Stoneridge v. Scientific-Atlanta

Oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court will take place next Monday on one of the most important business cases of our time -- the Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific-Atlanta case involving the issue of secondary liability for companies that do business with a company that commits securities fraud (previous posts here). As usual, Larry Ribstein lucidly explains the importance this case, which could have a material impact on the creation of wealth and jobs in America. This OpinionJournal editorial also does an excellent job of explaining the background of the case.

In anticipation of the oral argument, a couple of excellent webcasts of conferences are taking place this morning discussing the public policy and legal issues invovled in this important case. The Federalist Society and Case Western Reserve Law are sponsoring a conference at Case Western in Cleveland, which will include UCLA Law corporate law expert Stephen Bainbridge and Jim Copland, the director of the Center for Legal Policy at the Manhattan Institute.

Meanwhile, at 9 a.m. EDT, the American Enterprise Institute Legal Center for the Public Interest in Washington is hosting its own Stoneridge conference that will include as panelists former SEC chairman Harvey Pitt and AEI Legal Center director, Ted Frank.

If you are at all involved or interested in business law, there won't be many better opportunites to earn CLE credit than watching one or both of these panel discussions.

Update: Point of Law.com provides this eight minute podcast of Jim Copland interviewing Richard A. Epstein on Stoneridge.

Update: The transcript of the oral argument is here and Case Western has provided this handy Stoneridge resource page providing a ton of useful information on the case.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Longhorn trepidation on the eve of Texas-OU Weekend

It's the annual Texas-OU Weekend in Dallas and with two straight Red River rivalry victories under their belt, one would think that the Texas Longhorns would be feeling reasonably confident coming into this year's game.

Don't count on it.

As noted in last week's local football report, the Horns were manhandled by Kansas State at home after looking unimpressive through the first four games of the season. The loss hurled the Horns out of the Top 10 of the polls, although UT did retain a spot in at least this Top 10 poll.

Meanwhile, Longhorn fan Ida Mae Crimpton reports from her front porch in Elgin that all is not well in the Longhorn nation after the Kansas State debacle:

Well, things were so bad after last weekend's loss to Kansas State that Mack didn't even come out of his office to talk with the team after the game was over. So defensive coordinator Duane Akina took over for him. Coach Akina told the guys he was real proud of them except for "that first quarter Kansas State touchdown pass that Marcus (Griffin) should have stopped…and that 41 yard interception return for a touchdown that anybody on offense could have prevented…and the 85 yard kick return that the punter should have stopped…and the 89 yard punt return that my grandmother could have stopped…and the 2 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter…and, oh yeah, those two field goals that nobody even tried to block…" Then, I guess the lecture sort of snowballed because you could tell coach Akina was getting madder and madder because that knobby fat area on the back of his neck was swelling up and getting real red.

Then he asked Colt if he planned to play professional sports after graduation and when Colt said "yeah" coach Akina suggested that he might consider women's professional soccer. Next, he turned to Jamaal who had been fiddling with his cell phone and asked him if he was having any personal problems or trouble with his studies (which brought a few snickers from the back of the team…). Jamaal said "no sir" so coach Akina asked him why he was running like he was wearing flip-flops? At that point coach Akina asked if coach Davis had anything he'd like to say to the team, but he said he didn't, or at least that's what he might have said because it was hard to hear him over the sobbing coming from behind Mack's office door.

Could all of this augur for a return to the days of Mack Brown's Stoops Curse?

Tune in tomorrow at 2:30 p.m., CDT on ABC to find out.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

October 4, 2007

The NACDL's amicus brief in the Skilling appeal

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has requested permission from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to be allowed to file a friend of the court brief (you can download a copy here) in the appeal of former Enron executive Jeff Skilling.

The NACDL brief is excellent and focuses on the controversial decision of U.S. District Judge Sim Lake to grant the Enron Task Force's request for a "deliberate ignorance" jury instruction against Skilling. Judge Lake's allowed that instruction despite the fact that the prosecution didn't allege that Skilling was deliberately ignorant of anything until just before the end of the evidentiary phase of the trial. Moreover, Skilling defended the case on the basis that he was a highly-involved executive of a company where there was no evidence of widespread criminal wrongdoing. Skilling never claimed that he even attempted to turn a blind eye toward alleged wrongdoing.

The NACDL's brief comes out of the box smoking:

This case highlights a recurring problem in federal criminal cases: the indiscriminate use of the deliberate ignorance instruction. As we describe below, the deliberate ignorance doctrine has grave flaws that raise serious constitutional concerns. Left uncorrected, these defects will undermine the mens rea requirements that distinguish criminal and civil liability and perpetuate the status of deliberate ignorance as the new "darling" ofthe prosecutor's nursery.

To mitigate the constitutional concerns with the deliberate ignorance instruction, the Court should restrict the instruction to narrow, clearly defined circumstances consistent with its purposes--circumstances that plainly do not exist here. At the first opportunity to consider the instruction en banc, the Court should eliminate it entirely, leaving to Congress the decision whether, and in what circumstances, deliberate ignorance is sufficiently culpable to warrant criminal sanction.

The NACDL notes that the indiscriminate use of the instruction is particularly troubling in corporate fraud cases, where jurors are already predisposed to believe that the defendant has done something wrong:

That danger is particularly great in the context of a fraud charged against an executive of a large corporation. Potential jurors, like the public generally, may hold the view that such executives should be aware of fraud in the organizations they lead, even if they are not. In such cases, therefore, the deliberate ignorance instruction may encourage jurors to indulge their own notions of culpability, in disregard of statutes and instructions requiring that the defendant act "knowingly." The post-verdict remarks of the jurors in this case suggest that some of them may have blurred the critical line between knowledge and intent on one hand and recklessness or negligence on the other. . . . The deliberate ignorance instruction may well have encouraged that conflation of knowledge with less culpable mental states.

In the context of alleged corporate fraud, the deliberate ignorance instruction also raises the specter of the improper imposition of criminal liability based on the civil doctrine of respondeat superior. Jurors may well view the deliberate ignorance instruction as an appropriate imposition of supervisory responsibility (moral or otherwise), particularly when, as here, they may view the consequences of the alleged fraud to the corporation and its investors as severe and irremediable. [. . .]

If the Court affirms Skilling's conviction on this record, district courts and prosecutors will rightly view the ruling as the final abandonment of any limit on the use of the deliberate ignorance instruction. Deliberate ignorance will have become the default basis for "knowledge" in corporate criminal prosecutions. In our view, this is the wrong message for the Court to send, at a time when the deliberate ignorance doctrine faces withering criticism and is ripe for reconsideration. The Court should find that the evidence did not warrant a deliberate ignorance instruction, reject any contention that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt,8 and--in accordance with Ojebode and cases from other Circuits--reverse Skilling's conviction.

And for good measure, the NACDL brief concludes by taking dead aim at Judge Lake's equally questionable decisions not to transfer venue of the trial and the way in which he empaneled the jury:

In such extraordinary cases, the district court must take strong measures to guarantee the defendant's Fifth and Sixth Amendment right to a fair and impartial jury. Here, as in the Oklahoma City case, the Constitution required the district court to transfer venue and then conduct a rigorous voir dire of prospective jurors from the new venue. Given the sheer loathing for Skilling and Lay that the collapse of Enron engendered in Houston, only with both of those protections--change of venue and thorough voir dire--could there be any confidence that the defendants would receive the trial to which the Constitution entitled them.

Remarkably, the district court provided neither protection. Faced with overwhelming evidence that Houston was suffused with hostility toward the defendants, the court cursorily rejected Skilling's motions to transfer venue. The court then declared that voir dire would last no more than a day. It insisted on conducting voir dire itself, with only the most perfunctory follow-up questioning by counsel. It ignored unmistakable indications of bias in the potential jurors' questionnaires. It persistently asked leading questions of potential jurors-questions designed to mask, rather than expose, bias. Even when grounds to strike potential jurors for cause became apparent, the court often denied them. . . . And the court granted Skilling and Lay a meager two additional peremptory challenges (for a total of twelve combined challenges), and then denied repeated requests for additional peremptories as jury selection unfolded. [record citations deleted].

The district court's conduct of jury selection--from the denial of the motions to transfer venue without a hearing to the stunningly brief and superficial voir dire to the rulings on challenges for cause to the denial of additional peremptory challenges--represents a shocking triumph of efficiency over fairness. Under these circumstances, the court's decisions should not be viewed in isolation and examined ruling-by-ruling under the deferential abuse of discretion standard. Such an atomized analysis would ignore the crushing unfairness of the court's overall approach. Instead, this Court should review the record independently to determine whether the jury selection process violated Skilling's fundamental right to a fair trial. See, e.g., United States v. Williams, 523 F.2d 1203,1208-09 (5th Cir. 1975) (constitutional claim of community prejudice requires independent review).

Such an independent review mandates reversal of Skilling's conviction. If the bedrock constitutional right to "indifferent" jurors means anything, it means that Skilling should not have been tried in Houston before jurors selected in less than a day with only cursory examination, a number of whom had unequivocally expressed harshly negative opinions of the defendants on their questionnaires.

Based on the quality of the NACDL brief and the Skilling Appellant's brief, the Department of Justice has its hands full in preparing its appellee's brief, which is currently scheduled to be filed with the Fifth Circuit around sometime around mid-November.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

Justice Medina's big problem

Well, you certainly don't see this everyday:

The June fire that destroyed the Spring home of Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina was intentionally set, the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office ruled Wednesday.

Investigators would not comment on a motive for the arson, which destroyed a neighboring house and damaged a third, chief investigator Dan Given said Wednesday afternoon.

"At this time, we're not going to release any more information," Given said.

Earlier Wednesday, the office issued a statement saying investigators ruled out an accidental cause and no charges were currently pending. [. . .]

Investigators have identified six "people of interest," all family members or friends of the judge. Investigators have also said a canine detected an accelerant in the fire.

The three homes are in Olde Oaks subdivision in northwest Harris County. Damage for all three has been estimated at $900,000.

Officials said Wednesday that Medina family members questioned about the June 28 blaze have been cooperative. The judge's wife, Francisca Medina, and one of their children were home the night of the fire, officials said.

Investigators have subpoenaed cell phone and financial records of family and friends.

If a charge is filed, it would be arson of a habitation, a second-degree felony that carries a punishment ranging from probation to 20 years in prison, lead investigator Nathan Green said Tuesday. [. . .]

While officials would not discuss possible motives, Green has said a "red flag" was a foreclosure filed on the property in June 2006 that apparently was resolved that December.

The Medinas' insurance policy had lapsed because premiums weren't paid, Green has said. Medina was surprised to learn the 5,000-square-foot house in the 3500 block of Highfalls wasn't covered.

The Medina family moved to Austin after the fire, Green said.

They still owe nearly $2,000 in homeowners association fees, according to Pam Bailey, owner of Chaparrel Management, which manages the Olde Oaks Community Improvement Association.

Bailey said the fees are two years past due.

The house wasn't insured and Justice Medina didn't realize it? In an earlier Chronicle article on the fire, Justice Medina, who was appointed to the high court by Govenor Perry in 2004, said he was unaware that investigators had identified six people of interest, including family members and friends.

"I was not aware. ... That's quite startling," Medina said, later adding that he had "no idea" if he knew anyone who might have set the house on fire.

He then said, "I'm not going to comment further."

That latter comment is a very good idea.

October 15, 2007 Update: Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal announces that Justice Medina is not a suspect in the arson investigation:

Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina is not a suspect in a June arson that destroyed his Spring home, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal confirmed Thursday.

The revelation came during a telephone conversation in which Rosenthal alerted the judge that he was being called to testify before the grand jurors as they discuss whether to charge anyone in the June 28 blaze.

"Because in Harris County, we don't sneak up on people. I said: 'You are not considered a suspect,' " Rosenthal said late Thursday.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

The genesis of bad regulations

I'm not an advocate of using cell phones indiscrimately while driving. In fact, I try to avoid it as much as possible. But every few months or so, some media outlet passes along another superficial story (see also here) on the latest study or tragic story that supposedly suggests that use of cell phones while driving leads to accidents and, thus, should be outlawed.

Cell phones are a distraction while driving. No question about that. But so are conversations with passengers. Are we going to outlaw those, too? Granted, much cell phone use is trivial and unnecessary, but cell phones have unquestionably been a tremendous improvement in communications. Wouldn't it be prudent at least to perform some cost-benefit analysis of the probable impact of outlawing a valuable improvement in communications before foisting yet another regulation on the public?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 3, 2007

How to correct what went wrong in subprime

Clear Thinkers favorite James Hamilton provides this interesting post on Princeton professor Alan Blinder's NY Times Sunday op-ed in which Blinder makes the common sense observation that we first have to figure out what went wrong in the subprime mortgage mess before we can "even begin to devise policy changes that might protect us from a repeat performance."

Blinder proceeds to identify six groups who might bear at least some of the responsibility for the financial fallout: (1) homebuyers who took on mortgages they couldn't repay; (2) mortgage originators, for issuing mortgages that homebuyers couldn't pay; (3) bank regulators, who may have dropped the ball in failing to slow down the runaway train; (4) the investors who ultimately provided the funds for the mortgages, and (5) securitization, which led to assets that are too complex for anyone truly to understand, and (6) ratings agencies that underestimated the risk.

Professor Hamilton focuses on group 4, the investors, and makes the following observation:

Blinder doesn't seem to give us a lot to go on with understanding Finger #4, beyond the notion that these instruments were new and complicated and investors were stupid. Stupid, I might add, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.

Perhaps that's all there will ever prove to be to this story. But I can't help looking for more, thinking there is likely to be something special that caused the usual incentive structure to break down here, something we might be able to understand with more orthodox economic methodology. In my remarks at Jackson Hole, I suggested an interaction between monetary policy and implicit government guarantees as providing one possible basis for a rational calculation on the part of investors. Jin Cao and Gerhard Illing of the University of Munich have an interesting new research paper spelling out the details of exactly how such an equilibrium might play out. Professor Illing lays out the implications for practical policy-making here.

As I also said in Jackson Hole, I am not sure why investors perceived it to be in their best interests to buy these assets. But I am sure that this is the right question, and would encourage young economic researchers seeking to make a name for themselves to take a swing at it.

Because I basically agree with Blinder-- until we know the answer, it's not clear exactly how to fix the problem.

I agree with Professor Hamilton, although I would point out that the best "fix" of the problem is to allow the market to adjust -- with a minimum of regulatory interference -- to what happened in the subprime meltdown. Which reminds me of a great line that Arnold Kling passed along the other day while lauding the George Mason economics department:

"I like to put it his way: at [the University of] Chicago, they say "Markets work well. Let's use markets." At MIT, they say "Markets fail. Let's use government." At GMU, they say "Markets fail. Let's use markets."

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

"We eat what we kill"

Big-time college football is big business. Maybe not as big business as the NFL, but definitely big enough that major universities really ought to dump the obsolescent and hypocritical NCAA regulatory system and form a for-profit system that would pay players market-based compensation similar to minor league baseball.

That such reform makes sense is underscored by the first part of a two part Austin-American Statesman series on the University of Texas athletic department's finances. Not only has the $100 million UT athletic department budget doubled in the past six years, athletics expenses at UT have grown twice as fast as the university’s overall spending during the same time frame.

Moreover, because of the NCAA's regulation of player compensation, UT (as with other big-time programs) funnels compensation to players in the form of "resort privileges." For example, just since UT's football team won the national title in 2005, the football program has spent more than $200,000 renovating its players’ lounge and $155,000 purchasing a hydrotherapy room to help soothe its players’ sore limbs. That hydrotherapy room probably came in handy for Texas QB Colt McCoy after the licking he took during the Longhorns 41-21 loss to Kansas State last Saturday.

Likewise, the amount of money the university spends per athletehas almost doubled over the past four years, from $113,000 in 2003 to $210,000 this year. That’s 10 times the average of all Division I and II colleges, and eight times what UT spends educating each of its non-athlete students. When questioned about that discrepancy, the UT athletic department's CFO replied that the difference is largely meaningless because of the self-supporting nature of the UT athletic program. “We eat what we kill,” the CFO told the Statesman.

Which reminds me of the thought that I had when I saw the now popular video of Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy going batshit at a newspaper reporter over an article that she had written that was critical of one of his players. Gundy wasn't wrong in going haywire. He simply went wacko at the wrong target. The target should have the feckless university leaders who perpetuate the facade of intercollegiate football at the expense of the players. It's high time that the universities engaging in big-time college football start treating it for what it really is -- a big business that should pay market compensation to the professional athletes who are responsible for generating most of the income for the enterprise.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Hersh on the plan for Iran

In this New Yorker article, Seymour Hersh lays out his theory on the Bush Administration's plans for neutralizing Iran. As with most of Hersh's work, it is a fascinating read. He concludes with the following story about tensions between Allied forces:

Another recent incident, in Afghanistan, reflects the tension over intelligence. In July, the London Telegraph reported that what appeared to be an SA-7 shoulder-launched missile was fired at an American C-130 Hercules aircraft. The missile missed its mark. Months earlier, British commandos had intercepted a few truckloads of weapons, including one containing a working SA-7 missile, coming across the Iranian border. But there was no way of determining whether the missile fired at the C-130 had come from Iran—especially since SA-7s are available through black-market arms dealers.

Vincent Cannistraro, a retired C.I.A. officer who has worked closely with his counterparts in Britain, added to the story: “The Brits told me that they were afraid at first to tell us about the incident—in fear that Cheney would use it as a reason to attack Iran.” The intelligence subsequently was forwarded, he said.

The retired four-star general confirmed that British intelligence “was worried” about passing the information along. “The Brits don’t trust the Iranians,” the retired general said, “but they also don’t trust Bush and Cheney.”

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) |

October 2, 2007

Oscar Wyatt cops a plea

83 year old Houston oilman Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr. ended an ordeal that could have resulted in a life prison sentence yesterday when he agreed to plead guilty (Chron stories here and here) to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the middle of his ongoing trial in New York City. Wyatt was on trial over charges that he corrupted the United Nation’s oil-for-food program by paying paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2001 (prior posts here).

Wyatt faces a probable prison sentence of between 18 and 24 months on the one count and he also agreed to forfeit $11 million. The four charges that were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea included conducting financial transactions with an enemy nation (Iraq) and violating a United States embargo on Iraq. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 27.

My sense is that Wyatt cut a reasonably good deal under the circumstances, or at least as good as any deal can be that likely will require a prison sentence. The government had already cut deals with a series of witnesses who had agreed to testify against Wyatt and -- let's face it -- it's hard to think of a less popular criminal defendant in New York City than a wealthy Texas oilman who openly criticized the U.S. State Department's traditional Middle Eastern policy of supporting Israel. Moreover, although dozens of companies and individuals were cited in the Volcker Report on the scandal-ridden oil-for-food program, it was clear that the Department of Justice was going to make Wyatt the poster boy for the corrupt U.N. program. As Jeff Skilling discovered (see here, here and here), it's tough enough fighting against the government's overwhelming prosecutorial power. It's virtually impossible to defend criminal charges effectively when the government overlays the prosecution with demonization of the defendant.

Ellen Podgor provides insight on the dynamics that may have triggered the deal.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

The Tiger Chasm swallows the Texas Open

This earlier post noted how the PGA Tour has forsaken the four Texas Tour events that contribute more to charity than virtually any other Tour events. Just to reaffirm that trend, get a load of the following update on the field for this week's Valero Texas Open at the Westin LaCantera Resort in San Antonio:

By the 5 p.m. deadline for players to officially commit to next week's PGA Tour event, they saw one of today's headline attractions, Presidents Cup representative K.J. Choi, withdraw from the field.[. . .]

The exit of Choi, the world's 10th-ranked player, for undisclosed reasons leaves [Stephen] Ames, the 2006 Players Championship titlist, as the highest-rated player in the field. At No. 42, he will be the only top-50 competitor on hand.

One top-50 player? The venerable Texas Open -- one of the oldest Tour events -- has been relegated to a glorified Nationwide Tour event.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

$1,200 for that?

As noted in the weekly football report, the water cooler conversation in these psrts over the past several days has inevitably turned to what on earth was embattled Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione thinking when he sold a secret newsletter entitled "VIP Connection" to a dozen or so wealthy Aggies for $1,200 a pop (Franchione rakes in over $2 million annually).

The Dallas Morning News' Brian Davis came up with a few of the newsletters and passes along some of their content:

The Dallas Morning News obtained several "VIP" newsletters written by McKenzie since December 2004. Most have a positive tone. . . . others talk about what plays A&M will run, the team's travel schedule and generally harmless fluff. [. . .]

Last November, [the newsletter] outlined A&M's game plan prior to the Texas game. The Aggies wanted to take shots deep, use gadget plays and "hardball running plays."

"Lane on power, and then [Mike] Goodson on a zone read that goes toward a different place in the defensive set than usual [they've never seen it run this way]."

And people wonder why A&M's offense lacks imagination? ;^)

Update: The DMN provides even more from the newsletters.

And Ray Melick makes a good point at the end of this column:

[W]hen the guys who were once willing to buy everything you were selling, including your secret newsletter at $1,200 a year, begin to turn on you.

It's usually a pretty good indication that it's time to start looking for a comfortable place to fall.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

October 1, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(AP Photo/John Amise)(previous weekly summaries here)
Falcons 26 Texans 16

Don't christen Gary Kubiak as the next great NFL coach just yet.

After a sprightly start of the season, the Texans (2-2) lost to a mediocre Atlanta (1-3) team that is precisely the type of team that the Texans have to be beat in order to become an average NFL team, much less a good one. Although you won't hear it much from local media that covers the team, the Texans continue to have huge problems, particularly on offense where their best WR (Andre Johnson) is hurt and the "rushing" attack (more like a walking attack) revolves around two over-the-hill and oft-injured RB's and a mediocre offensive line. Meanwhile, the defense, while improving, still has gaping holes in the secondary and remains inconsistent in putting heat on the opposing team's QB. The Texans take on a bad Miami Dolphins (0-4) team next Sunday at Reliant Stadium. Don't be surprised if the Texans serve up the Dolphins' first victory of the season.

Kansas State 41 Texas Longhorns 21

The shallowness of the Longhorns' (4-1/0-1) undefeated record was exposed with a bang in Austin as Kansas State (3-1/1-0) took advantage of two kick returns for touchdowns and four interceptions by Colt McCoy to cruise to an easy 41-21 victory. It was the worst home loss for the Horns in 10 years under coach Mack Brown. Texas as the Wildcats pummelled McCoy with multiple blitz packages that the Horns' offensive line rarely picked up. The Horns -- who have been susceptible to blitz packages during the Brown era except for the 2005 National Championship team led by the elusive QB Vince Young -- now must figure out quickly how to overcome an even better blitzing team in Oklahoma (4-1/0-1) next weekend in Dallas or else UT will be facing the daunting prospect of an 0-2 start in Big 12 conference play.

Texas Aggies 34 Baylor 10

The Aggie nation heaved a huge sigh of relief as the Ags (4-1/1-0) methodically pounded the Bears (3-2/0-1) into submission at College Station. After last week's debacle at South Beach and this week's revelations of Coach Fran's stupefyingly stupid secret newsletter, a loss against the Bears could well have prompted the type of meltdown in Aggieland not seen since the infamous firing of Aggie head coach Emory Bellard back in 1978. The Ags used their tried and true ball-control offense to overwhelm the Bears, but it remains to be seen whether the Aggies can consistently beat teams with equal or better personnel while playing offense in a phone booth. The Aggies host resurgent Oklahoma State (3-2/1-0) for first place in the Big 12 South (first place in the Big 12 South is on the line next week at Kyle Field, not the Cotton Bowl?!) before their high-anxiety trip to the plains to meet Tech (4-1/0-1) in two weeks.

East Carolina 37 Houston Cougars 35

The Coogs (3-2/1-1) had their annual shoot-self-in-the-foot game when an awful kicking game and poor run defense combined to allow a mediocre East Carolina (2-3/1-0) to pull out the close win at Robertson Stadium. The Coogs now must travel to face a tough game next Saturday at Alabama (3-2) before returning home in two weeks for their annual crosstown rivalry game with Rice (0-4).

The Rice Owls (0-4) were idle this past weekend, but play Southern Miss (2-2) in a rare Wednesday night game this week before returning home to face Houston on October 13.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) |

"Just comes naturally?"

I used to think that former Texans QB David Carr is a nice fellow who just doesn't have the gumption to be a top-flight NFL QB. But now I'm wondering if he is simply a nice fellow who isn't very bright.

This earlier post chronicled the increasingly testy exchanges between Carr and his former teammates after the Texan's unceremonious canning of Carr last summer. Carr followed those brickbats up with the following recent observations reported in John McClain's Sunday NFL Notebook:

David Carr is starting his first game for Carolina today. After coming off the bench to help Carolina defeat Atlanta last week, Carr replaces quarterback Jake Delhomme, who has a strained right elbow and missed practice last week, against visiting Tampa Bay.

"Honestly, I do feel better on this team," Carr said comparing the Panthers to the Texans. "I'm more relaxed. I'm not being pressed to do things I don't need to be doing.

"I feel like I can go out with my mechanics and all that and just throwing the football in general, I feel like that just comes naturally, and I don't have to think about it. That's freeing as far as playing quarterback. Now, it's just completing balls and throwing to the right guy."

Carr's stat line for yesterday's game against Tampa Bay: 10-41 for 137 net yards passing, 1 TD and 1 interception.

Just comes naturally, I guess.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

I spoke too soon

As soon as I acknowledge one of Chronicle NFL columnist John McClain's rare good columns in the previous post, he serves this blog post entitled "Texans should be embarrassed after 26-16 defeat" in response to the Texans' loss yesterday at Atlanta.

Embarrassing? McClain thinks that the Texans' performance was embarrassing? How about this performance? Or this one?

And for more Chronicle sunshine reporting, compare this Richard Justice puff piece from today's paper with this one during the latter stages of the Texans' disastrous 2-14 seasons in 2005.

Now, that is embarrassing!

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 30, 2007

Giving due

I am a frequent critic of Chronicle NFL sports columinst John McClain's seemingly endless cheerleading for the Texans. But McClain is still capable of writing a good column on occasion, such as this recent one on the colorful fights over the year between various local coaches and players, on one hand, and local sportswriters, on the other. Why can't he write this way about the Texans?

Posted by Tom at 12:53 AM | Comments (1) |

September 29, 2007

That certainly answers that question

This earlier post wondered what was up with the apparently involuntary four month leave-of-absence of Galveston-based U.S. District Judge, Sam Kent.

Well, now we know.

The Judicial Council of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order Friday reprimanding and admonishing Judge Kent in regard to a complaint complaint of judicial misconduct lodged against the judge on in May alleging sexual harassment toward an employee of the federal judicial system. A former case manager for Judge Kent confirmed to the Texas Lawyer and then the Chronicle that she filed the complaint against the judge, but declined further comment. The former case manager now works in the clerk's office in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas.

Nevertheless, the prospect of further litigation is definitely possible. The clerk has hired prominent Houston attorney Rusty Hardin, who is always good for a quote or two. "We have been watching, with interest, the investigation," Hardin told the Chronicle.

Meanwhile, Judge Kent appears to be putting up a fight to the charges. He has hired prominent defense attorney Maria Wyckoff Boyce of Baker & Botts to represent him. My sense is that the brevity of the Judicial Council's order indicates that the panel expects further litigation over the allegetions.

Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Edith Jones, who is not one to take such matters lightly, signed the order and wrote that a Special Investigatory Committee appointed to investigate the complaint expanded the original complaint and investigated other "instances of alleged inappropriate behavior toward other employees of the federal judicial system." The committee recommended a reprimand "along with the accomplishment of other remedial courses of action." The judicial council accepted the recommendations and concluded the proceedings "because appropriate remedial action had been and will be taken, including but not limited to the Judge's four-month leave of absence from the bench, reallocation of the Galveston/Houston docket and other measures." The special investigatory committee's Report, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Recommendations, and Judge Kent's Response to the Report, are confidential and will not be disclosed.

According to the Chronicle account, one of the more interesting allegations apparently investigated by the panel was the following:

"That Kent inappropriately favored former colleagues and other favorites in his decisions and in overseeing settlement negotiations. In 2001, Kent was ordered to transfer all cases from his court that were handled by his best friend."

H'mm. Wonder if that had any impact on this recent settlement (see background here)?

Update: Ilya Somin provides some additional background on Judge Kent.

And this Galveston Daily News article provides some additional information on the case:

The Daily News was told the judge called his case manager to his office, where physical contact occurred.

When she resisted, he told her she owed him because he had interceded in her favor in a dispute among clerk’s office employees, the paper was told.

Since Kent was suspended in August, The Daily News has conducted interviews with more than a dozen members of the legal community — lawyers, their employees and employees of the court. Some claimed first-hand knowledge of allegations of Kent’s misconduct, but none agreed to be identified.

McBroom wasn’t the only female employee Kent, who is more than 6 feet tall and more than 200 pounds, is alleged to have touched inappropriately, The Daily News was told. [. . .]

Those aren’t the only reports that Kent engaged in inappropriate conduct.

Other sources have told The Daily News that, at a party and in the offices of a law firm, a drunken Kent cornered women and grabbed them.

Posted by Tom at 12:31 AM | Comments (0) |

September 28, 2007

Legal problem of the day

An employee of a client of yours comes to you with a problem. He has been downloading child pornography on his computer in violation of child predator laws. He has not distributed it and has no information that he is under investigation. However, he is quite ashamed of himself and wants to start over. The client leaves the computer with you and asks you to destroy it. What do you do?

Well, according to this article (related NY Times article here), you better be very careful if you decide to do what your client asks:

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Federal prosecutors who charged a prominent attorney with destroying evidence in a child pornography investigation want to use his own words and actions in past cases to show he should have known better

Philip Russell was charged Feb. 16 with destroying a computer that contained child pornography at Christ Church in Greenwich. Russell, a former attorney for the church, is accused of obstructing an FBI investigation that led to the January conviction of the church's music director, Robert Tate, for possessing child pornography.[. . .]

Russell acknowledges he destroyed the computer, but says he had no reason to believe the matter was under investigation or that it would lead to an investigation.

As the Times article notes, Russell pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of assisting the commission of a felony by failing to report it or by concealing it. Had he continued to fight the charge, he would have stood trial on two counts of obstruction of justice, which could have resulted in a far harsher sentence. Nonetheless, the charge that he pled to is a felony, so Russell still faces the possible loss or suspension of his law license.

Before the plea deal, prosecutors contended that Russell should have given the FBI his client's computer containing child pornography instead of destroying it. Thus, they accused him of obstructing justice under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which only requires a showing that an investigation was "foreseeable" rather than pending. Russell had “substantial experience” in such cases and, thus, prosecutors are contending that he knew that a federal investigation "was foreseeable and likely."

Russell's lawyer, Robert Casale, contended that the prosecution's reliance on his client’s positions in past cases to prosecute him in this case has dangerous implications to the defense of defendants' rights in the American criminal justice system. "In a democratic society that employs an adversarial system of justice, lawyers must be free to zealously advocate their client's interests without fear of the consequences that their words will someday be used against them personally," he wrote.

Casale's point sure sounds right to me.

Update: Ellen Podgor has more.

Posted by Tom at 12:12 AM | Comments (0) |

One way to drug test

Steve Elling reports on European Tour Director George O'Grady's idea on an effective and low-cost drug-testing procedure for the PGA and European Tours:

O'Grady estimated that drug tests will cost $1,000 per player, which makes the possibility of testing an entire European Tour field all but impossible. The PGA Tour will have that luxury, conversely, if it elects to head in that direction. Many of the particulars on testing and penalties are still in flux and financials will doubtlessly play a huge role in how much urinalysis is done on the various worldwide circuits.

"So it's not so simple as pissing into a pot and moving on," O'Grady said. "We cannot write off a million pounds. We don't have that kind of money." [. . .]

Prodded by a reporter, O'Grady also unleashed a half-serious zinger with regard to the drug testing program, which is being initiated as much to protect the sport's reputation as it is to catch what's assumed to be a tiny handful of cheaters, if any.

Just test Tiger Woods and be done with it.

"From what I understand, he would be the first in line to volunteer for testing," O'Grady said. "If Tiger Woods' test comes back negative, what does it matter what the rest of them are on?

Come to think of it, he's got a point.

Posted by Tom at 12:06 AM | Comments (0) |

Serious choking

Remember at the end of the 2006 MLB regular season when the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse was the most uncomfortable place in the U.S.?

This season, the same thing is true for the New York Mets clubhouse.

The Mets recently led by 7 games with 17 to go, but they have lost four straight and 11 of their last 14 while the second-place Phillies have caught fire. After losing to the Cardinals on Thursday night, the Mets fell into a tie for first place with the Phillies in the NL East at 87-72 with three games to play. To make matters worse, the Mets may have also played their way out of the NL wildcard playoff spot if they don't win their division -- San Diego leads by a game in the wildcard race going into the final weekend of the regular season. No team has ever failed to reach the postseason after being so far ahead this close to the end of the regular season. If the Mets don’t make it, this will be go down as an epic collapse, particularly by New York's rather demanding standards.

Aggies, some other fans are sharing your pain.

By the way, this will be a fun weekend of baseball. The races in the NL East, NL West and the NL wildcard race are so close and uncertain that the Diamondbacks, the team that entered yesterday with the NL's best record, still could miss the playoffs entirely. Meanwhile, the Cubs (83-76) are two up on the Brewers in the NL Central with three games to go and have the decidedly easier games (against the Reds) over the weekend (the Brewers host the NL West leading Padres).

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 27, 2007

What a business!

For a rollicking good read, don't miss Jeff Matthews' post on KKR pulling out of the Harman International Industries deal last week:

Now, you might think that someone of Mr. Kravis’ stature in the Private Equity business would recognize a bad decision when he saw it, honor his commitments and move on.

But no, the Journal reported: KKR not only wanted to break the Harman deal, but they apparently wanted help from the bankers in paying the termination fee.

Don't miss the entire post. Highly entertaining.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Shasta talks about the Duck mugging

We all got a few chuckles over the Oregon Duck mascot's mugging of the Houston Cougar mascot during the football game between the two institutions' teams earlier this season.

Well, the UH student newspaper provides this follow-up article on the student -- Kinesiology major Matt Stolt -- who mans the Cougar mascot costume. Stolt turns out to be a gentleman who handled the incident and the aftermath with admirable maturity and good nature. Bully for him!

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Coach Fran's strategy even has Ahmadinejad baffled

The picture on the left appeared on a Texas A&M football message board -- which is still reeling from the Aggies' debacle last Thursday against Miami -- with the following caption:

"Jovorskie Lane finish with 2 carries for 2 yards. How is this possible?"

The TV Tan Line has more.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 26, 2007

House calls making a comeback?

Despite the drag that America's highly-regulated health care finance system places on the delivery of medical services, glimmers of entrepreneurial hope still shine through occasionally:

A new kind of medical practice is flourishing nationwide that offers to go to where the patients are — whether a home, an office or a hotel — to treat ailments as diverse as a sprained ankle or a bad case of bronchitis. Some services may even wheel in a mobile X-ray machine or an ultrasound machine, depending on the ailment, or perhaps pull out kits to test for strep throat or to draw blood. They may dole out medication on the spot or arrange for pharmacies to deliver prescriptions.

“When you call, you can speak to a doctor in five minutes, and that doctor can be there with you within the hour. Where else do you get that kind of delivery?” said Walter Krause, founder of Inn-House Doctor. The company says it has 40 physicians on call in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Washington; some of the doctors are in private practice or work in hospitals, and they make house calls during their time off.

The convenience comes at a price. Appointment fees can range from $250 to $450, with additional tests and medication extra. And payment is due at the time of the appointment.

The website for the service is here. Critics will contend that this service amounts to house calls for the rich, but it is nevertheless a good example of how medical service markets will respond to patients controlling the funds that they are willing to spend on medical services. Frankly, my bet is that that this type of service would already be available at a much lower cost but for the fact that most patients have been insulated from the true cost of medical services and the expenditure of their health care dollars for decades now.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

The troubles of Sean Jones

Former Houston Oilers defensive end and local sports radio celebrity Sean Jones appears to be in a heap of trouble.

On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Jones with failing to turn over the records from his defunct "investment advisory" business. Jones apparently told the SEC that he had discontinued the advisory business in 2004, but the business continued to maintain a Web site until mid-2007 promoting its "wealth management" programs and the fact that the company was "subject to periodic SEC examinations."

Uh, the current SEC examination is not what I think Jones had in mind.

In June of this year, Jones and four others were indicted on charges of mortgage fraud in U.S. District Court in Houston. According to the indictment, the defendants conspired to obtain home loans based on inflated propeorty values on behalf of unqualified buyers, then diverted some of the loan proceeds to themselves. Between 1999 and 2001, the prosectuion charged Jones and his co-defendants with 12 counts of bank fraud, each of which carries a possible prison sentence of up to 30 years imprisonment and a possible fine of up to $1 million.

Jones' trial on the criminal charges is currently scheduled for May 12, 2008 before U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein. Jones is represented by Tom Hagemann and Marla Poirot of Gardere Wynne's Houston office.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Sputnik and The Shadow of the Moon

This fine John Noble Wilford/NY Times article on the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union's launching of the Sputnik sattelite is a timely prompt to pass along the trailer for Ron Howard's widely-anticpated documentary In the Shadow of the Moon, which opened last week in Houston at the Angelika and the Greenway theaters.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 25, 2007

50 years with Darrell Royal

Has it really been 50 years since the University of Texas hired Darrell Royal to revive its flagging football program?

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Selling a house?

University of Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee provides common sense advice on sellling a house:

So by being hung up about whether your condominium will sell for what you paid for it, you aren’t just driving yourself crazy trying to get a buyer. You may be threatening the very performance of the economy and driving up the unemployment rate — provided that many others behave in a similar way.

What is to be done? Well, if you are holding out for an above-market price to recoup your losses, perhaps you would do well to hear the advice that Professor [Christopher] Mayer gives his own family members.

“If you want to sell your house then you list it at the market price and you sell it,” he said. “If you don’t really want to sell then don’t put it on the market. But don’t say you want to sell and then set the price so high that you spend the year cleaning up every morning, having people walk through your living room and look in your medicine cabinets and reject you. That’s just painful — and expensive.”

His research offers a simple lesson for everyone out there waiting for a high price to push them back into the black: Get real.

The folks over at Political Calculations take Goolsbee's advice one step further and provide a handy calculator for determining the true value of a house.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

More on lackluster Vista

Ben Worthen's WSJ Business Tech blog post channels Warren Meyer's opinion of Windows Vista:

Microsoft started selling Vista, the latest version of its Windows operating system, to businesses last November. And despite the fact that over 90% of businesses run Windows, only 7% of large companies plan to switch to Vista this year, according to this Journal article. The article touches on all the reasons that companies are delaying the switch: Some of the security software isn’t ready; problems with special software called “drivers” that run printers and other devices; the fact that most companies run software that may not work with the new operating system.

This blog thinks it all suggests one thing: Companies don’t need Vista yet. In the past, Microsoft was replacing a version of Windows with known flaws or introducing a new version with a lot more capabilities. But XP, the version of Windows that was released in 2002, works great – or at least good enough for businesses.

The Chronicle's best columnist -- technology expert Dwight Silverman -- also contributes his thoughts on Vista.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 24, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(AP Photo/Dave Einsel)
Colts 30 Texans 24

Amidst the wide-eyed wonderment that a few wins by the Texans (2-1) evokes from Houston Chronicle sportswriters, the Colts (3-0) systematically build a 27-10 lead after three quarters and then cruised to the victory (previous weekly summaries here). Texans RB Ahman Green was injured on his first rushing attempt of the game and the Texans were never able to mount any meaningful running attack against the Colts. By the way, my annual preview of the Texans' season contained the following point about Coach Kubiak's decision to sign Green:

An example of the dubious decision-making regarding offensive personnel is the signing of RB Ahman Green, formerly of Green Bay. Green was a great running back in his prime with the Pack, but he has averaged less than four yards per carry for the past two seasons. Inasmuch as the Texans agreed to pay Green $23 million over four years ($8 million guaranteed in the first season), the chances that the 30-year old Green will be worth the value of this contract this season are tenuous, at best. The chances of him still being worth the contract a couple of years from now are so speculative to be off the charts.

So, let's hold off on christening of Kubiak as the next Bill Walsh just yet. The Texans go to Atlanta (0-3) next Sunday before returning home the following week to face Miami (0-3).

Miami 34 Texas Aggies 17

Oh, my.

This one was not as "close" as the final score indicates as UM (3-1) shoved the hapless Aggies (3-1) all over the field. The Aggies' model of controlling the ball with their strong rushing attack generally allows them to stay in games so long as they don't turn the ball over, but that's precisely what they did against the Hurricanes. Unfortunately, fat guy up the gut, busted option play and an incomplete pass pretty much sums up most Aggie offensive series after they fall behind by a couple of scores. The Ags get Baylor (2-2) and Oklahoma State (2-2/1-0) at home the next two weeks before a the brutal part of their schedule begins in three weeks at Texas Tech (3-1/0-1). Coach Franchione's fate appears to be hanging by a thread.

Houston Cougars 38 Colorado State 27

After spotting CSU (0-3) a 17-3 halftime lead, the Cougars (2-1) trailed CSU (0-3) 24-10 with less than three minutes to go in the third quarter and faced a 4th down and 10 situation at the Rams' 27 yard line. About 30 seconds later, after a TD pass and an ensuing fumble return for a TD, the Coogs had tied the game at 24. The Cougars tacked on a couple of TD's in the final period to pull out a win that probably established redshirt freshman QB Case Keenum as the successor to Kevin Kolb. The Cougars take on East Carolina (1-3) next Saturday night at Robertson Stadium.

Texas Longhorns 58 Rice 14

The Longhorns (4-0) rolled in this glorified scrimmage against the hapless Owls (0-4), but still showed little to lead anyone to think that they have much of a chance against Oklahoma the week after next. But at least no Longhorns were arrested on Saturday night after the game celebrating the win. As for Rice, at least the Marching Owl Band got in a few good licks.

With Texas leading 41-7 at intermission, the suspense at Royal-Memorial Stadium actually peaked when the teams left the field.

That's when the Rice Marching Owl Band — the notorious MOB — commenced its halftime show.

Known for its biting spoofs, the 80-piece MOB opened with the "Dragnet Theme." Wearing dark sunglasses and suit coats bearing the Rice crest, the musicians formed the Texas "T" near the south end zone, just as the Longhorn band does before games.

Then their fun started.

Three "Longhorns" in burnt orange shirts and white helmets scampered downfield. Three cardboard black-and-white "police" cars gave chase.

Announcer William Price, a sousaphone player in the MOB, narrated: "In the two years since the MOB last visited Austin, your team's demeanor — and misdemeanor — has changed. Buy a program at today's game. It includes Mack Brown's wrist-slap Top 10 and a photo guide to the next episode of 'America's Most Wanted.' "

The skit was a nod to the Longhorns' recent experiences with the law-enforcement community in Austin. It could've been worse.

"The idea is to entertain people," explained Rice band director Chuck Throckmorton. "People aren't entertained when they're mad." [. . .]

After their show, the musicians enjoyed a standing ovation from much of the crowd.

The Horns tune up for OU weekend next Saturday in a "payback game" against Kansas State (2-1) (who upset the Horns and began their late-season swoon last year), while the Owls have an open date next weekend before going on the road to meet Southen Miss (2-1).

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Jaffa on Tyranny

In the magnificent penultimate scene in Steven Spielberg's 1997 film, Amistad, John Quincy Adams (played brilliantly by Anthony Hopkins) concludes his oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court with the following abnomition regarding the curse of slavery that is a central issue in the case::

"We desperately need your strength and wisdom to triumph over our fears, our prejudices, ourselves. Give us the courage to do what is right. And if it means civil war, then let it come. And when it does, may it be, finally, the last battle of the American Revolution."

"That's all I have to say."

Harry V. Jaffa, a Distinguished Fellow of the Claremont Institute and the author of the well-known study of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates (University of Chicago Press, 1959) pens this interesting blog post in which he makes the following observation about President Bush's goal of eliminating tyranny in the world:

. . . [T]he president has . . . [declared] that it is our intention to eliminate tyranny from the world. These pronouncements show a profound ignorance, both of history and of political philosophy.

Our own government, by constitutional majorities, became possible only when sectarian religious differences were removed from the political process. The Constitution declares in Article VI that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” Such a provision could not be found in any instrument of government in all of human history. (The Toleration Act of 1689 in England was full of religious tests.) In the aftermath of the religious wars in Europe, in which Protestants and Catholics slaughtered each other without restraint, our Founding Fathers recognized that majority rule was not possible if Protestants could thereby determine the religion of Catholics, or Catholics of Protestants, or Christians of Jews, or Jews of Christians. Government by majority rule —democracy in any sense — is not possible unless sectarian religious differences are kept out of the political process. But in Iraq, in the Middle East generally, there are no political differences that are not sectarian.

According to Abraham Lincoln, “The principles of Jefferson are the definitions and axioms of free society.” By this he meant the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence. It was fidelity to these principles that led Lincoln in “the great secession winter” of 1860 and 1861 to refuse any compromise that permitted the extension of slavery. Compromises are possible only among those who share principles more fundamental than the interests they are asked to compromise. As a practical historical fact, when compromises are not possible war is the alternative, as it was in our Civil War. John Stuart Mill, an admirer of Lincoln, declared that “Despotism is a legitimate mode of government in dealing with barbarians.” The dominant forms of political life throughout the Middle East are, with only one exception, as barbaric as those of Europe during the wars of religion. Only a despotism, as benign as we can find, and one that can begin turning people away from sectarian fanaticism, will answer our purpose. Otherwise, they will have to fight it out among themselves, as we did.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

The Times discovers Houston's Hotel ZaZa

The New York Times travel section reviews Houston's Hotel ZaZa (formerly known as "The Warwick" to us oldtimers) and likes what it experiences.

Frankly, given the hotel's excellent location in the Museum District between downtown and the Texas Medical Center near Rice University and Hermann Park, what's not to like?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 23, 2007

More from the real Texans cheerleading squad

In mid-December of last year, with two games to play in the 2006 NFL season, the Texans looked deader than a doornail and not like a particularly well-coached team. The Texans closed the season by upsetting the Colts and beating a bad Browns team to finish with a 6-10 record.

After wins against a bad Chiefs team and a decent Carolina team to open the 2007 season, one of the Texans' leading cheerleaders -- Chronicle columnist John McClain -- is acting as if the Texans game today with the Colts is a playoff game. In this breathless piece, McClain is ready to anoint Texans head coach Gary Kubiak as the next Vince Lombardi or Bill Walsh:

In 2000 and 2005, I sat in Denver coach Mike Shanahan's office at the team's practice facility and the subject of conversation was the same each time.

I asked Shanahan what he thought about his offensive coordinator as a head coaching candidate. On both occasions, Shanahan responded like a Washington power broker pushing a candidate for national office.

"I'm telling you, Gary's going to make a great head coach, and teams that pass him up are going to regret it," Shanahan said of Gary Kubiak. "I know what I'm talking about. I've watched him at every level. I've been around him since 1984." [. . .]

"Gary communicates well with his players and coaches. He knows how to get a point across. He's demanding. He's tough when he needs to be. Players want to play for him because they respect him. If a team has an opening, and they don't go after Gary, they're making a big mistake."

Shanahan was right.

Texans owner Bob McNair passed up Kubiak as the franchise's first coach. He didn't want to make that mistake again.

McNair hired Kubiak for Sundays like this one. And Kubiak came back home for weekends like this.

See Richard Justice's equally breathless column about the Texans here. This reminds me of the similar columns that McClain and Justice often wrote about Texans GM Charlie Casserly and head coach Dom Capers before the Texans' disastrous 2-14 record in Year 4 of the franchise. Maybe McClain is right about Kubiak. I hope he is. But at least make him earn the accolades first.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 22, 2007

The ultimate jury verdict

Stuart M. Rees of Stu's Views nails it again in depicting the true thoughts of most juries.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

September 21, 2007

Coopertown?

Dr. Kenneth Cooper of Dallas may have oversold the benefits of aerobic exercise, but will the same be true for his new real estate venture?:

Dr. Cooper is developing a $2 billion residential wellness community here called Cooper Life at Craig Ranch that is going up on the first 51 of an eventual 151 acres on the Texas plains, north of Dallas.

Taking the concept of spa real estate into the medical realm, Dr. Cooper’s community promises home buyers a life that sounds equal parts Norman Rockwell and Olympic village: a small town where doctors will make house calls and where every resident has a bevy of experts close at hand for keeping in tiptop shape.

It appears to be the first of its kind. . . .

Included in the monthly residential fee ($1,041 for an individual to $2,181 for a family of six) will be an annual physical and a six-month follow-up, which Dr. Cooper calls key to his utopian vision of a place where everyone can live in peak health. The fee also includes home doctor visits, a fitness center membership, concierge services and exterior home maintenance, lectures and social activities.

While a diverse mix of ages and fitness levels are welcome, Dr. Cooper admits that many prospective residents may well be baby boomers with cushy bank accounts. “They’ve got the money,” Dr. Cooper said, “now they want to live long enough to enjoy it.”

I get exhausted just thinking about the thought of living there. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Something ailing you?

If so, and even if not, check out these 100 Web Resources for Medical Professionals.

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (0) |

The risk of exploration

Need a refresher course on just how risky it is exploring for oil and gas?

If so, check out this Wired article on Chevron's venture to drill for oil 30,000 feet under the Gulf of Mexico.

I don't know about you, but I think the folks investing in such ventures deserve every penny of profit that is may be generated from them.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 20, 2007

More on "Book'em Horns"

The legal problems of current and recent Texas Longhorn football players prompted this Book'em Horns post awhile back, but yesterday's news that yet another Longhorn football player had been arrested on criminal charges generated a new round of barbs toward the Longhorns, including the farked message below on the Godzillitron at UT's Royal-Memorial Stadium. Things have gotten so bad that Austin sports columnist Kirk Bohls is wondering whether the UT football team has replaced the University of Miami as the bad boys of big-time college football?

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Seaside in Texas?

First, the Wall Street Journal discovered the Hamptons of Houston. Now, this Wall Street Journal ($) article reports that the popular Seaside beach community just east of Destin, Florida is the model for several similar projects under construction on the Texas Gulf Coast:

Inspired by Seaside, the Florida-panhandle resort community that relies heavily on traditional architecture and planning, Mr. [Tofigh] Sherazi is overseeing development of a $1 billion, 260-acre beachfront community that seeks to reflect Galveston's past. The first of the project's four phases, 160 lots for single-family homes, is sold out. The development is designed to include a pedestrian-friendly mix of homes, shops and two hotels. "This is going to be a real town," he said.

Beachtown, as Mr. Sherazi's project is called, is part of a wave of New Urbanism on the Texas coast, from Galveston to South Padre Island. A planning movement that advocates walking over driving and borrows heavily from the design of traditional neighborhoods, New Urbanism has been largely overlooked on the Texas coast, even as it has flourished in Florida and beyond. [. . .]

. . . In addition to Beachtown, a 93-acre, $175 million urban village known as Evia is taking shape in Galveston. The work of local developers, the project will include a total of about 350 residential units, with 70% of the 222 lots for single-family homes sold.

Near Corpus Christi, the Sea Oats Group, of Atlanta, is developing a 64-acre, $250 million project called Cinnamon Shore that casts itself as a traditional seaside village, complete with a town center. Sales began in February, and 42 of 82 lots in phase one are sold. And on South Padre Island, a development in excess of $250 million called the Shores of South Padre also portrays itself as New Urbanist, though local developer Richard Franke's plan to include high-rise and midrise condominiums indicates he is no purist. "It's quite different from anything else in our area," said Mr. Franke. [. . .]

James Gaines, an economist at Texas A&M University's Real Estate Center, said beachfront property in Texas costs about a fifth of the price of similar property in California, in part because of its geography. Except for Galveston and a few coastal areas near Houston, none of Texas beachfront property is near a major urban center.

In an effort to market Cinnamon Shore, Sea Oats compared the cost of beachfront lots and beachfront homes in a number of markets. A lot at Seaside costs about $2.98 million, according to the company, but lots at Cinnamon Shore are going for about $625,000. In the same survey, the company said a beachfront home at Cinnamon Shore is valued at no more than $1.5 million, while a similar home could cost as much as $6.9 million across the Gulf of Mexico in Sarasota, Fla.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

Wisconsin no longer confused with The Woodands

As noted earlier here and here, the University of Wisconsin apparently does not have enough substantive legal work to keep its lawyers busy, so the university has made a cottage industry out of threatening high schools around the country that use a "W" logo that resembles the one used by the university's sports teams.

According to this article, it looks as if UW has proven that it has more money to waste on pursuing one of those frivolous lawsuits than my local high school here in The Woodlands. The Woodlands High School has agreed to change its "W" logo to the one on the left above.

I sincerely hope that the Iowa Hawkeyes kick Wisconsin's ass on the gridiron this Saturday. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (1) |

September 19, 2007

The Lerach deal

Former class action securities plaintiffs' lawyer William Lerach finally cut a non-cooperation plea deal (Nathan Koppel's WSJ Law Blog post is here) to resolve the longstanding criminal investigation into alleged undisclosed payments that Lerach and his firm made to class representatives and co-counsel in cases that they handled.

In certain defense and business circles, there is a fair amount of schadenfreude over Lerach's demise -- he had no reservation about alleging criminal conduct against business executives, such as he did when he claimed that Enron was shredding documents during the early stages of that company's bankruptcy case (that claim turned out to be wrong).

However, before we get too sanguine about Lerach's plea deal, let's not forget the circumstances under which it has been obtained. The 61-year old Lerach was facing a horrifying trial penalty if he chose to fight the charges, and he almost certainly will lose his law license as a result of pleading guilty to a felony. And as Larry Ribstein has repeatedly pointed out, it doesn't say much for our criminal justice system that the government is paying witnesses to testify against Lerach for the crime of paying his class representative clients. As Larry points out in his most recent post on the matter, the non-cooperation nature of the plea deal does not necessarily mean that the government isn't providing Lerach some form of hidden incentive for his plea.

Update: Ted Frank argues that Lerach's plea deal is, all things considered, not so bad for him, after all. On the other hand, Peter Henning is not so sure.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) |

An enduring myth of regulation

The New York Times is shocked to discover that big, established businesses often attempt to manipulate governmental regulation to their advantage over entrepreneurial startups. This hidden cost of regulation is one that I noted awhile back in regard to the proposed XM-Sirius merger. Many well-meaning folks -- usually those without much experience in business matters -- believe that regulation is good for the consumer because most established businesses generally abhor such regulation. However, established businesses typically use a part of their superior resources to manipulate regulation to their advantage and against the threat of beneficial competition from new companies. A big, well-established business can absorb the high cost of regulation and pass it along to the consumer. A thinly-leveraged start-up generally does not have that luxury.

Warren Meyer, who actually confronts this phenomenom as he runs his small business, makes the same point here and provides the following insightful quote on the subject from the late Milton Friedman:

The justification offered is always the same: to protect the consumer. However, the reason is demonstrated by observing who lobbies at the state legislature for the imposition or strengthening of licensure. The lobbyists are invariably representatives of the occupation in question rather than of the customers. True enough, plumbers presumably know better than anyone else what their customers need to be protected against. However, it is hard to regard altruistic concern for their customers as the primary motive behind their determined efforts to get legal power to decide who may be a plumber.

Thom Lambert also chimes in.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

A dose of Americana

Will Veber over at Road Tips reports on his trip (with pictures) to one of the last bastions of pure Americana -- the Iowa State Fair.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 18, 2007

Until Proven Innocent

Jeffrey Rosen reviews Stuart Taylor and K.C. Johnson's book on the angry mob that nearly lynched the lives of several young men in the Duke lacrosse team case:

At least “many of the journalists misled by [former DA Mike] Nifong eventually adjusted their views as evidence of innocence” came to light, the authors conclude. That’s more than can be said for Duke’s “activist professors,” 88 of whom signed an inflammatory letter encouraging a rush to judgment by the student protesters who were plastering the campus with wanted posters of the lacrosse team and waving a banner declaring “Castrate.” Even when confronted with DNA evidence of the players’ innocence, these professors refused to apologize and instead incoherently attacked their critics. In the same spirit, the authors charge, the president of Duke, Richard Brodhead, fired the lacrosse coach, canceled the season and condemned the team members for more than eight months. The pandering Brodhead, in this account, is more concerned about placating faculty ideologues than about understanding the realities of student life on his raunchy campus.

Does the foregoing remind you of the actions of another group of self-righteous crusaders?

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) |

What makes us healthy?

Gary Taubes, a writer for Science magazine, is the author of the soon-to-be-released book Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control and Disease (Knopf September 25, 2007). He provides a don't miss preview of his book in this past Sunday's New York Times:

Many explanations have been offered to make sense of the here-today-gone-tomorrow nature of medical wisdom — what we are advised with confidence one year is reversed the next — but the simplest one is that it is the natural rhythm of science. An observation leads to a hypothesis. The hypothesis (last year’s advice) is tested, and it fails this year’s test, which is always the most likely outcome in any scientific endeavor. There are, after all, an infinite number of wrong hypotheses for every right one, and so the odds are always against any particular hypothesis being true, no matter how obvious or vitally important it might seem. [. . .]

The dangerous game being played here, as David Sackett, a retired Oxford University epidemiologist, has observed, is in the presumption of preventive medicine. The goal of the endeavor is to tell those of us who are otherwise in fine health how to remain healthy longer. But this advice comes with the expectation that any prescription given — whether diet or drug or a change in lifestyle — will indeed prevent disease rather than be the agent of our disability or untimely death. With that presumption, how unambiguous does the evidence have to be before any advice is offered? [. . .]

Richard Peto, professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at Oxford University, phrases the nature of the conflict this way: “Epidemiology is so beautiful and provides such an important perspective on human life and death, but an incredible amount of rubbish is published,” by which he means the results of observational studies that appear daily in the news media and often become the basis of public-health recommendations about what we should or should not do to promote our continued good health. [. . .]

All of this suggests that the best advice is to keep in mind the law of unintended consequences. The reason clinicians test drugs with randomized trials is to establish whether the hoped-for benefits are real and, if so, whether there are unforeseen side effects that may outweigh the benefits. If the implication of an epidemiologist’s study is that some drug or diet will bring us improved prosperity and health, then wonder about the unforeseen consequences. In these cases, it’s never a bad idea to remain skeptical until somebody spends the time and the money to do a randomized trial and, contrary to much of the history of the endeavor to date, fails to refute it.

Read the entire article.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Another reminder of Stros mismanagement

As noted earlier here, I am not as sure as most that Tim Purpura deserved to be canned as the Stros general manager. But there were definitely reasons that justified the move, one of which we are reminded of in this excellent Dan Rosenhack/NY Times article on why New York Yankees star Alex Rodiguez will not be worth the money that some team will pay him this off-season after he opts out of his contract with the Yankees:

Few free agents actually produce enough revenue to justify their contracts, and $30 million annually for Rodriguez would not be as outlandish as, say, the $17 million a season that the Astros gave to Carlos Lee last off-season.

At the time the Stros acquired Lee, I expressed the same sentiments. Lee's stat line for the season to date is a decent 14 RCAA/.350 OBA/.521 SLG/.871 OPS/29 HR's/111 RBI's. But that's not close to the production that one would reasonably expect from a $17 million per year player.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

September 17, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

(AP Photo/Mike McCarn)
Houston Texans 34 Carolina 21

Don't pinch me. The Texans (2-0) have now won four straight games (previous weekly reviews are here)!

In a game strangely reminiscent of how the Texans used to lose games, Carolina (1-1) zoomed out to a 14-0 first quarter lead only to have the Texans reel off 34 straight points over the next two and a half quarters to put this one away. After giving up those two first quarter TD's, the Texans' defense stiffened and sacked the Panthers' QB Jake Delhomme three times while forcing three fumbles and an interception and holding Carolina to 66 rushing yards rushing. Texans QB Matt Schaub was a solid 20-28 for 227 yards and two TD passes to WR Andre Johnson (who, by the way, sprained a knee and may be out for awhile), and reborn RB Ahman Green rushed for 71 yards and a TD to lead the Texans. But this one was put away by a heady special teams play when CB Demarcus Faggins stripped Carolina returner Nick Goings of the ball on the kickoff after Green's TD and Texans WR Kevin Walter recovered the fumble in the end zone for a gift TD. That made the score 31-14 early in the third quarter and even the incredible Carolina WR Steve Smith couldn't bring get the Panthers back into the game. The Texans host Peyton Manning and the defending Super Bowl champion Colts (2-0) next Sunday in what is sure to be rockin' Reliant Stadium.

Houston Cougars 34 Tulane 10

The Coogs (1-1) cruised into the Superdome and creamed Tulane (0-2) despite leaving 3 TD's on the field with turnovers. Even without an established QB, the Cougars rolled up over 500 yards total offense and the defense looked much improved from the first game debacle against Oregon. The Coogs return home next Saturday to face a Colorado State (0-2) team that has played both Colorado and Cal close.

Texas Tech 59 Rice 24

Rice’s mid-second-quarter comeback drive brought the Owls to within 21-17 of the Red Raiders, but then Tech reeled off 35 straight points over the next 25 minutes to turn this one into a rout. Tech QB Graham Harrell thew six TD passes, three of which went to super WR Michael Crabtree, who had 11 catches for 245 yards. Rumor has it that the Marching Owl Band was attempting to organize a party for the players of both teams after the game to introduce the members of the Rice secondary to Crabtree. The Owls continue the sacrifical lamb portion of their schedule next week at Austin against the Longhorns (3-0).

Texas Longhorns 35 Central Florida 32

Speaking of the Horns, they pulled out the victory over Central Florida despite losing the lead in the 4th quarter and looking utterly undeserving of the 6th place ranking in the national polls. Despite the Longhorns' undefeated record, I see all sorts of problems with this team -- iffy run defense, overall lackluster linebacker play, an inconsistent rushing attack and questionable deep ball threats outside of WR Limas Sweed, who did not play much in this game because of a sprained ankle. After a scrimmage against Rice (0-3) next Saturday at Austin, the Horns play Kansas State (2-1) before their annual matchup with Oklahoma (3-0). The Horns definitely do not look ready for the Sooners.

Texas Aggies 54 Louisiana-Monroe 14

The Ags (3-0) dominated this scrimmage over hapless ULM (0-3) in a warmup for the Ags' nationally-televised game this Thursday night against Miami (2-1) at the Orange Bowl. Miami is not very good this season, having already been blasted by Oklahoma 59-13. However, before getting too confident, Aggie fans should consider that, one week after the Ags eeked out a 3OT victory over Fresno State, Oregon creamed the Bulldogs, 52-21.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Jane Fonda, global warmer

Freakonomics authors Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt discover the not insubstantial impact that actress Jane Fonda has had on the United States' continued reliance on coal and other fossil fuels rather than clean and cheap nuclear energy.

Of course, Larry Ribstein has been writing about this phenomenom for years.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

A great ambassador for baseball?

We already know that Chronicle baseball reporter Jose de Jesus Ortiz does not bother to engage in even elementary levels of research before writing his articles. However, the following blurb in a recent column reflects atrocious research by even Ortiz's dubious standards:

Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda, truly one of the greatest ambassadors for baseball during his lifetime, will celebrate his 80th birthday Saturday.

He shares that birthday with former Astros pitcher/broadcaster/manager Larry Dierker, one of the best ambassadors for Houston baseball for the last 43 years. Dierker turns 61 on Saturday.

Lasorda was honored with a pregame ceremony Friday night at Dodger Stadium with a video tribute on Dodgervision. Fans also received a bobblehead of the former manager.

"I am so very grateful the Dodgers are honoring my birthday with such a special bobblehead," he said.

That Lasorda is a wonderful "ambassador" for baseball is one of those myths that just won't go away. In reality, he was a marginal manager of Dodger teams with generally good personnel who has about as abrasive a personality as one can imagine. It is a travesty that Dierker -- who really is a classy man -- has his name linked with Lasorda. For a dose of Lasorda's true character, check out the following video of Lasorda's tirades from over the years (warning for even the not easily offended: Very foul language):

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

September 16, 2007

Gambon on acting

Sir Michael Gambon is one of the finest character actors of our day. In the brief video below (h/t to my son, Cody), he brilliantly explains his theory on acting. Enjoy.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 15, 2007

The Texans' valuable brand

Forbes' annual valuation of National Football League franchises (related article here) was published this week, and the annual survey rates the Houston Texans as the fourth most valuable in the NFL at $1.056 billion (the Dallas Cowboys top the list this year at $1.5 billion). The value of public financing of stadiums has a huge impact on the valuations as all of the top 10 most valuable teams are the beneficiaries of either new stadiums or stadiums currently under construction. Several observations:

The Texans will probably decline in rank a bit in another year or two as the value of the Giants and Jets increases in response to the opening of their new stadium;

If you assume that Bud Adams' Houston Oilers would have been worth at least as much as the Texans had they remained in Houston and awaited a new stadium rather than taking flight to Nashville to become the Tennessee Titans, then Adams left over a cool $100 million on the table by making that move. And the difference in value between the Texans and the Titans is increasing;

A new stadium is not always a gold mine in terms of increasing a team's value. The Cardinals and the Lions have two of the newest stadiums in the NFL, but they are ranked only 23rd and 24th respectively out of the 32 NFL teams in terms of value;

Who would have ever thought that the San Francisco 49ers would be among the lowest valued NFL franchises (30th) and worth less than the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Oakland Raiders and the Buffalo Bills?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 14, 2007

Stossel on "Sicko"

ABC News investigative reporter John Stossel provides this WSJ ($) op-ed in yesterday's paper in preparation for his long-awaited ABC special on America's health care and health care finance system tonight at 9 p.m., CDT:

Mr. [Michael] Moore [in his documentary "Sicko"] claims that because private insurance companies are driven by profit, they will always deny care to deserving patients. For this reason, he argues, profit-making health-insurance companies should be abolished, our health- care dollars turned over to the government, and the U.S. should institute a health-care system like the ones in Canada, Britain or France. [. . .]

Mr. Moore thinks that profit is the enemy and government is the answer. The opposite is true. Profit is what has created the amazing scientific innovations that the U.S. offers to the world. If government takes over, innovation slows, health care is rationed, and spending is controlled by politicians more influenced by the sob story of the moment than by medical science.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

The most loyal pro football fans

The Texans have developed a pretty impressive and loyal local fan base, particularly given the team's lack of success so far in its first five NFL seasons. But as loyal as Texans fans are, they don't hold a candle to Cleveland Browns fans, whose once legendary team was stolen from them (that team is now the Baltimore Ravens) and then reincarnated a few years before the Texans were created as one of the worst expansion franchises in the history of the NFL. As this News-Herald article reports, the Browns are now the answer to a new NFL trivia question:

Since the NFL/AFL merger in 1970, which team named a starting quarterback for its first game and then traded that player before its second one?

(Answer: Browns starter Charlie Frye was traded to the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday for a sixth-round draft pick.)

Moreover, while their Browns were getting thumped at home 34-7 by the Steelers this past Sunday, get a load of what the capacity crowd at the Browns stadium endured in the first offensive series of the season by the Browns:

1st and 10 from the Cleveland 20: Jamal Lewis rush for 2 yards (this was the high point of the series).

2nd and 8 from the 22: Charlie Frye pass incomplete.

3rd and 8 from the 22 Charlie Frye sacked at the Browns 17 for a 5 yard loss.

4th and 13 from the 17: Browns punter Paul Ernster "booms" a 15 yarder to the Cleveland 32. But that's just the beginning of the incompetence on that particular play. Look at the rest of the stat line for that fourth Browns play of the season:

Penalty on CLV-35-J.Harrison, Defensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at CLV 32.

Penalty on CLV-90-D.McMillan, Defensive Holding, declined.

Penalty on CLV-56-A.Peek, Illegal Formation, declined.

Penalty on CLV, Ineligible Downfield Kick, declined.

So, to recap, on their first offensive series of the season, the Browns had a 2 yard rush, an incomplete pass, a sack, and a 15 yard punt with four penalties. The Steelers took possession of the ball at the Cleveland 22 and scored a touchdown four plays later.

There is a special place in football heaven for Cleveland Browns fans. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (1) |

Not an advertisement for Vista

Don't look for Warren Meyer to be a spokesman for Microsoft Vista any time soon:

The laptop I bought my kids 6 months ago is rapidly becoming the worst purchase I have ever made. Not because the laptop is bad, but because of a momentary lack of diligence I bought one with Vista installed. It has been a never-ending disaster trying to get this computer to work. [. . .]

Vista is rapidly becoming the New Coke of operating systems. I have had every version of windows on my computer at one time or another, including Windows 1.0 and the egregious Windows ME, and I can say with confidence Vista is the worst of them all by far.

Read Meyer's entire post, which he backs up quite well. Meanwhile, sales of Vista continue to lag badly behind those of XP.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (3) |

September 13, 2007

How to buy your next new car

Inasmuch as I have four college age children, I have become somewhat of a used car buying expert. But if you are in the market for a new car, check out the five-minute video below of car guy Rob Gruhl giving some practical and clever advice on how to find, finance and negotiate buying a new car.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Shasta mugged

Although the Houston Cougars put up a better fight against the Oregon Ducks than Michigan did, Shasta -- the Cougars' mascot -- had a can of whoopass opened up on him by the Oregon Duck mascot, as the video below reveals. As a result of the fracas, the Oregon mascot has been suspended for Oregon's next home game; meanwhile, it appears to me that Shasta could use a few lessons in self-defense. As a grizzled veteran of following Houston football, all I can say is that this would never have happened to Shasta while Bill Yeoman was coaching the Cougars. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

The hottest seat in Texas

After Texas A&M's narrow escape last weekend over Fresno State, Brett Zwerneman of the San Antonio Express-News continues to lead the chorus (see earlier posts here and here) that doubts A&M football coach Dennis Franchione is going to produce a serious Big 12 South contender in Aggieland:

How did it come to a triple-overtime game against a smaller program that finished 4-8 last season? The Aggies, however, did double up on Franchione's oft-stated goal of simply scoring one more point than their opponent. [. . .]

The No. 25 Aggies had better progress in a hurry, however, if they're to compete for their first Big 12 title in nearly a decade. A&M is lucky Bulldogs receiver Marlon Moore tried sticking the ball out for a touchdown — resulting in a fumble — during Saturday's first overtime. Texas A&M Otherwise, the Aggies would be 1-1, and Franchione might've had a tough time holding on to his gig — during the season.

A road game at Miami looms Sept. 20, with contests later in the season at Texas Tech, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri, comprising A&M's rockiest schedule since the league started play in 1996.

The above games are supposed to be tough. Fresno State wasn't. [. . .]

Franchione is a mediocre 27-23 through 50 games at A&M, but this was supposed to be the season that his veteran squad finally emerged as a true threat in the league.

Instead, all of the old questions about A&M's direction are bubbling to the surface. As one frustrated A&M graduate put it, Franchione was hired to close the gap with Texas and OU, not Baylor and Iowa State. [. . .]

Franchione, 56, already owns the worst overall loss and the two worst bowl losses in school history over his previous four seasons.

But hey, even if the Aggie football team is not top ten caliber, the Fightin' Texas Aggie Marching Band is!

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 12, 2007

A billion dollar boondoggle?

Kevin Whited reports that downtown Houston's night life continues to dissipate from lack of demand. This despite the fact that various local governmental entities have invested at least $1 billion in the downtown area by building a baseball stadium, a basketball arena, a convention center hotel, a light rail system and assorted other goodies.

Sort of makes you wonder what would happen if even a portion of that $1 billion were invested in something that Houston really needs, such as improvements to flood control and traffic hotspots? My sense is that such an investment would dramatically lessen the risk that citizens would lose their lives or suffer property loss in the event of heavy rains (which occur with some regularity around here) or a traffic accident. Thus, we aren't as safe as we could be, but our local governmental officials have seen to it that we are as comfortable as reasonably possible while being entertained. Gotta love those priorities.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (2) |

Another Justia.com search tool

As noted earlier here and here, Tim Stanley and the folks over at Justia.com are developing some of the best and most useful legal search engines on the Web. I've been meaning to pass along a recent email from Tim, which introduces yet another cool tool:

"We have put online the Federal District Court case opinions and orders that are available using the opinion report in the Federal Courts' ECF. These are updated daily. We have categorized the opinions by state, court, type of lawsuit and judge and combinations of judge and type of lawsuit. You can also subscribe to each of categories through RSS feeds to track a judge or court's decisions on different issues. And we also give the cause of action for each case.

We are using Google's hosted Business Custom Search Engine for the full text search. Google is now OCRing PDF image files, so even PDF files that have images of scanned documents will be in most cases full text indexable and searchable. Like the OCR of Google's Book Search. You will need to look at the cached copy to see the highlighted searched text though, and then find in the original PDF to be 100% that what you are reading is correct. Google should be doing a pretty good job of indexing and ocring these court decisions, although it may take a few days for a new document to show up in the index.

We have also noted on the federal district court case filing database when we have a judge's opinion (you will see a little gavel. The case filings are at here."

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (0) |

Only in New York (or make that New Jersey)

I recognize that real estate is a bit more expensive in New York than in other places. O.K., make that a whole lot more expensive.

But $1 million per season for a football luxury suite?

This is crazy expensive and it doesn't even include the cost of beer and brats. But it makes sense in a New York sort of way. If you are a hot-shot broker entertaining the next great hedge funds, you can't just go out and buy a luxury suite to a Giants game (although maybe you could for a Jets game ;^)). Inasmuch as the suites are being sold on 10-year contracts and rarely change hands once they are sold, a big shot has no way to ensure that he will be able to enjoy a game in 2015 in a luxury suite unless he owns a suite. In short, it's become the quintessential asset that money can't buy by the time the games are being played, so the big shots better pony up now or they will be out of luck.

And when New York eventually swings a Super Bowl, can you imagine the price that these babies will be selling for?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 11, 2007

Tiger's latest milestone and another caddy snit

In case the start of the NFL season distracted you, the remarkable Tiger Woods shot a closing round 63 at Cog Hill in Chicago to win another PGA Tour tournament over the weekend, the 60th professional tournament title of his storied career. ESPN.com's Bob Harig puts Wood's accomplishment in perspective:

Woods matched the tournament 18-hole record by shooting an 8-under 63 at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club, becoming the first player to do so twice. He posted the lowest four-day total (262) in 104 years of tournament competition -- which beat the previous mark by 5 strokes. He won the tournament that used to be known as the Western Open for the fifth time, just one behind Walter Hagen.

Woods has won five times at Cog Hill.

And he joined Sam Snead (82), Jack Nicklaus (73), Ben Hogan (64) and Arnold Palmer (62) among those with 60 or more victories in PGA Tour events.

All at age 31. [. . .]

He has won six or more times in a season five times. This year, four of his six wins have come at the biggest tournaments -- a major (PGA Championship), two World Golf Championship events (CA Championship and Bridgestone Invitational) and now a playoff event.

And his other two victories came at two of the more popular regular tour events, the Buick Invitational and Wachovia Championship.

Perhaps just as remarkable as his number of victories is the speed with which he got there. Nicklaus was 36 years old when he won his 60th title in 1976. Palmer was 41 in 1971 when he won for the 60th time. Woods could take the next five years off and still be on pace to surpass Nicklaus, Hogan and Palmer.

Or, as Justin Rose put it, "I'd have to win 15 times a year for the next four years to get there by the time I'm 31."

Meanwhile, last weekend's tournament gave us yet another entertaining professional golfer-caddy snit (previous snit posts here and here), which gives me the opportunity to pass along this classic Caddyshack clip (which happens to be one of Tiger Woods' favorite movies) in which Bill Murray's legendary Carl Spackler explains how he successfully resolved a similar snit with while caddying for the the Dalai Lama:

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

A couple of Houston legal legends

If you didn't catch it over the weekend, don't miss Mary Flood's article and related blog post on two legends of the Houston legal community, plaintiff's lawyer Joe Jamail and criminal defense attorney, Richard "Racehorse" Haynes.

I've been blessed to have had the opportunity to watch both of these masters in action over the years. Jamail's special talent is in his ability to talk to and relate with jurors, while Haynes is, bar none, the best craftsman of cross-examination that I have ever seen in a courtroom. Take a moment to learn more about two of the most important Houston lawyers of our time.

Photo of Jamail and Haynes by Johnny Hanson.

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (0) |

Why is Ben Stein a business columnist?

Answer: To give bloggers an opportunity to point out that he apparently does not know what he is writing about.

Inasmuch as I've taken Stein to task on several earlier columns (see here, here and here), I was getting ready to prepare a post pointing out the folly of Stein's latest column, this one on the financial impact of the meltdown in subprime mortgage sector. But then I discovered that Felix Salmon had already done so, in which he observes the following:

. . .it turns out that Stein is completely wrong, yet again: can anybody explain to me why this man still has his column?

Read the entire post.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

September 10, 2007

The Skilling Appeal Brief

As Ashby Jones and Peter Henning noted on Friday, lawyers for Jeff Skilling filed his appellant's brief this past Friday along with a motion requesting that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals waive length-of-brief rules under the special circumstances of Skilling's appeal. Inasmuch as the brief is a 240-page tome, my sense is that it will probably be modified slightly to include tables of contents and authorities when the final version is filed after the Fifth Circuit rules on the the length-of-brief motion (Update: I've since updated the link above to include the final version filed with the Fifth Circuit).

I read the entire brief while watching football over the weekend and it is brilliant. The brief is extremely well-written and organized, and eschews much of the technical legal jargon that often makes appellate briefs a chore to read. It would be extremely difficult to read this brief objectively and come to the conclusion that Jeff Skilling has not been the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice (see earlier posts on that subject here, here and here).

The first statement of the brief -- the usually mundane statement advising the appellate court whether the appellant believes that oral argument would be helpful to the court -- Skilling's appellate team crafted the best such statement that I've ever read:

Defendant-appellant Jeffrey Skilling requests oral argument. This case is perhaps the most prominent and publicized white-collar case ever prosecuted. But with certainty, it is the most misunderstood case, enveloped from the outset by perceptions and myths that bear little resemblance to the actual facts. Almost everyone believes, for instance, that Skilling was indicted, tried, and convicted for causing the 2001 bankruptcy of Enron Corporation and its devastating effects on thousands of Enron employees and shareholders. As the government itself conceded, however, the case against Skilling had nothing to do with Enron’s collapse.

Profound, inherent weaknesses in the government’s case—not just gaps in its evidentiary proof, but doubts about its basic theories of criminality—motivated the government to resort to novel and incorrect legal theories, demand truncated and unfair trial procedures, and use coercive and abusive tactics. Skilling submits that oral argument is essential to assist the Court’s understanding of the remarkable record in this case, including the multiplicity of substantial legal and procedural errors that have put Skilling in prison for 24 years not only for crimes that he did not commit, but for acts of business judgment that are not crimes at all.

Following that statement is an 11-page introduction, which -- if you don't have time to read the entire brief -- is an excellent overview of the arguments presented. My favorite parts of the brief are as follows:

The Statement of the Case (pp. 15-59). This is a marvelously clear description of Enron's business and the superficiality of the evidence that the Enron Task Force presented at trial against Skilling. In discussing Enron with hundreds of folks over the past several years, I understand how few people really understood that Enron was an innovative and successful business before its demise. Fewer still understood the shallowness of the Task Force's case against Skilling. This section of the brief takes on those widely-held misconceptions and dispenses with them cogently.

The Change of Venue Section (pp. 122-175). Given the venomous environment in Houston regarding all things related to Enron, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake's refusal to grant Skilling's motion to change the venue of the trial has always struck me as odd. Skilling's brief provides truly shocking information (heretofore not public) about the enormous bias against Skilling expressed in the answers to the juror questionairres of the jurors who ended up on Skilling's jury! Also provided in this section is heretofore non-public information on Judge Lake's questionable refusal to grant Skilling's proposed multiple strikes for cause on a large number of the jurors who who had expressed clear bias against Skilling and Lay. As the brief notes, if there was ever a trial that called for a change of venue, Lay-Skilling was the one.

The Prosecutorial Misconduct Section (pp. 175-206). The subject of this section has been a common topic on this blog, but this section provides additional unknown evidence of the Task Force's abusive tactics in prosecuting Skilling and other Enron executives. Moreover, the brief sums up brilliantly the prejudicial impact of the Task Force's threats against witnesses who would have provided exculpatory testimony for Skilling (all record citations contained in the brief are excluded here):

At trial, the severe imbalance in witness access was obvious. The Task Force’s case consisted mostly of cooperators from Enron’s senior management—people who worked with Skilling at Enron and who were his friends, including some of his closest friends. With plea or non-prosecution agreements with the Task Force, these witnesses were under the Task Force’s complete domination and control. They were obligated to testify, contractually bound to admit guilt and support the allegations against Skilling, and their ultimate fate rested in the “sole and exclusive discretion” of the Task Force. None of them would meet with Skilling or his counsel. At least two (Rice and Belden)—and probably all of them—were clearly ordered not to.

In contrast, most of Skilling’s key defense witnesses never took the stand. Specifically, Skilling sought to call David Duncan of Arthur Andersen and seven Enron executives: Greg Whalley, Rick Buy, Lou Pai, Jeff McMahon, Georgeanne Hodges, Janet Dietrich, and Joe Hirko. Each possessed critical exculpatory evidence, and would have directly refuted testimony given by Task Force cooperators. Yet all eight invoked the Fifth Amendment, fearing Task Force reprisals. Hoping to overcome this, Skilling asked the Task Force to immunize them, as it did for Ben Glisan (its own witness). The Task Force declined, thereby ensuring that vital exculpatory testimony never saw the light of day.

Without these (and many other) key witnesses, the defendants were forced to rely primarily on their own testimony. Roughly two-thirds of the defense case consisted of Skilling and Lay’s testimony; the remainder was a patchwork of character witnesses, experts, and others—anyone courageous enough to testify. Most could offer relatively narrow testimony on limited issues. Besides Skilling and Lay, only two senior executives testified for the defense, and neither was deeply involved in many transactions at issue.

Compounding the prejudice, the Task Force argued in closing that Skilling’s defense was not credible because it did not square with the testimony of many witnesses. By intimidating witnesses into silence and then refusing to immunize them—knowing they would give testimony favorable to the defense—it was the Task Force that prevented witnesses from corroborating Skilling. U.S. v. Golding, 168 F.3d 700, 702-05 (4th Cir. 1999) (“The government did not stop with the threat. Instead, the prosecutor further abused her power by using the very situation she had created against the defendant in closing argument.”). Skilling, meanwhile, could not explain to the jury why his best witnesses were missing, because the district court explicitly prohibited him from introducing any evidence of the Task Force’s threats and other misconduct.

The prejudice was irreparable. It obstructed Skilling’s preparations before trial, distorted the presentation of evidence at trial, and affected the outcome. Gregory, 369 F.2d at 188-89 (“A criminal trial … is a quest for truth. That quest will more often be successful if both sides have an equal opportunity to interview the persons who have the information from which the truth may be determined.”).

As if on cue, even before the ink on the Skilling brief was dry, some of the more vitriolic members of the mob that lynched Skilling were already dismissing it without so much as a smidgen of analysis. But my bet is that a fair review of this brief will leave most readers shocked over the weakness of the case against Skilling and the government's ruthless tactics in pursuing a conviction despite that weakness.

The popular myth of the mob is that Enron was a house of cards that was propped up by a conspiracy of greedy executives who told lies to trusting but unknowing investors. The truth is that Enron was simply a highly-leveraged, trust-based business with a relatively low credit rating and a booming trading operation that got caught in a liquidity crunch. That liquidity crisis occurred when the credit and equity markets became spooked by a variety of factors in late October, 2001, including revelations about Fastow's embezzlement of millions and the volatility in markets after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

As I've noted many times over the years, Fastow's embezzlement from Enron is a crime, but Enron's unfortunate demise is not, nor should it be. Beyond the shattered lives and families, the real tragedy here is that an angry mob convicted Jeff Skilling, trampling the rule of law and the administration of justice along the way. In truth, none of us would be able to survive, as Thomas More reminds us, "in the winds that blow" from the exercise of the government's overwhelming prosecutorial power in response to the demands of the mob. I continue to hope that Jeff Skilling's unjust conviction and sentence are reversed on appeal. Not only for his and his family's benefit, but also for ours.

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (4) |

2007 Weekly local football review

AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Texans 20 Chiefs 3

Pinch yourself. The Houston Texans have won three straight regular season NFL games (previous weekly summaries are here).

The Texans (1-0) took advantage of four turnovers and a tepid Kansas City offense to win their season opening game for only the second time in franchise history. The Texans defense, which is the area of the team that clearly has the most potential, held the Chiefs to 219 yards total offense and DE Mario Williams returned one of the KC fumbles 38 yards for an early third quarter TD that put the Texans up 17-0. Meanwhile, the Texans offense was not great, but it was better than the Chiefs' offense. QB Matt Schaub guided that unit to 315 yards total offense, including a 77 yard TD bomb to WR Andre Johnson. Schaub was 16-22 passing for 225 yards in his Texans debut, including the TD pass to Johnson and a first quarter interception in the Texans end zone. The Texans face a stiffer test on the road next Sunday against Carolina (1-0), whose back-up QB is the Texans fromer QB, David Carr.

Texas Longhorns 34 TCU 13

The Horns (2-0) pulled away late in a game that was closer than the final score indicates. Texas was down 10-7 late in third quarter when the sloppy kicking game of TCU (1-1) scuttled the Horned Frogs' dreams of a defining win and BCS bowl contention. After the Longhorns tied the game at 10, a TCU fumble on the ensuing kickoff was recovered by Texas on the Horned Frog 26 and, a few plays later, a rejuvenated Texas offense rammed the ball into the end zone for Texas' first lead of the night. Then, on the ensuing kickoff, an illegal block penalty backed up the Frogs to their own 10 and, after a three and out, Texas' next drive started at the TCU 44. The Horns ground out a couple of first downs and then kicked a field goal, making the score 20-10. The following offensive possession generated another three and out for TCU, and when the Horned Frogs punter dropped the snap, Texas' Brandon Foster scooped it up and returned it for a TD and a 27-10 Longhorn lead. Game, set, match. The Longhorns go on the road next week to Orlando to help C-USA member Central Florida (1-0) christen their new stadium.

Texas Aggies 47 Fresno State 45 (3OT)

The most entertaining game of the day occurred in College Station where the Aggies (2-0) blew a 19 point lead and then held on for dear life to pull out the victory when Fresno St. missed the mandatory two-point conversion at the end of the third overtime period. As with last season, the Aggies have a good and competent team, but it appears unlikely that the Ags will be able to contend with the likes of Oklahoma and Oklahoma for the Big 12 South championship. The Aggies can control the ball and clock with their strong rushing attack, but they have no downfield passing game and -- outside of RB Michael Goodson -- do not have anyone with quick-strike capability against first-rate defenses. Meanwhile, the Aggie defense is just average, so the Ags will be giving up plenty of points this season. Without a high-scoring offense and with a defense that will give up some high point totals, my sense is that the Aggies are an 8-4-type team. At this point, it's hard for me to see them at any better than 9-3. They have another sure win next Saturday at home against Louisiana-Monroe (0-2) before going on the road the following Thursday to play a very average Miami (1-1) team in the Orange Bowl.

Baylor 42 Rice 17

The headline to last week's Rice Football Newsletter story on the Owls' loss to Nicholls State was "Could it get any worse than this?" Well yes, it could, as the Owls (0-2) found out on Saturday in Waco. The Owls gave up 531 total yards to the same Bears team that could only muster 282 yards and no points a week earlier against TCU. It's a bit frightening to think how many yards and points that Texas Tech (2-0) might run up on the Owls next Saturday at Rice Stadium.

The Houston Cougars (0-1) were idle this week and play C-USA rival Tulane (0-1) in New Orleans next Saturday.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

What to do with the Dome?

There has been an interesting disparity in media reports about the Astrodome over the past couple of weeks. First, this one from Channel 13 investigative reporter, Wayne Dolcefino:

The county judge warns the aging Houston Astrodome may soon become too dangerous for people to even go inside.

What do you do about an important piece of Houston history? Do you tear it down? The Eighth Wonder of the World has now become a legacy of how not to pay for a sports stadium. Long after the Oilers left and seven seasons after the Astros stopped playing here it sits.

When we went to the dome this week, it was warm inside and didn't smell too pretty. It's home to a few offices but the floor of the Dome floor is now just concrete.

"The dome is old and it's falling apart," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. "It's time as they say to fish or cut bait."

"Now we've got a situation where we have what was the Eighth Wonder of the World sitting there effectively unoccupied," said Harris Co Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt.

And you are still paying. They are numbers many public officials probably had a hard time figuring out themselves. You still owe $38 million on the Astrodome. It's property tax money and every year it's costing millions just to keep it operating. In the last five years it cost $18 million. The tax assessor calls it a money hole.

"We've got to decide what to do with the domed stadium," said Emmett. "It's time to put up or shut up frankly."

Hurricanes have nearly doubled insurance on the dome. The bill has been $894,000 just this year. And you think your utility bills are high? Look at this. The bill was $1.1 million. Operating expenses this year alone were $2.75 million.

The biggest money maker at the Dome is The Hideout. That's the bar the Rodeo operates on the floor of the Dome. We get no money for that. The rest of the year the Dome was used just 13 days, making just $100,000.

"Frankly we can't let people use it much longer, it will become a dangerous place," Emmett said.

"The question we have to decide is if we can't find something for the Dome to become, then they have to think seriously about tearing it down," said Bettencourt.

Then, this one on the interminable Astrodome hotel redevelopment project:

Entrepreneurs looking to turn the iconic Astrodome into an upscale convention hotel have scrapped a "best of historic Texas" theme for a more modern, streamlined look.

A faux Texas courthouse and other features that played on the state's past are out. Plans now call for including a section of the Dome's seats, part of the diamond and an overall contemporary design that plays up the building's cutting-edge nature when it opened in 1965.

"We're going to have rides. There could be air rides that take you off the ground and make you say, 'Wow,' " said Scott Hanson, president of Astrodome Redevelopment Co., the firm hoping to transform the Dome. "We're going to have a few of those. They would be easy-going rides that would show off the venue."

Astrodome Redevelopment still has hurdles to clear before it begins work. Willie Loston, director of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., which oversees Reliant Park, will update the Commissioners Court on the company's progress in executive session Tuesday.

The court's approval is needed before work could begin. And Astrodome Redevelopment needs to work out revenue sharing and parking deals with the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the major tenants of Reliant Park.

But Hanson and Astrodome Redevelopment's chief executive, John Clanton, said the company is making progress and hopes to begin work on the interior as early as next April.

Hanson previously said the company had obtained financing for the $450 million project. But he and Clanton publicly announced the lender, Deutsche Bank, for the first time Thursday.

The article goes on to claim that the "entreprenuers" of the project have a new Atlanta-based partner who will supposedly add equity to the deal and make it more viable.

Frankly, this silly notion that entreprenuers can arrange private financing for the conversion of the Astrodome into a hotel has been going on for three years. Now, the Chronicle would have us believe Deutsche Bank has approved a $450 million financing commitment on a highly-speculative covention hotel project in during the tightest credit market in years? I'm willing to bet that any such commitment has more outs than the Stros lineup this season.

All of this imagery about the proposed Astrodome hotel would be all fun and games except that it is costing the County real money to maintain the Dome, probably around $10 million just since the dome hotel project was first floated. Given that we are three years into this and the entreprenuers are not even at the stage of cutting deals with the Texans and the Rodeo over use of the Reliant Park property during times of mixed use, just how long is the County going to dawdle over the Dome before moving on to more realistic uses of the property?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

September 9, 2007

Fighting Irish bashing

It has not been a good year so far for Notre Dame.

After getting hammered 41-14 by LSU in the Sugar Bowl, Fighting Irish head coach Charlie Weis got poured out in the trial of his medical malpractice lawsuit against the surgeons who performed a gastric bypass operation on him. Then, the Irish were pummelled in their first two games of the season, 33-3 at home by Georgia Tech and 31-10 yesterday by Penn State. A wounded but talented Michigan team looms next week.

Thus, it's probably no surprise to anyone that more than a few of Notre Dame's opponents are enjoying the current troubles of the Fighting Irish. One of those passed along the flow chart below:

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

September 8, 2007

Stros 2007 Season Review, Part Seven

Gosh, it's amazing how fast 20 games go by for the Stros (62-79) when the club's General Manager and manager are fired in the interim (previous periodic reviews are here). The reactions to the firing were varied (see here and here), and they prompted some dire warnings about the direction of the club. However, as the club started to wind down the 2007 season over the past 20 games, I saw enough to like that I'm cautiously optimistic about the direction of the club.

The past 20 games was really no different from the way the club has played all season. The Stros went 8-12 in this seventh 20-game segment of the season, including ugly 14-2 and 11-3 losses to the Brewers and the Mets over the past two games. The hitting continues to be slightly below-National League average (-9 RCAA), although Lance Berkman (31 RCAA;/.388 OBA/.506 SLG/.894), Hunter Pence (25/.368/.558./926), Carlos Lee (15/.354/.522/.876) and Luke Scott (14/.358/.510/.869) are providing a nice nucleus of solid hitters to build around. The Stros overall hitting places them ninth among the 16 National League clubs.

Nevertheless, the Stros overall pitching has remained atrocious. To put this in perspective, Stros pitchers saved 78 more runs last season than an average National League staff would have saved in the same number of innings (RSAA), which was the best performance by a pitching staff in the National League last season. This season, the Stros pitchers have already given up 83 more runs than an average National League staff would have given up in the same number of innings, which is dead last in the National League.

Thus, with 21 more games to go in the season, the Stros pitching staff is an incredible 161 runs worse than the club's pitching staff from last season. Frankly, with that size of decline in the club's pitching performance, it's amazing that the club's won-loss record is only 7 or so games worse than the club's record was last season at this point in the season. If the Stros win half of their remaining 21 games, the club will end up finishing (72-90) a full 10 games worse than last season's club (82-80).

Despite that somewhat bleak landscape, the reason for my optimism is that Stros' management has embraced many of my earlier recommendations regarding preserving the club's assets during the remainder of this lost season. The Stros are not overpitching their best pitching assets (Oswalt, Qualls, Lidge, the rehabbing Backe and Sampson) or there most promising younger pitchers (Patton, Guitierrez, Paulino, etc). They went ahead and had Jennings get his elbow surgery over with so that he might be a viable option for the 2008 season. They are giving younger players such as catcher J.R. Towles some playing time to measure when they might be able to contribute at the MLB level. Although Drayton McLane is interviewing several of the typical hacks who always seem to get their foot in the door on MLB general manager interviews, he is also interviewing some of the younger GM prospects who understand the importance of statistical analysis in evaluating players and who know that re-energizing the Stros' floundering farm system is the key to turning around the club's fortunes in the long run.

Meanwhile, with a few solidying moves, next season's roster could look pretty competitive. Can Towles take over as the full-time catcher in 2008 despite just a cup of coffee at in Triple A and a month in MLB? He is sound defensively and hit very well at Double A this year, and he looks quite agile for a catcher. He's probably a year away, but the Stros might just take a flyer on him next season and back him with one of the "catch and throw" veteran catchers that the club seems to covet. Let's just hope that it's not Ausmus (-15/.317/.322/.639) again.

The club will improve by subtracting Craig Biggio (-14/.285/.392/.677), but Chris Burke (-12/.315/.358/.673) has had a bad season as he again has been deprived of playing his natural position during the prime of his career. I would be inclined to give Burke a chance at second base next season simply because of how badly he has been jacked around over the years, but I also wouldn't object if the Stros went out into the market and brought in a solid-hitting veteran such as Tadahito Iguchi, who filled in nicely this season in Philadelphia during Chase Utley's injury.

Shortstop remains a problem and the free agent market for shortstops is horrible this upcoming off-season, so expect Everett to be re-signed assuming that he fully recovers from the broken leg that he suffered earlier this season. Everett has to field at his National League best even to come close to justifying his sub-.600 OPS. Given how bad the the Stros defense has been this season, a healthy Everett is a nice luxury to have at shortstop. But if his range is limited as a result of his injury, it might be time to go try and sign a better hitter such as Edgar Rentaria to play the position for a couple of seasons while developing younger talent at that position. Ty Wigginton (3/.378/.441/.819) has not been much better than Morgan Ensberg (-1/.269/.458/.728 since moving over to the Padres) at third base, so the new GM is going to have to consider filling that hole, too.

But as noted above, Berkman at first base and the outfield of Lee, Pence and Scott is pretty salty. Stros management has mishandled Mike Lamb, so he will probably opt to leave after this season, but he would be a solid utilityman to keep, if possible. And amazingly, a case can be made that the Stros' traditional pitching depth is likely to turn around this season's abysmal pitching performance as soon as next season. Oswalt remains one of the best in MLB, and Wandy Rodriguez, Woody Williams, Backe, Sampson, Matt Albers, Patton and Guiterrez are all reasonable prospects to fill out the no. 3-5 spots in next season's pitching rotation. That leaves the Stros with the same question that they had in this past off-season -- who is going to man the no. 2 pitching spot in the rotation behind Oswalt? The free agent market for starting pitching this coming off-season stinks, so it's not likely that the Stros will find their answer there. There may be too much water under the bridge to bring Jennings back on a "make-good" deal, but the surgery that he is having is not likely to be career-ending. He could bounce back to become the workhorse that he was in Colorado. It is an option worth considering.

Thus, despite this poor season, the Stros do not appear incapable of bouncing back next season if the new GM can pull off a couple of moves to upgrade the roster. On the other hand, if McLane ends up hiring a hack to become the new GM, a couple of moves in the other direction could put the Stros franchise into a downward spiral that will take years to turn around. Although that's possible (McLane hired Jimy Williams, after all), my sense is that McLane will hire a knowledgeable and innovative GM. McLane is a sharp cookie and he realizes that his window of opportunity to return to the post-season with Oswalt, Berkman, Lee and Pence will close fast if he doesn't take decisive action in the GM post.

After two more games against the Mets over this weekend, the Stros return home to face the NL Central-contending Cubs (71-68) in what should be a fun series, the Pirates (61-79) in a battle to avoid the NL Central cellar, and then the Brewers (71-68) in a series that will likely have playoff implications. After a final road trip to play the Cards (69-68) and Reds (63-77), the Stros close the season at home in the final weekend of September against the Braves (71-69), who also are not going to make the playoffs this season.

So, it looks as if we can all look forward to watching Biggio play catcher one last time in that final series. In a season such as this one, you have to take your entertainment whereever you can find it.

The season statistics for the Stros to date are below, courtesy of Lee Sinins' sabermetric Complete Baseball Encyclopedia. The abbreviations for the hitting stats are defined here and the same for the pitching stats are here. The Stros active roster is here with links to each individual player's statistics:

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 7, 2007

Houston Texans, Year Six

Rejoice! The seemingly unending National League Football pre-season is over!

It's Year Six for the Houston Texans and the fourth annual preview of the Texans since this blog began back in 2004 (previous previews are here). Thankfully, this past off-season for the Texans was not as eventful as the off-season after Year Four:

After unexpectedly finishing the 2006 season with a couple of wins, the Texans are riding a wave of optimism into the 2007 season. Unfortunately, most of those optimists forget that the team looked deader than a doornail in the game before those final two wins;

After changing the management model of the football team during the off-season after the 2005 season, Texans owner Bob McNair and second-year coach Gary Kubiak changed the marquee player of the franchise, which was followed by the typical potshots that occur after such changes;

Does the Michael Vick affair provide some hope for the Texans' draft strategy?; and

Texans owner Bob McNair -- one of the truly good guys among NFL owners -- was rated much more highly than his team.

So, is the optimism for the 2007 Texans justified? Well, in addressing that question, it's helpful to review briefly the Texans' tumultuous first five seasons. As noted in the pre-season review before last season, the Texans were the toast of the town for their first three seasons of existence in which the team and the local media trumpeted the party line that the organization was building a playoff contender "the right way" -- i.e., through prudent drafting and development of young players while eschewing the temptation of short-term rewards provided by over-priced veterans who were on the downside of their careers. The progressively better won-loss records in the first three seasons (4-12, 5-11, and 7-9) -- plus the drafting of young stars such as WR Andre Johnson, RB Dominack Davis and CB Dunta Robinson -- seemed to indicate that the Texans' plan was working.

Unfortunately, those progessively better won-loss records during the first three seasons camouflaged some big problems, such as the fact that the Texans entered each of their first four seasons with the same two core problems -- the Texans' offensive line could not protect the quarterback and the Texans' defensive front could not apply adequate pressure on the opposing team's QB. Although former Texans GM Charlie Casserly tried (remember the Texans' flirtation with LT's Tony Boselli and then Orlando Pace?), the Texans were never able to address those problem areas effectively. Ultimately, both Casserly and original Texans head coach Dom Capers were fired after the disastrous Year Four for their failure to solve those two core problems.

That miserable Year Four prompted McNair to blow up his management model and surprisingly hire Kubiak, who promptly made a whopper of a blunder in his first significant personnel decision as Texans' coach -- the decision to retain David Carr as the Texans QB. Inasmuch as a rank amateur such as me expressed doubts about Carr way back before Year Three, Kubiak's decision to make a go of it with Carr was as bad as any of the dubious personnel decisions of the Casserly era. Not only did the Texans blow an $8 million option bonus paid to Carr after the 2005 season, Kubiak's decision to retain Carr effectively negated an opportunity to dangle the No. 1 pick in the 2006 NFL draft in a trade that probably would have allowed the Texans to receive some much-needed value plus still draft one of the star QB's in that draft, Matt Leinart, Jay Cutler, or Vince Young, the Houston and UT icon who won the 2006 NFL offensive Rookie of the Year Award and become the first rookie quarterback to play in the NFL Pro Bowl. Kubiak quickly soured on Carr during the early stages of Year Five, resulting in the Texans having one of the worst offenses in the NFL last season and arguably overpaying for new QB Matt Schaub over the past off-season.

But at least Kubiak is willing to admit his mistakes and take risks in making changes to improve his team. Over his first two seasons at the helm of the Texans, the offensive-minded Kubiak has continued a trend that started during the final two years of the Casserly-Capers regime of emphasizing development of the Texans' defensive unit. If high draft picks CB Robinson, MLB DeMeco Ryans, DE Mario Williams and DT Amobi Okoye develop as charted, the Texans will have four Pro Bowl-level starters on their defensive unit within a couple of seasons of further seasoning. If the Texans can elevate the performance level of the personnel surrounding those potential stars, it's not unreasonable to expect that the Texans could have a dominating NFL defense by about the 2009 season, give or take a season.

Nonetheless, the same level of optimism is not as reasonable for Kubiak's area of expertise, the offense. Outside of the Schaub decision, almost every move that the Texans have made with regard to the offense reflects mediocrity. Although the conventional wisdom was that it would take at least a season for the Texans to adjust to Kubiak and offensive coordinator Mike Sherman's offense, the Texans go into the 2007 season with seven different starters on offense than what the team trotted out for the 2006 opener, including new starters at QB, running back, left tackle (again!) and wide receiver.

An example of the dubious decision-making regarding offensive personnel is the signing of RB Ahman Green, formerly of Green Bay. Green was a great running back in his prime with the Pack, but he has averaged less than four yards per carry for the past two seasons. Inasmuch as the Texans agreed to pay Green $23 million over four years ($8 million guaranteed in the first season), the chances that the 30-year old Green will be worth the value of this contract this season are tenuous, at best. The chances of him still being worth the contract a couple of years from now are so speculative as to be off the charts. Similarly, the Texans' problems at wide receiver behind Johnson are partially attributable to Kubiak prematurely giving up on an acceptable no. 2 WR, who is now flourishing with the Patriots.

Moreover, although Schaub has looked good in pre-season, his backup duty in Atlanta -- a poor game against the Saints in 2004, a great game against the Patriots in 2005 and decent performance in mop-up duty during 2006 -- is not dispositive proof that he is destined to become a high-caliber NFL QB. Staub has thrown only 161 passes during his NFL career, which is simply not a large enough sample size to predict much in terms of future performance. Schaub looks the part of a big-time QB, but so did Carr. Schaub will probably be better than Carr (it's unimaginable that he could be worse), but it's premature to anoint him just yet as the second coming of Warren Moon. Remember Rob Johnson?

Meanwhile, what about those two chronic problems that the Texans have faced each pre-season? Well, in terms of protecting the passer, it remains unclear whether the Texans have improved much from the 2006 unit. Staub appears to have better pocket presence than Carr, whose lack of same contributed to the incredible 272 sacks that he took over his five seasons in Houston. However, the Texans continue to rely on longtime linemen such as Chester Pitts, Seth McKinney and Fred Weary, none of whom have distinguished themselves as top flight offensive linemen. Add to that mediocrity the fact that the Texans still have not found a dominant left tackle and it becomes apparent quickly that Staub and Green better be prepared to take more than a few hard licks this season.

In terms of pressuring the passer, the Texans still have not solved the problem, but it appears that they are getting closer. Williams and Anthony Weaver were actually quite good last season against the run and in improving the pass rush, and first round draft choice Okoye should bolster the generally horrible defensive tackle play that the Texans endured for most of last season. MLB Ryans is also a first-rate talent, so the Texans are starting to accumulate the critical mass of talent up front that is necessary to generate an effective pass rush in the NFL. My question is whether that talent is sufficiently developed to create consistent havoc this season?

Thus, my bottom line is that the Texans offense will probably be slightly better than the defense this season, but that both units will still likely be below-league average in terms of performance. My sense is that the defense will soon overtake the offense in terms of becoming an above-league average unit in terms of performance, but that shift is more likely to occur next season and in following seasons as the talent around the nucleus of Ryans, Williams, Robinson and Okoye improves. As a result, I am placing the over-under on Texans wins this season at 7, which is one more than last season's correct pre-season over-under prediction and one game better than last season's 6-10 record.

The Texans first game will be reviewed in next Monday's 2007 Weekly local football review. Meanwhile, the blooming of the sports blogosphere has finally reached the point this season that there really is no reason to endure the superficial cheerleading of the mainstream media in obtaining information about the Texans. The following blogs provide superior analysis of the Texans to most anything that you will find in the mainstream media:

Stephanie Stradley, who used to blog as the Chronicle's Texans Chick, now provides an excellent blog on the Texans over at AOL Fanhouse;

Although not a blog, Warren DeLuca and the other writers at Houston Pro Football.com provide first-rate commentary on the Texans;

DGDB&D (for "Da Good, Da Bad & DeMeco") is a clever new blog that characterizes itself as "a seemingly harmless Texans blog";

Matt Loede chimes in with another new blog entitled Texans Gab;

Battle Red Blog is the blog on the Texans from the SB Nation family of blogs; and

Longtime Chronicle NFL columnist John McClain's blog is here, although McClain increasingly tends to wander off on to topics other than the Texans.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (5) |

September 6, 2007

Loren Steffy's Enron myopia

Houston Chronicle business columnist Loren Steffy is a particularly vitriolic critic of former Enron executives Jeff Skilling and the late Ken Lay. Steffy convinced himself early on that Skilling and Lay had lied to investors about Enron, so he made a good part of his living for the past several years appealing to resentment and scapegoating rather than fair-minded analysis in covering Enron's demise.

Even the fact that the criminal cases against both Skilling (see also here) and Lay turned out to be rather weak made no difference to Steffy. He rarely, if ever, gave Skilling or Lay any credit for the enormous wealth that was created from their legacy of beneficial risk-taking. Stoking anger toward wealthy business executives is much easier than nuanced analysis of often complex markets and business transactions. Probably sells more newspapers, too.

So, against that backdrop, imagine my surprise when I came across this recent Steffy column in which he defends embattled securities fraud plaintiff's lawyer, Bill Lerach. As regular readers of this blog know, Lerach is in the cross-hairs of a federal criminal indictment for lying to federal judges and his firm's class clients about payments that his firm allegedly made to class representatives in certain of the cases that Lerach's firm and former firm (Milberg Weiss) handled. Despite these allegations, Steffy sees the good in Lerach's work:

Lerach and his lawyers have held countless executives accountable over the years. They've recovered billions for fraud victims, both individuals and, more recently, pension funds and institutions.

All of this, of course, has made Lerach wealthy, which fuels the criticism against him. [. . .]

Past mistakes may have caught up with him, and if they have, he must pay the price.

But for . . . thousands of other shareholders, those mistakes may tarnish Lerach's reputation, but his legacy remains unblemished.

As noted several times over the past year (most recently here), I also have doubts about the anticipated criminal case against Lerach, although not for the same reasons as Steffy. My radar system for abuse of prosecutorial power is always activated whenever the government's case is based on witnesses whose testimony has been bought and paid for.

But here's what gets me. Steffy balances Lerach's alleged lying to judges and his investor class-clients against the economic benefit of the recoveries his firm made on behalf of those investor-clients (many of those recoveries actually reduced the value of the companies that Lerach's clients owned, but that's another issue). However, Steffy excoriates Skilling and Lay for their alleged lying to investors despite the fact that the two former Enron executives created enormous wealth that dwarfs any economic benefit that Lerach's firm ever generated.

Thus, to Steffy, Lerach is Robin Hood who deserves some slack, while Skilling and Lay are greedy shysters who got what was coming to them. But in reality, what happened to Skilling, Lay and Lerach is far more complicated than that. Too bad that Steffy prefers his simple morality plays to analytical clarity that might actually lead his readers to understand that encouraging the type of risk-taking that Lay and Skilling promoted at Enron facilitates productive markets, employment growth and wealth creation.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

Considering Giuliani

Daniel Drezner has an interesting recent observation about Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid:

Take this for what you will:

Over the past month, I've had at least two dozen conversations with various people about Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign. A lot of these people are Democrats, but there were a healthy number of Republicans and independents as well. These are all smart observers of politics who generally do not make knee-jerk assessments. The one common denominator was that, at some point, all of these people had lived in the New York City area while Rudy was mayor.

What is astonishing is that, despite the fact that this collection of individuals would likely disagree about pretty much everything, there was an airtight conensus about one and only one point:

A Giuliani presidency would be an unmitigated disaster for the United States. That is all.

UPDATE: Commenters have reasonably asked the "why?" question. For some answers from New Yorkers, click here and here.

Here is my contribution on why Giuliani should not be elected president.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

This should make Stros fans feel a bit better

It's been a bad season for the Stros, so fans of the local ballclub have to look for solace anywhere they can get it.

A couple of weeks ago, the Cubs inked ace starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano to a 5 year $91.5 million deal ($18.3/year) to keep him off the free agent market this coming off-season. The deal makes Zambrano the highest-paid pitcher in Major League Baseball.

As if on cue, over his last six starts, Zambrano's record is 0-5 with an 8.29 ERA. On Monday night, he was the starter for the Cubs in an 11-3 loss to the Dodgers, prompting desperate Cubs fans to boo Zambrano as he left the field for the day. For the season, he has saved only seven more runs than an average National League pitcher would have saved in pitching the same number of innings (RSAA, defined here). Zambrano's ERA is a rather pedestrian -- at least for a $91 million pitcher -- 4.35.

Zambrano is only 26 years old and has already thrown almost 1200 big league innings. The Cubs have a legacy of overworking young pitchers (think Kerry Wood and Mark Prior), so Zambrano's downturn this season is a definite warning sign that something may not be right physically with him. Even if he is not battling an injury, Zambrano is a high injury risk given his workload over the past five seasons. If he is sidelined for any significant period during the term of his contract, then the Cubs investment in him will make the Stros' recent bad deals seem tepid in comparison.

See, feel better? ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 5, 2007

The Wyatt Oil-for-Food Trial

83-year old legendary Houston oilman Oscar Wyatt will be fighting to live the remainder of his life as a free man beginning today in a U.S. District Courtroom in New York City. Wyatt is being tried on criminal charges that he bribed Iraqi officials in a scheme to acquire Iraqi oil in violation of the United Nations' oil-for-food program (previous posts here, here, here and here). The Houston Chronicle ran major stories here and here on the trial over this past weekend, and the NY Times story on the beginning of the trial is here.

The Wyatt trial has the potential to be particularly noteworthy because of a part of the defense strategy -- to paint the prosecution as political payback by two of Wyatt's old oil field rivals, U.S. President George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush, the former president.

Wyatt is charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and trading with a country that supports terrorism. The indictment essentially alleges that he arranged for about $4 million in secret payments to Iraqi officials funneled through shell foreign companies and Swiss intermediaries to the Iraqi government from 2000 through 2002. In response, Wyatt contends that the U.S. government has targeted him for prosecution because he has been an outspoken critic of the two Bush administrations, particularly over the two wars in Iraq. Wyatt is the most prominent U.S. businessman indicted in the affair, althought eight other individuals have been convicted or pleaded guilty to similar charges to those against Wyatt. Likewise, charges are pending against five others.

A 2005 report from a commission led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker alleged widespread corruption in the $64 billion oil-for-food program, which was created to allow Iraq sell oil and use the proceeds to buy humanitarian goods to offset sanctions imposed after the Desert Storm War in 1991. Mr. Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The Volcker commission's report accused 2,200 companies from 40 countries of conspiring with Saddam Hussein's regime to divert $1.8 billion from the supposedly humanitarian campaign.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin today and the trial is expected to last four to six weeks. Wyatt and his defense attorney -- noted New York criminal defense attorney Gerald Shargel, who previously represented the late reputed mobster, John Gotti -- have not yet decided whether Wyatt will take the stand in his own defense. This one looks to be worth the price of admission, so stay tuned.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Ida Mae reports on the Horns

Those Texas Longhorns are playing football again (albeit not very impressively), so it's time for Ida Mae Crimpton to provide the inside scoop on the Horns first game, straight from her front porch in beautiful Elgin, Texas. According to Ida Mae, the first game was bad, but the after-the-game Longhorn locker room was much worse:

And based on what Mack's wife, Sally, told me, it wasn't any picnic in the locker room after the game, either. Sally said that Mack really read the guys the riot act. He yelled at them and told them that after the way they played, they didn't need to expect any post-game orange Gatorade, either (and he was true to his word, too…he made them stand in line at the water cooler). And then when Offensive Coordinator Greg Davis got back from gassing up Mack's car and bringing it around (he also lets the air conditioner run for a while so it's nice and cool when Mack gets in to drive home), he told the offense how disappointed he was. He said that Mack had every right to be pissed off and that they would be doing double drills this coming week in preparation for TCU. Well, that made the guys groan, let me tell you. It was a pretty glum locker room…you'd have thought we'd lost or something.

But that's not all. Read the entire piece.

Posted by Tom at 12:06 AM | Comments (0) |

A worthy campaign

James Anderson over at AstrosDaily discovers a glaring oversight -- the dean of Houston sportswriters, Mickey Herskowitz, has not been elected to the sportswriting section of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Not only is Herskowitz the finest sportswriter of the past generation in Houston, he was also intimately involved in encouraging the investors who ultimately brought Major League Baseball to Houston in the early 1960's. As Anderson notes, Herskowitz is richly deserving of this honor and all longtime Houstonians who have had the opportunity to enjoy his work over the years should be squarely behind the campaign to award him this honor.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 4, 2007

DeLong on the rise from poverty

Yeah, things might be a bit testy lately in the credit markets, but Brad DeLong does a magnificent job of reminding us just how much better we have it than folks who lived not all that long ago:

. . . in 1905 an anonymous American college professor--"G.H.M."--wrote a four-page article for the Atlantic Monthly in which he pleaded for more money for college professor salaries, and claimed to be vastly underpaid. The first thing to note is his salary: he claimed that the "average college professor’s salary"--the salary that he saw as clearly inadequate and unfairly low--"is about $2,000" in the dollars of that day, 1900. Yet Stan Lebergott's estimates in the Historical Statistics of the United States are that the average annual earnings of an employee in America in 1905 were $490 dollars if employed for the entire year (or $451 taking account of the hazards of unemployment): $2,000 was four times average of GDP per worker at the turn of the century. In order to match turn-of-the-century professors in terms of income relative to the national average, a professor today would have to make an academic salary of $300,000–a height rarely attained, and far above any average.

There is much more, so don't miss it. DeLong's chapter is a vivid reflection of the power of compounding economic growth. Sort of makes you wonder about those folks who advocate shaving a bit of economic growth here and there to promote some special interest. Over a century, compounding that small loss of economic growth can have a huge impact.

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Another great college football resource

The Web continues to amaze with the depth and quality of the sites being generated. Check out this one analyzing the win-loss record of every BCS and mid-major college football team and conference in the U.S. What a great way to track trends among conferences and teams -- or simply to keep up with your favorite team -- throughout the season.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

You don't say?

This NY Times article reports on more research that goes into the "who needs a research project to prove that?" category:

. . . the broader question — whether police officers in some towns are motivated by fund-raising as well as safety when writing traffic tickets — has been examined systematically by others. Michael D. Makowsky, a doctoral student in economics, and Thomas Stratmann, an economics professor, both at George Mason University, studied the issue in a recent paper, “Political Economy at Any Speed: What Determines Traffic Citations?”

They examined every warning and citation written by police officers in all of Massachusetts, excluding Boston, during a two-month period in 2001 — over 60,000 in all. Their conclusion wasn’t shocking to an economist: money matters, even in traffic violations. They found a statistical link between a town’s finances and the likelihood that its police officers would issue a speeding ticket. The details are a little sticky, but they show that tickets were issued more often in places that were short on cash, and that out-of-towners received tickets more often than drivers with local addresses.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

September 3, 2007

2007 Weekly local football review

The Labor Day weekend marks the beginning of the college football season and HCT's weekly local football reviews, so here's the first edition of the 2007 season:

Oregon 48 Houston 27

Well, you have to hand to the Coogs, they certainly don't schedule only creampuffs for non-conference games and they keep things entertaining. After spotting Oregon a 14-0 first quarter lead, the Cougars closed to within 34-27 with 1:50 left in the third quarter. But then on the next play, the Ducks exploited a chronic weakness of the Cougars during the Art Briles era -- a porous defense -- for an 80 yard TD run for a 41-27 lead that took the wind out of Houston's sails. The Cougars actually outgained the Ducks (538 yds to 468 yds), but Houston's five turnovers (two interceptions, two fumbles and blocked punt, three of which were inside the Oregon 20) more than made up for that offensive output. Despite the continuing defensive struggles, the Cougars appear to have found a good QB in redshirt freshman Casey Keenum and will have two weeks to regroup before taking on Tulane in New Orleans on September 15.

Texas Longhorns 21 Arkansas State 13

H'mm. Texas fans are rightfully concerned after watching the Horns fumble and stumble against Arkansas State. The Indians outpassed the Longhorns (272 to 223), outrushed them (125 to 117), tallied more first downs (26 to 23), punted fewer times (3 to 4), threw fewer interceptions (1 to 2), had a stronger kickoff return game (94 return yards to 73), and held the ball longer in time of possession (30:12 to 29:49). The Longhorns have been tabbed as 10 point favorites in their game against mid-major power TCU (1-0) next Saturday in Austin, but expect that line to move down a bit as the game approaches. Absent a substantially better effort against the Horned Frogs, the Horns could well lose that game.

Texas Aggies 38 Montana State 7

After spotting Montana State an early 7-0 lead, the Ags methodically hammered out the victory using their somewhat boring but effective strategy of emphasizing the rushing attack, throwing short passes and restricting turnovers. However, even the most optimistic Ags have to be concerned about an Ag defense that gave up over 400 yards to a Division I-AA team that replaced its head coach just three months ago and an offense that still does not appear to be able to execute a pass play of over 7 yards or so. The Aggies get a stiffer test at home next week against Fresno State (1-0), who enter the week as 17 point underdogs.

Nicholls State 16 Rice 14

Coming off the Todd Graham affair, this is not how the Owls wanted to kick off the David Bailiff era. The Rice Football Webletter commented as follows in this article entitled "Could It Get Any Worse Than This?":

Perhaps the worst strategic decision made on the turf of Rice Stadium Saturday night came not from the Owl quarterback, not from the head coach – though both sources stunned the crowd of 11,800 with the length and breadth of their miscreancy during the course of this excruciating, five and one-half hour game.

Nope, the worst decision came from the tongue of Rice Athletic Director Chris del Conte, who, given the election of sending the teams home and playing the game over later in the season after the second of two, hour-long, lightning-induced weather delays – or electing to wait it out and get the game in – chose to stand fast and play ball.

The Rice Owls responded by imploding their own building here Saturday night as a, shall we say, less-than-imaginative offense yielded up five key turnovers en route to a 16-14 loss to an aroused, strutting and confident Nicholls State team.

The fancy banners which newly-adorn the stately, former-72,000-seat-edifice still stand on a muggy Sunday morning. But down like so many tons of concrete and structural steel have fallen the remains, not of a building, but of a rebuilding.

Ouch! The Owls attempt to rebound as 6 point underdogs next week in Waco against Baylor (0-1).

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (3) |

September 2, 2007

A continuing abuse of power

Economist James Buchanan won a Nobel Prize for his work on applying economics to explain how incentives impact the behavior of government officials. In short, Buchanan concluded that government officials are people who behave in the same selfish manner as most folks. For example, when dealing with the government's awesome prosecutorial power, prosecutors often could care less about discretion and justice. Rather, they often use that power to advance their personal interests, to extort tribute from the private sector, to blackmail politicians into increasing prosecutorial resources and privileges, and to manipulate the media in their favor.

The foregoing seems to be an apt explanation of what continues to go on in the Enron-relates debacle known as the Nigerian Barge case:

A federal prosecutor wants a former Merrill Lynch & Co. executive to serve the entire prison term imposed for five Enron-related crimes even though three of those convictions were overturned by an appeals panel last year.

But lawyers for James Brown say the prosecutor is pushing to incarcerate their client for the remainder of his three-year, 10-month term because he has refused to plead guilty to another felony and possibly testify against two co-defendants.

Read about the entire tawdry affair. Brown's perjury and obstruction of justice convictions were upheld in this Fifth Circuit decision that reversed the convictions against him and his co-defendants on the other three charges. However, Judge Harold DeMoss' dissent lucidly explains just how flimsy the convictions on the perjury and obstruction charges are:

[The majority decision relies on] two types of evidence [to support the convictions of Brown on the perjury and obstruction charges]: (1) business negotiations preceding a deal ultimately reduced to a written agreement and (2) an after-the-fact oversimplification and shorthand description of the barge partnership investment by Merrill employees during the discussion and evaluation of a subsequent and entirely unrelated deal. Neither of these types of evidence should be used to support an inference of the falsity of Brown’s testimony.

After what the prosecution has put Brown and his Merrill Lynch co-defendants through, the prosecution's continued pursuit of this case borders on the barbaric. Here's hoping that Judge Ewing Werlein rejects the prosecution's continued pursuit of this Enron-related witch hunt in the same manner as he rejected the prosecution's original over-the-top sentencing recommendations. Perhaps a few decision of that nature would induce some adult supervision to return to the Department of Justice.

Posted by Tom at 8:50 PM | Comments (0) |

September 1, 2007

The state of the Stros

As I've noted many times, the Chronicle's coverage of the Stros is pretty pathetic overall. But markets are wonderful things, so the blogosphere has quickly developed into a far superior source of analysis about the Stros than the mainstream media. Although several blogs provide good information about the Stros (see the link list on the right), I have particularly enjoyed reading Lisa Gray's analysis of the Stros over at The Astros Dugout, where Lisa blogs a post on every Stros game. Her insight is excellent and she writes in an engaging and clever manner.

Lisa is now branching out a bit and she recently posted this Hardball Times article on the state of the Stros. Despite the fact that I disagree with her on a few things (I think she is a bit harsh on Drayton McLane, who is the best owner that the Stros have ever had), Lisa's article is the best I've seen on the mistakes that have been made in the Stros organization since the club's 2005 World Series appearance. Check it out.

Bill James coined the "Law of Competitive Balance" to explain the trend that teams that win tend to slack off in the following year because team management doesn't work as hard, don't take risks to make the team better and think defensively. For example, Stros management reacted to the playoff appearances in 2004-05 by rationalizing that "if we won with Ausmus and Everett in those seasons, then why can't we do it again this year." Such complacency almost always is reflected in a poorer won-loss record, and the Stros gradual decline over the latter stages of the Biggio-Bagwell era is powerful evidence of the truth of the Law of Competitive Balance.

Posted by Tom at 12:31 AM | Comments (0) |

August 31, 2007

On the Billable Hour

A couple of interesting posts recently on the scourge of the business community -- the billable hour -- gives me the opportunity to pass along the cartoon on the left from the always-insightful Stuart M. Rees of Stu's Views.

First, local law school blawger Luke Gilman provides a compendium of links and analysis to his comprehensive review of the state of the billable hour. Meanwhile, Peter Lattman over at the WSJ Law Blog provides this post on the breaking of the heretofore sacrosanct $1,000-an-hour billing rate, which includes local attorney Steve Susman's classic observation that he charges in excess of a grand per hour "to discourage anyone hiring me" on an hourly basis.

Me, I continue to subscribe to the theory that I won't charge an hourly rate that is higher than I could afford to pay if I need to hire an attorney. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) |

The Katrina legacy

The "News-Hurricane" category of this blog began with Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The second post in that blog was this one in the early afternoon of Saturday, August 27, 2005, which was one of the first in the blogosphere warning of Katrina's potential danger to the New Orleans area and urging citizens to evacuate immediately. Unfortunately, most of the folks who stayed and lost their lives in Katrina probably had no way to read the recommendation passed along in the final sentence of that post.

Over the past two years, the "News-Hurricanes" category has developed into a cross-section of articles and blog posts on the various legal, economic and political issues involved in the rebuilding of New Orleans. On the two year anniversary of the storm, here are several more good ones:

Reason Magazine's Daniel Rothschild has traveled to New Orleans twenty times over the past two years reporting on the reconstruction. Here is the first installment of a three part series that is a must-read for anyone interested in the reconstruction of New Orleans;

The NY Times' Adam Nossiter, who has also reported extensively on New Orleans over the past two years, provides this article entitled "Commemorations for a City 2 Years After Storm;"

Moneyball's Michael Lewis writes about the risk of Hurricane Katrina;

Nicole Gelinas of City Journal writes on how the breakdown in law and order continues to hamper the rebuilding of New Orleans;

Ben C. Toledano argues that New Orleans effectively died long before the hurricane struck; and

This Associated Press story describes the difficult task of re-establishing New Orleans' small businesses, which were a major source of job loss after Katrina (a point made at the time). One of the most interesting aspects of the story is one small businessman's view on immigration:

"Trying to find workers, that's the toughest thing," [small businessman Robert] Thompson recalled. "The people we dealt with — craftsmen, carpenters, electricians, roofers — weren't home and if they were, they were decimated themselves."

Help did come in the first few weeks and months, in the form of workers from Honduras and Mexico who arrived in New Orleans to work in the rebuilding.

"Thank God for them, they were the work force for many, many months," Thompson said.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Property rights, economics and AIDS

Peter F. Schaefer explains how economics and property rights in African nations combine to facilitate the proliferation of the AIDs virus:

However no one in the US government and few in the anti-AIDS community are dealing with a major issue in the transmission of AIDS called "property stripping." Since the cure for property stripping is cheap, technically quite easy and would have an enormous secondary impact on economic growth (poverty is a hidden vector of AIDS) it would seem like a sure thing for attention. But it is virtually ignored.

On World AIDS Day two years earlier Dr. Jim Yong Kim - [head of World Health Organization's HIV Division, Kevin] De Cock's predecessor - said,

"In sub-Saharan Africa almost 60 percent of AIDS sufferers are women [and] in some settings ... we are finding ... that the number one risk factor for women in becoming infected with HIV is marriage. [And] married women have the highest rates of HIV infection. We have to take on some of the most fundamental and difficult cultural and social issues that are definitely affecting the way this epidemic is spreading. And ... if we can take on things like for example, property rights [so] women can inherit the property of their husband if [he] dies, that really reduces the likelihood of them getting into sex work for example. If we can ... change laws, change fundamental beliefs and culture by [getting] people the right kinds of prevention messages we will have done a lot not just for HIV AIDS but for issues like gender equity that have been with us forever."

In the scholarly literature, the traditional practice of the husband's family inheriting all his property after he dies is called "property stripping." In normal times, this had some logic; the husband's family had responsibility for the widow and her children, a brother often taking her as a second wife and so assuming responsibility for his nieces and nephews.

But things have changed. In the time of AIDS, the widow is likely also infected with the HIV virus, though not yet sick since her husband often gets it first and the disease is less advanced in her when her husband dies. So even if her brother-in-law hasn't died from AIDS himself, he is not willing to marry someone infected with HIV. And often the brother-in-law himself is sick or dead. Nevertheless, the family often still follows custom and seizes her house and farm and so she has no recourse but to turn to menial jobs, begging or prostitution. And since she was infected later, she may have years to spread her illness to her sex partners which are commonly many a day.

[A] Washington Post editorial by Richard Holbrooke . . . noted that increased testing and detection efforts was the "only effective prevention strategies can stop the spread of AIDS." He goes on to point out that "...monogamous women [are] thrown out of their homes for a disease they got from their husbands."

Read the entire article, which is another reminder that there are few simple solutions to this terrible disease.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

August 30, 2007

Legal ethics -- an oxymoron?

The discussion began last week when the New York Times ethicist, Randy Cohen, ran the following question in his column:

I am a lawyer. During a first date with another lawyer, we had sex, and I wore a condom. Days later, when I came down with a bad fever and couldn’t determine the cause, she revealed that she had genital herpes. A judgeship will soon open up in her county, and she’s a near lock for it. But if I report her lapse of sexual ethics, I doubt that the selection committee will pick her. Should I? — NAME WITHHELD

Cohen replied as follows:

You should not. No doubt your paramour acted dreadfully. She should have told you that she had herpes and let you decide whether you wished to accept that risk. But the selection committee is not choosing a role model for the kids or someone to ride the express elevator to heaven; it seeks a person who will excel at a particular job. I do not believe that this sort of sexual misconduct correlates with an inability to be a good judge. [. . .]

Some private conduct does bespeak an inability to do a job. A would-be jurist who belonged to the Klan or even one who regularly used racist slurs would not inspire confidence in his or her ability to dispense equal justice to all. You should come forward with relevant information like that. But being unscrupulous in bed does not presage being inept on the bench, and so you should keep this demoralizing episode to yourself. And your doctor.

So, then Peter Lattman over at the WSJ Law Blog ran a post on Cohen's column and all hell broke loose in the comment section to Lattman's post. A few choice ones:

"Who cares! Sue the condom maker!"

"Great question! I am posing it to my Professional Responsibility students immediately. Thanks for the help."

"Leave it up to bunch of lawyers to discuss medicine. Totally absurd. The law profession is essentially an STD of society, recurring pain and not curable. As far as I am concerned, this is medically inaccurate and you all deserve the real disease."

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) |

And you thought your profession is stressful?

This earlier post about budding British tenor Paul Potts generated quite a bit of interest, particularly the difficulties that the humble Potts has had in overcoming a lack of confidence to perform on stage. This link from that earlier post discusses how common such insecurity is among opera singers, and this International Herald Tribune article reports that even established opera stars struggle mightily with the manifestations of insecurity:

[Opera] insiders agree that heightened competition, unyielding sponsor demands and the weight of stardom are leading to excesses that invite comparisons of opera to sports tarnished by doping scandals.

Some attempts to stay on top are relatively harmless, like popping a beta blocker to soothe the butterflies before stepping on stage. But others are more alarming.

Singers often overuse steroids in the form of cortisone to control inflamed vocal cords — sometimes in amounts that can permanently impair their abilities, say performers and their doctors. Others drink too much. Still others snort cocaine, according to insiders.

Inability to cope sometimes turns into tragedy — as in the case of American tenor Jerry Hadley, who killed himself last month after what friends said was a prolonged bout of depression and reported financial and drinking problems. [. . .]

To deal with the pressures, "soloists are taking beta blockers to control their angst, some tenors take cortisone to push their voice high, and alcohol is everywhere," [Tenor Endrik Wottrich] said. "The real pressure is no longer good old stage fright but comes from a new dimension that has penetrated opera — it now lives from glamour, and normal human mistakes are a disruption in such an environment." [. . .]

In the past 50 years, stages have grown in size, orchestral instruments accompanying singers have become stronger and opera seasons have lengthened. Adding to the pressure, singers get paid by the performance — no money for no shows.

Good singers are now in demand all year round, globe-trotting from one hemisphere to another. And even those who avoid long-distance travel often have little time between the late spring end of the subscription season, the start of rehearsals for summer festivals, and tours promoting their own recordings. [. . .]

Still, physicians who treat singers urge them to resist the temptation to perform at any cost. Some, they say, overdose without knowing it, as they travel from gig to gig in one city after the another without keeping track of cortisone treatments that — if overdone — can destroy a voice.

Read the entire article. Along the same lines, see "It wouldn't by Opera without an outrage."

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (0) |

The NCAA sinks to a new low

As regular readers of this blog know, I maintain that the NCAA's administration of big-time intercollegiate athletics has outlived its usefulness for a long while. On the heels of a shooting incident in Houston over this past weekend that killed one of the area's most promising high school football players, the NCAA once again proved that it has taken over-regulation to new heights of absurdity:

Just hours after Oklahoma football recruit Herman Mitchell was shot to death Friday in Houston, Adam Fineberg started raising money for Mitchell's family.

But after raising $4,500, enough to cover almost half the cost of Mitchell's funeral, Fineberg stopped. An OU compliance officer told him his actions would constitute an NCAA rules violation against the Sooners.

Now, Mitchell's mother likely will never receive that money.

That money is considered illegal financial assistance under NCAA rules because Mitchell's brother is a sophomore fullback at Westfield High School in Spring, Texas, and because Fineberg is an OU fan who attends Sooner football games and solicited donations through an OU fan Web site. [. . .]

OU spokesman Kenny Mossman said the an official with the university's compliance office contacted Fineberg on Monday asking to him halt his fundraising efforts until the OU received a rules interpretation from the NCAA. That interpretation came Tuesday.

"This is not a permissible expense for OU or someone who could be construed as an OU supporter,” said Mossman, an associate athletic director for communications. "We're not trying to be the bad guys, but we have to play by their rules.”

OU could apply for a waiver that would allow Fineberg to resume his fundraising and allow the Mitchell's family to receive the money, an NCAA official said late Tuesday.

"We would consider that if the university chose to go down that avenue,” NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said.

All heart, those NCAA folks, eh?

Update: After a public outcry, the NCAA comes to its senses.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (5) |

August 29, 2007

The Great Embarrassment of the 2007 season?

I am not as sure as most that Drayton McLane made the right move in firing General Manager Tim Purpura the other day. However, there is no doubt that Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheehan thinks that McLane screwed the pooch in canning Purpura. In this article ($) entitled "Tim Purpura Gets Screwed," Sheehan lays into McLane's management of the Stros:

Firing Purpura, as McLane did yesterday, is an act of incompetence. Not only was it Purpura’s work—he ran the Astros’ player-development operations for seven years prior to becoming GM—that built the pennant winner, but with the expensive problems he inherited and the meddling of McLane, it was impossible for him to move the Astros in the direction they needed to go. He was essentially a caretaker, needing to preside over a rebuilding process and never being allowed to do so, and he’s now out of a job largely because his employer has returned to being completely irrational about what his team is.

Purpura’s performance as a GM was a mixed bag. He made his share of missteps, such as the [Jason Jennings] trade and the Woody Williams contract. However, he showed a terrific ability for making the smaller moves that add value at very little cost. In three seasons, Purpura made something-for-nothing pickups such as Mike Lamb, Aubrey Huff, and Mark Loretta. The player-development program he built continues to generate contributors such as Luke Scott, Wandy Rodriguez (check out his peripherals this year), Chad Qualls, and Troy Patton. If left to his own devices, I have no doubt that Purpura would have limited the Astros’ rebuilding process to a few short seasons, and come out on the other side with a team prepared for a long run of success.

Instead, he’s out of a job. Tim Purpura isn’t to blame for the Astros’ disappointing 2007 season, and that he’s being fired for it is ridiculous. Drayton McLane set these events in motion by abandoning what had worked for close to a decade—staying out of the baseball staff’s way—and instead making his own bad decisions about what the Astros needed. McLane wanted a year-long coronation of Craig Biggio, and he got it. He couldn’t have that and a contending baseball team, however, and his refusal to see that—and his subsequent dismissal of Purpura and Phil Garner as scapegoats for his own mistakes—ranks as one of the game’s great embarrassments of 2007.

Tim Purpura was one of the game’s top GM candidates when he landed the Astros’ job, and standing on the unemployment line today, he regains that description. If he’s out of work for longer than a couple of days, the industry is making a terrible mistake. Purpura is a better GM than a dozen guys who hold that title at the moment, and I sincerely hope he gets an opportunity to do the job correctly, an opportunity that was denied him in Houston.

Here's a counter-perspective.

Posted by Tom at 12:16 AM | Comments (1) |

U.S. District Judge Sam Kent takes a leave

This Mary Floor/Harvey Rice-Chronicle article (related blog post here) reports tha U.S. District Judge Sam Kent of Galveston is taking a four month leave from his bench. Judge Kent, who runs a tight ship, was recently in the news as the judge in the lawsuit that Houston based Landry's Restaurants, Inc filed and then settled with the holders of most of its bond debt. Interestingly, one of Landry's attorneys in that case reportedly has advocated forum shopping for certain of his cases in the past. The Chronicle article clearly suggests that Judge Kent's leave is not voluntary, but there is no suggestion that the leave has anything to do with the Landry's case or any other case, for that matter. Such a leave is a bit unusual, though, so stay tuned.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Viewing the Tiger Chasm

I don't think that PGA Tour officials had the following in mind when they devised the new season-ending series of tournaments called the Fed Ex Cup:

Before the FedEx Cup can run with the big guns at the NFL and major league baseball, it's going to first have to crawl better than Little Leaguers.

On both Saturday and Sunday, the Woods-free Barclays on CBS was beaten by the Little League World Series on ABC. The World Series final Sunday between Georgia and Japan drew a 3.5 overnight rating, while the golf got a 2.1. On Saturday, both the International (1.8) and U.S. (2.2) finals bested The Barclays (1.7).

The Barclays did fare better than a tournament of few stars the week before, the Wyndham Championship. The Wyndham drew a 1.0 on Saturday and 1.3 on Sunday.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 28, 2007

Drayton cleans house

Stros owner Drayton McLane finally pulled the plug and fired General Manager Tim Purpura and Manager Phil Garner on Monday as the Stros continue their spiral downward into last place in the National League Central. Although the timing of the firings was somewhat surprising, the fact that McLane let Purpura and Garner go was not.

The decision to fire Garner was actually the easier decision. As noted several times earlier, Garner is not a particularly good manager, although he is far from the worst that the Stros have had (for example, Jimy Williams). Inasmuch as a new general manager will likely want to hire his own manager and Garner is nothing special in that role, letting him go at the same time as firing the GM is a logical move.

Curiously, the tougher decision was on whether to let Purpura go. Although the Stros are enduring their worst season since 2000, this is only the second season over the past 16 in which the club will finish with a losing record. In fact, Purpura has been a key part of a management team for the past 14 years that helped construct the most successful era in the club's history. He was a part of the player development division of Stros management that produced such star players as Lance Berkman, Richard Hidalgo, Carlos Guillen and Freddy Garcia, and developed a starting pitching staff early this decade that looked at the time as the best young staff in MLB (Roy Oswalt, Carlos Hernandez, Wade Miller and Tim Redding). It certainly wasn't Purpura's fault that that potentially fine staff was undermined by injury (Hernandez and Miller) and stunted progress (Redding).

Moreover, Purpura's GM tenure certainly started out with a bang. In his first season after replacing Gerry Hunsicker, the Stros improbably won their first National League pennant and went to their first World Series. But that World Series season masked a gradual decline in the Stros' performance level that had been taking place since 2001, and the results of that decline started to appear the following season -- the Stros had to finish fast just to eke out a winning record (82-80). Similarly, the 2007 club has deteriorated further as it has struggled all season behind one of the worst performances by a pitching staff in Stros history.

Thus, to a certain extent, Purpura is bearing the fallout from a trend that began long before he replaced Hunsicker as GM. Along those same lines, Purpura probably had nothing to do with the club's decision to indulge Craig Biggio's quest for 3,000 hits, an indulgence that has negatively affected the development of younger players such as Chris Burke and Jason Lane (see here and here).

But that's not to suggest McLane didn't have any reasons to cut Purpura loose. It appears that Purpura bungled the due diligence on the Jason Jennings trade, and the Woody Williams deal has turned out badly. After giving up the club's top two picks in this season's draft in the Williams and Carlos Lee deals, Purpura failed to sign the Stros two top choices (third and fourth round draft choices), further depleting a farm system that has been in decline since 1997. Finally, with this season's club going nowhere, Purpura was unable to swing a meaningful trade before this season's trading deadline, which further cemented the perception locally that he was in over his head in the GM's post.

Despite all this, Purpura leaves the Stros in decent, if not pristine, shape. Yes, the farm system is a mess as far as position players go, but there still are a decent number of pitching prospects who have the potential to contribute to the major league club. Moreover, Purpura locked up stars Oswalt, Berkman and Lee to long-term contracts that, with the possible exception of Lee's, are well-under current market conditions. Purpura also resisted the temptation to dedicate enormous resources to re-sign fading superstars Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens, so the club's payroll is positioned for a new GM to bid for a couple of free agent pitchers this winter to shore up the pitching staff. The free agent pitchers available after this season are not particularly talented, but at least Purpura leaves the Stros with the financial flexibility to get involved in the market if they so choose.

So, who will McLane hire as the new GM? I don't have a clue, but my sense is that it will be someone with a strong background in player evaluation and development. McLane realizes by now that the Stros' current decline is the inevitable result of poor draft choices during the period from 1997-2002. Moreover, the lack of class "A" prospects in the current farm system does not bode well for the selections made in the 2003-2006 drafts, although it is still a big early to evaluate those drafts completely. The Stros franchise has increased in value considerably during the Biggio-Bagwell era and its GM job is now among the more attractive in MLB, but the club is unlikely ever to be the type of franchise that will be able to compete year in and year out with the big-market clubs for free agent talent.

Thus, the lifeblood of the Stros is their farm system, and my bet is that McLane will hire a baseball executive who has the background and expertise to turnaround the erosion in player evaluation and development that has led to this year's bad season. With a nucleus of Berkman, Oswalt, Lee and Pence, the good news is that it's not going to take a major overhaul to make the Stros competitive again for the National League Central title.

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (9) |

What's ailing you?

Have you had a symptom of an illness or an injury that has bothering you for awhile? Medgle allows you to click on the body part that's bothering you and select the specific symptom from a list of possible options. Then, Medgle asks how long the symptom has been apparent, as well as th inquirer's sex and age. Medgle then returns a listing of possible matches for the symptoms.

Moreover, you can then take the result that Medgle generates and, on the following page, provides you with a brief summary of the condition and a Google search relating to treatment, prevention, drugs, tests, research, diet, alternative medicine, and fitness. You can even refine the search by changing the age or gender.

This is never going to replace a visit to your doctor, but it sure provides a handy way to increase the patient's knowledge and understanding regarding diagnosis and treatment. Check it out.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Another wonderful thing about the blogosphere

Is that you can find far better previews of college football teams than are served up in the mainstream media. A case in point -- TAMABINPO's 2007 Aggie Football Preview. Check it out to find out everything you need to know about the 2007 Aggie football team.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 27, 2007

In Dr. Pou's words

Dr. Anna Pou (previous posts here), the former faculty member of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, performed heroically in the horrific aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. For her heroism, she became the main subject of one of the most egregious examples of prosecutorial misconduct in recent memory. In this extensive Newsweek article, Dr. Pou finally tells her side of the story and it magnifies the enormity of the injustice that a few irresponsible Louisiana state officials have put her through. The following are a few tidbits:

What was it like after the levees broke?

Monday after the storm passed, we figured, ‘OK, minimal damage; we began organizing how we were going to evacuate the hospital.’ We didn’t have full power so we needed to move patients. Tuesday morning we were planning our day and one of the nurses called me to the window and said you’ve got to come see this. Water was gushing from the street. So we all kind of looked in disbelief. What is this? We could tell the city was flooding, you could see water down Claiborne Street. It was rising about a foot an hour. Then the whole mood at the hospital changed and what we were doing changed. We were in hurricane mode and we had to go into survival mode because we knew we had to be there for some time.

How did things change on Wednesday?

Tuesday night, we lost generator power, and that changed things a lot. ‘Til then we were on generator power so we did have some lights, and we did have some water. Water wasn’t clean, but it was running. But then we didn’t have water, we didn’t have any electricity, commodes were backing up everywhere. Conditions in the hospital started to deteriorate Tuesday night and early Wednesday. When that happens it makes care a lot more difficult. I was called to help suction a patient who had a tracheotomy but we had no suction running. We were going down to very, very basic care. You try every old-time method you can … [P]eople in charge were trying to get helicopters to come, [but] at that time we were told we were low priority. There were people on rooftops [who were going to get rescued first]. They said … there’s not going to be a lot of help coming, [so] what we decided [was] if helicopters were going to show up sporadically, we have to have patients ready and waiting to go. [. . .]

The conditions were unbearable. Inside the hospital it was pitch black, with odors, smell, human waste everywhere. It was very rancid. You would take a breath in and it would burn the back of your throat. The patients were very sick. That’s when we had to go from triage to reverse triage because we came to realize if patients aren’t being evacuated, [we had to deal with what we had]. Basically it was a general consensus that we’re not going to be able to save everybody. We hope that we can, but we realize everybody may not make it out. [. . .]

By the time Wednesday evening came around, if you can imagine in our mind, there is a central area that is a sea of people. A lot of very sick patients in that central triage area. It’s grossly backed up. Few patients had been evacuated. So there was just enough space to walk between the stretchers. It is extremely dark. We’re having to care for patients by flashlight. There were patients that were moaning, patients that are crying. We’re trying to cool them off. We had some dirty water we could use, some ice. We were sponging them down, giving them sips of bottled water, those who could drink. The heat was—there is no way to describe that heat. I was in it and I can’t believe how hot it was. There are people fanning patients with cardboard, nurses everywhere, a few doctors and wall-to-wall patients. Patients are so frightened and we’re saying prayers with them. We kind of looked around at each other and said, “You know there’s not a whole lot we can really do for those people.” We’re waiting [for help]. The people in that area could have [been evacuated] by boat but no boats were coming. I would do what I could with the nurses: changing diapers, cooling patients down with fanning. It wasn’t like, “I’m a doctor, you’re a nurse.” We were all human beings trying to help another human being, whatever it took.

What happened Thursday?

On Thursday morning we were told nobody was coming and we had to fend for ourselves. Everybody was kind of like at a loss here. What is plan B? Or plan C?

How did you come to be the one administering the injections? Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti made a point of saying you had administered medication to people who were not your patients.

This was an emergency situation. There were no LifeCare doctors. In an emergency situation, the patients become everybody’s patients. What are you supposed to do if a patient needs to be cleaned and have IV fluids, say, “You’re not my patient, good luck”? That’s absurd. If that’s the case I dare say three-fourths of the population of Memorial Hospital would have been left without a doctor. We’re in medicine because we care about people. This is what we do. We don’t run around murdering people. That’s why what he said is so ludicrous.

When did you leave the hospital and who was still there when you left?

I left Thursday around 6 p.m. in a helicopter. When I left no one was in the hospital. There were a handful of patients on the helipad. I went to [another hospital and then] on a bus to Baton Rouge because my family was there.

How did you feel?

I was tired but I was more in total disbelief that the sick and the poor could be abandoned the way that they were in the United States of America. I never thought I would ever live to see that day. I was sad, heartbroken, kind of amazed and shocked at the lack of organization—the fact that there was no type of coordination. I have friends who practice in the third world and this was less than third world.

What was it like to be arrested in 2006?

I had [performed] surgery that Monday. It was bedlam in the medical community after Katrina. I had surgery Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and clinic on Friday. And the attorney general’s office knew that. I was taking care of indigent patients. He put my patients at risk. I am still angry about that. And then I was basically sitting by myself eating a salad, still in scrubs. I was starving and really dehydrated because I had been on call the weekend and been up 48 hours before. There was a knock on the door. It was four agents from the attorney general’s office.

The whole way [to jail] I was asking God to help my family get through this. I have nieces and nephews, and my hospitalized patients, who found out about this on the 10 o’clock news, which was heinous. Had I known [about the arrest], I could have spoken to my patients. Instead I just don’t show up and they see me on the news. There were cancer surgeries that had to be rescheduled. These patients’ treatments were delayed because of what happened. I am still furious about it. It just really makes me mad.

There is much more, so read the entire article. Again, I ask -- where is the investigation of the public officials who are responsible for attempting to organize this lynch mob against this hero?

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Not your typical highway robbery

Carrying too much cash is now probable cause of a crime?:

Anastasio Prieto of El Paso gave a state police officer at the weigh station permission to search the truck to see if it contained "needles or cash in excess of $10,000," according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the federal lawsuit Thursday.

Prieto told the officer he didn't have any needles but did have $23,700.

Officers took the money and turned it over to the DEA. DEA agents photographed and fingerprinted Prieto over his objections, then released him without charging him with anything.

Border Patrol agents searched his truck with drug-sniffing dogs, but found no evidence of illegal substances, the ACLU said. [...]

DEA agents told Prieto he would receive a notice of federal proceedings to permanently forfeit the money within 30 days and that to get it back, he'd have to prove it was his and did not come from illegal drug sales.

They told him the process probably would take a year, the ACLU said.

H'mm. I didn't realize that one of the dangers of carrying a large amount of cash is now the federal government.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

Big downtown building deal

The Bank of America Center in downtown Houston -- the distinctive Phillip Johnson and John Burgee-designed building that graces this blog's heading -- is changing hands in a record-setting deal:

Bank of America Center has just sold for about $370 million, a record-setting price for a Houston office building.

Novati Group, a new Dallas-based real estate player, and the General Electric Pension Trust, which was advised by Stamford, Conn.-based GE Asset Management, paid about $295 a square foot for the building at 700 Louisiana, according to sources familiar with the deal. The seller was Houston-based Hines, which developed the 56-story, 1.3 million-square-foot skyscraper in 1983.

. . . the reported total price is record-breaking, as well as the price per square foot. The deal edges out the $286 per square foot record set in December 2005 when the 581,000-square-foot 5 Houston Center was purchased by Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II Inc. for $166 million.

This building, which is at 700 Louisiana in downtown Houston, has always been special to me. My old firm was one of the original tenants in the building and we occupied the 51st and 48th floors for 18 years. Known for its unique architecture, the building has three major setbacks tha tmke it appear to be three adjoining buildings. The exterior is made from deep russet-colored granite, known as Napolean Red, which was quarried in Sweden and finished in Italy. Since it was built, the building has always had the highest occupancy of any building in downtown Houston and is currently 93% leased.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 26, 2007

Are you ready for some college football?

The college football season kicks off this week, so take a look at this clever table containing the schedules of most major college teams utilizing the logos of each team and opponent. And here is an interesting pre-season analysis of the major conferences.

Posted by Tom at 12:25 AM | Comments (1) |

August 25, 2007

The charm of capitalism

Scott Adams figures out the essential charm of capitalism:

I understand the math of capitalism, and how the few successes are so large they pay for all the failures and then some. But at any given moment, the majority of resources in a capitalist system are being pushed over a cliff by morons. This fascinates me. And it’s clearly the reason that humans rule the earth. We found a system to harness the power of stupid.

Read the entire post.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 24, 2007

Copland on Stoneridge v. Scientific-Atlanta

Jim Copland, the director of the Center for Legal Policy at the Manhattan Institute, provides this particularly lucid analysis of the important legal and public policy issues involved in the pending Supreme Court case of Stoneridge Investment v. Scientific-Atlanta, which could seriously erode the longstanding Central Bank rule against holding financial institutions secondarily liable for damages in providing financing for a company that defrauds its investors:

Nothing in the securities laws as written enables private investors to file lawsuits over alleged frauds. Courts have inferred such “private rights of action” stemming from section 10(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, but the Supreme Court limited such private suits to “primary” violators in 1994 in a case called Central Bank of Denver v. First Interstate Bank of Denver. The court expressly declined to embrace liability for companies “aiding and abetting” frauds that injured shareholders.

After Central Bank, Congress quickly jumped in to clarify that the Securities and Exchange Commission itself had authority over an entity that “knowingly provides substantial assistance to another” in securities-related frauds. But Congress wisely decided not to extend such authority to private lawsuits.

If the Supreme Court decides to endorse such suits notwithstanding congressional inaction, the implications for U.S. competitiveness could be profound. Anyone doing business with a publicly listed American company would be subject to a potential lawsuit should that company’s stock price tank — and would thus have to hire extra auditors and take out insurance policies to protect against such lawsuits. The disadvantages for listing on American stock market, already significant, would be that much more substantial.

And if you want an example of the absurdity of what would happen if the Central Bank rule is overturned or eroded, read this.

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (1) |

The Slade trial begins

The criminal trial of former Texas Southern University President Priscilla Slade on charges of misappropirating TSU property begins today at the county criminal courthouse in downtown Houston (previous posts here). Harris County prosecutors and Mike DeGeurin, Ms. Slade's defense counsel, spent the last several days picking the jury.

Meanwhile, life goes on as usual over at TSU:

Texas Southern University's accrediting agency is taking a deeper — and unscheduled — look into financial accountability and leadership at the state's largest historically black university.

In an extraordinary move, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the regional accrediting body for 780 colleges and universities in 11 Southern states, has ordered TSU to provide audits, rehabilitation plans and other documents by Oct. 1. [. . .]

The worst-case scenario for TSU is the loss of its accreditation. Without it, the federal government would stop providing financial aid to students.

Nearly two-thirds of TSU's 11,000 students receive Pell Grants, which are awarded to low-income students.

There are many sad aspects to this entire affair, but one of the saddest is that Ms. Slade's trial will almost certainly garner far more of the public's attention than the continuing failure of local and state officials to take any meaningful steps to begin solving the chronic problems at TSU.

Posted by Tom at 12:09 AM | Comments (0) |

Cheerleading the Cowboys?

We already know that the Chronicle sportswriters lead the nation in pre-season puff pieces about local professional football team. But now the Chron sportswriters are expanding the reach of their incessant cheerleading to Dallas with this soft toss about new Cowboys head coach, Wade Phillips, who happens to be the son of the still hugely popular former Houston Oilers head coach, Bum Phillips:

So after all these years, Wade is who he is, something of a rumpled, unprepossessing presence on the sideline and not the most silver-tongued of news conference orators. The only thing overtly sexy about him is his latest job title: head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, one of sport's most lustrous brands. [. . .]

Funny thing. If you ask the Cowboys about their new coach, they're wont to speak about how Wade also sees stuff. For that reason, quarterback Tony Romo calls him the smartest coach he has ever been around.

Let's just say that there is a slight difference of opinion about Wade's head coaching abilities at one of his previous stops, Buffalo, New York. The Buffalo News' Jerry Sullivan laid out the case against Phillips as a head coach in a column (not available online) at the time the Cowboys hired Phillips last February:

When I heard that Jerry Jones had hired Wade Phillips to be the Dallas Cowboys' new head coach, I had the same reaction as when Jones signed Drew Bledsoe two years ago:

Good luck, fella.

Is this what it's come to for the once-great Dallas franchise? When times get tough, go out and grab a castoff from the Buffalo Bills' recent, sorry past? Maybe Jones' next move will be luring Rob Johnson out of retirement to compete with Tony Romo for the quarterback job.

Ralph Wilson has to be smiling. Maybe he can't get Jones and the other rich NFL owners to give him a bigger share of the revenue pie. But at least Wilson gets the satisfaction of seeing the Cowboys picking through his table scraps -- you know, the way the Bills did with Patriots discards during the Donahoe era.

Jones can spin it any way he likes. But it's clear that the Cowboys owner, who has the title of general manager, decided it was time to meddle again and wanted a puppet as coach. Jones gave Bill Parcells control for four years and didn't get a single playoff win for his trouble. That makes 10 years without a playoff win for the storied Cowboys -- nearly as long as Buffalo's playoff drought.

Phillips was the ideal candidate, a retread who is close to 60 and was desperate for one last shot at a top job. Phillips is a nice, self-deprecating guy, a native Texan who wore ostrich-skin boots to his introductory news conference.

"Wade wanted it so bad," Jones said when he announced Phillips' hiring.

Phillips wanted it badly enough to accept Jason Garrett as Jones' hand-picked offensive coordinator. He didn't get to pick his offensive staff. I suppose he'd have taken the Cowboys cheerleaders as coaches if Jones had required it.

Jones favors the 3-4 defense. Phillips is a 3-4 guy, a good defensive coach. Some would say great, but it's funny how his defenses have failed to rise to the ultimate test over the years. The Chargers' playoff collapse against the Pats last month was the most recent example.

Of course, the Cowboys aren't hiring Phillips to run a defense. They're hiring him to be the head coach. As Bills fans have discovered to their horror (Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey), it's a huge step from coordinator to head man. All too often, owners elevate men beyond their intellect and abilities.

Why would Jones expect great things from Phillips in his third go-round? Phillips is a proven mediocrity as a head coach. His supporters point to his 29-21 record with the Bills. I'm sorry, those teams were loaded. It didn't take a Vince Lombardi to produce a winning record.

Phillips isn't big on detail. A former assistant told me Phillips didn't account for a short practice week before the Music City Miracle, which was played on a Saturday. He wasn't a stickler for conditioning. He was not a commanding presence on the sideline.

Phillips didn't win a playoff game in Buffalo and made some classic blunders along the way. He made Johnson his starting QB before a playoff game, after Doug Flutie got the team to 10-5. He made Bruce DeHaven the scapegoat for the playoff loss. Then he brought in Ronnie Jones, an unqualified crony, to coach the special teams. It was a disaster.

Before a Monday night game late in the 2000 season, Phillips went on national TV and said the Bills and Colts (who were tied at the time) were essentially out of playoff contention. The Colts won and found a way into the playoffs.

My mind throbs at the memory of Phillips fumbling his way through the Flutie-Johnson flap. He was in over his head as the spokesman for a franchise. If he thought he had it tough here, wait until the Texas media gets hold of him.

They'll chew the guy up and spit him out, ostrich skin boots and all.

Funny how none of the foregoing made it into the Chron article. Everything remains peaches and cream at the Chron during the pre-season.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 23, 2007

Good enough for government work?

This post from last year addressed the jury misconduct issues that former Governor George Ryan and his aide, Lawrence Warner, raised in the trial court after they had been convicted criminal charges that they had improperly steered state contracts for their own benefit. That post-trial motion was denied, so Ryan and Warner made the jury misconduct during the trial and deliberations a central issue in their appeal to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Well, as you probably have heard by now, a divided Seventh Circuit panel rejected Ryan and Warner's appeal earlier this week (the decision is here), concluding that while the trial "may not have been picture perfect," it was fair enough to uphold the convictions. That comment did not sit well with dissenting Judge Michael Kanne, who called the majority's "not pretty perfect" comment "a whopping understatement by any measure." Judge Kanne proceeded to lay out over three pages what went wrong in the trial:

"In a case that was tried over a six month period, the jurors entered and exited the courthouse every day past scores of television and still cameras and reporters."

"The jurors used public elevators and brushed elbows with anyone who happened to be in them. Although the court’s intent was not to make the jurors’ names public, that effort was compromised when the jurors’ names were used in the in-court voir dire."

"When jury deliberations were ready to commence in the most high profile case in Chicago in recent memory, there was no thought of sequestering the jury."

"During the initial eight days of deliberations an apparent holdout juror was purportedly threatened by other jurors with a charge of bribery."

"Legal research gained by a juror from the internet was – contrary to the court’s instruction – brought into the jury room in an effort to persuade the recalcitrant juror to change her position."

"A reporter for the Chicago Tribune advised the district court during jury deliberations that the newspaper’s search had disclosed major inconsistencies between answers in a jury questionnaire and public records. Based on the information provided by the Chicago Tribune, the district judge, in concurrence with all parties, requested the U.S. Attorney’s Office to conduct a background check on all jurors."

"Jury deliberations were halted following the Chicago Tribune disclosure and the hiatus continued during the investigation of the jurors by the U.S. Attorney’s Office."

"During the five-day hiatus in jury deliberations, the exposé by the Chicago Tribune was published revealing that, indeed, false answers had been given on a jury questionnaire and that the sitting jurors were now under investigation."

"Amidst questions raised by the district judge concerning the necessity of advising the jurors of their constitutional rights and their right to counsel, the individual examination of six sitting and three alternate jurors was begun."

"Through the judge’s examination it was determined that a majority of jurors had provided false answers under oath and could face criminal prosecution. Many jurors who were interrogated told the district judge that they were scared, intimidated or sorry for what had occurred."

"During the course of the interrogations, the jurors were granted immunity from prosecution by the U.S. Attorney. Some jurors later hired lawyers in order to represent their own independent interests arising from their participation in the trial."

"Two jurors who provided untruthful answers were excused from further service while others so situated were retained."

"Before the hiatus in deliberation, jurors informed the court that they were having a conflict and yet after the interrogations the judge dismissed one of the jurors in the conflict without determining whether she was a holdout juror."

"Alternate jurors were seated, but not in the order required by Rule 24."

"After eight days of deliberation by the original jury, and five days in hiatus, a reconstituted jury deliberated for ten days and returned the verdicts in this case."

Incredibly, even the foregoing does not fully describe just how dysfunctional this jury had become. Shouting and apparently pushing and shoving went on during jury deliberations. The majority opinion explains that the apparent holdout juror sent out a note to the trial judge saying "that other jurors were calling her derogatory names and shouting profanities." That was followed by a note from other jurors asking the trial judge to remove the holdout juror because "she was refusing to engage in meaningful discourse and was behaving in a physically aggressive manner."

But things get even worse. Not only was the jury out of control, the trial judge was ineffectual in bringing order to the proceedings. Judge Kanne observes as follows:

At oral argument before this court, Prosecutor Collins stated that “Judge Pallmeyer is a consensus builder.” . . . This insightful comment is the key to understanding the non-structural juror errors. Consensus building can help in finding common ground in disputes. It can also help to expose decision makers to alternative points of view. But consensus building can have negative consequences as this case demonstrates.

Consensus building by the district judge allowed a continual round robin of discussions between the attorneys and the court especially during the critical period of March 27th and 28th when the parties and the court were addressing the juror related issues. Transcripts from this period reveal a very conscientious but irresolute judge who is willing to contribute her views and concerns to the conversation involving contested issues, but is reluctant to provide firm rulings that end the court’s consideration of those issues. The record from this period is full of conversations but lacks definitive rulings. Consensus building does not always lead to the resolution of difficult issues.

Judge Kanne succiently sums up the proceedings in the following manner:

In the final analysis, this case was inexorably driven to a defective conclusion by the natural human desire to bring an end to the massive expenditure of time and resources occasioned by this trial – to the detriment of the defendants. Given the breadth and depth of both structural and nonstructural errors, I have no doubt that if this case had been a six-day trial, rather than a six-month trial, a mistrial would have been swiftly declared. It should have been here.

What possible public or judicial policy is furthered by allowing such juror misconduct to undermine a trial that could send two men to prison for most of the rest of their lives? As usual, Ellen Podgor has insight comments on the decision here and here, and the Volokh Conspiracy is also all over the decision.

Posted by Tom at 12:18 AM | Comments (0) |

Officially neutralizing a scandal

As noted earlier here, I doubted from the beginning that the NBA's latest point-shaving scandal would have much of an impact on the NBA enterprise. Consistent with that prediction, the NBA just announced that it has just taken the standard step of pushing a scandal into the background:

The National Basketball Association has selected a former United States attorney to review its antigambling policies and the league’s overall officiating program.

Lawrence B. Pedowitz, a partner at the New York firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz, will conduct the review, which comes in response to the recent scandal surrounding a referee who conspired with professional gamblers.

“There is nothing as important as the integrity of our game and the covenant we have with our fans,” Commissioner David Stern said in a statement. “In order to preserve their trust, we will make every effort possible to ensure that our processes and procedures are the best they can be.”

Translation: "We're going to investigate this matter for a long time and hope you all just forget about it."

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Senior football?

It's safe to say that the fellow described in this ESPN.com article is not your typical 59-year old:

Mike Flynt was drinking beer and swapping stories with some old football buddies a few months ago when he brought up the biggest regret of his life: getting kicked off the college team before his senior year.

So, one of his pals said, why not do something about it?

Most 59-year-olds would have laughed. Flynt's only concern was if he was eligible.

Finding out he was, Flynt returned to Sul Ross State this month, 37 years after he left and six years before he goes on Medicare. His comeback peaked Wednesday with the coach saying he's made the Division III team's roster. He could be in action as soon as Sept. 1. [. . .]

A longtime strength and conditioning coach at Nebraska, Oregon and Texas A&M, he's spent the last several years selling the Powerbase training system he invented. Clients include school systems and the military. His colorful life story includes being the son of a Battle of the Bulge survivor and having dabbled in gold mines and oil wells -- successfully. [. . .]

Flynt's position is still being determined, but he used to play linebacker. Wherever he lines up, he'll likely become the oldest player in college football history. Neither the NCAA or NAIA keeps such a statistic, but research hasn't turned up anyone older than their mid-40s. And even those are rare, for obvious reasons. [. . .]

. . . his wife wasn't as fired up by the idea.

"I feel like I'm married to Peter Pan," she said. . .

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

August 22, 2007

The Fed Ex Cup enters the Tiger Chasm

Chronicle golf columnist Steve Campbell reports that the Fed Ex Cup -- the PGA Tour's new series of tournaments intended to breath life into the lifeless end of the golf season -- has entered the dreaded Tiger Chasm even before the first tournament of the new series has commenced:

They haven't yet hit a shot that counts in the FedEx Cup playoff series, and the whole thing is beginning to look like the kind of idea that got Ishtar, Gigli and The Adventures of Pluto Nash on the big screen.

Woods doomed the FedEx Cup, which was a risky proposition in the first place, to irrelevancy by opting to skip the first round of the so-called playoffs. At a time when the PGA Tour desperately needs to drum up interest in a radical overhaul of its season structure, Woods invited massive disinterest by passing on this week's The Barclays at Westchester Country Club. Not so fresh off victories at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship, Woods insists he needs another week of rest and relaxation. [. . .]

. . . what kind of playoff system allows a competitor to duck either an opponent or a site and still win the championship? Answer: not a legitimate one. The tour is damned if Woods wins the Cup, because it exposes the playoff system in place as a sham. The tour is damned if Woods doesn't win the Cup, or at least stay in contention until the very end, because he's head, shoulders, knees and toes above the rest of the players in accomplishments and fan appeal.

Meanwhile, PGA Tour member Jeff Maggert of The Woodlands lays the blame for the Fed Ex mess squarely on PGA Tour headquarters and Commissioner Tim Finchem:

Maggert . . . says none of the touring pros are enthusiastic about the tour's playoff.

"Probably half the players out here couldn't care less about [the FedEx Cup]," he told Hardin. "The other half are indifferent."

Maggert said tour commissioner Tim Finchem should take the blame for the indifference in the clubhouse.

"I hear a lot being written, but I don't see anybody writing anything about Finchem," Maggert said. "I mean, this was his idea. He really didn't consult any of the players. He kind of shoved it down our throats and said, 'This is what we're going to do.'"

But dispositive confirmation that the Fed Ex Cup is in serious trouble is the fact that The Onion is already making fun of the concept. Note the following statement at the end of this article spoofing that Tiger Woods was annoyed that his three month old daughter was "looking the other way when he won" the recent PGA Championship:

Woods later stated, however, that he couldn't find fault with his daughter's apathetic feelings towards the upcoming FedEx Cup events, saying that he himself thinks of it as a forced and unoriginal attempt to inject excitement into the final part of the golf season.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

One of downtown Houston's charms

The New York Times discovers one of the literally coolest characteristics of downtown Houston -- the pedestrian tunnel system:

Where is everybody?

Seared by triple-digit heat and drenched by tropical storms, midday downtown Houston appears eerily deserted, the nation’s fourth-largest city passing for a ghost town.

On the street, that is.

But below, there are tunnels at the end of the light — nearly seven color-coded miles of them connecting 77 buildings — aswarm with Houstonians lunching, shopping and power-walking in dry, air-chilled comfort. [. . .]

Other cities, notably Montreal, Toronto and Minneapolis, are renowned for their extensive tunnel and skyway networks. But Houston may be alone in the extent and nature of its pedestrian circulation system of tunnels and skywalks that become particularly popular on days like Aug. 12, 13 and 14 when temperatures hit 102 and 101, or last Thursday, when Tropical Storm Erin flooded many streets.

It was not centrally planned; it just grew, inspired by Rockefeller Center in New York. But it is not connected to a transit network. And, befitting Texans’ distrust of government, most of it is private; each segment is controlled by the individual building owner who deigns to allow the public access during business hours — and then locks the doors on nights and weekends. Some parts, like those belonging to the former Enron buildings now leased by Chevron, are closed to outsiders altogether.

Few claim mastery of the labyrinth.

“It’s one of Houston’s best-kept secrets,” said Sandra Lord, widely known as the Tunnel Lady, a Yankee transplant who dispels the mysteries for $10 a head and roams the downtown underworld with proprietary aplomb, sometimes stopping strangers to ask, “And you are?” Corporations pay Ms. Lord to orient new employees below ground, and nearly 45,000 natives and visitors have taken her Discover Houston Tours since 1988. [. . .]

The tunnels are remarkably diverse, lined with restaurants and coffee bars, boutiques, florists, shoe-repair shops, jewelers, dry cleaners, dental clinics, optometrists, pharmacies, beauty salons, barbers, copy and printing services, banks and post offices.

And they are clearly amenities. “It’s extremely difficult to be a Class A building without being on a tunnel,” said Laura Van Ness, business development director of Central Houston Inc., the nonprofit downtown organization. . . .

As the article notes, the tunnel system is largely the product of private enterprise. Sort of makes you wish that the decision on whether to invest in this to private enterprise, as well.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

Sports talk radio overload

Why on earth are there now four sports talk radio stations in Houston? Chronicle sports media columnist David Barron reports (related blog post here) on the rather rocky first day of the city's newest sports talk radio station:

KGOW (1560 AM), the city's fourth sports-talk station, launched Monday with the usual shakedown issues that accompany any new venture, plus a new glitch that prevented the station's signal from being heard in parts of metropolitan Houston.

David Gow, the station's president, said equipment called an exciter failed last weekend at the station's 50,000-watt transmitter southwest of Houston. The station signed on Monday at 1,000 watts from a backup transmitter on the city's south side.

"We anticipate the situation being remedied shortly," said Richard Topper, KGOW's general manager. "We hope to be at full strength as soon as possible."

Listeners commenting at the Sports Media blog at www.chron.com reported hearing KGOW's signal in Pearland, Kemah and Cypress, but others reported problems listening in downtown Houston, the Heights, Kingwood, Spring and northwest Harris County. [. . .]

Some hosts struggled with telephone problems. Chronicle columnist Richard Justice, the station's late-morning host, began an interview with a greeting from Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops, but Stoops was off the line by the time Justice finished asking his first question.

After a break for a station promotion, Justice returned with a telephone interview with baseball commissioner Bud Selig. [. . .]

After its last local talk show ended at 6 p.m. Monday, the station went to automated music rather than a syndicated sports talk show because it has not received the satellite equipment needed to download the program.

Having Richard Justice talk about sports is bad enough. But does anyone else have the sense that this latest venture in local sports talk radio sounds a bit like a junior high science project?

By the way, in other sports media news, Houston Chronicle sports columnist John Lopez announced yesterday that he is leaving the Chronicle after almost 20 years as a reporter and columnist.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

August 21, 2007

Landry's cuts a deal with its bondholders

Houston-based Landry's Restaurants Inc cut a deal with its main group of bondholders on Monday afternoon, resolving litigation that had consumed the company over the past month (prior posts here). Essentially, the bondholders gave Landry's an 18 month window to refinance the $400 million in debt in return for Landry's agreeing to bump the interest rate on the bonds from 7.5% to 9.5%.

Although the deal allows Landry's to avoid refinancing the debt now at an even higher rate of interest, my sense is that the entire episode has been fairly disastrous for Landry's. First, as noted here awhile back and as Loren Steffy recently pointed out, Landry's has not been doing all that well in a brutally competitive restaurant market even before this dustup with its bondholders. A couple of weeks ago, Landry's CEO Tilman Fertitta publicly claimed that refinancing of the bond debt "was no big deal," but then testified during the injunction hearing this past Friday that forcing Landry's to refinance the bond debt now would irreparably harm the company. That sounds like a pretty big deal to me. Meanwhile, Landry's will now be looking to refinance a large chunk of junk debt in a shaky credit market that knows that the company just got done acrimoniously suing the holders of the debt. That approach generally does not induce favorable terms from debt refinanciers.

Landry's looks as if it is heading for some very choppy waters.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Judge Hughes finalizes his Hyde Act ruling

These earlier posts reported on U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes' decision to sanction the Department of Justice under the Hyde Act for its sloppy indictment and handling of a criminal fraud prosecution of Oklahoma lawyer John Claro. The always alert Ellen Podgor passes along that Judge Hughes has issued his formal ruling on the Hyde Act sanctions, in which he observes:

The United States Attorney indicted an Oklahoma businessman in conscious indifference to the legal and factual basis of the charges that they brought against him. The fifty-four-count indictment was a jumble of claims and stray facts – a garbled press release about working men who cannot get insurance. The court dismissed all counts of the indictment. The businessman seeks defense costs. He will be repaid because the prosecution was not substantially justified. [. . .]

Criminal prosecution casts a shadow on defendants that can linger even after an acquittal. The discretion the government has to prosecute those it thinks guilty of crimes must be grounded in a sound facts and articulated law. The Hyde Amendment was passed to give some recompense to those prosecuted without this most basic discretionary safeguard from prosecutorial oppression. The case against [this individual] lacked even a semblance of responsible work by the government. His attorneys had to work with a jumbled array of facts and theories, a mountain of documentary evidence, and unresponsive government lawyers.

Sort of makes you wonder what Judge Hughes would have done with a number of the Enron-related prosecutions, doesn't it? Here's a hint.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Looking for wide-outs

Amidst the Chronicle's incessant pre-season cheerleading for the Texans, most objective observers concede that the team is thin at the wide receiver position after Pro Bowl WR Andre Johnson.

Sort of makes you wonder why one of the team's top draft choices at the wide receiver position is excelling with one of the top teams in the NFL rather than the Texans? And the guy who the Texans brought in to replace him is no longer with the team?

Count me as still skeptical of the Kubiak regime.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 20, 2007

Making subprime sense

The New York Times continues to do a reasonably thorough job of reporting on the downturn in the subprime mortgage business and its impact on the recent crunch in the credit markets (see here and here), although it's not at all clear that the reporters and columnists understand how markets will adjust and resolve these problems. A case in point is this Paul Krugman column in which he decries the impact of securitization of mortages on the willingness of lenders to engage in workouts with financially-strapped borrowers:

In the past, as Gretchen Morgenson recently pointed out in The Times, the bank that made the loan would often have been willing to offer a workout, modifying the loan’s terms to make it affordable, because what the borrower was able to pay would be worth more to the bank than its incurring the costs of foreclosure and trying to resell the home. That would have been especially likely in the face of a depressed housing market.

Today, however, the mortgage broker who made the loan is usually, as Ms. Morgenson says, “the first link in a financial merry-go-round.” The mortgage was bundled with others and sold to investment banks . . .

My guess is that [the solution] would involve federal agencies buying mortgages — not the securities conjured up from these mortgages, but the original loans — at a steep discount, then renegotiating the terms. But I’m happy to listen to better ideas.

Here's a better idea -- how about allowing the parties that took the risk of the mortgages to endure the consequences of that risk-taking? Krugman is correct that one of the disadvantages of securitization (which is far outweighed by its many benefits) is that the rules for servicing the loans are established when the loans are pooled and cannot be changed without providing legal problems for the seller of the securitized mortgage pool. For example, if a pooled loan were sold at a discount, then the proceeds of the sale would be treated as a prepayment of the loan, which would benefit certain investors and disadvantage other investors. Inasmuch as the disadvantaged investors would seek damages from the seller of the securitized mortgage pool, that's why the sellers of the security don't allow the servicing terms of the mortgage to be changed after the loan is contributed to the pool.

Krugman's proposal is essentially that borrowers should be allowed to remain in their houses on renegotiated terms and that the investors in the securitized pools should absorb the cost of such a modified arrangement. But borrowers can already file a bankruptcy case and attempt to extend the payment terms of the loan under either a chapter 11 or 13 plan so long as their income and the value of the collateral for the mortgage support such terms. However, if the borrower's income or the value of the underlying asset will not support extension of the loan terms, it's far better that the lenders be allowed to exercise their contractual right to conduct a foreclosure sale of the collateral for the loan. That way, the investors who bought the securitized mortgages absorb the losses, which is precisely the risk of investing in a securitized mortgage pool.

By the way, one of the Times articles linked above starts by passing along the following story, which is testimony to the creativity and resilience of American markets:

All through last year, Jim Melcher saw the signs of a rapidly deteriorating American housing market — riskier mortgages, rising delinquencies and more homes falling into foreclosure. And with $100 million in assets at his hedge fund, Balestra Capital, he was in a position to do something about it.

So in October, as mortgage-backed bonds were still flying high, he bet $10 million that these bonds would plunge in value, using complex derivatives available to any institutional investor. As his gamble began to pay off in the first months of 2007, Mr. Melcher, a money manager based in New York, plowed the profits into ever bigger wagers that the mortgage crisis would worsen further, eventually risking some $60 million of the fund’s money.

“We saw the opportunity of a lifetime, and since then events have unfolded on schedule,” he said. Mr. Melcher’s flagship fund has since doubled in value, even as this summer’s market turmoil cost other investors billions, forced the closing of several major hedge funds and pushed the stock market down 7 percent since mid-July. This week, Mr. Melcher is heading to Paris for a vacation with his wife.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

What does the investment of a billion dollars in New Orleans generate?

According to this NY Times article, apparently not much:

Six inches.

After two years and more than a billion dollars spent by the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild New Orleans’s hurricane protection system, that is how much the water level is likely to be reduced if a big 1-in-100 flood hits Leah Pratcher’s Gentilly neighborhood.

Looking over the maps that showed other possible water levels around the city, Ms. Pratcher grew increasingly furious. Her house got four feet of water after Hurricane Katrina, and still stands to get almost as much from a 1-in-100 flood. [ . . .]

New Orleans was swamped by Hurricane Katrina; now it is awash in data, studied obsessively in homes all over town. And the simple message conveyed by that data is that while parts of the city are substantially safer, others have changed little. New Orleans remains a very risky place to live.

The entire flood system still provides much less protection than New Orleans needs, and the pre-Katrina patchwork of levees, floodwalls and gates that a Corps of Engineers investigation called “a system in name only” is still just that.

The corps has strengthened miles of floodwalls, but not always in places where people live. It has built up breached walls on the east side of one major canal, but left the west side, which stood up to Hurricane Katrina, lower and thus more vulnerable. It has not closed the canals that have often been described as funnels for floodwaters into the city. [. . .]

As a result, the city still lacks a system that can stand up to that 1-in-100 storm, let alone one like Hurricane Katrina, which the corps calls a 1-in-396 storm. The work that could build the more robust system — originally estimated at $7 billion, and now at least twice that — will not be completed until 2011 at the earliest, and experts agree that even that level of protection will be less than the city needs.

The corps is working on a two-year, $20 million study to find ways of providing even more protection, but it will not even be released until December.

Read the entire article. As noted in many posts over the past two years in the hurricane category of this blog, the performance of the various federal, state and local governmental entities in rebuilding New Orleans has been generally abysmal, at best.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

A vexing question about women's golf

The Scotsman.com's John Huggan tackles a question about women professional golfers that has perplexed me for a long time:

. . . [W]omen, typically, own short games that simply do not bear close comparison with their male counterparts. Whether pitching, chipping, blasting from bunkers or putting, the ladies are markedly inferior.

Which is odd, when you think about it. In the areas of the game where innate touch and feel should have obvious advantages over pure strength, men still manage to make the women look inadequate.[ . . .]

Look at the stats. A 29 putts per round average barely gets you into the top 100 on the PGA Tour; on the LPGA Tour, that number has you in the top 30.

As Huggan notes, practice makes perfect and, for some reason, the women pros don't like practicing the short game as much as other areas of the game. Who'd a thunk it?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) |

August 19, 2007

The risk of demagoguery

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards' demagoguery has been a frequent topic on this blog, so I read with interest this Larry Ribstein post that analyzes Edwards' latest hypocrisy -- lambasting the actions of subprime lenders on the campaign trail while profiting from a company that invests substantial amounts in subprime lenders.

Meanwhile, the Onion brilliantly captures the essence of Edwards' vacuity in this article with the headline "John Edwards Vows To End All Bad Things By 2011."

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 18, 2007

A job well done

University of Houston student-athlete and football player Jerrod Butler was stricken by sudden cardiac arrest on Monday during a weightlifting session at the University of Houston. Butler passed out and stopped breathing.

Members of the UH athletic training staff, led by Mike O'Shea and John Houston, immediately revived Butler, performing CPR and using an automatic external defibrillator. Butler was then rushed the short drive to the Methodist Hospital emergency room at the Texas Medical Center, where he was put on a ventilator and placed in the intensive care unit.

On Thursday, Butler was moved out of the ICU and into a regular room.

It's easy in our busy lives to take professionals such as O'Shea and Houston for granted, but they are the type of dedicated people who make Houston such a special place to live. A tip of the hat to these two fine professionals on a job well done.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 17, 2007

Stros 2007 Season Review, Part Six

As the Stros (54-67) close in on the three-quarters pole of the season, I can't decide whether it's more of a reflection of the sad state of baseball analysis in local mainstream media outlets, or simply the remarkably mediocre nature of the other National League Central Division teams, that some media pundits believe that the Stros are still in the race for a playoff spot after posting a 10-10 record over their sixth 20 game segment of the season (prior periodic reports are here).

The reality is that the Stros' playoff goose was cooked for this season long ago when club management decided to indulge Craig Biggio's (-11 RCAA) quest for 3,000 hits and to continue playing as regulars such unproductive players as Brad Ausmus (-14 RCAA), Adam Everett (-12 RCAA) and recently Mark Loretta (-7 RCAA). Although it's fun to try and make it more complicated than it is, baseball is a simple game in which successful teams have hitters who create more runs than opposing hitters and pitchers who save more runs than the opposition's pitchers. Thus, by adding a club's runs created against average ("RCAA") and runs saved against average ("RSAA"), you can quite quickly determine which team is most likely to prevail in a pennant race.

Taking the NL Central as an example, the top four teams all have major deficiencies. The Brewers (62-59) hit well (61 RCAA), but their pitching has fallen off badly (-31 RSAA), so their net 30 RCAA/RSAA score has allowed the other teams in the division to stay close despite playing even worse than the Brew Crew (a precisely average National League team would have an RCAA/RSAA score of 0). The Cubs (61-59) cannot hit a lick (-39 RCAA), but have one of the better pitching staffs in the National League (64 RSAA) for a 25 RCAA/RSAA. The third place Cardinals (58-60) and the fourth place Stros (54-67) are almost precisely the same, average hitting teams (Stros: -3 RCAA; Cards: 5 RCAA) and simply dreadful pitching overall (Stros: -73 RSAA; Cards -76 RSAA) for RCAA/RSAA scores of -76 and -71. That the Cards have won a few more games than the Stros is attributable mainly to luck and the generally poor game management skills of Stros skipper, Phil Garner.

So, what does this all mean? At this point, the Brewers and the Cubs continue to be the favorites to win the NL Central, with the Cubs having the edge because of their superior pitching. Unless the Cardinals' pitching improves dramatically, their hot streak of late will probably cool off quickly, while the Stros have shown no dramatic improvement in either hitting or pitching performance that would indicate that they are capable of vaulting into contention for the NL Central lead. If Soriano can come back off his injury and nudge the Cubs hitting back toward NL average and the Cubs' pitching remains strong, my sense is that they will win the playoff spot from the NL Central. If the Cubs don't win it, the Brewers blend of hard hitting and below-average pitching almost certainly will.

Alas, what the foregoing analysis shows with regard to the Stros is that they have become a far below-average National League club overall. With a minor league system almost devoid of position player prospects at the upper levels, and for a club that is not doing a particularly good job of drafting and signing minor league prospects, the Stros are going to have to look to the free agent market to attempt to salvage another few title runs out of the Berkman-Oswalt-Carlos Lee era. And attempting to rebuild through free agent acquisitions is an expensive and highly risky proposition.

Will Drayton McLane let General Manager Tim Purpura open the pocketbook over this coming offseason and buy the free agent pitching talent that the Stros need to compete for a playoff spot next season? No one but McLane knows the answer to that question. Thankfully, the Stros are no longer burdened with huge financial obligations to Bagwell, Clemens and Pettitte, so McLane is in a financial position to make some moves. But whether he has the confidence to do so is another question entirely. And if he does not, the Stros are going to waste another season or more of Berkman, Oswalt and Lee's most productive years without having any meaningful shot at playing in the post-season.

As an aside, in the "do you have confidence in Purpura's transactions" category, former Stros 3B Morgan Ensberg (3 RCAA/.314 OBA/.636 SLG/.951 OPS) and new Stros 3B Ty Wigginton (3 RCAA/.407 OBA/.489 SLG/.896 OPS) have produced at almost precisely the same level since the Stros made the trade for Wigginton and cut Ensberg loose to the Padres? What was the reason for that trade again?

After a weekend in San Diego (64-55), the Stros return home for a ten game homestand against the Nationals (55-66), the Pirates (50-69) and the Cardinals (58-60). With school beginning next week and the football season beginning shortly thereafter, Stros management is about ready to see the smallest crowds of the season as the Stros play out the string. There are simply not enough retirement ceremonies on the horizon to maintain the public's interest in this edition of the Stros.

The season statistics for the Stros to date are below, courtesy of Lee Sinins' sabermetric Complete Baseball Encyclopedia. The abbreviations for the hitting stats are defined here and the same for the pitching stats are here. The Stros active roster is here with links to each individual player's statistics:

Posted by Tom at 6:30 AM | Comments (0) |

Threatening where it hurts

When managing my former law firm, I never resorted to the tactic depicted in the cartoon on the left. But I wish I had thought of it. ;^)

The delightful Stuart M. Rees of Stu's Views nails it again.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

The UT brand prevails again

For the second straight year, the University of Texas finished no. 1 in an all-important rating -- collections on royalties from the sale of merchandise.

Maybe image is everything?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

Slam dunk?

So, sanity prevails and U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman of the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. ruled in favor of the proposed Whole Foods Markets acquisition of Wild Oats Markets and against the Federal Trade Commission's complaint to enjoin the merger (previous posts here).

But in the NY Times article on the court ruling, William J. Baer, a Washington antitrust lawyer and a former director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, observed the following:

“This obviously has got to be a setback for the F.T.C. I think they thought this was a slam-dunk.”

If Baer is correct in his assessment of how the FTC viewed the case, then that is even better proof that the agency is utterly devoid of adult supervision than this.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 16, 2007

The Shark duck hooks his divorce

It looks as if the final stages of the Great White Shark's divorce are not going swimmingly:

What months ago was characterized as a nearly resolved divorce settlement between golf great Greg Norman and his wife, Laura, has now turned into the most contentious aspect of their split to date - one that has Laura Norman accusing Greg of changing the locks to the couple's Jupiter Island home and cutting off her credit cards. [. . .]

Laura says Greg, who in the golf world in nicknamed "The Great White Shark," has . . . refused to pay her attorneys' fees and "is attempting to starve (her) out so she has no choice but to surrender to his positions," Laura's attorneys Jack Scarola and Russell J. Ferraro wrote.

Greg's lawyers, in a letter to Scarola, said he has already paid them about $725,000 to fund the litigation, including a half-million dollar payout in April. The money, according to Laura's lawyers, has been used to pay attorneys' fees and hire a number of expert witnesses who pored over the couple's finances to come up with the settlement.

Attempts by Laura's lawyers to get more money was met earlier this month with a refusal from New York attorney Howard Sharfstein, part of Greg's legal team. In addition, according to Laura's lawyers, Greg fired the couple's housekeeper and changed the locks on their $21 million Jupiter Island estate.

Changing locks and cutting off credit cards? Well, at least Norman still has a ways to go in the divorce department before he catches Nick Faldo.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Biased referees and umpires

So, former NBA referee Tim Donaghy finally pleaded guilty to two felonies during a hearing at the United States District Court in Brooklyn yesterday in connection with the NBA gambling scandal that appears to have mostly blown over. As noted earlier here, that NBA insiders engage in gambling is about as surprising as gambling taking place in Rick's Cafe in Casablanca.

At the same time, Skip Sauer passes along this post about research that indicates that baseball umpires are not as pristine as the driven snow, either:

Calling strikes & discrimination in baseball

Here is the main finding from a working paper by Parsons, Sulaeman, Yates and Hamermesh:

What are the main results of the study?

There are three. First, umpires are more likely to call strikes for pitchers who share their race/ethnicity. The second result is an extension of the first: Umpires are more likely to express a preference for their own race/ethnicity only when their behavior is less closely scrutinized: 1) in parks where QuesTec (a computerized system set up to monitor and review an umpire’s ball and strike calls) is not installed, 2) in poorly attended games, and 3) on pitches where the umpire’s call cannot determine the outcome of the at-bat. Finally, game outcomes are influenced by the race/ethnicity match between starting pitchers and home-plate umpires. Home teams are more (less) likely to win a game when their starting pitcher and home plate umpire have the same (a different) race/ethnicity.

Skip's post has links to the study and various related information.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

The Imus settlement

As noted earlier here and here, CBS settling up with Don Imus for a substantial portion of the compensation remaining under his terminated contract was inevitable. My sense is that, based on favorable market conditions, there is a good chance that Imus will end up making more money as a result of the CBS settlement and the new contrat that he enters into with another media outlet than he would have received had he worked through the term of the CBS contract.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 15, 2007

Hugh Laurie sings my kind of protest song

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Criminalizing the Dean's Office

The seemingly insatiable desire of American prosecutors to criminalize as many ordinary and law-abiding citizens as possible has now reached the Dean's office:

A pair of schools officials, including the dean of students, and three students from Rider University have the campus community stunned after being charged with “aggravated hazing” in the death of a freshman student that died following a night of binge drinking at a fraternity house late last March, authorities said Friday. [. . .]

"The ramifications of this for colleges and universities in New Jersey, and across the country, is that it will send some kind of message that the standards of college life, when it relates to alcohol, need to be policed carefully," Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini Jr. told the Associated Press.

Bocchini didn't mention that he could have also obtained the indictment of a ham sandwich if he had asked the grand jury for one. I'm looking forward to hearing about the "evidence" that the Dean had anything to do whatsoever with the alleged hazing incident that led to this young man's unfortunate death. If, as I suspect, there isn't any, then what exactly is the message that Bocchini is sending?

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

The Tiger Chasm widens

Gee, I thought the fields for the Shell Houston Open Golf Tournament had slipped badly over the past several years. But those depleted fields are nothing compared to the experience of this week's Greater Greensboro Open (now called the "Wyndham" or some such thing). The PGA Tour's final tournament before the season-ending series of "playoff" tournaments known as the Fed Ex Cup is having a bit of a problem getting any leading Tour player to show up:

The Wyndham is the final regular-season tournament of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup, and only the top 144 players in the points race advance to the playoffs, which will start next week.

There is no shortage of players hovering around the 144th spot on the points list, but those already secure for the playoffs are taking the week off. Only two of the top 50 in the updated world rankings are in the field - Davis Love III, the defending champion and ranked 43rd, and Carl Pettersson, ranked 48th. Pettersson, a former player at N.C. State, lives near Raleigh and played his high-school golf at Greensboro Grimlsey.

And after publication of the foregoing, Love withdrew from the tournament to undergo a medical procedure for kidney stones. The Tiger Chasm widens.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 14, 2007

A chip off the old block sizes up Tiger Woods

Clear Thinkers favorite Dan Jenkins is the best writer on golf of our times, but his daughter Sally is a darn good golf writer in her own right (previous posts here). In this column after Tiger Woods' Saturday round this past weekend in preparing to win the PGA Championship, Sally Jenkins does as good a job as I've seen of capturing Woods' special talent:

Woods is the only player who matters in this PGA, and frankly, he's the only player who consistently matters in all of golf. To properly appreciate Woods's performance here, you better enjoy dictatorships because that's what his reign as the best player in the world has turned into. Woods has reached the point where he can apparently quell an entire field with an imperious look. He has never lost a major championship when leading after three rounds, and his career record when holding a lead entering the final round of any tournament is 39-3, . . .

All Woods had to do to extend his lead in this PGA was stand there and lash a series of steady iron shots. His strategy was to hit the center of the green and lag his putts on an afternoon when scoring was difficult and only five players finished 54 holes under par. His round of 1-under 69 was hardly dominant, but it was enough to stretch the lead over an array of opponents who showed the resistance of Farina. Woods's average score in the third round of majors is 69; the average score of his partners is 73. [. . .]

If Woods's legacy lacks one thing at this point, it's a sense of the dramatic. At his best, his game is lulling, a matter of swing planes straight as the creases in his clothes, and perfect parabolas. It's difficult to render what he does so well, precisely because it's so modulated and well regulated. [. . .]

His genius comes without emotional torture; he's not especially revealing and demonstrative, like Sergio Garcia, or an emotional conduit for his audience, like Phil Mickelson. He's all about chilly excellence. Greatness is his most definable quality. It's a peculiar fact that Woods is actually more spectacular to watch when he's struggling a little, when he has to hit creative recovery shots, and is forced to give up a bit of control.

The par 70 of Southern Hills has at once brought out the very best and yet most unspectacular aspects of Woods's game. The doglegging layout is like a series of intricate locks. But Woods's genius here is that he has turned a difficult puzzle of a course into an assembly line. He hits 4-irons off the tee to the middle of the fairway, plays his approaches below the hole and then either makes the putt or doesn't.

His strategy has been, in his words, "just try to keep hitting fairways and put the ball in the center of the greens and lag-putt well."

Even his 63 in Friday's second round, which tied the record for low round in a major championship, was oddly unexciting. The score itself was probably the most interesting about it. His boldest shots of the day were a 35-foot putt to save par on the 12th hole, and his missed horseshoe putt on the 18th. There was no pin-seeking and bouncing it off the flagsticks, or driving 350-yard bombs.

The only drawback to any of this -- and it's not a criticism -- is that Woods's victories aren't always especially memorable. They might be memorable for his margin of victory, but not for his Arnold Palmer-like Sunday charges, with whooping galleries at his back. This is not his fault, but frankly the fault of his opponents, who have failed to challenge him.

There is a handful of players capable of making noise on a course, who can capture the attention of the golf world for an instant, or maybe even part of a weekend. But when they quiet down -- and they always do -- there remains the relentless Woods, poised, with his hands finishing high over his shoulder, then twirling the club and letting it slide back down, as he watches the ball descend to another green.

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Taking cheerleading to the next level

I enjoy the football season as much as anyone, but I absolutely abhor the football pre-season.

For weeks, we are forced to endure literally hundreds of glowing newspaper articles and media reports regarding football practice, which happens to be one of the most boring exercises in organized human activity ever invented. Prior to the Texans' 2006 season, I noted a couple of times (here and here) how the Chronicle sportswriters have elevated the pre-season cheerleading about the local NFL team to absurd levels, which means that we will then be treated to dozens of more inane articles and media reports after the season begins on how disappointing the Texans are performing.

The sheer amount of over-analysis is overwhelming. Today, while flipping the radio dial in my car, I happened upon two radio show hosts analyzing for about five minutes two incompletions from Saturday night's Texans-Bears pre-season game. Here is a typical Chronicle entry regarding Monday's Texans' practice:

The offense looked strong Monday with Bethel Johnson making some big catches. He may have earned himself a little more playing time this weekend. He saw the field Saturday, but didn't record a reception.

Pretty earth shattering stuff, don't you think? The amount of time expended on all of this is really absurd.

At any rate, from the looks of this article (pdf here), the Chronicle sportswriters are off and running again this pre-season in their role as the primary Texans cheerleaders:

A cornerback by trade in the NFL, Von Hutchins is getting a serious look from the Texans at free safety, and that's where he was playing Saturday when he intercepted a Rex Grossman pass late in the first quarter.

Hutchins stepped in front of intended receiver Mark Bradley and made the pick at the Chicago 36, then returned it 20 yards before being run out of bounds at the 16.

The heads-up play, which set up the second of Kris Brown's four field goals in the Texans' 19-17 victory, . . .

First, the interception was thrown by backup Bears QB, Brian Griese, not Grossman. And, of yeah, it would be nice if the Chronicle reporter noticed that the Texans actually lost the game, 20-19.

It's going to be a long season enduring media reports about the local football team.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

The Futures at Minute Maid

Drayton McLane may have allowed the Stros franchise to decline steadily on the field over the past couple of seasons, but he rarely misses an opportunity to make a buck with his baseball franchise. That's why I'm a bit surprised that he has not picked up on this idea. Looks like a natural, particularly given the proximity of the Corpus Christi and Round Rock minor league clubs.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

August 13, 2007

Speculating on divorce

I swear, you cannot make this stuff up:

A little-noted side effect of the property boom of the past decade has been the real-estate-enabled divorce. Home values might have slid in some markets, but in the New York City region, where prices remain high, divorce professionals like therapists and lawyers, along with real estate brokers, say unhappily married couples are cashing in appreciated homes to underwrite a split.

“The equity that there is in real estate is one of the impetuses why there are so many divorces,” said Nancy Chemtob, a Manhattan divorce lawyer, adding that the net worth of her clients has doubled in the past three years mainly thanks to real estate. The price of the average Manhattan apartment was $1.3 million as of June, up 7 percent from a year ago, . . . [. . .]

Economists are familiar with this phenomenon. Even though divorce rates are declining over all, as far back as 1977 the economist Gary Becker showed that couples experiencing any unexpected, drastic rise in net worth are at risk of divorce. (The same holds true for a drastic decline in net worth.) [. . .]

And then there are cases in which couples decide a divorce settlement would ultimately be too costly because of the on-paper appreciation of their property.

One New York real estate executive, who has separated from his wife and would not speak on the record because he is unsure if he will divorce, said most of his peers in the industry who are unhappily wed seem to be staying put. They don’t want to carve up the real estate portfolios they bought or built during the boom.

“I know plenty of people who are enormously wealthy and just don’t want to cut it up,” he said. “They find it hard to divide the real estate.”

Decisions, decisions, decisions! ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

Let me get this straight

So, Republican Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht obtains a discount on his legal fees from Chip Babcock of Jackson & Walker for his successful defense of Hecht last year in the dispute with the Commission on Judicial Conduct over his endorsement of then U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Harriet Miers. That gets Justice Hecht an ethics complaint and a possible criminal investigation by the Travis County District Attorney's office.

Meanwhile, Democrat Bill White, the Mayor of Houston who is almost certainly going to seek a statewide office in a year or two, leans on local law firms to provide free or heavily discounted legal work for the City of Houston, most of which helps Mayor White's political aspirations. That gets Mayor White a glowing article (see Anne Linehan's report here) in the Houston Chronicle.

What am I missing here?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (3) |

Uh, Oh

If you thought that Bill O'Reilly's ideas about gasoline prices were screwy, Bryan Caplan surveys the debate responses of the Democratic Party presidential candidates on the subject.

I don't know what's more troubling. The candidates' answers or the fact that those inane answers are formulated because they help get the candidates elected to office?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 12, 2007

Best Houston Golf Clubs

If you find yourself watching Tiger Woods waltz to his 13th major tournament championship this afternoon, then take a moment to check out this Mark Button/Avid Golfer article on the best private golf clubs and courses in the Houston metropolitan area. Avid Golfer rates the following as the best private courses in the Houston area:

1. Walden on Lake Conroe
2. Bentwater Golf Club, Grand Pines
T3. The Club at Carlton Woods, Fazio Course
T3. The Club at Carlton Woods, Nicklaus Course
5. Deerwood Golf Club
6. Shadow Hawk Golf Club
7. River Oaks Country Club
8. Champions Golf Club, Cypress Creek Course
9. The Clubs of Kingwood, Island Course
T10. The Woodlands Country Club, East Course
T10. Royal Oaks Country Club
T12. Lakeside Country Club
T12. Lochinvar Golf Club
14. The Woodlands Country Club, Player Course
15. Bentwater Country Club, Weiskopf Course

Here are my previous posts (with pictures) of the Fazio Course at Carlton Woods, Lochinvar Golf Club and the Tournament Course at Redstone Golf Club. For what it's worth (i.e., very little), the following is my top 15 of Houston's best private golf courses:

1. Grand Pines at Bentwater Country Club
2. Walden on Lake Conroe
3. The Fazio Course at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands
4. Whispering Pines Golf Club (Trinity, Tx)
5. Deerwood Golf Club
6. Champions Golf Club (Cypress Creek)
7. The Nicklaus Course at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands
8. Lochinvar Golf Club
9. River Oaks Country Club
10. Shadow Hawk Golf Club
11. The Woodlands Country Club, East Course (formerly the TPC at The Woodlands)
12. Kingwood Country Club, Island Course
13. The Woodlands Country Club, Gary Player Course
14. Kingwood Country Club, Forest Course
15. Houston Country Club

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 11, 2007

The Landry's bondholders fight back

One of the most irritating aspects for a plaintiff in an inflammatory lawsuit is that the other side eventually gets to tell its side of the story.

As noted earlier here, here and here, Houston-based Landry's Restaurants, Inc recently made the questionable decision, during a period of tightening credit markets generally, to tee off on and sue the holders of a substantial amount of the company's debt.

Even though Landry's finally filed its long-delayed Forms 10-K and 10-Q on Friday, Round Two in the lawsuit has been taking place over the past couple of days in U.S. District Judge Sam Kent's court and it does not appear to be going well for Landry's. The Indenture Trustee of Landry's bonds filed this emergency motion to vacate or modify the temporary restraining order that Landry's obtained last week, pointing out the following:

Simply put, Landry's has breached its contract, the proper notices have been given, and the time to cure the breach has passed. Landry’s seeks to utilize the ex parte relief in paragraph (a) [of the TRO, which requires the Indenture Trustee to rescind the acceleration of the bonds] in an effort to rewrite the contract, thus prejudicing the rights of the Noteholders. Paragraph (a) serves no legitimate purpose, needlessly alters the status quo to the Trustee’s detriment, and should thus be vacated. [. . .]

On July 24, 2007, 126 days after the Trustee sent the Notice of Default to Landry’s, and 129 days after Landry’s was required to file its 10-K, the Trustee sent Landry’s a Notice of Acceleration that informed Landry’s that the default had ripened into an Event of Default and that “[t]he Indenture Trustee, acting upon a direction of a majority of Note Holders given pursuant to Section 6.05 of the Indenture, hereby declares the unpaid principal of, premium, if any, and accrued and unpaid interest on, all the Notes outstanding to be due and payable immediately, all pursuant to Section 6.02 of the Indenture.” . . . In a Form 8-K filed the next day, Landry's publicly admitted that the Acceleration Notice was effective. As Landry’s put it: “[t]he sum total of the Notes are $400 million, which are now due and payable.” . . . Again, this admission squarely contradicts the representations Landry’s has made in its Complaint and ex parte TRO application in this case.

Meanwhile,a couple of the bondholders weigh in with this opposition to Landry's motion to extend the TRO until the preliminary injunction hearing:

This is far from a technical breach of Landry's obligations. The filing of Forms 10K and 10Q are not elective matters. They are requirements both of federal law and the plain terms of the Indenture. The information Landry's was required to file -- but did not file -- is critical to the Bondholders' ability to evaluate Landry's credit-worthiness, and the likelihood that they will be repaid the $400 million they are owed. Landry's failure to timely file this required financial information violates its duties of candor to the investing public, and violates its contract with the Trustee and the Bondholders. The Bondholders rights -- and the status quo ante --should not be altered irrevocably by the TRO before the Bondholders have an opportunity to be heard. Paragraph (a) is not necessary to preserve the status quo, and Landry's claimed rights can be fully protected and preserved without harming the Bondholders in this manner, and without placing them at risk of tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars of losses.

Finally, Landry's announced on Friday that it had obtained refinancing of the debt, albeit on far less attractive terms than the existing bonds before their maturity was accelerated.

Round 3 is next Thursday.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 10, 2007

More DeVany on Bonds

As noted here earlier this week, Art DeVany has written extensively on the specious basis of the conventional wisdom that Barry Bonds' steroid use allowed him to break the Major League Baseball home run records. DeVany responds again here:

[The conventional wisdom that Bonds' steroid use allowed him to break the MLB home run records] does not fit into any standard model or argument that has been offered as an explanation for his "departure" from the norm. There is no norm, which [the conventional wisdom] and most others advances.

Genius does not follow a process that can be normed. My argument is simple and is in the paper. Basically, most people are using an implicit normal distribution model of HRs and they claim that his performance cannot come from the model. Hence, he must have taken something. This is wrong. His performance is within the natural variation of HR hitting, but the model is not a normal distribution. Why should it be? A normal distribution applies when most people are close to the average. This has nothing to do with HRs. If you role snake eyes three times in a row, do you think there has to be an explanation? No, it is in the variation. Just chance. The dice are not on steroids.

What is worse is that people who claim "he did it and it worked" don't know much about the physiology of steroids. They weaken connective tissue and interfere with concentration when they are taken in large doses. They primarily increase protein synthesis is ST muscle fibers, which are no good for hitting HRs. Lastly, most people who formulate the argument do not have a falsifiable hypothesis, and this is not science. They take his performance, which no one else has ever done, and claim that you cannot prove that it was not due to steroids. "He took steroids and therefore hit 73 HRs" cannot be falsified. Because the conclusion is true, the statement is vacuous. It is true no matter what the premise.

Read the entire post.

Update: Professor DeVany compares Bonds and Hank Aaron's home run-hitting prowess to that of an average MLB player here, and provides additional comments regarding Bonds here. Professor DeVany's paper on home-run hitting is here (pdf).

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (7) |

Kling's Iron Trilemma

Following on this post from ealier this week in regard to American's currently failed system of health care finance, Arnold Kling follows with another one:

. . . Kling's Iron Trilemma. We want:

--what I call insulation, where consumers enjoy the peace of mind of having their medical services paid for by a third party;

--unrestricted access, where consumers and doctors can choose medical procedures without bureaucratic interference or government budget limits;

--less stress over rising health care costs.

The trilemma is that we can have at most two out of three. Much of the "reality-based community" (an Orwellian label if there ever was one) denies that the trilemma exists. [Jonathon] Gruber [the M.I.T. economist who helped design the universal health insurance plan in Massachusetts] does not deny its existence, but he prefers restricting access to reducing insulation. I prefer the latter.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

Spitzer channels Dr. Phil

Has the mainstream media sentenced the Lord of Regulation to sensitivity training?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 9, 2007

Solzhenitsyn speaks

When you have a few minutes, don't miss this Speigel Online interview with prominent Russian writer and Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Check out Solzhenitsyn's overview of Russia's political leaders since the fall of Communism:

Gorbachev's administration was amazingly politically naïve, inexperienced and irresponsible towards the country. It was not governance but a thoughtless renunciation of power. The admiration of the West in return only strengthened his conviction that his approach was right. But let us be clear that it was Gorbachev, and not Yeltsin, as is now widely being claimed, who first gave freedom of speech and movement to the citizens of our country.

Yeltsin's period was characterized by a no less irresponsible attitude to people's lives, but in other ways. In his haste to have private rather than state ownership as quickly as possible, Yeltsin started a mass, multi-billion-dollar fire sale of the national patrimony. Wanting to gain the support of regional leaders, Yeltsin called directly for separatism and passed laws that encouraged and empowered the collapse of the Russian state. This, of course, deprived Russia of its historical role for which it had worked so hard, and lowered its standing in the international community. All this met with even more hearty Western applause.

Putin inherited a ransacked and bewildered country, with a poor and demoralized people. And he started to do what was possible -- a slow and gradual restoration. These efforts were not noticed, nor appreciated, immediately. In any case, one is hard pressed to find examples in history when steps by one country to restore its strength were met favorably by other governments.

Read the entire interview.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

An easy prediction

Buried in the Chronicle's article on the Metropolitan Transit Authority's latest propaganda release regarding the proposed University light rail line is the following snippet:

The study estimates say the Cummins-Wheeler-Elgin combination is the least expensive of the routes considered, at $715 million, compared with $836 million for the Southwest Freeway-Alabama combination.

Prediction: Both routes will cost substantially more than the estimates and the revenue generated from the ridership will not come close to meeting the operating expenses of the line.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

Gretchen Morgenson's recurring nightmare

Larry Ribstein used to be NY Times business columnist Gretchen Morgenson's worst nightmare, but the nightmares receded a bit when Professor Ribstein tired of exposing the vacuous nature of her weekly columns after a year or so. Nevertheless, Morgenson's nightmare has not gone away completely:

[Kevin J.] Murphy and [Jan] Zaojnik attribute the rise in the relative value of managerial ability to a variety of factors. Most interestingly, these include the need for public relations skills in dealing with external constituencies and increased media coverage. Other factors include the need to be conversant with other disciplines -- economics, management science, accounting, finance. The authors argue that firm-specific skills are becoming less important because data are no longer "buried in the bowels of the organization," but are easily accessible by computers.

The authors conclude that the importance of general rather than firm-specific human capital means that:

CEOs can capture the whole marginal product created by their transferable ability, but the lack of alternative use for their firm-specific skills means that they can only extract a fraction of the rents created by this part of their human capital. Therefore, a shift in the relative importance of general managerial ability will lead to higher wages even if overall managerial marginal productivity declines.

. . .Most importantly, I love the irony here. Murphy and Zaojnik are saying that part of what is driving executive pay up is the skill in dealing with Gretchen Morgenson and her ilk – the very people who are complaining about that pay.

Read the entire post.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 8, 2007

Bonds does it

Barry Bonds finally broke Hank Aaron's all-time home run record last night, dooming all of us to several days of inane and simplistic arguments on talk radio shows as to whether Bonds' record should include an asterisk because of his use of steroids during the latter stages of his career.

For a more balanced view regarding Bonds and his steroid use, take a look at previous posts here, here, here, here, here and here over the past several years. In the end, Bonds is a product of his environment.

Update: Kuff agrees with me, and sabermetrician JC Bradbury provides a reasoned view on Bonds. Lee Sinins provides this statistical analysis (pdf) of Bonds' career. And here is the video on no. 756:

Posted by Tom at 7:55 AM | Comments (3) |

The Universal Distraction

As noted in these earlier posts, Arnold Kling continues to provide an enormous amount of lucid analysis on what ails America's health care finance system. In this TCS Daily op-ed, Kling makes two excellent points, the first regarding tax treatment of health insurance premiums:

I would like to see the abolition of the tax break for company-provided health benefits as well as the tax break for Medical Savings Accounts. Company-provided health benefits ought to be included with personal income and taxed at the personal income rate. There should be no special benefits for savings accounts labeled "medical." (I think that all saving ought to be tax-free, but that's another topic.)

. . . Although I prefer real health insurance to insulation, I do not want to impose my preferences on others. All I ask is that we reform our tax code so that it is neutral.

Second, Kling makes an important point regarding the freedom to buy health insurance and the health care limits that society needs to accept if a person chooses not to do so:

[M]ost of the people who are uninsured today are reasonably healthy. They just do not want to pay for their own health insurance. In my view, they ought to be allowed to make that choice, but they should face the consequences. If they require health care, the cost should not be shifted onto other people who have insurance.

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (7) |

The cultural legacy of politicizing religion

The pastor of the local church that my family and I attend has used the pulpit from time to time to advocate political positions and certain politicians, which I have always viewed as a dubious practice. I was reminded of my pastor's sermons as I read this Cathy Young/ReasonOnline article on the questionable cultural legacy of the late Jerry Falwell:

Though the movement Falwell helped launch was unable to enact much of its agenda into law, there is no question that it transformed the American political landscape. Even the battles it hasn’t won, such as the effort to teach “intelligent design” in schools on a par with evolution, are still battles it was able to force on its opponents.

More broadly, it helped create a climate in which the language of politics is saturated with references to God, a political culture in which a major political magazine (Newsweek) can ask a presidential candidate (Howard Dean) whether he believes in Jesus Christ as the son of God and the path to eternal life.

Despite these political inroads, Falwell’s brand of religious conservatism has suffered losses in the culture wars. Feminism, its radical excesses mostly discarded, has become firmly integrated into America’s cultural mainstream. (Even, apparently, in Falwell’s own family: His daughter is a surgeon.) Acceptance of gays is now at a level that would have been unthinkable in 1980. Sexual content in mainstream entertainment has steadily increased, and adults-only material is more available than ever thanks to new technologies. While divorce rates have dropped somewhat, so have marriage rates; in much of America, sex between single adults is widely accepted as a social norm.

Along those same lines, this CNN article reports on a Kentucky church's "Court Watch" program in which volunteers attend court hearings to monitor how judges are handling drug-related cases. It's clear that the members of the church group are not interested in facilitating leniency in sentencing in such cases.

Several years ago, while sweating a jury in a civil case at the courthouse, I attended the daily initial appearance docket call in the juvenile criminal court next door. It was a heartbreaking experience and prompted me to begin doing pro bono work in the local juvenile criminal justice system. Since then, I've attended numerous such initial appearance dockets in the juvenile criminal justice system. I have never seen a member of any Christian organization attending one of those dockets.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (4) |

In Cold Blood

As noted earlier here, I oppose the death penalty because of the way in which our criminal justice system administers it, but I have no philosophical opposition to it. Here is why.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 7, 2007

Book'em Horns

As noted last week here, it's been a tough off-season for University of Oklahoma Sooner football program, what with more NCAA sanctions and all. But it was only a matter of time before the Sooner faithful would be in a position to fight back. A flurry of Texas Longhorn players getting arrested during the off-season has given Sooner fans their opportunity. The Mack Brown-Longhorn "All-Character" team below is the result:

Posted by Tom at 12:43 AM | Comments (1) |

The DOJ's bumbling Enron Broadband case

As noted here and here, the Enron Broadband trials were not the Enron Task Force's finest hour. Now that the Task Force has been disbanded, Justice Department attorneys are left to pick up the pieces of the Task Force's shattered cases and, as the Chronicle's Kristen Hays reports from the Fifth Circuit, it's not an easy task.

Sort of what you would expect from cases in which the government asserted an unwarranted expansion of a criminal law intended to punish kickbacks and bribes against businessmen who did no such thing. Criminal convictions based primarily on juror resentment of wealthy businessmen tend not to hold up well under the bright light of appellate scrutiny.

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (1) |

Swing to the Music

Does this mean that I should be listening to Le Nozze Di Figaro, K.492: "Che Soave Zeffiretto" while practicing my golf swing?:

[Yale University physics professor Robert] Grober has created an instrument that gives a player an immediate response to the golf swing. A smooth, rhythmic swing with Grober’s sensor emits a pleasing tone. A herky-jerky motion lets out a wail.

To create the sound of a golf swing, Grober used Musical Instrument Digital Interface technology that combined instruments like the piccolo, the oboe and the French horn. The music — an audio interpretation of the swing itself — is transmitted wirelessly to the golfer through a headset.

“This dimension that they can access while they’re hitting the golf club opens up a whole world of information that they hadn’t otherwise had,” he said. “Getting it in this format, in a real-time basis, helps people to change on time scales which are much shorter than traditionally. It used to be if you wanted to make a mechanical change in your golf swing, it could take months to do that. But if you can hear what’s going on, you can change the sound space almost instantly.”

Grober said by having players focus on tempo instead of swing mechanics, the mechanics often followed anyway. “Really quickly they understand it’s about tempo and they forget all these complicated thoughts about position,” he said. “When the motion becomes dynamic and smooth, there are some good physics behind that.”

Grober, whose product is scheduled for release in January, said he has worked with 200 golfers and teachers on his invention. While the technology is new, the idea of using physics to teach a golf swing has been around for decades.

Ben Doyle, who wrote the foreword to Homer Kelley’s popular instruction book, “The Golfing Machine,” said he could see benefits in a golfer being able to listen to the sound of the golf swing.

“You hear the thrust of centrifugal force,” said Doyle, the golf instructor at the Golf Club at Quail Lodge in Carmel, Calif. “If a student can hear that sound, it’s very important feedback.”

Read the entire article. Also, check out this video segment demonstrating the technology narrated by the author of the article, NY Times golf columnist, Damon Hack.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

August 6, 2007

In praise of credit snobs

Earlier posts here and here noted Alex Tabarrok's clever characterization of folks who criticized development of new lending vehicles for folks with low incomes or bad credit. Thus, this Economist article about a recent study on making loans to the poor caught my eye. Check out the conclusion of the study:

Contrary to the fears of the credit snobs, the readier access to credit did not tempt the new customers into a debt trap. Over 15-27 months, those reconsidered for a loan were more likely to have a formal credit score. And this score suffered no harm as a result of their easier borrowing.

Overall, the study suggests that profit-seeking lenders do not deserve the fate Dante reserved for them. Far from tempting the poor into unpayable debt, they help them keep their jobs, put food on the table, and build up a credit history. The authors show that poor people can make good use of borrowed money, even if they sometimes struggle to demonstrate this creditworthiness to lenders. If not hell, that is a kind of purgatory.

Read the entire article.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

Next episode of Dallas Swat?

Earlier posts here, here and here focused on the danger of local police forces use of highly-armed SWAT teams for routine, non-violent police work, a phenomenom that spawned A&E Network's Dallas SWAT reality show. Well, according to this Dallas Morning News article (h/t Radley Balko), one of the "stars" of the Dallas SWAT show -- Senior Cpl. Johnny Baker -- was recently fired from the police force. What for, you ask? DPD internal investigators concluded that Baker had sex in a Garland motel room with a prostitute while working an off-duty job in February.

By the way, Baker was not busted by Dallas SWAT. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (1) |

It's PGA Golf Tournament Week

The 89th PGA Golf Tournament is being played this week at the Southern Hills Country Club Course in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Although the least prestigious of the four major tournaments, the PGA generally fields the strongest field of any of the majors. This year, each of the top 100 players in the world rankings is playing.

The tournament website is here, but if you really want to get a flavor of the golf course, check out this detailed Jay Flemma blog post and this Geoff Shackelford/Golf World article (see also here) on the venerable Percy Maxwell-designed Southern Hills course. Take it from one who has played it several times, it is a beaut, although this anonymous PGA Tour player doesn't agree.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 5, 2007

The Cocktail Party Nightmare

My wife contends that she has endured precisely the same experience as the woman depicted in the cartoon on the left by the incomparable Stuart M. Rees of Stu's Views.

By the way, from several years ago, here is a short bio on Stu, who is a talented -- and very clever -- fellow.

Posted by Tom at 12:36 AM | Comments (0) |

August 4, 2007

Latest on the Las Vegas Monofail

With the crunch worsening over the past several weeks in the credit markets, the bankruptcy reorganization forces are gearing up and eyeing potential debtors. Well, in this Heartland blog post, Thomas A. Rubin predicts one of the probable debtors that will need serious reorganization -- the Las Vegas Monorail Company (prior posts here):

In short, the Las Vegas Monorail appears headed straight down the path to bankruptcy by approximately the year 2010 with nothing on the horizon that could prevent it – other than, perhaps, an ill-conceived government bailout or the absolute dumbest group of investors/suckers in recent financial history.

This result should come as a surprise to no one. Over the last several decades, I know of only one U.S. rail transit system, or quasi-transit system, that has come remotely close to covering its operating costs out of fares and other operating revenues (the Seattle Monorail), and none that have made any contribution what-so-ever to capital costs. However, the Las Vegas Monorail promoters assured everyone that operating revenues would not only cover operating costs, but would also cover all the debt service costs of the bonds sold to pay for the construction of the Monorail. [. . .]

One hopes that someone, somewhere, in a public sector decision-making capacity will tell the various casinos along the right of way that, if they want to see it continue to operate, well, it is all theirs.

Read the entire post, which lays out the public risks involved in even a privately-financed boondoggle of this nature. Meanwhile, this clever Political Calculations post comes up with an entertaining solution to achieving the same benefits of a light rail system at a far cheaper cost.

Posted by Tom at 12:26 AM | Comments (0) |

August 3, 2007

Landry's goes nuclear

As noted earlier here and here, the crunch in the credit markets has Houston-based Landry's Restaurants Inc scrambling to refinance about $400 million in bond debt this week.

Well, that scramble took an interesting turn on Wednesday of this week as Landry's sued the bondholders. Based on that lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Sam Kent of Galveston approved a temporary restraining order against the representatives of the bondholders that ordered the Indenture Trustee of the bonds to withdraw the notice of acceleration of the maturity of the bonds and not to take any action based on that acceleration pending a preliminary injunction hearing on August 16. The following is the alleged basis for the TRO and proposed injunctive relief straight from Landry's complaint:

This action arises from an attempt by opportunistic hedge funds to distort the plain language of Landry's Indenture to manufacture grounds for a technical default that would allow them to reap an extraordinary and umnerited windfall from Landry's good faith effort to provide its stockholders and noteholders with accurate financial information.

From the outset, [the bondholders] have embarked on a scheme designed solely to maximize their short-term financial gain at the expense of Landry's, its stockholders, and the investing public. [The bondholders'] plan appears to be an effort to improperly accelerate the Senior Notes so that they and those working with them could ultimately sell their Senior Notes at a substantial profit in the open market, once they extort "renegotiated" interest payments and other concessions from the Company.

The Trustee's defective notices of default and acceleration notwithstanding, Landry's has made every required payment due under the Indenture. There has been no material breach of any of Landry's obligations under the Indenture. Despite this fact, the Trustee, apparently at the urging of [the bondholders], served a notice claiming that Landry's was in default because Landry's allegedly failed to provide reports that are required for "information purposes only."

The Indenture requires that Landry's furnish to the Trustee-within the time periods specified by the Securities and Exchange Commission's (the "SEC" or the "Commission") rules and regulations-all quarterly and annual financial information required to be contained on Forms 10-Q, 10-K, and 8-K. The Indenture does not impose on Landry's any independent requirement that it file those reports or abstain from seeking additional time to file its financial reports.

Landry's properly delayed the filing of its Form 10-K by submitting a Form 12b-25 with the SEC on March 16,2007. Form 12b-25 bestows an automatic 15-day extension on filers who would not otherwise be capable of filing without unreasonable effort or expense. Accordingly, while a delayed SEC filing may have consequences for Landry's under SEC rules, it would not comprise a default under the Indenture.

Despite the fact that Landry's had neither missed a single payment nor committed any material breach of the Indenture, and despite the further fact that the 15-day extension period allowed by the filing of the Form 12b-25 had not expired, the Trustee, by letter agreement dated March 20, 2007, issued a Notice of Default. The Trustee's basis for asserting a default was that Landry's had failed to timely file its Form 10-K annual report for the fiscal year 2006 (the "10-K"). This Notice of Default was defective, however, because it was sent during the time period allowed by the Rule 12b-25 extension. Nevertheless, relying on its defective Notice of Default, the Trustee purported to accelerate the entire debt by notice dated July 24, 2007.

On information and belief, the Trustee has taken this unreasonable position at the behest of [certain bondholders], eager to void the bargain struck with Landry's in the 2004 Indenture so as to take advantage of tightening credit market conditions.

To get to this result, Defendants have intentionally and materially breached the terms of the Indenture or, in the alternative, tortiously interfered with Landry's business relations, disparaged the Company, and attempted to saddle the Company with new obligations in violation of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939.

As a result, Landry's continues to suffer irreparable economic harm from Defendants' continuing threats of future improper actions. Therefore, Landry's respectfully seeks immediate and temporary injunctive relief to preserve the status quo while this litigation ensues. Among other things, the requested injunction would afford the Company a measure of relief from the uncertainty and controversy that presently exist with respect to the parties' respective rights and obligations under the Indenture.

A copy of the TRO is here and a copy of the complaint (sans exhibits) is here.

Meanwhile, the filing of the case in the Galveston Division of the Southern District is raising more than a few eyebrows, particularly given that the lead lawyer for Landry's in obtaining the TRO was plaintiffs' lawyer Anthony Buzbee, who knows a thing or two about filing cases in favorable forums. Landry's and most of its other lawyers involved in the case (the firms of Andrews & Kurth and Haynes & Boone) are Houston-based. Also, Landry's general counsel, Steven Scheinthal, gave an interview to the Houston Chronicle earlier this week that resulted in this rather interesting article in which he was quoted as saying that "We do not believe the bondholders are nice people. We're a Houston-based company, and the bondholders have no regard for anybody other than themselves. They strictly see this as an economic opportunity to take advantage of." Nevertheless, the Chronicle's business columnist, Loren Steffy, thinks that Landry's lawsuit is a loser.

Round 2 is coming up shortly.

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (1) |

Golf snits

For pure entertainment value, there is nothing quite like an eruption between a PGA Tour player and his caddie during the heat of competition. This Jeff Rude/GolfWorld commentary reports on the latest such incident was between PGA Tour member Jay Williamson and his caddie, Mike Mollet, during the first round of last week's Canadian Open:

Both agree that Mollet, on the tee of the par 3, said the wind was blowing right to left. Both agree that Williamson hit a 9-iron over the green long left. Both agree that Williamson hit a weak chip from a bad lie to about 30 feet from the hole. Both agree a frustrated Williamson told Mollet he thought the wind was blowing downwind, not across, and that Mollet disagreed. Both agree that Williamson fired Mollet after an ensuing heated argument on the green. Both agree that Mollet threw a few of Williamson’s golf balls into a pond after getting canned. Both agree that Williamson used a spectator as his caddie the last four holes. [. . .]

What they disagree on is what ignited the explosion. Williamson said Mollet lost his cool first and embarrassed him with too much emotional talk and Williamson reacted. Mollet said Williamson lost his cool first and embarrassed him with too much emotional talk and Mollet reacted.

Williamson said the caddie kept yelling at him loudly, calling him a “whiner” among other personal insults, and used the F-word. Mollet said he got riled because Williamson directed the F-word and A-word toward him after the bad chip and while disagreeing about the wind direction. Williamson said he can’t recall swearing.

Read the entire article about the spat, which is about par for the course in such matters. But Chris Lewis reminds us of my favorite player-caddie tiff, which occurred about 10 years ago between the volatile PGA Tour member Fulton Allem and his caddie, "Bullet" Burns. During the second round of the Heritage tournament at Hilton Head, Allem was struggling badly with his swing on the front nine and, while waiting to tee off on the 8th hole, had this exchange with his caddie:

"I feel like breaking something," observed Allem

Burns didn't miss a beat: "How about breaking par?"

“Very funny," Fultie replied. "You’re fired.”

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

WSJ subscriber reaction to the Murdoch takeover

So, all of 170 out of the Wall Street Journal's 1.7 million subscribers terminated their subscription as a result of Rupert Murdoch's successful bid to acquire the WSJ?

What the heck. Felix Salmon makes a good case that Murdoch should turn the WSJ into a free service:

The potential readership of the WSJ . . . is enormous. Right now, there is no one-stop-shop on the World Wide Web for comprehensive, global businesss and finance news and analysis. A free WSJ.com would overnight become the global authority on such matters. WSJ.com is never going to make much money selling subscriptions in India or Brazil or Russia or even Mexico – but if it became a regular read among the business classes in those countries, local ad reps could make a fortune for News Corp. (Technology nowadays makes it very easy to target ads to readers in specific countries.)

The reason I'm hopeful about Murdoch buying the WSJ is that Murdoch has a truly global outlook, while the WSJ has always seemed to be a bit on the parochial side. And no one with a global outlook thinks that trying to sell subscriptions to WSJ.com makes any sense. Free is clearly the way to go.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

August 2, 2007

The Incarceration Nation

Following on this post from yesterday on a troubling growth sector in the burgeoning prison industry, Doug Berman points to this daunting Boston Review piece by Glenn C. Loury, the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences in the Department of Economics at Brown University. Loury reviews the increasingly brutal nature of punishment in American society:

Crime rates peaked in 1992 and have dropped sharply since. Even as crime rates fell, however, imprisonment rates remained high and continued their upward march. The result, the current American prison system, is a leviathan unmatched in human history.

According to a 2005 report of the International Centre for Prison Studies in London, the United States—with five percent of the world’s population—houses 25 percent of the world’s inmates. Our incarceration rate (714 per 100,000 residents) is almost 40 percent greater than those of our nearest competitors (the Bahamas, Belarus, and Russia). Other industrial democracies, even those with significant crime problems of their own, are much less punitive: our incarceration rate is 6.2 times that of Canada, 7.8 times that of France, and 12.3 times that of Japan. We have a corrections sector that employs more Americans than the combined work forces of General Motors, Ford, and Wal-Mart, the three largest corporate employers in the country, and we are spending some $200 billion annually on law enforcement and corrections at all levels of government, a fourfold increase (in constant dollars) over the past quarter century.

Never before has a supposedly free country denied basic liberty to so many of its citizens. In December 2006, some 2.25 million persons were being held in the nearly 5,000 prisons and jails that are scattered across America’s urban and rural landscapes. One third of inmates in state prisons are violent criminals, convicted of homicide, rape, or robbery. But the other two thirds consist mainly of property and drug offenders. Inmates are disproportionately drawn from the most disadvantaged parts of society. On average, state inmates have fewer than 11 years of schooling. They are also vastly disproportionately black and brown. [. . .]

Despite a sharp national decline in crime, American criminal justice has become crueler and less caring than it has been at any other time in our modern history. Why? [. . .]

My recitation of the brutal facts about punishment in today’s America may sound to some like a primal scream at this monstrous social machine that is grinding poor black communities to dust. And I confess that these brutal facts do at times incline me to cry out in despair. But my argument is analytical, not existential. Its principal thesis is this: we law-abiding, middle-class Americans have made decisions about social policy and incarceration, and we benefit from those decisions, and that means from a system of suffering, rooted in state violence, meted out at our request. We had choices and we decided to be more punitive. Our society — the society we have made — creates criminogenic conditions in our sprawling urban ghettos, and then acts out rituals of punishment against them as some awful form of human sacrifice.

This situation raises a moral problem that we cannot avoid. We cannot pretend that there are more important problems in our society, or that this circumstance is the necessary solution to other, more pressing problems—unless we are also prepared to say that we have turned our backs on the ideal of equality for all citizens and abandoned the principles of justice. We ought to ask ourselves two questions: Just what manner of people are we Americans? And in light of this, what are our obligations to our fellow citizens—even those who break our laws?

There is much, much more. Take the time to read the entire piece.

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (7) |

Who was that guy who used to wear no. 8?

With the opening of the Texans' pre-season training camp, the players are being asked about what it's like not to have David Carr quarterbacking the Texans for the first time in the team's history. Carr is already on record as saying that he's glad to be away from the Texans' sieve-like offensive line, which prompted some mild barbs back at Carr from his former main target.

But as this Stephanie Stradley post reports, more of Carr's former teammates are "diplomatically" letting it be known publicly that they are not sorry that Carr is gone. Even Bob McNair goes on record as saying that the team had bent over backward to accomodate his slow development as an NFL QB, but finally just had to move on.

My, how times change.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) |

The Walsh Era

Former San Francisco 49er's coach Bill Walsh died earlier this week, so the WSJ's Allen Barra provides this wonderful tribute to Coach Walsh that, among other things, reminds us of his most special legacy:

It was as a teacher, though, that Mr. Walsh had his greatest and most lasting influence on football. Unlike Lombardi, who left worshippers but no disciples, Mr. Walsh spawned an entire generation of acolytes. His defensive coordinator George Seifert won two Super Bowls with San Francisco; his offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren won one with Green Bay. Mr. Seifert's pupil Mike Shanahan, schooled in Mr. Walsh's methods, won two more with Denver.

Mr. Walsh's influence on football today is so pervasive that nearly 20 years after his final game, the Super Bowl has practically become an annual showcase for his adherents. This past February, Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy, a former player under Mr. Walsh, squared off against the Chicago Bears' Lovie Smith, who trained as an assistant to Dennis Green, once a Walsh receiver's coach.

That Messrs. Dungy and Smith were the first African-American coaches to reach the Super Bowl highlights perhaps Mr. Walsh's greatest legacy: In 1987, he helped create the Minority Coaching Fellowship Program. "I can tell you this," says Mr. Dungy, "his life was about much more than just X's and O's."

Meanwhile, Jean Bramel reminds long-suffering Cincinnati Bengals fans (including my nephew, Josh) that Walsh was once an up and coming assistant coach with the Bengals, and actually began developing the West Coast offense while with the Bengals. Alas, Walsh was the subject of one of the more egregious "pass-overs" in NFL history:

[While with the Bengals, Coach Walsh] found a way to modify his passing attack with short, precise passes and mulitple wide receiving options putting pressure on the defense with timing routes — what is now known as the West Coast offense but could rightly be called the Cincinnati offense. Walsh again found a near perfect fit for his new playbook in Ken Anderson, a smart, calm, precise passer. Walsh’s offense was clicking for the Bengals in the early 1970s. By the end of the 1975 season, Anderson was running the offense to perfection with a 60% plus completion rate and 8 yards plus per passing attempt. Curtis had been to three consecutive Pro Bowls and was a star. The Bengals had made the playoffs in 1973 and 1975. The future was ridiculously bright.

Then Bengal head coach and patriarch Paul Brown retired and handed the reins to long time offensive assistant Tiger Johnson instead of Walsh, who resigned in disappointment. The rest, as they say, is history. Walsh spent a season in San Diego as an assistant and coached Stanford for two seasons before taking the head coaching job in San Francisco where his offense flourished under Joe Montana. Johnson’s Bengal teams steadily declined and he was fired in 1978. Cincinnati made two Super Bowls in the 1980s, only to lose both to the franchise Bill Walsh built.

Rest in peace, Bill Walsh. This Bengal fan still longs for what could’ve been.

Tiger Johnson over Bill Walsh? That sounds almost Oileresque, don't you think?

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

August 1, 2007

A disturbing growth industry

This New York Times article reports on one of the expensive consequences of the increasing criminalization of everything -- already overcrowded state prisons looking to export inmates:

Chronic prison overcrowding has corrections officials in Hawaii and at least seven other states looking increasingly across state lines for scarce prison beds, usually in prisons run by private companies. Facing a court mandate, California last week transferred 40 inmates to Mississippi and has plans for at least 8,000 to be sent out of state.

The long-distance arrangements account for a small fraction of the country’s total prison population — about 10,000 inmates, federal officials estimate — but corrections officials in states with the most crowded prisons say the numbers are growing. One private prison company that houses inmates both in-state and out of state, the Corrections Corporation of America, announced last year that it would spend $213 million on construction and renovation projects for 5,000 prisoners by next year. [. . .]

But while the out-of-state transfers are helping states that have been unwilling, or too slow, to build enough prisons of their own, they have also raised concerns among some corrections officials about excessive prisoner churn, consistency among the private vendors and safety in some prisons.

Moving inmates from prison to prison disrupts training and rehabilitation programs and puts stress on tenuous family bonds, corrections officials say, making it more difficult to break the cycle of inmates committing new crimes after their release. Several recidivism studies have found that convicts who keep in touch with family members through visits and phone privileges are less likely to violate their parole or commit new offenses. There have been no studies that focused specifically on out-of-state placements.

See related earlier posts here and here. By the way, if you are interested in understanding the main reason why we are dealing with this seemingly endless cycle of criminalization and imprisonment, then check out the clever minute and a half video below for the answer:

Scott Henson, the Texas blogger-expert on prison overcrowding, has more here.

Update: Has America become the Incarceration Nation?

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) |

John Edwards, demagogue

Democratic Party presidential candidate John Edwards has been a frequent topic on this blog, but it's rare that his special style of demagoguery is captured as succiently as in this video of a bit over a minute. I don't know what's more disturbing -- Edwards' rantings, the audience's unquestioning acceptance of them, or the fact that the Edwards campaign is promoting the video as an example of Edwards' charm.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Silverman pans the iPhone

Chronicle technology columnist Dwight Silverman is one of the best in the business, so when he pans the trendy iPhone, it's time to sit and listen:

I lived with the iPhone for about a month, and as an experiment, I carried both it and my Samsung BlackJack, my own PDA. My goal was to see which device I preferred for which tasks. For example, when I wanted to access the Web online, or check e-mail, which would I reach for first?

I started out using the iPhone more, because using it was an adventure. But by the end of my experiment, I was back to using the BlackJack for most serious tasks.

While the iPhone is indeed a very cool device, and there's a lot about it to like — see the aforementioned earlier reviews for a litany of them — I think its shortcomings are major.

Read Silverman's entire review, whcih pretty much concludes that the iPhone elevates style over substance. Meanwhile, the WSJ's Carl Bialik breaks down the initial sales numbers for the iPhone and concludes that the pre-release hype definitely exceeded the actual sale numbers.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) |

July 31, 2007

Steyn on the criminalization of everything

Still numbed by the experience of blogging the injustice of the Conrad Black trial, Mark Steyn takes up the appalling lack of judgment behind the McMinnville, Oregon district attorney's prosecution of two 7th grade boys as sex offenders. The alleged criminal act? The egregious offense of participating at school with their classmates in a juvenile greeting ritual on Fridays called "Slap Butt Fridays." Steyn concludes as follows:

A world that requires handcuffs and judges and district attorneys for what took place that Friday in February is not just a failed education system but an entire society that's losing any sense of proportion. Without which, civilized life becomes impossible. So we legalize more and more aspects of life and demand that district attorneys prosecute ever more aggressively what were once routine areas of social interaction.

A society that looses the state to criminalize schoolroom horseplay is guilty not only of punishing children as grown-ups but of the infantilization of the entire citizenry.

The WSJ's George Melloan expressed similar sentiments a couple of years ago.

Posted by Tom at 12:06 AM | Comments (1) |

Does Jose de Jesus Ortiz research anything?

Is shooting from the hip a Houston Chronicle requirement for covering the Stros?

As noted in earlier posts here, here, here, here, here and here, the Chronicle's Stros beat writer -- Jose de Jesus Ortiz -- incongruously struggles with analyzing baseball. But on the heels of watching Stros sore-armed starting pitcher Jason Jennings get torched for 11 runs in 2/3rd's of an inning on Sunday, Ortiz displays his utter ignorance of the history of the club he covers on a daily basis:

Seeing Jason Jennings give up 11 runs while only securing two outs on Sunday afternoon, opposing scouts surely had to tell their bosses not to give up top prospects for the veteran righthander.

Because the Astros made the Jennings trade out of desperation after pushing Andy Pettitte out of town and then failing to acquire Jon Garland, the Jennings trade seemed to be the best the Astros could do at the time.

As it turns out, they could hardly have done worse, especially considering that a little digging in Colorado would have uncovered that Jennings hadn't thrown bullpen sessions between starts in the second half of the season because of a tender right elbow.

As Tim Purpura heads into Tuesday's non-waiver trade deadline, let's look back and see where this trade fits among the worst in franchise history?

What are the worst three trades in franchise history?

Here are my list in order of the worst:

• Getting rid of Joe Morgan.

• Getting rid of Billy Wagner for three prospects who didn't produce.

• Getting rid of Willy Taveras, Jason Hirsh and Taylor Buchholz for Jennings.

Had Ortiz merely bothered to run a Google Blog Search before publishing the foregoing, he would have discovered that two of the three trades that he lists are not even in the top seven of all-time bad Stros trades.

Then, on one hand, Ortiz contends that the Stros traded Billy Wagner for "three prospects who didn't produce," which is not really correct, either. The Phillies sent an established Major League pitcher who was not very good -- Brandon Duckworth -- along with pitching prospects Taylor Buchholz and Ezequiel Astacio to the Stros for Wagner.

However, undaunted, Ortiz then in the following sentence lists Buchholz -- one of the prospects "who didn't produce" from the Wagner trade -- as one of the reasons why the Jennings trade is supposedly the third worst in Stros history.

Is this really the best that the Chronicle can do in covering the Stros?

Posted by Tom at 12:03 AM | Comments (2) |

Endurance training to death

As noted in previous posts here and here, the myth that endurance training and long-distance running are good for one's health remains firmly entrenched among most Americans, despite sad reminders such as this. In this timely article, Mark Sisson lucidly explains why endurance training is hazardous to one's health. Here is a snippet:

The problem with many, if not most, age group endurance athletes is that the low-level training gets out of hand. They overtrain in their exuberance to excel at racing, and they over consume carbohydrates in an effort to stay fueled. The result is that over the years, their muscle mass, immune function, and testosterone decrease, while their cortisol, insulin and oxidative output increase (unless you work so hard that you actually exhaust the adrenals, introducing an even more disconcerting scenario). Any anti-aging doc will tell you that if you do this long enough, you will hasten, rather than retard, the aging process. Studies have shown an increase in mortality when weekly caloric expenditure exceeds 4,000. [. . .]

Now, what does all this mean for the generation of us who bought into Ken Cooper’s "more aerobics is better" philosophy? Is it too late to get on the anti-aging train? Hey, we're still probably a lot better off than our college classmates who gained 60 pounds and can't walk up a flight of stairs. Sure, we may look a little older and move a little slower than we'd like, but there's still time to readjust the training to fit our DNA blueprint. Maybe just move a little slower, lift some weights, do some yoga and eat right and there's a good chance you'll maximize the quality of your remaining years… and look good doing whatever you do.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

July 30, 2007

"Hook'em Barry?"

It's not been a good off-season for the University of Oklahoma Sooners football team.

First, there was this popular entry in the Wizard of Odds' digital billboard contest.

Then, that was followed by the NCAA leveling additional sanctions on the OU program, including making the Sooners vacate their 8 wins during the 2005 season and extending the program's probation through 2010.

But the above is nothing compared to legendary Sooners head coach Barry Switzer flashing the "Hook'em Horns" sign (hat tip Jay Christensen) with Texas head coach, Mack Brown.

Or maybe Coach Switzer had something else in mind than "Hook'em Horns?"

Posted by Tom at 12:57 AM | Comments (1) |

The Wigginton deal

So, the Stros trade Dan Wheeler, the club's best relief pitcher over the past two seasons who is having a bad season this year, for Tampa Bay utilityman Ty Wigginton, who is the right-hand equivalent of the Stros' Mike Lamb. The Stros then prepare to release 3B Morgan Ensberg, who has been mired in a slump for over year, but who has far better career hitting statistics (55 RCAA/.367 OBA/.475 SLG/.843 OPS) than either Wigginton (-11/.326/.448/.774) or Lamb (-15/.339/.428/.768) and is a far better third baseman defensively than either of them. By the way, even during his prolonged slump, Ensberg's hitting (-8 RCAA) has been substantially more productive for the Stros than the hitting of other Stros' starters Craig Biggio (-31 RCAA), Adam Everett (-32 RCAA) and Brad Ausmus (-53 RCAA) over the same period of time.

Thus, absent a further trade of either Lamb or Mark Loretta for a potentially productive prospect or two, this deal is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Why is a team whose main problem is bad pitching trading one of its better pitchers for a below-average National League hitter? Wheeler, Wigginton, Lamb and Ensberg's career statistics are below the hyperlinked break. The abbreviations for the hitting stats are defined here and the same for the pitching stats are here.

Update: Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheehan agrees with my analysis ($) on the Wheeler for Wigginton deal and the give-up on Ensberg:

You got me. Rumors persist that Ensberg will be traded before his DFA period ends, but even if he is, the return won’t be much. So for Wheeler and Ensberg, the Astros get a 29-year-old infielder who runs a below-average OBP with good power and so-so defense. Mildly impressive at second base, Wigginton is just a guy at third base, and this is the first season since 2004 in which he’s outhitting Ensberg. At that, the difference this year is just 17 points of EqA. This looks more like a tantrum by the Astros than a baseball decision, their frustration with Ensberg’s injury woes and power outage getting the better of them.

Posted by Tom at 12:17 AM | Comments (3) |

Give it up, Arnie

Want a glimpse into the regulatory mindset of government?

This earlier post passed along Don Boudreaux's response to the Wall Street Journal letter-to-th editor of Arnie Celnicker, a former attorney for the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department, in which Celnicker defends the FTC's opposition to the proposed Whole Foods-Wild Oats merger (previous posts here). In an attempt to have the last word, Celnicker has written another letter-to-the editor in which he contends, in part, as follows:

We agree that consumers want more organic products, and that there has been increased investment to meet that demand. The financial markets, however, have deprived Wild Oats of the capital to compete head-on with Whole Foods. Mr. Boudreaux's assertion that this indicates Wild Oats' assets are now poorly managed, and that they would be better managed by Whole Foods, is a non sequitur.

Avoiding head-on competition with Whole Foods indicates that Whole Foods already has such market power that the risks of head-on competition are great, for Wild Oats or any other firm. It does not mean Wild Oats is poorly managed; it does show the capital market's respect for a firm, Whole Foods, with a dominant market position. Even if Wild Oats were poorly managed, it does not follow that an acquisition by Whole Foods would enhance consumer well-being. These two firms are the only two national premium natural and organic supermarkets. Surely there are others, besides Whole Foods, who can efficiently manage Wild Oats' assets, without reducing competition.

Celnicker suggests that capital markets "have deprived" Wild Oats as if the company has some entitlement to capital, and that such deprivation justifies government intervention. But if there are others who can efficiently manage Wild Oats' assets, then why did they not outbid Whole Foods for those assets?

The Wild Oats board has determined that the best value for the company's shareholders can be derived by selling to Whole Foods. Celnicker contends that the government's judgment regarding "consumer well-being" should trump the Wild Oats board's judgment on behalf of Wild Oats' shareholders. But will the government provide a safety net for the loss in value to Wild Oats' shareholders if the Wild Oats board's judgment is correct and those assets decline in value without the merger? If the government is not willing to step up and arrange alternative capital, then the value of that "consumer well-being" that Celnicker seeks to have the government protect is largely ephemeral in nature.

Posted by Tom at 12:16 AM | Comments (0) |

July 29, 2007

Tilman's bad dream

It wasn't a good end of the week for Landry's Restaurants, Inc CEO Tilman Fertitta (previous posts here).

First, there was Landry's public disclosures that the company was delinquent in its regulatory filings with the SEC and that it was in need of refinancing over $400 million in debt in a rapidly deteriorating debt market.

Those missteps led to Fertitta's public announcement on Friday that the refinancing "was no big deal," which led to the inevitable comparisons in some media circles of Landry's and Enron, and Fertitta and Donald Trump (actually, that comparison has been made before). Not surprisingly, the company's stock closed at a 52 week low on Friday ($25.43), falling almost 20% in the past week alone.

Fertitta is an easy target, but the situation is probably not as grim as it might seem at first glance. Landry's has always been a highly-leveraged company. Heck, the latest news resulted in Moody's downgrading the corporate family rating from B2 from B1, and S&P lowered its ratings on Landry's corporate credit rating to CCC from B-plus. So, it's not as if Landry's stock was blue chip even before the latest developments.

Where things appear to have gone awry is that the company decided that building stores from within wouldn't allow it to grow fast enough. Back a few years ago when Landry's was a popular growth stock, the company's casual dining seafood eateries were popular and growing quickly in generally first-rate locations. But in an attempt to accelerate that solid growth, Landry's overpaid for the high-volume Rainforest Cafe chain a few years ago and then went on to make a relatively big investment in buying and revitalizing the Golden Nugget casino in downtown Las Vegas. It looked as if Landry's had decided to pull back on its debt-loaded buying binge when it sold off its its Joe's Crab Shack chain late last year in a $192 million deal, but the company came right back a short time later to make an unsolicited offer to buy the high-end steakhouse Smith & Wollensky before being topped by a rival bidder.

As the price of Landry's stock slumped over the past several months, the company sensed value and initiated a program to buy back $87 million in stock. Nevertheless, the market did not respond all that positively to the buyback program, so the stock is still trading at a relatively small 14 times this year's profit estimates, Thus, a case can be made that Landry's is a good buy if it can extract itself from its current debt refinancing problems, but the downgrades reflect that the market is a bit skeptical regarding Fertitta's assurance that arranging such refinancing "is no big deal."

Nonetheless, this just might be the kick in the rear that Landry's needs. Building well-located and good-looking restaurants while providing solid service is how Landry's grew quickly. Paying substantially more for financing the debt necessary to buy overpriced stores may be just the way to persuade Landry's board and management that building from within wasn't such a bad strategy after all.

Posted by Tom at 12:09 AM | Comments (0) |

July 28, 2007

Rumblin' and stumblin'

Back in the late 1970's, it was 260 pound Texas A&M Wishbone fullback George Woodard.

Then, several years ago, it was 270 pound Aggie tailback JaMaar Toombs.

Now, it's 282 pound Aggie tailback Jorvorskie Lane.

What is it about over-sized running backs that fascinates the Aggies?

Posted by Tom at 12:41 AM | Comments (0) |

July 27, 2007

Steyn on the Conrad Black trial

Mark Steyn continues his excellent analysis of the criminal case against Conrad Black (prior posts here) with this lengthy piece on the trial, in which he agrees with me regarding the defense team's decision not to have Lord Black testify:

When Black declined to testify in his own defence, the result was that he was defined only by the glimpses of him permitted by the government: he was the guy who, in Alana's phrase, got the money, and sent boorish emails, and installed heated towel rails in his Park Avenue apartment. Had he been put on the stand, he would certainly have been tripped up by government lawyers in some areas, but he would have opened up others that allowed the jury to see Conrad Black as a man in full, warts and all, rather than only the warts, the unsightly carbuncles of non-compete fees and company-jet perks and a security video of a British peer taking boxes down the back stairs of a Toronto office building.

Steyn also has some choice words for the Black defense team, which he viewed as largely dysfunctional. Reading Steyn's piece along with this lengthy Adrian and Olga Stein essay (pdf) on the background of the case against Lord Black leaves one with a depressing image of how the U.S. criminal justice system is being manipulated to regulate the unpopular businessperson of the moment.

Posted by Tom at 12:20 AM | Comments (0) |

Is Landry's in trouble?

Cerberus Capital Management's decision earlier in the week to terminate its attempted sale of $12 billion in Chrysler debt underscored the quickly tightening U.S. credit markets (except on oil patch deals!), and the ripple effects are already being felt in Houston. Check out this Houston Business Journal article about Houston-based restaurant company Landry's:

Landry's Restaurants Inc. is looking for new financing to replace its current credit agreement and outstanding 7.5 percent senior unsecured notes.

The Houston-based casual dining chain operator said Wednesday that it would not be able to file its annual report for the year ended Dec. 31 because an internal review of stock option granting practices is not complete.

As a result, Landry's (NYSE: LNY) said it has been notified by U.S. Bank National Association -- the trustee of its $400 million unsecured notes -- that the unpaid principal and any interest is now due.

Landry's expects to be able to refinance the loan, but due to "the recent tightening of the credit markets," it could be under less-favorable financing terms.

The company also said it is not in compliance with a $450 million credit agreement with Wachovia Bank, National Association and other lenders. Landry's expects it can get a waiver of the covenant and does not expect Wachovia to accelerate the indebtedness of the agreement. The amount outstanding is about $97 million.

Late yesterday, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its credit ratings of Landry's and continued to place the company's ratings on negative watch because of Landry's failure to file its 10K regulatory filing with the SEC for fiscal 2006 and its 10Q for the first-quarter 2007.

H'mm.

Update: Tilman's bad dream.

Posted by Tom at 12:03 AM | Comments (0) |

Fit Nation Map

The map on the left purports to track the increase in the percentage of obese persons in the U.S. over the past 20 years. I don't know about the methodology of the statistical analysis, but the map is pretty darn cool.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

July 26, 2007

Stros 2007 Season Review, Part Five

At the quarter pole of this season, I observed the following:

Stros management, for all their declarations of trying to field a playoff contender, is really biding its time this season as Biggio trudges toward his 3,000th hit. There is simply no way that this club will be much better than a .500 ballclub with its current starting pitching staff and Biggio, Everett, Ausmus and the pitcher burdening the hitting lineup on most nights. The Stros should be honest and concede that the club is attempting to compete as well as possible while supporting Biggio's climb toward 3,000 hits and dispense with the ruse that this club, as presently configured, has any meaningful shot at the playoffs.

Well, as the Stros (44-57) have now completed 62.5% of the season (prior periodic reviews are here), Stros management has apparently embraced my suggestion. Rather than promoting the club's competitiveness, Stros management has decided to make the remainder of the season the Craig Biggio Good-Bye Tour, beginning with Bidg's well-orchestrated retirement announcement and game-winning, grand slam homer earlier in the week. Ah, the memories!

Unfortunately, when Biggio is retired and gone after this season, Stros management will have to figure out what to do next. As I have been pointing out for several years now, the ballclub has been in decline since 2001, although extraordinary pitching staff performances in 2004 and 2005 masked the decline during those two playoff seasons. But this season, the decline of the club has hit the club's traditional strength -- that is, pitching -- and the result is that the Stros may finish this season with the worst record in the National League.

Interestingly, this club's 44-57 record through 62.5% of the season is about the same as the club's record last season during the middle 60% of the season (42-55). Only good performances during the first and final 20% segments of the 2006 season allowed that club to finish two games over .500 (82-80). Now, in the first five eighth segments of this season, the Stros' record has been been consistently mediocre or worse -- 9-12, 11-9, 6-14, 8-12, and 10-10 in the most recent 20 game segment. So, the accelerating downward trend that started during the middle of last season has continued this season.

Although some folks continue to be confused about what ails the Stros, a dramatic and pervasive downturn in pitching remains the big problem. The Stros' staff -- which has been among the best in the National League over the past three seasons -- has given up 55 more runs than an average National League pitching staff would have allowed in the same number of innings (RSAA, explained here). That places the Stros staff 15th among the 16 National League teams with only the Cardinals' staff being worse, and only three Stros pitchers -- Roy Oswalt (5 RSAA/3.80 ERA), Chad Qualls (1 RSAA/3.83 ERA) and Brad Lidge (10 RSAA/1.94 ERA) -- have saved more runs this season than an average National League pitcher would have saved in the same number of innings.

Meanwhile, the Stros' hitters continue to be about National League-average (5 runs created against average, explained here), which is right in the middle (8th) of the 16 National League teams. Although National League-average in hitting is far better than the past two Stros squads achieved, it is not close to being good enough to make up for the Stros' abysmal pitching. As a result, the Stros' combined RCAA/RSAA score of -50 so far this season reflects that they continue to be a far below-average National League team.

The season statistics for the Stros to date are below, courtesy of Lee Sinins' sabermetric Complete Baseball Encyclopedia. The abbreviations for the hitting stats are defined here and the same for the pitching stats are here. The Stros active roster is here with links to each individual player's statistics:

In my most recent periodic review, I provided some background on how the Stros got to this point. Now that Stros management has conceded that this season's club is playing out the string, here's an outline for what management should do for the remainder of the season:

Preserve pitching assets. Oswalt has carried as heavy a load as any National League starter over the past six seasons. The chest muscle strain that he is currently dealing with is a clear overuse injury, and the Stros should make sure that Oswalt does not pitch that injury into a chronic condition. There is simply no good reason for the Stros not to moderate Oswalt's innings over the remainder of the season to lessen the toll on his body. Similarly, Chris Sampson (-2 RSAA/4.29 ERA) had never pitched the number of innings in a season that he has pitched to date this season, so he is a high risk of breaking down. As with Oswalt, the Stros would be smart to limit his starts over the remainder of the season, just as they should not hurry Brandon Backe back to the MLB this season in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. Finally, Lidge needs arthoscopic knee surgery to remove loose cartilage and -- absent a trade that makes sense -- the Stros should shut him down and allow him to have the surgery now so that his rehab can be completed well before next season. Lidge has never had the best pitching mechanics, so even a minor injury can cause a pitcher to adjust their mechanics, which often results in another injury that is more severe than the initial one. Pitching assets in Major League Baseball are extremely valuable and nothing would be gained by the Stros from risking damage to these assets over the the remainder of this lost season.

Develop pitching assets, but carefully. Dovetailing with the first recommendation, the Stros should undertake a concerted program during the remainder of the season to provide their young pitching talent some MLB experience. For example, Matt Albers (-6 RSAA/5.19 ERA) should be given every opportunity to establish whether he is capable of being a starting pitcher on the MLB level or whether he is destined for a Qualls-like existence in the bullpen. Similarly, farmhands such as Troy Patton, Juan Gutierrez, Chance Douglass, Felipe Paulino and Brad James should be given a taste of big league hitters to gauge their progress. None of these young pitchers are ready for extended exposure to MLB hitters, but getting their feet wet will provide important information regarding whether these are prospects who may be able to contribute in the next year or so. Trotting a washed up Woody Williams (-13 RSAA/5.03 ERA) out to the mound every fourth day for the remainder of the season doesn't reveal anything of comparable value.

Play Morgan Ensberg, Chris Burke, Jason Lane and Luke Scott every day. Each of these players has been a productive player for the Stros at one point in their careers, but each of them has also been mishanded during their time with the Stros. Ensberg's situation is explained here, while Burke and Lane have been blocked (see also here) by the Stros' indulgence of Biggio. Similarly, Scott has been yo-yoed in right field this season while fighting nagging injuries despite the fact he remains one of the half-dozen hitters on the club who has generated a positive RCAA this season. The only way that to tell what a big league player is likely to produce in the future is to give an extended period of day-to-day playing time (and, in Burke's case, at the position he is best suited to play). These three players deserve that opportunity. With nothing to lose and Hunter Pence's injury keeping him out for the next six weeks or so, let's see what these players can do in an extended, undisturbed period of play.

Trade judiciously. As noted here, the Stros overall legacy of trades is not exactly encouraging. Moreover, it's far easier to add to that legacy than to pull off one of those one-sided Larry Anderson-for-Jeff Bagwell deals. Nevertheless, the Stros do have a number of players who could be useful for a contending team down the stretch. Right now, this season's trading market appears to be a buyer's market with contending teams being relunctant to part with young MLB prospects for proven talent that can help down the stretch of a playoff drive. The Stros don't need any more average-to-below average big league players, so I'd prefer that Stros management hold out and take a flyer on some young prospects with a problem or two who nonetheless have the potential to bloom as Pence did while shooting through the minors.

It wasn't that long ago that Stros management was building around a what appeared to be a solid core group of young players developed within the Stros organization consisting of starting pitchers Oswalt, Carlos Hernandez, Wade Miller and Tim Redding, and emerging hitters Lance Berkman and Richard Hidalgo. Unfortunately, only Oswalt and Berkman were able to make it through the rigors of Major League competition to emerge as bonafide stars and, as noted here earlier, the Stros did not do a good job of choosing and developing talent during the five year period of 1998-2002 to replace the players who did not blossom into consistent above-average players. With this season's club bottoming out with one of the worst records in MLB, it's high time for the club's management to begin the hard work of developing a new core of young players to take the baton from the Biggio-Bagwell era, the most successful period in the history of the ballclub. A fan base now accustomed to a long period of overall success expects nothing less.

After hosting the Padres (54-46) in a four game set over this weekend, the Stros go on the road to play the Braves (54-47) and the Marlins (48-53) to start August before returning home to meet the NL Central leaders, the Cubs (53-46) and Brewers (56-45) in the second week of next month. Look for the next periodic review in mid-August or so.

Posted by Tom at 7:54 AM | Comments (4) |

Don't mess with Mickelson

I've never had the opportunity to meet Phil Mickelson, but my sense from this episode and others that I've heard and read about lead me to believe that he's a good and fun-loving guy. In addition, Philly Mick is apparently quite a practical joker.

Veteran Sports Illustrated golf correspondent Chris Lewis has just come out with an entertaining book about life on the PGA Tour entitled The Scoreboard Always Lies: A Year Behind the Scenes on the PGA Tour (Free Press 2007) and, in this interview about the book, Lewis passes along the following anecdote about Mickelson:

We were in Akron last year, and Phil was playing with Aaron Baddeley. Their group comes off on Friday (I think it was Friday), and all the sudden, these Akron cops come over, grab Aaron’s caddie, Pete Bender, and drag him into a police car.

Pete, of course, has been around forever, and has seen it all – he used to caddie for Greg Norman, put in a bunch of years with Rocco Mediate, and so forth.

But now, after this round in Akron, the cops take him away, and he has no idea what’s going on. Turns out that years before, during a practice round in Maui (probably the last time Phil played the Mercedes), Pete had set a couple of snails down on the seat of Phil’s golf cart (they use carts during practice rounds there), and Phil of course sat on them. So years go by, and Phil never forgets.

Finally, last year in Akron, Pete winds up in the back of that squad car, and the cops tell him, “Mr. Bender, you’re here because of an outstanding warrant on a violation of a Hawaiian ordinance against cruelty to mollusks.”

Phil had set the whole thing up. He’s just standing there about fifty feet away, laughing his head off, while Pete’s in the police car scared out of his wits.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

The Kelleher legacy

Mitch Schnurman asks outgoing Southwest Airlines chairman and former CEO Herb Kelleher how he wants to be remembered:

"That I consumed more Wild Turkey and cigarettes than anybody else in the industry," he quipped to reporters last week, after announcing that this would be his last year as chairman of Southwest Airlines.

As Schnurman notes, Kelleher's fun-loving response dramatically underplays the revolutionary impact that this remarkable leader had on air travel, which he made affordable for millions of new air travelers. Read Schnurman's fine column on Kelleher, which includes this beaut of an anecdote on why Kelleher agreed to the Wright Amendment:

My favorite memory of Kelleher was in late 2005, when the debate over the Wright Amendment was intensifying and moving to Washington. In the Senate hearing room, he lived up to the moment, saying that he had agreed to the 1979 Wright law in the same way the Germans accepted the end of World War I.

"In other words," he told the senators, "with a gun to my head."

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) |

July 25, 2007

Good news for Dr. Pou

An old saying in criminal defense circles is that a prosecutor could persuade a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich if the prosecutor is inclined to do so.

Fortunately, that was not the case in regard to former Houston area resident, Dr. Anna Pou (previous posts here). Dr. Pou served on the faculty of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston from 1997-2004, where she was the Director of the Division of Head and Neck Surgery from 1999 to 2004. Kevin, M.D. has been doing a good job of tracking developments and comments regarding the case against Dr. Pou, and here is the link to the website that has been established to help raise funds for Dr. Pou's defense.

Following on this recent post on developments in Dr. Pou's case, a New Orleans Parish grand jury today declined to indict Dr. Pou for second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of several elderly patients in the horrifying aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The decision ends a two-year long criminal investigation into Dr. Pou's heroic treatment of patients at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans, which was turned into a sweltering, powerless hellhole on Aug. 29, 2005 when the levees failed after the hurricane. Inasmuch as the hospital was not evacuated until several days after the storm, 24 out of 55 elderly and infirm patients died.

The case against this distinguished academic had all the earmarks of a political lynch mob from the beginning. It became quickly apparent that Dr. Pou's arrest was the result of the highly questionable accusations of three employees of LifeCare Hospitals, the company that owned the hospital and whose top administrator and medical director didn't even show up at the hospital during those chaotic days after Katrina. Inasmuch as the accusing LifeCare employees made no effort to evacuate the elderly and sick patients before or after the hurricane, it quickly became clear to any reasonably objective observor that they were attempting to divert attention (and perhaps prosecution) from their own appalling inaction.

But the facts didn't matter to an elderly Louisiana attorney general named Charles Foti, who had campaigned on a plank of "cracking down on abuse of the elderly." Foti engineered the arrest of Dr. Pou and two of her nurses while publicly referring to them as murderers, a charge that he repeated in an episode of 60 Minutes several months later. Although Dr. Pou's lawyer had told Foti that she would surrender to authorities if an arrest warrant were issued for her, Foti had his investigators arrest Dr. Pou and haul her into Orleans Parish Prison on the evening of July 17, 2006, where she was booked on four counts of second-degree murder. Thankfully, the decision on whether to prosecute Dr. Pou was not Foti's, but that of New Orleans District Attorney Eddie Jordan and the local grand jury, which was undoubtedly persuaded by the New Orleans coronor's report that earlier this year concluded that no compelling evidence of homocide existed. But that did not stop Jordan from recently granting immunity to the two nurses who were charged with Dr. Pou in an effort to induce them to testify against Dr. Pou before the grand jury. Sheesh!

So, when does the investigation of the public officials begin who were responsible for attempting to organize this lynch mob?

Posted by Tom at 12:14 AM | Comments (1) |

A bully exposed

As noted in this post from a couple of weeks ago, more than a few folks are not losing any sleep over the fact that former crusading state attorney general and current New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is having trouble getting along with with his new playmates in Albany.

But now things are getting even more interesting. According to a report issued yesterday by Andrew Cuomo, Spitzer's successor as New York AG (and perhaps as governor sooner than we thought), Spitzer's aides used the state police to gather information about whether Spitzer’s chief political rival, Joseph Bruno, improperly used state-owned aircraft for political purposes. To make matters worse, when the improper use of state police was revealed, Spitzer’s communications director, Darren Dopp, concocted a false story as to why the aides sought the information. Although the Cuomo report concluded that the aides’ conduct was “not unlawful,” Spitzer suspended Dopp and conceded at a press conference that his administration had “grossly mishandled” the situation. And all this occurred despite the fact that Cuomo's report was not thoroughly prepared.

Spitzer has a lot of experience in the area of "grossly mishandling" situations. OpinionJounal notes the same thing.

The irony of Spitzer's plight has generated quite a few entertaining blog post titles around the blogosphere, the best of which are Ellen Podgor's (she of "Busted for Yoga" fame) "Spitzer Spitzered" and Nathan Koppel's "Spitzer Schadenfreude." Seems as if Spitzer is redefining the bully pulpit.

Posted by Tom at 12:11 AM | Comments (1) |

"Pulling a Mackey"

Overstock.com's CEO Patrick Byrne is already a controversial character in business circles over his dubious demonization of shorting (earlier posts here and here) and his rather bizarre handling of Wall Street conference calls. But as this Gary Weiss post explains, Bryne has now outdone himself -- he's "pulled a Mackey."

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

July 24, 2007

Steyn on reforming the criminal justice system

Canadian Mark Steyn's experience in blogging the Conrad Black trial gives him an interesting perspective in proposing several common sense reforms for the federal criminal justice system, most of which have been addressed in this blog over the years:

1) An end to the near universal reliance on plea bargains, a feature unknown to most other countries in the Common Law tradition. [. . .]

2) An end to the reliance on technical charges such as "mail fraud" and "wire fraud", whereby you're convicted not for the crime itself but for sending a letter or authorizing a bank transfer in the course of said crime. [. . .]

3) An end to the process advantages American prosecutors have accumulated over the years - such as the ability to seize a defendant's funds and assets and deprive him of the means to hire good lawyers and rebut the charges. Or to take another example: Unlike the Crown in Commonwealth countries, in closing arguments to the jury the US government gets to go first and - after a response from the defence - last. This is an offence against the presumptions of English law: The prosecutor makes his accusation, the accused answers them. Every civilized legal system allows the defendant the last word.

4) An end to countless counts. In this case, Conrad Black was charged originally with 14 crimes. That tends, through sheer weight of numbers, to favour a conviction on some counts and acquittal on others as being a kind of "moderate" "considered" "judicious" "compromise" that reasonable persons can all agree on. [. . .]

5) An end to statute creep. One of the ugliest features of American justice is the way that laws designed to address very particular situations are allowed to metastasize and be applied to anything a prosecutor fancies. The RICO statute was supposed to be for mobsters and racketeers. Conrad Black is not a racketeer but he was nevertheless charged with racketeering. [. . .]

6) An end to de facto double jeopardy. Conrad Black is likely to wind up back in court to go through all the stuff he's been acquitted of one mo' time, this time in a Securities and Exchange Commission case. That would be a civil case, not a criminal one, and the US Attorney insists that the SEC is an entirely separate body. Oh, come on. The US Attorney and the SEC are both agencies of the US Government. They work in synchronicity. It's not the same as Nicole Brown's family suing OJ after the state's murder case flopped. In this instance, two arms of the same organization are bringing separate cases on exactly the same matters. That's double jeopardy - or, in fact, given the zealousness of the SEC, triple and quadruple jeopardy.

Steyn expands on these points, so read the entire post. And here is another proposed reform that should be added to the list.

Posted by Tom at 12:25 AM | Comments (1) |

Belly putters as Segways

For the first three days of this year's British Open, Sergio Garcia used his new belly putter to sink seemingly every crucial putt to take a three-stroke lead into the final round. Through five holes of the final round, Garcia's new-found putting stroke continued as he extended his lead to four strokes. But then, as Lawrence Donegan of The Guardian reports, the wheels of Garcia's putting stroke suddenly careened into the nearest burn:

The first glimmer that the procession was heading for a few detours came on par-five 6th when he missed a four-foot putt for birdie, then barely holed the one coming back for par. The scores on the boards remained the same but the mood music had changed, from steady march to jazzy stagger. A poor approach shot to the back of the 7th green ended up costing him a shot and he dropped another at the next when he missed an eight-foot putt for par.

Which brings us to the best line that I've seen describing the probable result of Garcia's fourth round putting collapse:

To [Garcia's] credit he made a par at the next but, when he missed another short one on the 10th, shares in belly putters went the way of the Segway scooter.

By the way, my bet is that it's just a matter of Garcia becoming comfortable with his belly putter before he wins a major tournament. He is a simply too good a ball-striker not to win at least one.

Also, did you notice how much more entertaining the British Open was in comparison to this year's U.S. Open?

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Debt really is cheaper than equity

Dealmaking in Houston is as hot as the downtown pavement these days. Last week it was the Plains-Pogo deal, and this week local offshore drilling firms Transocean Inc. and GlobalSantaFe Corp. are proposing an $18 billion merger deal that will create the largest offshore drilling contractor by a mile. The new company will have a market capitalization of $52 billion and will have a 145-rig fleet, which is more than twice as many rigs as the fleet of the next largest competitor.

The deal comes amidst an unprecedented period for deep sea drilling contractors. With crude-oil and natural gas prices maintaining at historically high levels, exploration and production companies have been willing to pay top dollar to be able to tap reserves that often are often deep under the ocean. As a result, offshore drilling contractors are enjoying intense demand for deepwater rigs, which has increased lease rentals dramatically. Not surprisingly, the stock prices of most of the publicly-owned drilling contractors have been soaring for the past year or so.

Transocean, which is the much larger company (a $32 billion market cap to GlobalSantaFe's $17 billion), is actually the acquiring company in the merger. Transocean shareholders will end up with around 66% in the combined company, while GlobalSantaFe shareholders will end up with the other 34%. But the really interesting aspect of the deal is that the merged company is going to borrow a cool $15 billion (Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers are handling that debt vehicle) to spread among the shareholders of the two companies even as debt offerings generally are being downsized in most other markets. The merged company will use its first two years of free cash flow to reduce that debt.

Thus, the bottom line is that the companies are borrowing $15 billion, giving it to their shareholders, and then will take advantage of the hot drilling market to pay the money back quite quickly out of cash flow. Why not just use the cash flow over the next several years and give that to shareholders? Not sure, but I suspect that the structure of the deal will save the merged company a boatload of taxes over the next several years.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

July 23, 2007

Dalrymple on Tony Blair

The recent resignation of U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair provides an opportunity for British psychiatrist and author, Anthony Daniels (who writes under the pen name of Theodore Dalrymple), to provide this interesting early appraisal of the Blair years:

There undoubtedly were things to be grateful for during the Blair years. His support for American policy in Iraq won him much sympathy in the U.S., of course. He was often eloquent in defense of liberty. And under Mr. Blair's leadership, Britain enjoyed 10 years of uninterrupted economic growth, leaving large parts of the country prosperous as never before. London became one of the world's richest cities, vying with New York to be the global economy's financial center. Mr. Blair did inherit a strapping economy from his predecessor, and he left its management more or less to the man who succeeds him, Gordon Brown. Still, unlike previous Labour prime ministers, he did not preside over an economic crisis: in itself, something to be proud of.

But how history will judge him overall, and whether it will absolve him (to adapt slightly a phrase coined by a famous, though now ailing, Antillean dictator), is another matter [. . .]

Tony Blair was the perfect politician for an age of short attention spans. What he said on one day had no necessary connection with what he said on the following day: and if someone pointed out the contradiction, he would use his favorite phrase, "It's time to move on," as if detecting contradictions in what he said were some kind of curious psychological symptom in the person detecting them.

Many have surmised that there was an essential flaw in Mr. Blair's makeup that turned him gradually from the most popular to the most unpopular prime minister of recent history. The problem is to name that essential flaw. As a psychiatrist, I found this problem peculiarly irritating (bearing in mind that it is always highly speculative to make a diagnosis at a distance). But finally, a possible solution arrived in a flash of illumination. Mr. Blair suffered from a condition previously unknown to me: delusions of honesty.

Check out the entire op-ed. It's worth the time.

Posted by Tom at 12:20 AM | Comments (0) |

Dr. Pou's defense goes on the offensive

The state's threat to prosecute Dr. Anna M. Pou for murder is a sad reflection of the incompetence in the Louisiana state government that permeated the preparations for and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. After almost two years now of legal limbo, Dr. Pou's defense team is fighting back:

Dr. Anna Pou - the physician arrested in the deaths of four patients at a New Orleans hospital after Hurricane Katrina - filed suit against the Louisiana Attorney General on Monday, accusing him of using her arrest to fuel his re-election bid.

The suit, filed in state court in Baton Rouge, also seeks to force the state to provide a legal defense for Pou against civil lawsuits filed by families of three of the patients.

Last year, State Attorney General Charles Foti claimed Pou and two nurses killed four people with a ‘‘lethal cocktail'' at Memorial Medical Center during the chaotic conditions after the August 2005 storm. The four were among at least 34 who died at the sweltering, flooded hospital in the days following Katrina. Pou, who is free on bond, has not been formally charged. A New Orleans grand jury is looking into the case.

Foti had Pou arrested, ‘‘called an international press conference the next day to announce the arrest, made extra judicial comments totally contrary to the Rules of Professional Responsibility, and culminated the week's activity with an attorney general fund raiser to showcase his ‘achievements' in the arrest of Dr. Pou and the two nurses,'' the suit says.

Foti was not immediately available for comment . . .

Go Dr. Pou!

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

The latest point shaving scandal

With the news from Friday that just-resigned National Basketball Association referee Tim Donaghy bet on NBA games that he officiated over the past couple of seasons, we have been deluged with media predictions over the weekend that the "integrity of the game" has been compromised and that this is a huge problem for the NBA.

Frankly, my reaction was quite similar to that of Captain Renault's in Casablanca after the Nazis ordered him to close down Rick's -- "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!" (exclaimed while picking up his winnings).

In short, I don't think the fact that an NBA referee was on the take will affect the entertainment value of the NBA one iota, and Dave Berri's Sports Economist post explains why. My sense is that the biggest problem that the NBA will face in this entire episode is (1) explaining why the league office did not suspend Donaghy when it learned that he had a gambling problem and was somewhat of a loose cannon, and (2) if Donaghy, in an effort to obtain a more favorable sentence, starts fingering other point shaving referees. But as this NY Times article explains, NBA referees are already monitored closely, so the risk that a widespread point shaving problem exists among referees is unlikely.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

July 22, 2007

"Hook'em what?"

This Washington Post article reports on a U.S. Joint Forces Command commissioned Rand Corp. study that examines how U.S. credibility is often undermined when American media images are misinterpreted in foreign countries. Supporters of the University of Oklahoma and Texas A&M University will be happy to learn that the picture on the left of President Bush and others flashing the University of Texas' famous "Hook'em Horns" gesture was used as one of the study's examples, with the following description:

Background: President Bush makes a "hook'em horns" gesture familiar to University of Texas fans during the 2005 inaugural parade.

Rand Commentary: "Unfortunately, that particular gesture is not unique to Texas, and it carries different meanings elsewhere in the world. Norwegians seeing the image were shocked to see the president of the United States making the 'Sign of the devil.' Mediterranean viewers and those in parts of Central and South America . . . saw the president indicating that someone's wife was unfaithful."

Also looks like excellent material for the Marching Owl Band's halftime performance during Rice's September 22nd game against UT. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:09 AM | Comments (1) |

July 21, 2007

The Stros' legacy of bad trades

This earlier post explored the possibility that Stros management got snookered in the trade for pitcher Jason Jennings because of possible undisclosed arm problems. After serving a stint on the disabled list with elbow inflammation earlier this season, Jennings has come back to pitch sport a 4.76 ERA in 70 innings, which means that Jennings has given up 5 more runs than an average National League pitcher would have given up in the same number of innings (RSAA, explained here). To top off this uninspiring season-long performance, Jennings gave up 7 earned runs in 5 innings in his last outing against the hapless Nationals (40-55). That prompted the following observation from Baseball Prospectus ($) injury expert, Will Carroll:

"He's done," the source told me after watching Jason Jennings pitch [against the Nationals]. A very knowledgeable man that I trust on pitching, he thinks that Jennings' shoulder is "catching," reducing his velocity and changing his mechanics enough to reduce movement. He also doesn't believe that Jennings made any improvement after a DL stint, implying that there's more going on inside the arm. Jennings' results back up this assertion, and point to perhaps another period on the DL in the near future. With Jennings' impending free agency, it will be curious how the Astros handle this. Will they acknowledge their trade for Jennings didn't work, or will they try to get whatever they can from him in a season that's lost?

Thus, the trade for Jennings -- which was a reasonable risk at the time -- is not turning out well. At least the Stros can take solace in the fact that they didn't give up much in the trade -- all three of the players that the Stros gave up (pitchers Jason Hirsh and Taylor Buchholz, and centerfielder Willy Taveras) have been below-average so far during their Major League careers and none of them is above-average this season.

Nevertheless, many Stros fans -- apparently confused by the club's poor play this sesaon -- think the Jennings deal was a horrible trade. Earlier this week, I even heard a host of one of the ubiquitous sports talk shows on Houston's radio landscape -- a barren wasteland of insightful thought with the exception of Charlie Pallilo and a couple of others -- predict that "the Jennings trade will go down as one of the worst trades in Stros history."

Come on. The radio host apparently did not take the time to review the Stros' extraordinary legacy of bad trades:

1971: The Stros traded secondbaseman Joe Morgan in the prime of his career, pitcher Jack Billingham, shortstop Denis Menke, and outfielders Cesar Geronimo and Ed Armbrister to Cincinnati for firstbaseman Lee May, secondbaseman Tommy Helms and utility infielder Jimmy Stewart. Morgan cemented his Hall of Fame career with the Reds, while Billingham and Geronimo were also solid contributors in the Reds' World Series teams of the 1970's. For many years, this trade set the standard by which bad trades in Major League Baseball were compared.

1969: The Stros traded slugging outfielder Rusty Staub in the prime of his career to Montreal for Jesus Alou and Donn Clendenon. When Clendenon refused to report, Houston agreed to take pitchers Jack Billingham and Skip Guinn instead. The Stros did not have another hitter the caliber of Staub for over 20 years until Jeff Bagwell joined the club in 1991. Clendenon went on to help the Mets win the 1969 World Series.

1992: The Stros traded 24-year old pitcher Curt Schilling to Philadelphia for pitcher Jason Grimsley. Schilling went on to become one of the best starting pitchers of the following 15 year era and saved his teams 345 more runs over that period than an average National League pitcher would have saved during that time pitching the same number of innings.

1991: The Stros traded 24-year old centerfielder Kenny Lofton and infielder Dave Rohde to Cleveland for catcher Eddie Taubensee and pitcher Willie Blair. Over the past 16 seasons, Lofton has generated 234 more runs than an average National League player would have created over that span using the same number of outs as Lofton. Just to rub it in, the now 40-year old Lofton had his best series of the season several weeks ago against the Stros while playing with the Rangers.

1994: The Stros traded thirdbaseman Ken Caminiti, centerfielder Steve Finley, shortstop Andujar Cedeno, firstbaseman Roberto Petagine and pitchers Brian Williams and Sean Fesh to San Diego for outfielder Derek Bell, pitcher Doug Brocail, shortstop Ricky Gutierrez, pitcher Pedro Martinez (no, not that Pedro Martinez) outfielder Phil Plantier and infiedler Craig Shipley. Caminiti proceeded to become one of the best sluggers in the National League over the next four seasons with the Padres, while Finley has been a well above-average centerfielder for the past 13 seasons. On the other hand, Bell in 1999 had one of the worst seasons by an outfielder in Stros history by generating 32 fewer runs than an average National League player would have created using the same number of outs as Bell used.

1968: The Stros traded starting pitcher Mike Cuellar to Baltimore for Curt Blefary and John Mason. Cuellar went on to have a career season for the Orioles in 1969 (41 RSAA) and was a dominant starter for the O's for the following five seasons. Blefary played one average season for the Stros before they traded him to the Yankees.

1971: The Stros traded 23 year old slugging firstbaseman John Mayberry and Dave Grangaard to Kansas City for pitchers Lance Clemons and Jim York. Over the next four seasons, Mayberry had the most productive stretch of his career as he generated 175 more runs during those seasons than an average National League player would have created using the same number of outs as Mayberry.

1998: The Stros traded SS Carlos Guillen and pitchers Freddy Garcia and John Halama to the Mariners for Randy Johnson. Johnson gave the Stros what they wanted -- an ERA of 1.28 in 11 stretch-drive starts and a 1.93 ERA in two NLDS starts. But the Stros lost in the NLDS and Johnson signed with the Dbacks the next season. Guillen went on to become a three-time All-Star, Garcia, who won 117 games over the following nine seasons and Halama was a National League-league pitcher over the next eight seasons. This marked the beginning of the decline in the Stros' farm system that now ranks as one of the worst in MLB.

If Hirsh, Buchholz or Taveras turns into a star player, then maybe the Jennings deal will be included among these truly horrid Stros trades. But until then, the Jennings trade will remain simply a reasonable risk that did not work out.

Posted by Tom at 12:18 AM | Comments (5) |

July 20, 2007

The University of Wisconsin at The Woodlands?

Not satisfied with hammering high schools in the Midwest, the University of Wisconsin is now demanding (see also here) that my local high school football team -- The Woodlands High School Highlanders -- change the "W" insignia on the high school's helmets because it allegedly violates Wisconsin's trademark on the "W" that the university has used on its football helmests since 1990. Apparently, the university has turned these types of demands into a sort of cottage industry as there are now 40 similar infringement cases pending in 26 different states.

Jeffrey Standen explains why this is such a waste of time.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) |

A Wells Notice bouquet?

When the Securities and Exchange Commission sends you a Wells Notice, that's not usually considered a positive development. It means that the SEC Enforcement staff has decided that sufficient evidence and cause exists to file an enforcement lawsuit, usually seeking civil penalties, disgorgement of proceeds from stock sales and almost always bans from serving as an officer or director of a public company.

Under SEC guidelines, a target of a Wells Notice may respond directly to the SEC Commissioners by submitting what is know as a "Wells Submission," but doing so is a dicey proposition. The Commissioners almost always defer to the Enforcement Division's recommendation on whether to pursue an enforcement action, so filing a Wells Submission is essentially providing the Enforcement Division an outline of the target's defense. Moreover, a Wells Submission is neither privileged nor confidential, so anything in the submission can be used against the target in further proceedings with the SEC or in related civil or criminal proceedings.

Thus, with that backdrop, get a load of the way in which Interpublic Group describes the receipt of a Wells Notice in a recent press release, as this footnoted.org post reports:

[J]udging by the press release that Interpublic Group (IPG) put out this morning, you’d think that getting a Wells notice from the SEC was something to celebrate. Indeed, the idea that responding is not voluntary is missing from the release. Instead, Interpublic describes it as an "invite" and calls it as another step in the settlement process.

The spin doesn’t end there. The release goes on to quote Chairman and CEO Michael Roth, who notes that "Given our understanding of new procedures at the SEC, this development is not unanticipated and we believe that it moves us a step closer to resolution in this matter."

Heck, based on this logic, an indictment related to the company's activities would be cause for a big party.

Posted by Tom at 12:02 AM | Comments (0) |

July 19, 2007

Talk about a misleading P.R. campaign

Get a load of this press release (hat tip Ellen Podgor) from the Department of Justice heralding the five year anniversary of the DOJ's Corporate Fraud Task Force. Here is the press release's description of the Task Force's accomplishments in connection with its investigation into the demise of Enron:

Criminal charges were brought against 36 defendants, including 27 former Enron Corporation executives. Eighteen of those charged pleaded guilty or were found guilty after trial, including Enron�s former chief executive officer, who was sentenced to 292 months in prison. The guilty verdicts against the former chairman/CEO in two cases were dismissed by abatement following his death. The Task Force seized over $100 million in ill-gotten gains and the Department of Justice worked jointly with the Securities and Exchange Commission to obtain orders directing the recovery of more than $450 million for the victims of the Enron frauds.

What parallel universe are these people living in? Here is the harsh reality of the Task Force's legacy in regard to the Enron criminal cases:

The Enron Task Force procured a deeply flawed conviction that put the nail in the coffin of one of the oldest and most respected U.S. accounting firms, costing tens of thousands of jobs in communities and wealth loss to individuals throughout the nation. Later, the head of the Task Force expressed an appallingly arrogant "end justifies the means" regarding the wrongful prosecution of Andersen and other Enron-related cases;

Then, the Task Force ruthlessly ruined the careers of four respected former Merrill Lynch executives and sent them to prison for a year before the Fifth Circuit overturned that atrocity. That prosecution included a disingenuous market loss argument in connection with the sentencings of the four executives, an argument that contradicted the Justice Department's position at the time in a case involving the same issue that was pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

After two trials, the Task Force finally obtained a conviction against former Enron Broadband executive Kevin Howard, only to have that conviction tossed out (the Task Force is appealing that decision). After the latter trial, the Task Force characterized as "harmless error" strong evidence of misconduct during jury deliberations.

For the past two years, Task Force lawyers have been attempting to patch something together to make a case against Howard's former co-defendants in the Enron Broadband case that the Task Force has already lost once. In connection with the first Enron Broadband trial, the Task Force's threatened two defense witnesses (here and here) in an attempt to induce them not to testify, elicited false testimony from former Enron executive Ken Rice, the Task Force's key witness in that trial, and a Task Force prosecutor violated the judge's instruction during trial not to question witnesses on certain subjects.

The Fifth Circuit -- even before the appeal briefs have been filed -- has opined that "serious frailties" exist in the conviction of former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling (see also here), and the stress associated with mounting a defense to the Task Force's questionable case against former Enron chairman Ken Lay almost certainly contributed to his death.

Serious questions remain as the validity of the Task Force's controversial prosecution of the NatWest Three (see also here), an ordeal that is now entering its fifth year for those defendants.

The Task Force obtained a highly dubious indictment against former Enron mid-level executive Christopher Calger (the prosecutor handling the plea bargain hearing could not even articulate Calger's crime to the judge who took the plea), and Calger's later renunciation of the plea deal exposed several dirty secrets of the Task Force, particularly the bludgeoning of former Enron executives into plea bargains.

The Task Force engaged in a highly prejudicial and inflammatory public relations campaign demonizing anyone and anything having to do with Enron.

The Task Force engaged in a dubious tactic of fingering potential defense witnesses as either unindicted co-conspirators or targets of the Enron criminal investigation to deter those witnesses from testifying for defendants in the Enron criminal trials. Strong evidence exists that the Task Force threatened witnesses with indictment (see also here and here) if they testified for the defense in the Lay-Skilling trial.

The Task Force's tactics have had a negative impact on such fundamental rights as the attorney-client privilege, the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial, not to speak of the negative effect on creation of wealth and jobs.

Meanwhile, as noted earlier here and here, many of the Task Force lawyers who contributed to making this mess have moved on to lucrative careers outside of government.

In light of the foregoing, rather than extolling the Corporate Fraud Task Force's accomplishments, wouldn't it be a more productive exercise to examine the cost of the Task Force and its actions relative to the value of its benefits?

Posted by Tom at 12:20 AM | Comments (1) |

Hope for the Texans?

Despite my earlier reservations, the Michael Vick debacle actually provides some hope for the Houston Texans' draft strategy:

In 2000, [the San Diego Chargers] stunk. Fan apathy grew like dandelions. The Chargers had gone 1-15, almost impossible in the modern-day NFL. Ryan Leaf was their starting quarterback, fading away like bad smoke, soon to get into coaching (of all things). They needed oomph. They needed star quality. They needed box office.

The quarterback situation was beyond dismal. So, what did they do? They didn't take my advice (as usual), which was, in 2001, to draft electric Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick. That's why I'm a sportswriter, not Lombardi.

But they almost took Vick. They came this close. So the worst team in the NFL sent its No. 1 overall pick to Atlanta for the fifth selection, who turned out to be just a guy, a someone, a nice fellow, a tailback named LaDainian Tomlinson, who has scored 111 touchdowns and thrown for six more since that fateful day.

LT now owns San Diego. Vick now owns a set of tremendous problems. He makes Leaf look like Johnny Unitas.

Read the entire column. The Chargers are now one of the elite teams in the NFL, while the Falcons are trolling quickly to the bottom. Maybe that Texans 2006 draft wasn't so bad after all.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Dissecting the expanding realm of white collar prosecutions

Over at Point of Law.com, Moin Yahya, Assistant Professor of Law Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta, is dissecting the prosecution against Conrad Black (earlier posts here) in a series of posts, the first two of which are here and here. Unless you are in favor of the expansion of federal criminal power, his findings are troubling. Take, for example, the obstruction of justice charge against Lord Black:

One of the charges that the prosecution added against Black was obstruction of justice. This charge was added at the last minute and was not in the initial indictment. The charge related to the fact that Black removed boxes of documents from the offices of Hollinger Inc. (which was the parent company of Hollinger International the American company based in Chicago). The order not to remove the boxes had been issued by a Canadian judge in Toronto. (As an aside, wouldn’t a simple contempt of court charge have sufficed?)

What jurisdiction did the United States have over Black for an event that took place on foreign soil? Putting aside the question of whether the prosecution already had these documents, so it is not clear that his removal obstructed any investigation; the more important and troubling aspect of this case is the creeping federalization of American law not just inside the United States but abroad. [. . .]

But now, will Congress seek to regulate the conduct of Americans and American corporations all over the world? . . . [A]s we have seen before, the courts cannot seem to find that magic bright line to constrain Congress . . . Today Congress regulates sex tourism, truly a noble cause, but tomorrow what else will it decide on. Will it outlaw dog-fighting in foreign lands? Will Congress criminalize paying workers in developing countries less than the minimum wage in the United States? Will Congress criminalize not following the mandates of Sarbanes-Oxley even if the American company is only listed on a foreign exchange? What then will be the result? The answer depends on your view of whether federalism is good or bad. If the growth of Congressional power concerns you, then these latest cases should cause you more concern; if not, then not.

Update: Professor Yahya's third segment is here.

By the way, it sounds as if Houston business executive and philanthropist Dan Duncan is getting a dose of what Professor Yahya is talking about:

A 2002 big game hunting trip in Siberia could bring big trouble for Houston billionaire Dan Duncan.

The 74-year-old founder of pipeline giant Enterprise Products Partners may face criminal charges following his appearance Wednesday before a grand jury in Houston, where he answered questions about the trip he and other hunters took with Russian guides.

During the trip, Duncan shot and killed a moose and a sheep while riding in a helicopter, a practice Duncan said he did not know was illegal in Russia. Neither animal was considered endangered, he said.

Russian officials were aware of the hunting expedition — Duncan's attorney Rusty Hardin said the guide on the trip is now a top official with the Russian Federation's hunting licensing agency — but there were no complaints or charges filed in that country.

Hardin said prosecutors from Washington, D.C., may use the Lacey Act, a 107-year-old law designed to prevent the interstate and international trafficking of rare plants and animals, to bring felony criminal charges against Duncan. If found guilty he could face jail time, Hardin said.

"What the hell is the U.S. interest in bringing felony charges here for hunting on Russian soil, where not one single person has complained?" Hardin said Wednesday. "Is this really the best use of our prosecutorial resources?"

Read the entire article.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

July 18, 2007

Another Tiger Tale

As we watch Tiger Woods pursue his 13th major championship this weekend at the British Open, it's worth reminding ourselves that we are blessed to be able to watch the best golfer in history. CBS golf commetator David Feherty, who often walks with Woods while covering tournaments, passes along this anecdote in a recent interview:

"People have accused me of being so far up Tiger’s arse that he can barely make a full swing, but I maintain that he is a special person."

"There’s no one else on the planet who can do what he does or even think of doing what he does. I’ve often thought, instead of showing Tiger’s reaction to a shot he’s hit, we really should show the reaction of those around him.”

"But here is the next best thing. I’m walking down the 18th fairway at Firestone Country Club with Ernie Els and Tiger, who has popped up a three-wood about 40 yards behind Ernie into some wet, nasty, horrible, six-inch rough."

"Tiger’s cursing and taking clumps out of Ohio with his three-wood. And, of course, we’re not showing this on TV because we want to be able to interview him later. Ernie and I walk past Tiger’s ball, and it is truly buried."

“Ernie is tied with Tiger and he’s in the middle of the fairway. I’m standing with Ernie and my microphone is open. Ken Venturi [in the CBS booth] sends it to me and I say, ‘Tiger’s got 184 yards with two big red oaks overhanging the green. He’s got absolutely nothing. With a stick of dynamite and a sand wedge I might be able to move this ball 50 yards. Steve Williams [Woods’ caddie] tells me [with a hand signal] that he’s using a pitching wedge.’"

"Tiger takes his swing. Every muscle in his body is flung at the ball. It looks like he’s torn his nutsack. The divot went as far as I could hit the ball. I’ve got my microphone at my mouth thinking, what the hell was that! The ball sails over the trees, lands behind the hole and backs up to a bout six feet from the flag. I open my microphone and Ernie turns and says, ‘F*** me!’"

"My producer comes on in my earpiece and says, ‘Was that Ernie?’ I say yes. He says, ‘Fair enough.’"

"I could have described that shot for 15 minutes and not done as good a job as Ernie did with two words. This is one of the best players in the world talking, and you wanna know how good Tiger is? Ask Ernie Els."

Posted by Tom at 12:48 AM | Comments (0) |

Dissecting the Stros' woes

The Stros (40-54) won last night for the first time in five games since the All-Star Break, which has put the club in contention for the worst record in Major League Baseball this season. That performance prompted Baseball Prospectus to provide this "what's busted" capsule summary ($) of the Stros' woes:

What's Busted? Organizational decision-making. Whether it's putting Craig Biggio's goal ahead of the ballclub's fortunes, or Phil Garner's fickle relationship with Lidge, or unquestioning Brad Ausmus cultism, or spending big money on Woody Williams and being surprised by the result, it's fair to say that the Astros have consistently made the wrong choices when they have to freedom to make them, and only have happy results from those—like Hunter Pence—who force choices upon them.

Add to those bad decisions a string of bad drafts from 1998-2002 and the Stros have a real mess on their hands. In those five drafts, the Stros generated only a handful of productive players -- Brad Lidge and Morgan Ensberg (1998); Jason Lane and Chris Sampson (1999); Chad Qualls and Eric Bruntlett (2000); Chris Burke and Matt Albers (2001); and nothing so far out of the 2002 draft, which is shaping up to be one of the worst drafts in Stros franchise history. The foregoing is not much of a return on investment in the Stros' minor league development program.

Despite the clarity of the foregoing mistakes, Chronicle sports columnist Richard Justice continues to manage to to get it wrong in analyzing the Stros:

Tim Purpura's biggest blunder was swapping Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens for Woody Williams and Jason Jennings. It really begins with Pettitte. The Astros had such a dislike of his agent, Randy Hendricks, that they allowed it to influence their evaluation of the player. Bad mistake. Childish, too.

We'll never know if they could have signed Pettitte. I suspect his heart was set on returning to New York. Close friends in the home clubhouse tell me he agonized over the decision and would have returned if the Astros had tried a little harder. Instead, they treated him like he was an optional part.

Neither he nor Roger Clemens have been great this season, but they've been far better than Woody Williams and Jason Jennings, who are a combined 5-16 with 14 quality starts and a 4.94 ERA. Pettitte and Clemens are 7-10 with 15 quality starts and a 4.25 ERA. To adjust the ERAs by league, Pettitte and Clemens are .18 of a run under their league average while Williams and Jennings are .65 of a run above.

Purpura's biggest blunder? In point of fact, trading Pettitte and Clemens for Williams and Jennings hasn't had much of an effect on the Stros' season at all, while not signing them has had a huge positive impact on the Stros' payroll. Had Pettitte and Clemens been pitching for the Stros this season, they would have saved the club about 27 more runs than Williams and Jennings to this point in the season. That translates to about 4-5 more wins, which would make the Stros record at best 45-49 and still far behind in the NL Central. Meanwhile, if the Stros had signed Pettitte and Clemens, then the club's payroll would be bleeding by an additional $25 million or so over and above the aggregate $10.5 million or so that they are paying Williams and Jennings. Had that occurred, Justice would probably be criticizing the Stros for wasting a substantial chunck of the club's payroll on a couple of high-injury risk veterans on the downside of their respective careers.

The bottom line on this season is that the Stros pitching staff has underperformed so badly that having both Pettitte and Clemens would not have improved that overall performance enough to matter. Stros General Manager Tim Purpura has made some mistakes, such as signing Williams in the first place. But electing to pass on overpaying Pettitte and Clemens was not among them.

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) |

A big Houston deal

Two Houston-based exploration and production companies made big news on Tuesday as Plains Exploration & Production Co. agreed to buy Pogo Producing Co. for $3.42 billion in cash and stock. The Houston Chronicle story on the transaction is here.

Plains will pay $1.5 billion in cash and issue 40 million of its shares to purchase Pogo, which has been the subject of acquisition rumors for months as dissident shareholder Third Point LLC expressed disappointment with Pogo's financial performance and the legacy management team of Pogo founder, chairman and CEO, Paul Van Wagenen. Pogo shareholders will receive 0.68201 share of Plains Exploration and $24.88 in cash for each share of Pogo they own, which values each Pogo share at $57.53. Pogo shareholders will hold a 34% stake in Plains Exploration and two Pogo board members board will join Plains' board when the deal closes in the fourth quarter of this year.

The acquisition will nearly double Plains' estimated-reserve potential to 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent and provide the company with substantial onshore producing properties in the Texas Panhandle and Permian and Gulf Coast regions, as well as the Madden Field in Wyoming and the San Juan Basin in New Mexico.

Pogo, which agreed in May to sell its Northrock Resources unit for $2 billion to Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., saw the markets greet the announcement with enthusiasm as the comany's shares rose $7.02 (or 14%) to $57.50 as of 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. On the other hand, Plains stock was off $3.31, or 6.5%, to $47.88.

Bully for Mr. Van Wagenen, who is one of the classiest and most pleasant CEO's in the Houston business community.

Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) |

July 17, 2007

Judge Kaplan hammers the DOJ in the KPMG case

As widely anticipated, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed all charges today against 13 former KPMG partners in the KPMG tax shelter case because of the prosecution's interference with the defendants' Constitutional rights under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. A copy of the decision is here (pdf), Peter Lattman provides this handy timeline of the case, while Ellen Podgor and Larry Ribstein and Kevin Lacroix provide their usual lucid commentary on Judge Kaplan's decision.

Although expected, Judge Kaplan's decision is a watershed event in the government's campaign since the demise of Enron to increase regulation of business through criminalizing merely questionable transactions where responsibility for financial loss is more appropriately allocated among multiple participants in a civil context. The difficulties of fitting the round peg of legal business transactions into the square hole of criminal law has resulted in an unprecedented surge in dubious cases and prosecutorial misconduct epitomized by the legacy of abusive tactics of the Enron Task Force. Jamie Olis is serving six years in prison after being put through precisely the same wringer that Judge Kaplan determined was unconstitutional in the KPMG tax shelter case. But the shameless prosecutorial tactics of pursuing weak cases against unpopular targets (see also here), icing witnesses with exculpatory testimony and introducing junk evidence to confuse the jury are just as alien to justice and the rule of law as depriving defendants of their ability to mount an effective defense.

And make no mistake about it, Judge Kaplan lays the wood to the U.S. Attorneys' Office for the Southern District of New York in his decision. The following excerpts are just a sampling of his criticism. As to the government's disingenous assertion that KPMG ceased paying defense costs of its former partners on its volition and not under the threat of the DOJ going Arthur Andersen on the firm:

It now is undisputed that KPMG has been paying the defense costs of at least eleven of the sixteen KPMG Defendants in civil cases relating to the tax shelters here at issue and also the defense costs of eight of them in regulatory inquiries relating to the conduct in question in this case. . . . it is striking that KPMG has paid these costs subject to the requirement that the individuals be represented in the civil matters by attorneys who are not involved in defending this criminal case.

The fact that KPMG is paying civil defense costs, regardless of amount, is consistent with its uniform practice over many years. What makes the criminal case different is only the Thompson Memorandum and the USAO’s actions. Indeed, the fact that KPMG has been paying the civil defense costs on condition that the defendants’ lawyers in those matters be different than their lawyers in the criminal case – a condition that is at war with any consideration of economy or efficiency – demonstrates with astonishing clarity that the different treatment of the criminal case defense costs has been driven from the outset by the fear that the government would view any assistance in defending against the indictment as a black mark against KPMG. KPMG cut off payment of defense costs to anyone who was indicted for one reason and one reason alone – the Thompson Memorandum and the related actions of the USAO. In their absence, KPMG would have paid every penny, just as it always had done before.

On the prosecution's shocking manipulation of KPMG to deprive the defendants of their constitutional rights:

Just as prosecutors used KPMG to coerce interviews with KPMG personnel that the government could not coerce directly, they used KPMG to strip any of its employees who were indicted of means of defending themselves that KPMG otherwise would have provided to them. Their actions were not justified by any legitimate governmental interest. Their deliberate interference with the defendants’ rights was outrageous and shocking in the constitutional sense because it was fundamentally at odds with two of our most basic constitutional values – the right to counsel and the right to fair criminal proceedings. But the Court does not rest on this finding alone. It would reach the same conclusion even if the conduct reflected only deliberate indifference to the defendants’ constitutional rights as opposed to an unjustified intention to injure them. [ . . . ]

The government’s actions with respect to legal fees were at least deliberately indifferent to the rights of the defendants and others. In all the circumstances, this behavior shocks the conscience in the constitutional sense whether prosecutors were merely deliberately indifferent to the KPMG Defendants’ rights or acted more culpably.

And Judge Kaplan concludes with the following passage from Berger v. United States on the proper purpose and scope of prosecutorial conduct, the meaning of which has been lost among the current crop of prosecutors in the Department of Justice:

[A prosecutor] is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done. As such, he is in a peculiar and very definite sense the servant of the law, the twofold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer. He may prosecute with earnestness and vigor – indeed, he should do so. But, while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one.”

Amen.

Posted by Tom at 12:30 AM | Comments (5) |

It's time for The Open

The 136th British Open begins play this Thursday at Carnoustie in Scotland, so NY Times golf writer Damon Hack sets the stage (see also here) for this year's event. The Open's website is always one of the best tournament websites, and this year's version includes this slick visual guide to the golf course. Meanwhile, Austin's Dave Pelz, Phil Mickelson's short game guru, gives this interesting interview on how Team Mickelson is preparing for the special challenges of Carnoustie.

By the way, this year's event is the first time that the Open has been back to Carnoustie since 1999, when France's Jan Van de Velde self-destructed on the 72nd hole by taking a 7, blowing a three shot lead and then blowing another opportunity to win the championship in the subsequent playoff. That meltdown on the final day of a major tournament prompted one of the better golf jokes that I've heard over the years:

"What does 'Jan Van de Velde' mean in English?"

"Greg Norman."

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) |

The sad grave of Bullet Bob Hayes

Before the ubiquitous burners these days at the wide receiver position in the National Football League was the Dallas Cowboys' Bullet Bob Hayes, the 1964 Olympic gold medal winning sprinter-turned-NFL All-Pro wide receiver.

Hayes played before the days of big money in the NFL and his life took a turn for the worse in the 1970's when he served prison time for being involved in a drug ring. Hayes died at the age of 59 in 2002 from kidney failure and is still a legend in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, but this Jacksonville Times-Union article indicates that his legendary status does not equate with a fitting resting place:

In a corner of A. Philip Randolph Park, a statue surrounded by red, white and pink flowers captures "Bullet" Bob Hayes at his Olympic peak - the 1964 Tokyo games - whizzing past the competition in the anchor leg of the 4x100 meter relay.

Yet, on the other side of the city, the final resting place for Jacksonville's most revered athlete is nothing more than a bare patch of grass. [. . .]

In 1999, the Times-Union named the phenom who rose from poverty on Jacksonville's Eastside to Olympic greatness, and later stardom for the Dallas Cowboys, as its Athlete of the Century.

Hayes is remembered locally as an Olympic legend for his world record performances and two gold medals in Tokyo - his anchor sprint in the relay is still considered among the fastest ever. And later, as a player in the National Football League, his unmatched speed forced defenses to revise their zone schemes. He holds 22 Dallas records, including 71 career touchdown receptions and 20 yards per catch, and is enshrined in the Cowboys' Ring of Honor.

But in Edgewood Cemetery, where Hayes is buried, there seems to be a legacy deferred - an empty tract with no headstone. Times-Union reporters who visited the burial site twice, once in June and again last week, observed no marker of any sort. A Times-Union photographer on Saturday found a temporary marker at the site. [. . .]

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

July 16, 2007

The influence of junk evidence on juries

What do the juries in the Conrad Black , Dr. William Hurwitz and the Enron-related criminal trials have in common?

In response to the verdict in Lord Black's trial, Professor Bainbridge observed that the result appeared to be a "compromise" verdict in which a portion of the jury did not believe Black was guilty of any of the thirteen charges against him but gave in to a guilty verdict on four of the counts just to get the damn thing over with.

Meanwhile, Professor Ribstein notes that this WaPo article reports that Dr. Hurwitz -- a sacrificial lamb of America's dubious drug prohibition policy -- has been re-sentenced to a bit less than five years in prison as a result of his conviction on drug trafficking charges for prescribing pain relief medication for his chronic pain patients. In that connection, John Tierney explores the shameless prosecutorial tactic in the Hurwitz trial of offering shoddy evidence and testimony based on junk science to influence the jury against Hurwitz and the distraction that such charges caused for both the jury and the Hurwitz defense.

The prosecutorial misconduct that Tierney exposes in the Hurwitz trial also took place during the Black trial, where the prosecutors mischaracterized Black's actions on the CanWest deal, on the Bora Bora trip, on his wife's birthday party and much else, including now that Black is a flight risk and should be jailed immediately. The same prosecutorial tactics were also rampant throughout the Enron-related prosecutions, particularly the Lay-Skilling trial (see also here), the Nigerian Barge trial and the Enron Broadband trials.

In Lay-Skilling, the prosecution frequently elicited testimony about matters that it had either dropped from the case prior to trial or never charged in the first place; these bunny trail distractions became so common that the defense team began to characterize them as "drive-by shootings." Heck, during the trial last year of former Enron Broadband executive Kevin Howard, the government argued to the jury that Howard's knowledge of Enron Broadband's mere breach of a joint venture agreement was evidence of a crime, despite the fact that the breach of contract was clearly in Enron Broadband's financial interest and had been disclosed to and approved by Enron Broadband's outside counsel.

Add in the fact that all of these white collar cases involve at least a dozen charges and months of testimony, and it's easy to understand how jurors become overwhelmed by it all. The common juror reaction to such prosecutorial mudslinging -- along with the real presumption in such cases -- is "Gosh, the government is contending all this bad stuff against the defendant, he must have done at least something criminal." Compromise verdicts are the natural result.

What can be done? Well, one thought is to give the judge more power to determine whether the case should ever go to trial in the first place. In civil cases, summary judgment procedure provides judges with this option, and often resolves the case before trial or dramaticaly limits the issues that are tried to the jury.

Probably because of the limited discovery that takes place in criminal cases, no analogous procedure has developed in criminal cases where a defendant could argue before trial that -- based on a preview of the evidence and testimony that the prosecution and the defense would introduce at trial -- the trial judge should dismiss the case because no reasonable jury would conclude that the government could fulfill its burden of proving each and every element of the alleged crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Nevertheless, given the current unlevel playing field in white collar criminal cases, perhaps such a pre-trial procedure would be one way to pre-empt the prosecutorial chloroforming of the juries that has become sadly common in white collar prosecutions since the demise of Enron.

Posted by Tom at 4:28 AM | Comments (2) |

The WSJ discovers The Hamptons of Houston

First it was the New York Times extolling Galveston as "the Hamptons of Houston."

Now, Houstonian's favorite getaway destination is getting the favored treatment from the Wall Street Journal:

Throughout its history, Galveston has been a striking testament to human persistence and ingenuity -- and the power of denial. The island has a stomach-churning history of boom and bust. Its rise as a major Southern port city was cut short by the 1900 hurricane.

Protected by a new 17-foot sea wall, Galveston boomed again as the Sin City of the Gulf until Texas Rangers shut down its illegal gambling trade in the late 1950s. After that, eclipsed by the Port of Houston, Galveston limped through the remainder of the 20th century, struggling to pay the bills.

This century has seen Galveston's fortunes rise again. The island is beloved in Texas as part of the state's colorful past and also for its diverse appeal. Tourists flock to the historic districts and miles of public beaches, while fishermen and birders hang out along the jetties, bayous and surf. Out-of-town investors have revitalized the east end of the island, protected by the sea wall, where the original city and docks were built. Now it is a vibrant tourist spot packed with restaurants and shops against a backdrop of cruise ships and barnacle-covered fishing boats lined up along the docks.

Read the entire article.

Posted by Tom at 4:16 AM | Comments (0) |

Fair tax?

Greg Mankiw provides this particularly lucid analysis of the current status of the progressive U.S. income tax system. Keep it handy when listening to the demagoguery over tax rates that will take place during the upcoming 2008 Presidential campaign.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

July 15, 2007

Katrina evacuees and the enduring nature of poverty

In the summer of 2005, tens of thousands of citizens from the New Orleans area relocated to Houston and other cities in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, most of whom never returned to their former home. A substantial number of those evacuees were poor and largely unemployed in the depressed New Orleans-area economy that existed even prior to the destruction of Katrina. Thus, the hope was that those evacuees would be able to improve their living standard by starting anew in economically vibrant areas such as Houston.

Unfortunately, that has not been the case. As this Jacob Vigdor post notes, research on the Katrina evacuees is indicating that the syndrome of poverty is extremely difficult to change:

Should governments help residents of depressed regions move towards more prosperous areas? Evidence from Katrina evacuees suggests that such efforts are likely to fail. The fortunes of long-term evacuees are almost completely unrelated to the characteristics of the cities to which they relocated. [. . .]

What can the world learn from the experiences of Hurricane Katrina evacuees? As indicated in other recent research carefully examining the impact of residential location on employment, moving a poor, undereducated citizen from a declining urban area to the middle of a vibrant economy is not likely to be a quick, cheap way to find him or her a job. While participants in a voluntary relocation programme would almost certainly be exposed to less personal trauma than Katrina evacuees, the survival instinct alone appears to be insufficient to guarantee success. Particularly in nations with social welfare systems more generous than the American model, the result of any such programme seems quite likely to increase, rather than assuage, drains on the public budget in the short-to-intermediate term.

Posted by Tom at 12:41 AM | Comments (3) |

July 14, 2007

The Conrad Black verdict

So, despite being acquitted on 9 of 13 counts, former Hollinger CEO Conrad Black was convicted yesterday in Chicago of three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice (previous posts on the case are here). Three of Black's former Hollinger associates were also convicted of three counts of mail fraud.

The essence of the verdict against Lord Black and the others is that they stole millions in non-compete compensation from the sale of Hollinger assets that should have gone to Hollinger. As noted earlier here, the big problem with that theory is that the payments were disclosed and approved on multiple occasions by Hollinger's audit committee and board of directors. Thus, in effect, Lord Black and the others were convicted for not disclosing their receipt of the non-compete payments well enough.

The implications of this latest government foray to regulate business through the criminalization of merely questionable business transactions is troubling, to say the least. As noted most recently here and many times over the years on this blog, the presumption in these prosecutions over wealthy businesspeople is no longer innocent until proven guilty. Rather, the presumption is that that these defendants are rich and the government is accusing them of all sorts of bad stuff, so they must have done something wrong. Although I think Lord Black made a mistake in not taking the stand in his own defense, a reasonable counter-argument can be made that doing so doesn't make any difference when dealing with such an onerous presumption. Do any of us really think that we could stand up in the face of such winds if they turn toward us?

An extremely talented businessman and author is now facing the prospect of spending a good part of the remaining part of his life in prison. For an extraordinarily insightful analysis of Lord Black's career and the vested interests that pursued the criminal case against him, take the time to read this lengthy Adrian and Olga Stein essay (pdf) entitled Conrad Black, Corporate Governance, and the End of Economic Man. The conclusion of the Steins' essay is particularly apt in light of the verdict against Lord Black:

The prosecutors of Conrad Black know nothing of the “animal spirits” to which Lord Keynes refers. Their only interest is to squash any independent spirit in the interest of defending the mirage of ideas that falls under the rubric of corporate governance. For the general public the challenge is to realise that injustice can conceal itself in attacks on the powerful, the privileged, the wealthy, and the elected; natural objects of resentment and envy, they are people for whom we tend to think a ‘fall’ or redress is in order. The injustice proceeds in small and public acts of complicity, and finds an abode in various subconscious registers of the psyche where schadenfreud and vicarious pleasure in the failures and misfortunes of others fester. The Spanish Inquisition, the French revolutionary trials, the Alfred Dreyfus Affair, the Soviet show trials, and the McCarthy-era hearings all happened within a sanctioned legal framework, with voluminous evidentiary support, cooperative witnesses, and with broad public consent. These trials were often conducted by zealous prosecutors. All of them maintained the pretense or facade of pursuing justice. It is only with the passing of time and the shift in the historical frame of reference that we come to understand the ‘injustice’. The imperative is to see injustice in all of its guises, to face it squarely, and confront it with courage.

Update: Larry Ribstein provides his usual sharp insight, while Peter Henning provides this initial analysis of the sentencing issues. Also, here are some further thoughts on the problems that juries confront in sorting out the issues in trials such as Black's.

Posted by Tom at 4:01 AM | Comments (2) |

July 13, 2007

The McCain meltdown

The fellows over at Professors R-Squared are having a rather fun time chronicling the remarkably quick demise of the John McCain Presidential Campaign (see here and here). But the best line on the McCain campaign meltdown still came from Jay Leno earlier in the week:

"Sen. John Edwards began what he's calling his poverty tour today. He's visiting people who have no money and no hope. His first stop: John McCain's campaign headquarters."

Posted by Tom at 12:45 AM | Comments (1) |

Myths of the war

My nephew Richard and I had a good laugh about the new Homeland Security Threat Level on the left that resulted from Michael Chertoff's ill-advised warning regarding the terror threat from earlier in the week. But kidding aside, following on this earlier post regarding James Fallows' Atlantic Monthly piece, this Steve Chapman RCP op-ed provides a level-headed analysis of the actual threat of an attack from Islamic fascists and the counterproductive nature of the Bush Administration's characterization of the conflict as a global "war on terror." Check it out.

Posted by Tom at 12:19 AM | Comments (1) |

It's the season for youth baseball conflicts

Holland & Knight's Tampa office has started an interesting area of specialization:

The signs at the New Tampa Little League field are clear: Please practice good sportsmanship at all times.

League officials say one parent has missed the message, and they've asked him to leave the park more than once.

But that parent also happens to be a lawyer for one of the largest law firms in Florida. Now he's alleging that the New Tampa Little League defamed his character in front of parents, friends and clients, and he has hinted strongly at legal action.

Fred Grady, 47, a construction lawyer for Holland & Knight in Tampa, sent league president Monica Wooden a letter on Holland & Knight stationery. The letter, dated June 11, says the league officers' actions and accusations damaged him. Pursuant to state law, the letter gives Wooden 30 days to send him a copy of the league's insurance policies and coverage.

That letter capped off a series of e-mail exchanges between Grady and Wooden in which Grady repeatedly asked for a letter of apology from Linda Harrell, a league director who ordered him off the field on April 28. Grady wanted the letter sent to all parents, players and coaches on his son's team, and he wanted it in time for the end-of-the-season party so he could read it aloud, Wooden said.

"I'm all about principle," Wooden said. "But I'm not going to patronize some guy who needs something for his self-gratification."

When Grady didn't get the letter, he sent Wooden the e-mails.

"If NTLL decides or has decided the Director acted outside of her scope of authority then so be it but that issue will NOT be determined by me, but rather by a judge or jury if this matter proceeds," said one e-mail bearing Grady's name.

Another read: "If the NTLL is not prepared to resolve the matter along these lines then I will have no other choice but to take legal action against NTLL and Ms. Harrell individually."

Grady requested the name of the league's lawyer: "I assume NTLL does not have LOCAL counsel? Perhaps NTLL should consider retaining a local attorney."

Read the entire piece. But that rhubarb is nothing compared to this bit of youth baseball sociopathy:

A judge refused to reduce the sentence of a former youth baseball coach convicted of offering a player money to bean a 9-year-old autistic teammate.

Mark Downs Jr., 29, had argued in his appeal that his former attorney wasn't effective. But Fayette County Judge Ralph Warman ruled Monday that Downs' arguments were without merit. He let stand Downs' one- to six-year prison sentence imposed last year.

Downs was convicted of corruption of minors and simple assault for offering $25 to an 8-year-old boy to hit his mildly autistic teammate with a ball while warming up before a June 2005 playoff game. The younger boy testified at trial that, on Downs' instructions, he purposely threw a ball that hit his teammate in the groin, then threw another that hit him in the ear.

Prosecutors said Downs didn't want the autistic boy in the game because he didn't play as well as his teammates. League rules require each player to play at least three innings.

Wow.

Posted by Tom at 12:04 AM | Comments (0) |

July 12, 2007

The Bershad plea deal

As expected, former Milberg Weiss partner David Bershad copped a plea deal this week in which he pled guilty to a single count of conspiracy out of the 20 count indictment that he, the law firm and former Milberg partner, Steven G. Schulman, are facing (prior posts here). Bershad also agreed to "give back" $7.75 million (not clear to whom), pay a $250,000 fine, and to cooperate with the government’s continuing investigation of other Milberg Weiss partners (presumably Mel Weiss) and at least one of its former partners, Bill Lerach. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, although it is unclear if Bershad will serve any jail time. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for about a year from now, June 23, 2008.

The reaction to the plea deal lit up the blawgosphere. Peter Lattman and Ashby Jones over at the WSJ Law Blog have been following the developments in the case closely (see also here), as has Kevin LaCroix, Peter Henning, and Roger Parloff, among others. This WSJ ($) editorial essentially concludes that the Bershad plea deal means that the case against the firm and the other targets is already over and that we ought to throw away the prison key for the entire bunch.

Count me as not so sure. Given the unpopularity of Lerach and Milberg Weiss generally among a substantial portion of the defense bar and the business community, the WSJ's rush to embrace the prosecution's case is not particularly surprising. But as Larry Ribstein has pointed out on numerous occasions, there is an important policy issue here that is easy to overlook in the rush to judgment. Is it wise to allow the government to pay witnesses for testimony so that it can convict Milberg Weiss for paying folks to serve as their lead plaintiffs? Bershad may be as pristine as the driven snow, but the fact of the matter is that he has protested his innocence for years until now. What has changed? Absent a plea deal, Bershad is a 67 year-old attorney facing an effective life prison sentence in a trial before a jury that will likely be hostile toward lawyers in general and rich plaintiffs' lawyers, in particular. Is it really any surprise that he took the deal? And is it prudent to ruin the careers of the other defendants and targets, and irreparably damage their lives and families, based on the testimony of an admitted liar?

No one is suggesting that Milberg Weiss should get away with paying kickbacks, if that is indeed what happened. But as noted in this earlier post, these payments have been common knowledge for a long time. No opposing party in any of the class actions from which the payments derived ever requested that the federal courts that approved the settlements from which the payments derived disgorge the payments and refer Milberg Weiss to criminal authorities for failing to disclose the payments. Why have these matters been criminalized before that process has occurred? Could it be that the other parties in the class actions didn't think they had much of a case for disgorgement and referral? If so, what does that say about the criminal case?

Milberg Weiss and Lerach face an imposing enough burden in defending themselves against the overwhelming prosecutorial advantage of the government without the mainstream media deciding that they are guilty before the case is even teed up for trial. Even unpopular lawyers deserve a fair chance. At this point, I'm not sure that Lerach and Milberg Weiss are getting one.

Update: The WSJ's Law Blog interviews Professor Ribstein on the hypocrisy of the case against Milberg.

Posted by Tom at 4:21 AM | Comments (2) |

If you can't beat'em on the message boards, then buy'em!

In one of those "you just can't predict everything that comes up in a government investigation" moments, this David Kesmodel and John R. Wilke/WSJ ($) article (free NY Times article here and free WSJ Deal Journal post here) reports that Whole Foods Markets CEO John Mackey has been a longtime pseudonymous contributor to a Yahoo stock-market forum on both Whole Foods and its proposed merger partner, Wild Oats Markets, Inc (prior posts here):

For about eight years until last August, the company confirms, Mr. Mackey posted numerous messages on Yahoo Finance stock forums as Rahodeb. It's an anagram of Deborah, Mr. Mackey's wife's name. Rahodeb cheered Whole Foods' financial results, trumpeted his gains on the stock and bashed Wild Oats. Rahodeb even defended Mr. Mackey's haircut when another user poked fun at a photo in the annual report. "I like Mackey's haircut," Rahodeb said. "I think he looks cute!"

Mr. Mackey's online alter ego came to light in a document made public late Tuesday by the Federal Trade Commission in its lawsuit seeking to block the Wild Oats takeover on antitrust grounds. Submitted under seal when the suit was filed in June, the filing included a quotation from the Yahoo site. An FTC footnote said, "As here, Mr. Mackey often posted to Internet sites pseudonymously, often using the name Rahodeb."

Whole Foods is certainly a different type of place. Somehow, I just can't envision Jack Welch or Hank Greenberg in their heyday trolling the internet message boards debating the relative merits of their companies. But beyond the public embarrassment to Mackey, the FTC achieves little by "outing" his message board persona. Has the FTC's case against the Whole Foods-Wild Oats merger really devolved into a personality conflict?

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

The Declines of the Times

Most folks involved in the blogosphere understand the challenges that the traditional "bricks and mortar" media are facing in attempting to remain competitive in the delivery of information. And most folks who read newspapers regularly recognize that The New York Times is not the newspaper that it used to be. But until I came across this Political Calculations post, I did not realize the depth of the Times' decline. The substantial declines of both the weekday editions and the Sunday edition of the newspaper indicates that "the Gray Lady is fading into the twilight of its existence. At very least, as we have known it." Check it out.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

July 11, 2007

More on business golf therapy

James Cayne's golf therapy prompted this interesting article over at The Economist on the deeply engrained nature of business golf:

The central role played by golf in business life is under-reported—except maybe in Japan—perhaps because journalists can’t afford the green fees let alone the membership dues of the swanky clubs to which chief executives belong. Nor are bosses exactly rushing to draw attention to yet another perk.

Yet, “no matter how sophisticated business becomes, nothing can replace the golf course as a communications hub”, argues a new book, “Deals on the Green”, by David Rynecki. “It’s where up-and-comers can impress the boss and where CEOs can seal multibillion-dollar deals. Its no coincidence that many of the most admired people in business—Jack Welch, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Sandy Weill—always carved out time in their busy schedules for golf.”

Mr. Welch, arguably the best golfing chief executive ever, is the “patron saint of corporate golf”, argues Mr Rynecki, . . . Mr Welch . . . regarded golf as a key part of his managerial armoury, which he deployed with great success during his long, glorious reign at General Electric (GE). The firm was already known as a “golf company” when he took charge. But under Mr Welch, “golf became an essential tool for any manager looking to move up”. Golf “was a litmus test for character. It showed whether a person had the guts to work in Welch’s GE.”

Not everyone is convinced. The other week, two veteran Wall Street tycoons railed against the game. Hank Greenberg, the former boss of AIG, complained that golf was a distraction from business: “A lot of people like to get away from their work. You have to wonder about whether they like what they’re doing.” Carl Icahn, the legendary corporate raider, sees golf as a symbol of all that is wrong with the clubby higher echelons of American business: “These guys would rather play golf, slap each other on the back. I want a guy running a company who sits in his tub at night thinking about the challenges he faces. The guy who can’t let it go. The focused guy.”

Read the entire article. I bet Mr. Cayne will do so, maybe even before his afternoon tee time. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (1) |

Spitzer is suffering?

So New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and his family just don't know whether the rough and tumble nature of politics at the state level of New York is worth the severe emotional toll.

I wonder what Theodore Sihpol, Hank Greenberg, John Whitehead, Richard Grasso and Kenneth Langone, among others, think about that?

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

The PGA Tour pro takes on the local muni

What do you get when a big golf game is arranged between a young PGA Tour pro and a weekend duffer on the local municipal course?

One of the most interesting golf articles of the year. Check it out.

Posted by Tom at 4:00 AM | Comments (0) |

July 10, 2007

John L. Hill, R.I.P.

One of the giants of the Houston legal community, former Texas Attorney General and Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice John L. Hill, Jr., died yesterday morning at St. Luke's Hospital in Houston's Texas Medical Center while undergoing heart surgery. The Chronicle article on his death is here, the Chronicle legal blogger Mary Flood has a related post here and the Austin-American Statesman article on Hill's death is here.

John Hill packed several lifetimes of personal and professional achievements into his 83 years. He was the only person in the history of Texas to serve as secretary of state, attorney general and chief justice. He also ran twice for governor, the last time losing narrowly in 1979 to Bill Clements, who became the first Republican governor elected in Texas since Reconstruction.

As chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, Hill championed reform of the state’s partisan election of judges, arguing that judges should be selected based on merit similar to the federal system. In a surprise news conference in August 1988, Hill announced his resignation as chief justice with three years remaining on the six-year term, explaining that the partisan election of judges was "creating a perception of impropriety" and that he planned to devote his time to reforming the judicial system. In his resignation letter to then Governor Clements, Hill called on the governor to create a special panel to propose his successor. Hill was replaced as chief justice by Thomas R. Phillips, who continued to support Hill's cause to change the system of judicial selection in Texas.

Born October 9, 1923 in Breckenridge, Texas and raised around the oil patch, Hill was a highly successful debater in high school and junior college, which paved his way to the University of Texas in Austin. After graduating from UT law school in 1947, Hill went to work for a small law firm in Houston that gave him an opportunity to get his feet wet immediately in trial work and, four years later, he founded his own Houston-based firm specializing in plaintiff's trial work.

Governor John Connally appointed Hill as secretary of state in 1966 and he served in that position until 1968. When Connally decided not to run for a fourth term that year, Hill ran for governor in a race that fellow Democrat Preston Smith won. In 1972, Hill ran successfully for attorney general and was re-elected for a full four-year term in 1974. He served as attorney general until 1979, when he resigned to run for governor a second time and was defeated in a close race by Clements. After returning to private practice for a few years, Hill jumped into the 1984 race for chief justice in which he was elected to replace retiring Chief Justice Jack Pope. Then, after the above-described resignation from the Supreme Court, Hill returned to private practice in Austin and Houston, working happily and productively up until the day he died.

But as impressive as these achievements and many awards that Hill received through the years, his large and lively family was what provided the greatest satisfaction in his life. Hill's loving wife of 61 years, Bitsy, was a fixture by his side throughout his career. His son Graham and son-in-law Mike Perrin (husband of John's daughter Melinda) are two of the finest trial attorneys in Houston, and his daughter, Martha Hill Jamison, is the well-regarded judge of the 164th District Court in Houston. Hill is also survived by 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

The funeral is 1 p.m. Friday at St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Houston, and the family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. Thursday at the George H. Lewis and Sons funeral home. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that a donation to St. Luke's, Young Life or the John L. Hill, Jr. Trial Advocacy Center at the University of Texas Law School in Austin be considered.

A charming and genuinely good man, John Luke Hill will be sorely missed by all who knew him. May God bless this special man and his wonderful family.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

July 9, 2007

Threatening to go Arthur Andersen on KPMG

This earlier post noted how the shadow of the sad case of Jamie Olis continues to hang over the KPMG tax shelter case in New York, and this post explored how Olis' defense was financially undermined by the Justice Department's overt threats to go Arthur Andersen on his employer, Dynegy.

Now, this Lynnlee Browning/NY Times article analyzes evidence that has been generated in the KPMG case about how the Justice Department threatened KPMG with indictment unless it abandoned its policy of paying the defense costs of its partners who had been indicted. It's a harrowing tale and a stark reminder of how the federal government's awesome prosecutorial power is being abused to cause job loss and erosion of wealth while ruining careers and damaging families in the process. This is not the product of a truly civil society.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

Fiddling while the tofu burns

It all started with this Holman Jenkins/WSJ column in which he blasted the Federal Trade Commission's vacuous campaign against the proposed Whole Foods-Wild Oats merger.

That prompted this WSJ letter-to-the-editor from Arnie Celnicker, a former attorney for the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department, in which he contends, among other things, that the complexities of markets is such that "[t]he fact that I can now buy organic milk at Wal-Mart tells us something, but very little, about the realistic nature of competition between Whole Foods and Wal-Mart, or about the effect of Whole Foods' acquisition of Wild Oats."

Which prompted Don Boudreaux to throw up his hands in exasperation:

How in the name of free-range chicken do these facts justify government blocking this merger? Precisely because consumers now want more and more organic products, financial markets have every incentive to invest in firms catering to this growing market if these firms are well-managed. Wild Oats' inability to get adequate private financing in this growing market is strong evidence that its assets now are poorly managed. It's only natural that Whole Foods spots and seizes this opportunity to use these assets more effectively at meeting consumer demands. The FTC's interference - an unwholesome additive to the market - jeopardizes consumer well-being.

Not to speak of the jeopardy in which the FTC's interference places the investment of Wild Oats shareholders.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

A healthy way to deal with stress

According to this Patrick McGeehan/NY Times article, Bear Stearns chief James E. Cayne had a healthy way to relieve stress during the recent crisis surrounding the demise of two Bear Stearns hedge funds:

The near-meltdown of a hedge fund managed by Bear Stearns does not appear to have interrupted the golfing habits of its chief executive, James E. Cayne.

In the summer, Mr. Cayne routinely hops a helicopter from Manhattan to the Hollywood Golf Club in Ocean Township, N.J., where his pilot has permission to land on the grounds. According to scores posted on an online golf database, he continued to do so through the weeks in June when his firm was struggling to keep one of its mortgage securities funds afloat.

On June 14, the day when Bear Stearns reported a 10 percent drop in its operating earnings for the second quarter, Mr. Cayne played a round and shot a 96, his scores on the online database, GHIN.com, indicate. The next day, a Friday, he played again.

On Thursday, June 21, as several big banks pressured Bear Stearns to increase the collateral on loans they had made to its sinking fund, Mr. Cayne was back on the course. That day, he shot a 98.

The next day, in the biggest rescue of a hedge fund in almost a decade, Bear Stearns pledged to put up $3.2 billion to bail out its fund. (It later said that $1.6 billion would suffice.) Then the remarkably consistent Mr. Cayne played golf, shooting a 97.

Elizabeth Ventura, a spokeswoman for the firm, explained that Mr. Cayne flies down after work on Thursdays and plays an evening round of golf. On Fridays, he plays a round and works from his New Jersey home, where he is in constant touch with the office, she said.

Cayne's handicap index is 15.9, so his scores during that stressful time certainly ballooned a bit higher than normal. But think how bad this could have gotten for Bear Stearns if Cayne had not been able to get his golf therapy? ;^)

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

July 8, 2007

What a deal

Russ Winter wrote this interesting post analyzing the extraordinary amount of debt that will be needed to sustain Blackstone's bid for Hilton Hotels:

The total purchase including the balance sheet and debt looks to be about $29 billion. Typifying just how loonie these transactions have become, HLT has operating income of about $1.2 billion, or a mere 4.1% of the take out price. Assuming $25 billion in debt, that would place debt service at about $2 billion a year. Blackstone plans no divestitures, so the math is straightforward, and the presumption is as well, just borrow the balance.

The $25 billion of debt that Blackstone is heaping on Hilton far exceeds Hilton's book value of a bit under $4 billion, which means that there will not be much a recovery, at least immediately, in the event that things don't go well and Hilton has to be reorganized or liquidated.

That type of debt risk sure sounds like equity-style risk to me. And with a ceiling on the return of about 8% ($2 billion of debt service on $25 billion in debt). My sense is that the Blackstone limited partners are betting on returns substantially higher than that.

Posted by Tom at 12:30 AM | Comments (0) |

July 7, 2007

The Apple Rule is working for Dell

When Michael Dell jumped back into hot CEO seat at Austin-based Dell Inc in February, this post wondered whether he and the company would benefit from application of what Larry Ribstein has brilliantly coined "the Apple Rule."

Well, it looks as if the Apple Rule is working pretty darn well for Dell. The company just announced that it will miss another deadline for filing its quarterly report with the SEC, making it three straight quarters that the computer giant has failed to file its 10-Q. Nor has Dell filed its annual report for 2006. Under a strict application of its rules, Nasdaq should delist Dell, but it won't because the company remains an 800 pound gorilla (i.e., a $65 billion market cap). Meanwhile, despite all this apparent trouble, the market doesn't seem all that concerned -- Dell's stock price has increased by 23% since Mr. Dell returned as CEO.

Sort of makes you wonder what might have happened had the Apple Rule been around during far more turbulent times in the fall of 2001 to help a large, innovative company and a couple of its visionary leaders who ended up suffering far different fates than Dell?

Posted by Tom at 12:44 AM | Comments (2) |

July 6, 2007

The Absorption Nation

In this TCS op-ed, Don Boudreaux points out an incongruity in the current political debate over immigration:

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson complained that King George III "has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands."

In a related blog post, Professor Boudreaux asks the following:

Why is it that today, the wealthiest time in our history, so many Americans fear immigration? Why do so few Americans today share Jefferson's understanding that more free people in America mean an even more prosperous America?

Read the entire op-ed.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (3) |

Legal investment banking on climate change

The Dallas Morning News' Eric Torbenson examines a potential growth area for business plaintiffs' lawyers and another burgeoning risk for business -- lawsuits asserting responsibility for damagres caused by climate change. And guess who's right in the middle of it? None other than Houston's longtime business plaintiff's lawyer, Steve Susman:

Steve Susman of Susman Godfrey in Houston has been a pioneer in such litigation. He led the charge this year to force TXU Energy into building fewer coal-fired plants in Texas than it had planned.

Now he's among several lawyers talking with a group of Inuits in northern Canada who have seen an entire island sink under rising seas from global warming. The tribe is weighing its options, including suing carbon-emitting corporations such as power companies for heating the planet, he said.

"Melting glaciers isn't going to get that much going, but wait until the first big ski area closes because it has no snow," said Mr. Susman, who teaches a climate-change litigation course at the University of Houston Law School. "Or wait until portions of lower Manhattan and San Francisco are under water."

Some lawyers are trying to tie the damage from Hurricane Katrina to global warming – and the energy companies who may have contributed to that warming.

Mr. Susman predicts large insurance companies, which have paid out billions of dollars in claims in the past two decades because of powerful hurricanes, eventually will become plaintiffs in broad greenhouse-effect litigation against energy companies. [. . .]

"You're going to see some really serious exposure on the part of companies that are emitting CO-2," Mr. Susman predicted. "I can't say for sure it's going to be as big as the tobacco settlements, but then again it may even be bigger. . ."

Oh, my.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (3) |

Nimmer on over-regulation of e-commerce

Ray Nimmer, the Dean and Leonard Childs Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center, is one of Houston's foremost legal thinkers and an internationally recognized expert in legal issues relating to e-commerce. Ray's academic and administrative duties do not leave him much time to blog, but when he does, it's always worth reading. His latest post is on the risk of over-regulating e-commerce:

In our world, significant change seldom flows smoothly. While many embrace change, others resist it. Some of the resistance is due to what Lewellyn explained years ago: “You wake up then to the fact that the throne your subject matter once occupied is overshadowed”; that is a fearful situation for many. The costs imposed on commerce by reaction to that fear are extravagant and harmful.

In my view, rather than protecting the status quo, the role of law generally should be to establish a responsive body of rules that support change and that limit regulation to cases where actual clear abuse otherwise exists. This has been the tradition of U.S. commercial law. But it has not consistently been the way in which law related to electronic commercial transactions has evolved. Instead, we have seen an explosion of new law, often regulatory in nature, . . . Too often, political arguments and interest group politics weigh in toward the view that the proper role of law is to regulate commerce, rather than to support it. Much of this lies simply in a grab for position enforced through law, rather than in the marketplace. . .

But when a regulatory approach is taken in a period of rapid social change, the result is an enormous expansion of new law and we pay a huge price for this. Its short-term effect lies in the creation of an often-bewildering array of new rules and regulations with which commercial entities must deal, and which seldom reflect sound or considered legal or social policy.

Read the entire post.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

July 5, 2007

Rating the NFL owners

SI.com's Michael Silver rates the owners of the 32 National Football League teams, and Texans' owner Bob McNair comes in a respectable seventh:

Like [Redskins owner Daniel] Snyder, McNair is an aggressive, personally invested owner who desperately wants to field a winning team. Unlike the Redskins' boss, McNair hasn't even come close to doing so.

Since the Texans joined the NFL in '02, there have been a lot of dubious decisions on key matters, from the stubborn insistence that David Carr was a franchise quarterback to the selection of Mario Williams over Reggie Bush and hometown hero Vince Young in the '06 draft. McNair, at the very least, deserves some blame for hiring the people who made those decisions.

That said, he has established a highly valued franchise in a market the NFL had abandoned. He also worked exceptionally hard on last year's revenue-sharing plan. And, on a self-serving note, McNair's may be the most media-friendly organization in the league.

If there was ever a sports franchise owner whose team deserved some good fortune on the playing field, then it's McNair.

Oilers owner Bud Adams comes in 18th, which is somewhat surprising only because it's hard to believe that there are 14 owners worse than him. Go figure.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (1) |

EZ-Tag, EZ-Increase

So, according to this NY Times article about MIT economist Amy Finkelstein's research, EZ-Tags for electronic payment of tolls along tollroads makes it easier for government to increase the tolls (Tyler Cowen provides further analysis).

Everywhere but Houston, that is.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

More on the myth of healthy long distance runners

This earlier post noted development of research indicating that long distance running over a long term may be hazardous to your health.

Thus, this article from earlier in the week about arguably the greatest American marathoner caught my eye:

Alberto Salazar, the former champion marathoner who collapsed over the weekend, had his condition upgraded Monday from serious to fair.

A cardiologist at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center said tests now indicate that Salazar had a heart attack while coaching distance runners Saturday at the Nike campus outside Portland, said Lisa Helderop, a hospital spokeswoman.

Salazar, who is alert and talking with his family, told a doctor at the hospital that he has a family history of heart conditions, Helderop said. [. . .]

Salazar, a University of Oregon graduate, won the New York City Marathon three straight years (1980-82) and the 1982 Boston Marathon. He has set six U.S. records and one world record. He is a longtime Nike employee and consultant who trains elite distance runners and has a building named for him on campus.

This recent University of Maryland Medical Center study addresses another health risk of long-distance running. And none of the foregoing even touches on the heightened risk of joint and ligament damage that results from long distance running. Take note, runners.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (1) |

July 4, 2007

A 4th of July treat

I don't know about you, but I didn't know that Kevin Spacey is almost as good an impressionist as he is an actor. Enjoy!

Posted by Tom at 12:23 AM | Comments (1) |

July 3, 2007

The rebranding of Nick Faldo

This entire Nick Greenslade/Observer article on how Nick Faldo remade himself from a recalcitrant PGA Tour pro to an affable CBS commentator is quite interesting, but I no idea that Faldo is a valuable annuity for the family law bar. Toward the end fo the article, Greenslade summarizes Faldo's three marriages and divorces:

Nick's ladies

Melanie Rockall

'We were happily married for eight months. Unfortunately, we were married for four-and-a-half years,' Faldo has said of his first marriage, which began in 1979 when he was only 21. . .

Gill Bennett

'Socially, he was a 24-handicapper,' Bennett said of Faldo, whom she had met while working as his agent's secretary when he was still married to Rockall. The couple married in 1986 and Bennett later revealed that the births of their three children, who now live with her in Ascot, Berkshire, had been induced to avoid any clashes with his playing schedule. . . .

Brenna Cepelak

College golfer Cepelak was 20 when she met Faldo, . . . 'It's always sad when these things end,' [Faldo] said. Cepelak responded to the break-up by taking an iron to his Porsche. 'It was a nine-iron or a wedge,' recalled Faldo. 'It was a very special car. It was so hi-tech, it was made of plastic. The club kept bouncing off. It wouldn't leave a dent. I auctioned it off.'

Valerie Bercher

The third Mrs Faldo, whom he had first met at a tournament in her native Switzerland in 1997, lasted five years. . . . On learning of his son-in-law's application for divorce last year, Bercher's father said: 'We are at a loss to explain. But it is not the first time he has changed his mind. He bought a Bentley recently, but once he had it he was bored with it after a month and got rid of it.'

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

Now, that's a home office

The concept of the home office has been elevated to an entirely new level.

Posted by Tom at 4:12 AM | Comments (0) |

The Tyler Rose's ordeal

In the late 1970's, Earl Campbell ushered in a generation of outstanding running backs from Texas and he remains the standard by which power runners are evaluated. However, the pounding that Earl took during his playing career has taken a heavy toll. As Jay Christensen and Tom Dienhart report, the Tyler Rose is badly crippled despite the fact that he has just turned 50 years of age (a related Chip Brown/Dallas Morning News article is here).

Given Campbell's condition, this recent Chronicle story looks even sillier than it did at the time it ran.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (1) |

July 2, 2007

Will Houston learn from L.A.'s mistakes?

As noted earlier here and here, the Houston metropolitan area shares many of the same characteristics of the Los Angeles metro area, albeit with far lower density of population. Although rail transit is typically inefficient in areas of relatively low density of population, that has not stopped Houston's Metropolitan Transit Authority from spending enormous sums on inefficent light rail for Houston and proposing even more. One of the common rationalizations used by Metro for such boondoggles is that the transit lines will promote development of more densely-populated housing around the rail lines that will ultimately generate enough mass transit users to justify the enormous cost. Someday.

So, given the L.A. region's greater density of population, has rail transit generated such housing along the rail lines there? Well, not according to this front page Los Angeles Times article entitled "Near the rails but still on the road -- Research casts doubt on the region's strategy of pushing transit-oriented residential projects to get people out of cars":

In Los Angeles alone, billions of public and private dollars have been lavished on transit-oriented projects such as Hollywood & Vine, with more than 20,000 residential units approved within a quarter mile of transit stations between 2001 and 2005.

But there is little research to back up the rosy predictions. Among the few academic studies of the subject, one that looked at buildings in the Los Angeles area showed that transit-based development successfully weaned relatively few residents from their cars. It also found that, over time, no more people in the buildings studied were taking transit 10 years after a project opened than when it was first built.

To which USC urban economics professor Peter Gordon replies:

I could not have said it any better. Well actually, some of us did -- over 30 years ago.

Yes, it is not pretty to say I-told-you-so. But the arrogant know-nothings inside LA's beltway (including LA Times writers and including some who still hold public office) have been confused on this issue for years. Their plans have cost billions and, along the way, made traffic much worse. It was exactly the sort of fatal conceit that Hayek wrote about many years ago.

Yesterday, the same newspaper (front-page, below the fold) included "Will traffic-weary L.A. heed the toll call? ... The land of the freeway is poised to become a little less free ..."

What will they think of next?

Will Houston's leaders listen? Incidents such as this do not make me optimistic that they will.

Posted by Tom at 4:45 AM | Comments (0) |

The search for a cure

Yale University School of Medicine neurologist Steven Novella, the editor of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, provides this insightful NeuroLogica post that addresses the issue of why medical research has not discovered a cure for cancer despite the enormous resources dedicated to cancer research. In so doing, he clears up several common misconceptions about cancer and the incentives involved in finding a cure. He concludes as follows:

The overall reality is that the standard of scientific medicine is not a monolithic entity, controlled by any one institution, agency, or industry. It is a complex and dynamic set of many forces and interests. It is ultimately driven by science, which is a transparent and public process, and prevents any big brother type of control (this is partly why it is so important that healthcare be based upon science).

Cancer is a very difficult type of disease to treat, and the public has a very distorted view of the nature of cancer and of medical scientific progress in general. This has lead to unrealistic expectations of progress in curing cancer, which then in turn leads to thoughts that cancer research is somehow not working.

I find the same to be true in medicine in general – the public thinks of scientific progress in terms of dramatic “breakthroughs.” Media hype feeds this misconception. The reality is that medical scientific progress is largely a series of very small steps, with a cumulative effect of slow steady improvement in treatments. We have not cured Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, Multiple Sclerosis Parkinson’s disease, and many other diseases as well. But treatments are slowly improving. Slow steady progress does not make good headlines, however, so the myth of miracle medical breakthroughs will likely continue to be promoted by the media.

Read the entire post. Hat tip to Sandy Szwarc.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (1) |

An important distinction in the health care finance debate

Clear Thinkers favorite Arnold Kling, who appears to be everywhere these days in regard to discussions over reform of America's health care finance system, reminds us in this Washington Times op-ed of an important distinction in the health care finance debate -- despite the problems in health care finance, American medical care and research remains the hope of the world:

On one side of me at the graduation [of my daughter] sat [my wife], a breast cancer survivor. On the other side was my father, whose heart condition and blood pressure threatened to take his life before my daughter was ready to graduate kindergarten, much less college. Finally, there was my daughter herself, who since high school has had a chronic intestinal illness sufficiently contained that she could graduate on schedule.

None of these three stars would have been there without medical treatments that only became available since my daughter was born. New drugs played a significant role in each case. In fact, some pharmaceuticals critical for my daughter only were approved for her condition a few years before she was given them. Drugs in the pipeline are likely to play an important role in her future.

In other countries, would the same state-of-the-art medicines and equipment have been available to my father, my wife and my daughter? Perhaps. But it is a safe bet these technologies were not invented elsewhere.

Much of the medical innovation that the world enjoys comes from America. While as an economist I find much to criticize about our health-care system, America's role in medical innovation is crucial not just for Americans, but for the entire world.

Read the entire op-ed.

Posted by Tom at 4:04 AM | Comments (1) |

July 1, 2007

Stros 2007 Season Review, Part Four

So, now that the Stros are done with that, where does the club go from here?

As the Stros (34-47) reached the halfway point of the 2007 season, that's the question confronting the owner Drayton McLane and General Manager Tim Purpura. The club went 8-12 during the fourth 1/8th segment of the season after going 9-12, 11-9 and 6-14 during the first three (prior periodic season reviews here). That geneally abysmal performance removed any fleeting doubt that the Stros could compete for the National League Central division title. The Stros finished the first half of the season 13.5 games behind the division-leading Brewers (47-33), good for only fifth place in a mediocre six team division.

How has this happened to a club that is only a season and a half removed from a World Series appearance? As noted here earlier this season, some folks who cover the club on a regular basis don't even know the answer to that question. However, it's clear that the 2007 Stros have taken a major step backward because of an overall decline in pitching. Through 81 games, the Stros' pitching staff has given up 65 more runs than a merely average National League club would have given up in the same number of innings (runs saved against average or RSAA, explained here) and an astounding 139 more runs than the best National League pitching staff (the Padres). The aggregate RSAA of the Stros' staff is currently dead last in the 16 team National League, a startling development for a pitching staff that has been among the best in MLB over the past three seasons. The pitching staff's performance is by far the worst by a Stros staff since the 2000 season, when a similar meltdown during the club's initial season in Minute Maid Park resulted in a -69 RSAA and a disastrous 72-90 record, the only losing record for the Stros in the past 15 seasons until this season.

Meanwhile, the Stros' hitting has actually taken an upswing recently after meandering below National League-average for the first 3/8ths of the season. Improved hitting from slugger Lance Berkman (12 RCAA/.386 OBP/.434 SLG/.820 OPS), continued excellent production from Hunter Pence (16/.358/.562/.920), and solid contributions from Mark Loretta (10/.410/.441/.851), Carlos Lee (6/.346/.514/.860), Mike Lamb (8/.365/.475/.840) and Luke Scott (4/.335/.465/.800) resulted in the Stros generating, through 81 games of the season, 18 more runs than an average National League club would have created using the same number of outs (runs created against average or RCAA, defined here) through the halfway point of the season. That's good for 6th place in the National League, the best performance for Stros hitters since the 2004 club's late season surge allowed the Stros to finish 7th in RCAA among the 16 National League teams.

Unfortunately, the Stros' improved hitting does not come close to compensating for the Stros' overall atrocious pitching. By adding a club's overall RCAA and RSAA numbers, the sum provides a good measure for evaluating a club's overall performance relative to an average National League club, which would have a combined RCAA/RSAA score of precisely zero. The Stros' RCAA/RSAA deficit of -47 this season is a clear indication that the Stros are currently a far below-average National League team.

The season statistics for the Stros to date are below, courtesy of Lee Sinins' sabermetric Complete Baseball Encyclopedia. The abbreviations for the hitting stats are defined here and the same for the pitching stats are here. The Stros active roster is here with links to each individual player's statistics:

Getting back to the "how has this happened?" question, it's helpful to look back at how the Stros' organization has developed over the years to figure out the answer to that question and to chart what club management needs to do to right the ship.

Despite never having won a World Series, the Stros have been a reasonably successful franchise over their 45 year existence, particularly over the past 15 years. Given the club's initial expansive environment in the Astrodome, Stros management chose a model that emphasized development of good pitching and defense, which has allowed the club to be more consistently competitive over the years than many other clubs, such as the Stros in-state rival, the Rangers. Although the Stros developed some good hitters such as Rusty Staub, Joe Morgan, Jimmy Wynn and Cesar Cedeno, the organization has always been known more for development of its pitching than hitting. For years, Major League scouts joked that, whenever they would scout the Stros' minor league teams, they would always bring their radar guns along because the Stros always seemed to have a bunch of fireballing prospects coming up through the ranks.

With the commencement of the Biggio-Bagwell era in the early 1990's, the Stros model changed somewhat as the club became more balanced between pitching and hitting. Beginning in 1992, the Stros put together a string of seasons from 1992-2004 in which the club overall was above National League-average in terms of creating runs, topped by the 1998 juggernaut that generated a remarkable 154 more runs over the course of the season than an average National League club. With the exception of the 1992, 1995, 1996 and aformentioned 2000 seasons, the Stros' pitching also remained above-average during those years, resulting in the club's three straight playoff appearances in the late 1990's, two more in 2001 and 2004, and topped by the 1998 club's 116 RSAA (how did the Stros not win it all that season?).

Beginning in 2000 with the move to the more hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park, the Stros' overall hitting began to decline again. Part of that downturn was attributable to the inevitable erosion of Biggio and Bagwell's productivity as they grew older, but it also resulted from Richard Hidalgo's surprising failure to develop into a consistent above-average National League hitter and the organization's failure to develop any above National League-average hitters in their minor league system after 2000 other than Berkman, Pence, and Morgan Ensberg.

Nevertheless, this decline in hitting was somewhat offset with increased productivity in the Stros' pitching staffs. Interestingly, the Stros' increased emphasis on pitching since the 2000 season paid big dividends, as the chart below reflects:

Thus, the only two seasons since 2000 that the Stros have played sub-.500 ball have been the 2000 season and this season, the two seasons in which the Stros fielded below-average pitching staffs. On the other hand, when the Stros had their best pitching performance since 2000 in 2005, the Stros went to their first World Series despite a well-below average hitting performance.

So, what was McLane and Purpura's mistake this season? Contrary to conventional wisdom that one regularly hears on sports talk radio shows and reads in the Chronicle, none of the trades or non-tenders that they have made over the past two seasons has really hurt the club. Jason Jennings (2 RSAA/4.69 ERA) has pitched better than either Jason Hirsh (-4 RSAA/4.90 ERA or Taylor Buchholz (-1 RSAA/4.66 ERA), and Willy Taveras (-1/.335/.346/.681) is not as productive a hitter as either Lee, Pence or Scott, the Stros' three top outfielders. The same goes for Purpura dealing away Ben Zobrist and Mitch Talbot for Aubrey Huff last season -- neither of those players has shown anything to suggest that they will ever be even National League-average players. Similarly, given the expense relative to the injury risk, not re-signing Clemens and Pettitte was absolutely the right move for a club that has no business locking up $40 million in payroll in two old, fading pitchers.

Thus, it has not been bad trades or ill-advised non-tenders that has caused the current dismal state of affairs with the Stros. Rather, McLane and Purpura's mistake this season was in moving away from the club's "development of pitching first" philosophy and thinking that improving the club's hitting could compensate for a decidedly lackluster pitching staff and allow the Stros to compete for the NL Central title.

Consequently, rather than trading away productive players (those are the only ones that other clubs want), the Stros need to renew dedication to their long-term model of developing above-average pitching talent and depth throughout the organization. If the Stros can become comfortable that Jennings is not damaged goods, then the club should make every effort to re-sign him before he hits the free agent market after the season. But the key to turning around the ballclub's decline is in restocking the pitching staff and that is done primarily by developing pitchers in the minor league system. So long as the club's downturn in pitching performance is a temporary blip on the radar screen -- which has usually been the case with the Stros over their history -- the resurgence of the club's hitting this season bodes well for development of a balanced club that has the potential to be above National League-average hitting and pitching over the next several seasons. That should be good enough to return quickly to contention in the NL Central.

After finishing their four game series with the Rockies today, the Stros face the Phillies (41-40) and the Mets (46-33) in the next seven games at Minute Maid Park leading up to the All-Star break and then go on the road after the break for nine games in Chicago (39-40), Washington (32-48) and Pittsburgh (35-45) before returning home on July 23rd for three game sets against the Dodgers (45-35) and the Padres (45-33). Look for the next periodic update around July 28th or so, by which time the Stros hopefully will be evaluating a few of the club's good pitching prospects on the Major League level.

Posted by Tom at 6:56 AM | Comments (0) |

June 30, 2007

More Kling on health care finance

Clear Thinkers favorite Arnold Kling continues in this TCS op-ed to provide his typically insightful analysis on what is needed to reform America's health care finance system. He concludes:

"[R]eal health care reform in the United States will not happen because of some wonk's clever plan. It will not happen as a result of an election. It will only happen when we change some of our beliefs about health care."

Read the entire piece.

Posted by Tom at 12:37 AM | Comments (0) |

June 29, 2007

Biggio reaches 3,000 hit plateau

Good for Bidg that he collects his 3,000th hit on a night where he goes 5 for 6 and helped set up Carlos Lee's walk-off bottom of the 11th grand slam to pull out an 8-5 win over the Rockies. That's the Craig Biggio that Houstonians who have admired his magnificent 20 year career want to remember.

There are many tributes today around the web and in the Chronicle today, but John Lopez's and the Plunk Biggio tributes are the best that I've read. Here are
a few of my blog posts on Bidg over the years:

A good man's worthy cause (August 25, 2004);

Bidg sets the MLB hit by pitch record (June 29, 2005);

One of the downsides of the pursuit of 3,000 (August 26, 2005);

The remarkable Mr. Biggio (October 4, 2005); and

Where Bidg stands among the Stros' best hitters of all-time (February 26, 2007).

Bidg's career statistics through last night's game are below, the best reflection of his certain Hall of Fame career.

Posted by Tom at 7:29 AM | Comments (0) |

Icahn on management theory and private equity

The adventures of Carl Icahn are a common topic on this blog, so the following Icahn observations from a WSJ-sponsored conference caught my eye:

At The Wall Street Journal’s Deals & Deal Makers Conference, Icahn summed up his approach to executives of companies he takes over this way: “The secret is don’t manage.” (Okay, he went on to say “don’t micromanage.”)

And what wonders can be achieved with so little effort. “There are few companies I can’t go in to today and save 30%. A lot of companies are very wasteful.” (Call it the Seinfeld theory of management, after the sit-com famous for being about nothing.) One company that decided it could do without Icahn’s services is Motorola. The billionaire this year unsuccessfully fought to get on the board of the cellphone maker. “I really didn’t care a hell of a lot to be on the board,” he said of the experience.

Icahn isn’t the biggest fan of U.S. and Western European CEOs. (“When you get into a lot of corporations…they’re much worse than you think. I mean, they’re really terribly run.”) He also discussed his “Darwin Theory” of corporate governance, according to which there is a sliding scale of intelligence on corporate ladders. Why? Each manager starting with the CEO ensures that the person below him is dumber so as not to be threatened.

No one will accuse Icahn of not speaking his mind. He was one of the few attendees at the conference to predict that the private-equity market has peaked. Of the leveraged-buyout firms like Blackstone Group that are going public, he said: “These guys aren’t stupid and that’s one reason why they’re monetizing.”

Meanwhile, John Carney over at DealBreaker reports the following Icahn anecdote from the WSJ conference:

Carl Icahn tried to short the stock of the Blackstone group immediately after its IPO, the billionaire "corporate raider" told an audience at a conference sponsored by the Wall Street Journal.

"I tried to borrow the stock but I couldn't do it in time," Icahn said.

After he spoke to the conference, Icahn asked reporters not to print the story of his attempt to short Blackstone.

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) |

A primer on insulin, blood sugar and Type 2 diabetes

Mark Sisson (earlier post here) is now blogging on nutrition and exercise issues, and one of his first posts provides this good overview of the often misunderstood interrelationship between insulin, blood sugar and Type 2 diabetes. As Sisson notes, "we are all, in an evolutionary sense, predisposed to becoming diabetic."

Posted by Tom at 12:12 AM | Comments (0) |

David who?

Stephanie Stradley, who did a good job of blogging the Houston Texans last season as the "Texans Chick" over at the Chronicle, is now blogging over at the NFL Fanhouse. She passes along this interesting item regarding Texans' star wide receiver Andre Johnson's comparison of new Texans QB Matt Schaub and former Texans punching bag, er, I mean, QB, David Carr. Johnson's comments are particularly interesting given Carr's recent remarks (see here) regarding his time with the Texans.

H'mm. Any surprise that Carr's Texan teammates never voted him to be one of the team's captains?

Posted by Tom at 12:03 AM | Comments (1) |

June 28, 2007

College football must be right around the corner

You know it's about time for the college football season to begin when the first story appears proclaiming that Texas A&M football coach Dennis Franchione remains on the hot seat (Brett Zwerneman of the San Antonio Express-News):

. . .Anyway, an Aggies neighbor here in town firmly stated Monday that this is Dennis Franchione’s make-or-break season in College Station. I didn’t realize she had that much pull with the Aggies brass.

I argued that A&M will have a better team than last season -- and a worse record. For starters to a tough last two-thirds of the schedule, the Aggies play a non-conference, Thursday night road game at Miami, a recently-proud program now under first-year coach Randy Shannon. [. . .]

Last year, A&M squeezed out a three-point victory at KU and a one-point victory in overtime at OSU. This year, A&M plays league road games at Texas Tech, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri.

The Aggies haven’t won in Lubbock since 1993. They haven’t won in Lincoln, Neb., since 1955 (no, I didn’t cover that game). They haven’t won in Norman, Okla., since 1997. They haven’t won in Columbia, Mo., since 1999.

In other words, A&M hasn’t won at any of those places this millennium (or century, if that grabs you more). In 2003, Franchione’s first season at A&M and the last time the Aggies played this league slate, A&M lost at the above four hotspots by a combined 167 points.

One-hundred-and-sixty-seven points! (Right, that team didn’t have Mike Goodson. You got me.)

Obviously they’ve got a little ground to make up. . . .

The entire column is here.

Posted by Tom at 12:25 AM | Comments (0) |

Another casualty of Oakmont?

Maybe Phil Mickelson wasn't the only casualty of the recent U.S. Open at Oakmont. Chris Lewis reports the following:

USGA Head Agronomist Ousted: U.S. Open Fallout?

Word on the superintendent grapevine is that Tim Moraghan, the USGA’s head agronomist, has been relieved of his post.

USGA spokesperson Marty Parkes, contacted by telephone at the U.S. Women’s Open site at Pine Needles in North Carolina, would not officially confirm or deny the rumors, but did say the grounds were being overseen this week not by Moraghan, but by “an agronomist from the green section in this part of the country.”

The talk of Moraghan’s dismissal, which surfaced on Monday, suggested it had to do with disagreements among USGA personnel about course set-ups and playing conditions at recent U.S. Opens.

Moraghan had been with the USGA for about 20 years.

Given the recent criticism of USGA president Walter Driver here and here, perhaps the USGA is in need of more than a shakeup than merely firing the agronomist?

Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) |

J. Fred Duckett, R.I.P.

As noted in the update to this earlier post, longtime Rice athletics, Stros, Oilers, UH Track, Texas Relays, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Houston Marathon (and goodness knows what else!) announcer J. Fred Duckett died earlier this week. A visitation for the family will be held from 6-8 p.m. today at George H. Lewis Funeral Home (1010 Bering Drive) and a memorial service will be held at Autry Court on the Rice University Campus at 1:00 on Friday (park in the West Lot #4). The Rice University Athletic Department has also set up this webpage for friends of J. Fred to pass along their remembrances of this fine man, one of the many who make Houston such a special place to live.

Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) |

June 27, 2007

Reaching a milestone the wrong way

I've noted in several previous posts (here and here) how Stros management has hurt the club and thumbed its nose at the integrity of baseball by indulging Craig Biggio's quest for 3,000 hits, but Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheehan really lays the wood to Biggio and Stros management in this BP column ($):

Last night, the Astros started Chris Burke at second base, batting him sixth and using Mark Loretta as their leadoff man in their 6-1 loss to the Brewers. . . . [Stros manager] Phil Garner hasn’t had a sudden change of heart about the best alignment of his available talent; no, he’s sitting Craig Biggio in two of these three games to prevent Biggio from notching his 3,000th career hit on the road.

Set aside for the moment the issue of whether the Astros are better with Burke at second base and Loretta batting leadoff, which is certainly the case. That was also the case on Opening Day, but Garner has pencilled Biggio’s name into the lineup 62 times, including 59 times in the leadoff spot. He decided at the beginning of the season that Biggio was his starting second baseman, and no amount of out-making was going to change that. Biggio's .279 OBP wasn’t the reason he was on the bench last night.

Consider the context as well. The Astros, in no small part because of that .279 OBP from their leadoff hitter, were 32-43 heading into last night's game, 11 games behind the Brewers. I don't think the Astros are serious contenders any more than the next guy does, but if they were going to make a push, it would certainly help to go into Miller Park and win three games. Doing so would seem to require playing your starters. Garner elected to not do so last night. Consider that the Astros were dead and buried in both 2004 and 2005 before making runs to the NLCS and World Series, respectively. If any team can take itself seriously from 11 games out with nearly 90 to play, it’s these Astros.

Pull that all together for a second. Astros manager Phil Garner went into a do-or-die series with a division leader and benched his starting second baseman not for any reason related to merit, but so that an individual achievement can be celebrated in a certain manner. He put a statistic, a person and a show ahead of the team’s goals. He and the Astros have been doing this all year of course just by playing Biggio, but the naked manipulation of playing time in what should be a key series is galling.

Individual records in any form of competition only matter in that they are achieved in the pursuit of the goal of winning. We keep individual statistics, but even the most hardcore stathead will explain that the statistics themselves are only meaningful because they serve to measure an individual’s contribution to winning. We rate players by the runs they produce and save, because those runs are the building blocks of wins, and wins matter. That a player might accumulate a significant number of hits, doubles, walks, stolen bases is something to be noted, and even perhaps celebrated, but only if that accumulation comes in the natural course of events. The pursuit of a championship is primary; there should be no pursuit of numbers.

This is what was so wrong about Pete Rose’s chase of Ty Cobb’s all-time record for hits in a career. Rose’s performance had been so bad from 1982 through the middle of 1984 that he no longer was worthy of a roster spot. He could not contribute to the winning of a championship. (His 1983 was disgustingly bad--.245/.316/.286 as a mediocre defensive first baseman--and the Phillies' pennant came in spite of him.) The Reds signed him because the Reds weren’t much about winning championships at that point, and wanted the sideshow. Rose wasn’t quite as bad with the Reds--his .395 OBP helped them finish second in 1985, even paired with a .319 SLG--but it really didn’t matter. The decision to sign a just-released 43-year-old first baseman who hadn't homered since 1982 was indefensible as a baseball decision, and moreso for a team whose system was about to cough up a lineup’s worth of hitters.

Rose would have been considered a Hall of Famer and a great player even if he’d ended his career with 4,062 hits. His pursuit of a number, and the Reds’ enabling of that pursuit, actually detracted from his setting of the mark.

Biggio’s advance to his 3000th hit is exactly the same situation. Biggio shouldn’t be a regular any longer, and since he can’t really play anywhere but second base, he’s got a minimal case for even having a roster spot. If he had started the season with 2,763 hits, or 3,112, he wouldn’t be playing at all. The only reason he’s been allowed to play is because he was close to a three-zero number in a high-visibility category.

This act, this glorifying of a statistic, a number, is supposed to be the thing that we do, that statheads do, that takes away from the beauty and spirit of the game. But I don’t know a single stathead, not one, who would allow a player who so clearly doesn’t deserve to play any longer into the lineup just because of a number. Numbers only matter when they’re part of the pursuit of a championship. Separated from that, they’re a sideshow, and they have little meaning.

What number of hits Craig Biggio finishes his career with has absolutely nothing to do with his value as a player, the greatness he showed at his peak, or his qualifications for the Hall of Fame. Biggio contributed mightily to good teams, and he had a long career during which he displayed a broad range of skills. We can measure those things, we can evaluate and analyze his performance, and our methods for doing so have meaning because the context in which we put them is helping a team win baseball games.

Biggio’s last few hits have no such relevance. They are just hits garnered so that Craig Biggio can get hits. That was clear at the start of the season, but benching him for two of three games in a June series against the division leaders is the cherry on top. Craig Biggio isn’t a baseball player now. He’s a stat-generating robot.[ . . .]

Craig Biggio is no less a man, no less a great baseball player, no less a Hall of Famer for his participation in this charade. The number, though, just doesn’t mean very much. Reaching a statistical milestone is meaningless when the milestone becomes the goal. Anybody can play long enough to make a particular odometer turn over. It’s deserving to do so that makes it a true achievement.

That Stros management and Biggio have allowed the franchise icon's quest for 3,000 hits to be dragged into the mud of Pete Rose's tawdry pursuit of Ty Cobb's record for career hits says it all. So, Drayton McLane, is this what you mean when you ask Stros employees "What have you done today to become a champion?"

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (5) |

The Harmon Brothers Teaching Summit

Check out this Bob Carney/Golf Digest blog post about the second annual Harmon Brothers Teaching Summit this November 4-7 in Las Vegas. As noted in earlier posts here and here regarding the late Dick Harmon, and this one regarding the late Claude Harmon, Sr., the Harmon family has long and deep ties to Houston. Although aimed primarily at golf teachers, the Harmon Brothers Teaching Summit is open to a limited number of golf swing enthusiasts. And the faculty is pretty darn impressive, including Mike Bender, he of the "Stack and Tilt" swing method, which is really just a variation on Jim Hardy's one-plane swing. The Harmon brothers are an entertaining bunch (their late father could have been a standup comedian), so this could be a fun way to spend a quick Vegas golf vacation.

By the way, check out "the dorm" for the participants in the summit. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (1) |

Would you bet on United Airlines?

The travails of United Airlines over the past several years have been a common topic on this blog, so Professor Bainbridge's "enough is enough" declaration with regard to flying on post-bankruptcy United caught my eye. And lest you think that the good Professor's experience was anecdotal, get a load of the following excerpt from this Scott McCartney/WSJ ($) column regarding the dire status of airline travel this summer:

Last Wednesday, an employee at UAL Corp.'s United Airlines made a mistake that crippled a crucial computer system and its backup for two hours in the morning. Because airlines schedule planes so tightly, they can almost never recover from early problems on the same day. On June 20, only 30% of United's flights arrived on time; about half of all flights were more than 45 minutes late, according to FlightStats.

Even when travelers get to their destination, it doesn't always mean the woes are over. United lost National Public Radio host Scott Simon's luggage on a flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas last week. After filling out paperwork in Las Vegas, Mr. Simon was given a phone number and email address to contact the San Francisco baggage office -- with the caution that San Francisco never answers the phone or responds to email.

More than 30 calls later, Mr. Simon, an elite-level frequent flier on United, has yet to reach a United baggage official in San Francisco, or learn anything about the fate of his baggage, which includes irreplaceable items after adopting his second child in China. Calls to the airline's main toll-free line haven't yielded any information, either. American Express Co. is also trying to track down information, a service for its platinum customers, but hasn't gotten through to United, either.

"It's incredibly frustrating," Mr. Simon said. "I know they are overworked, and it seems they have decided the best way to avoid more work is to not answer the phone or respond to email." He likened the baggage office to someone deeply in debt who simply stops opening bills that arrive in the mail. A spokeswoman for United says the airline is trying to find Mr. Simon's lost bag.

At least it sounds as if United is keeping its overhead expense low in the customer service department. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

June 26, 2007

Regulating dangerous financial products

Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren wants to establish a federal commission to regulate subprime mortgages and other "dangerous" financial products that are foisted on unsuspecting consumers. For a number of reasons, that's a bit like using a sledgehammer on a problem for which a scalpel is more appropriate. But if it comes about, Don Boudreaux informs us about a really dangerous financial product that the new commission needs to examine:

If such a commission does its job, I suggest that the first dangerous financial product that it attacks be Social Security. Not only are Social Security's returns lousy; not only are its "customers" never vested their "contributions"; not only does the institution providing it have no sound plan to keep it solvent; not only does this institution intentionally mislead its clients about its insolvency (witness its discussions of the illusory "trust fund") - but its "customers" are forced to buy it. That is a dangerous financial product!

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (1) |

That's some leadership, eh?

It has not been a good week for local leadership. After Harris County Commissioners endorsed perfectly sensible congestion pricing for the overloaded Westpark Tollway -- which is overloaded primarily because the local transit authority undermined the size of the project when it was built -- the Commissioners revoked the sensible policy because some citizens yelled loud who didn't want to pay the higher toll during rush hour or be inconvenienced by traveling the tollway at a time other than rush hour.

My goodness. Why didn't County Commissioners simply call Houston's urban policy wonk, Tory Gattis, to sort all this out in the first place?

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Talking about the 2007 U.S. Open in 2042?

This Peter Williams/New Zealand Herald column elaborates on the point that I've been making about the draconian setups for the U.S. Open courses that the United States Golf Association has been inflicting over the past couple of years on the competitors:

Golf, like all sports, is in the entertainment business. Its money comes through being an exciting spectacle on television.

The best TV sport is always when the best players perform at their optimum in conditions fair to everyone. I don't think those conditions prevailed at Augusta in April and certainly not at Oakmont last week. In two major championships this year, nobody has finished under par. That's entertainment? Give me a break. It's survival and not much fun to watch or play.

The story goes that after Johnny Miller shot 63 to win the 1973 US Open at Oakmont, the USGA and Oakmont membership vowed that never again would they be embarrassed by somebody ripping a championship course apart.

Embarrassed? That was brilliant play; engaging, exciting and still talked about 35 years later. Will they be talking about the 2007 US Open in 2042? About the greatest player of all time not able to make a birdie in his last 32 holes because of greens so fast you couldn't hit a putt firmly enough to hold the line?

Read the entire column.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (1) |

June 25, 2007

Defending Stoogology

Christopher Hitchens wrote this Vanity Fair piece earlier this year in which he explains why men are generally funnier than women. Dubuque (Iowa) Tribune-Herald columnist Rebecca Christian took offense to Hitchens' article (her column is not online) and, in so doing, made several disparaging remarks regarding those icons of American male comedy, The Three Stooges. Those are fightin' words to the Kirkendall brothers, prompting this letter to the editor (registration required) from my brother Matt, which provides as follows:

Dear Editor:

I am responding to a recent column from Saturday columnist, Ms. Rebecca Christian. She wrote expressing her irritation at a Vanity Fair article by Christopher Hitchens, but included in this a general meditation on women's inability to appreciate male humor. Unfortunately, she made several disparaging remarks about the Three Stooges with some particularly cheap shots directed at Curly.

In this way, she demonstrated a woeful lack of appreciation of the Three Stooges and by implication the entire male philosophical discipline known as "Stoogology" -- the study of the Three Stooges and their impact on society. Her comments demand a response.

She is correct in her assertion that women generally do not understand the Stooge phenomenon. For men, however, the Stooges provide a framework to develop an understanding of the world and their place in it.

One of the most important and time honored responsibilities of any father is passing on to his son a passion and proper respect for the Three Stooges.

In their unique way, the Stooges teach valuable life lessons that all men can identify with and can use to try to fashion their own lives. Some of these lessons include:

* Life can be painful (i.e. eye pokes, face slaps).

* Question authority (be it as a teacher, plumber, census taker, columnist; most any job can be pretty much made up as you go along).

* Despite your best efforts whatever you do may not be appreciated (ex: a pie in the face).

These are tough lessons to be sure. It is a choice, you can spend thousands of dollars and years of their lives sending your sons to university to study obscure philosophers to learn these lessons, or you can allow them to watch Stooge shorts on men focused cable channels to learn the same things.

An added advantage is that even basic Stooge knowledge can be broadening as it allows your son to come to appreciate other important social commentary of our time such as that provided by Benny Hill, Monty Python, ESPN commercials, and many others.

Several years ago, a national magazine proposed that every man's personality type could be summarized as being one of the Three Stooges.

Most men are Larry; they just want to get along with everyone. The forceful personality types are Moe. These are the guys that run businesses, are corporate types and are generally SOBs.

It was in fact the Curlys, that women found most fascinating. One woman noting, "I would marry a Larry, but dating a Curly would be the most fun." Curlys tend to be exciting and prone to excess. Typically they burn out early. Unfortunately, this describes the life of the real Curly, Jerome Horowitz, who was famous for his girlfriends, several wives and dying at a young age.

Other famous Curly types have included Marlon Brando, Babe Ruth, Elvis and John Lennon. Significantly, former President Bill Clinton was felt to be a Curly, whereas, President George W. Bush was classified as a Shemp. Go figure.

Within this framework, the columnist Christopher Hitchens can be classified as a Curly. He is prone to polemical excess and his schtick is to be controversial. He tries to impress the girls with his vocabulary, his British accent and his peculiar worldview.

However, the TH columnist should not take her dislike of Mr. Hitchens' column as an excuse to condemn Curlys as a whole. In that way, she is insulting a large part of the male population and she may be seriously limiting her options for fun dating in the future. She should remember that in the end: "Soitenly, we all are just victims of coicumstance, N'yuk, N'yuk, N'yuk!"

Matthew J. Kirkendall
Dubuque, IA.
Kirkendall is a physician at Dubuque Internal Medicine.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

Charles Koch on Market-Based Management

C.S. Hayden. who is serving an internship at Koch Industries, Inc., the world's largest privately-held company, provides this entertaining interview of Charles G. Koch, the company's CEO. Koch is the author of The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World's Largest Private Company (Wiley 2007), which he expands upon in the interview. Of particular interest is Koch's view toward Koch's advantages in the marketplace:

Q: What separates this company from those in the Fortune 500?

Mr. Koch: The MBM culture and management philosophy are key. We are privately held, which gives us tremendous advantages in this business environment of regulation and litigation. Also, we have continuity of leadership. As Deming said, constancy of purpose is a key. A 20% yearly return will make your money double every 3.5 years, which adds up over time. Others try to change their purpose all the time, they have some successes, but they end up bankrupt and have to start all over again.

Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages of the private vs. public ownership structure?

Mr. Koch: In today's regulatory and litigious society, about every company is better off private. The only reason to go public would be if the shareholders want liquidity or if the business can finance takeovers through public offerings. [I think this is what he said, but I'm not certain about the second point, financing takeovers; the key is that he emphasized the vast benefits of the private structure.]

The equity markets are not free markets, but highly regulated and distorted.

Also impressive is Koch's analysis of his decision-making:

Q: What have been your best and worst decisions?

Mr. Koch: The best decision was a deal with J. Howard Marshall to gain control of the Great Northern Oil Company, which established the refining business and eventually propelled us into many other industry areas. The worst decisions are way too numerous to recount. Making so many mistakes is definitely a humbling process. The very worst decisions occur when we don't take advantage of good deals, when we have massive opportunity costs. We get scared and don't take risks. Fred Koch said, "Don't take counsel of your fears."

Koch's final piece of advice is also insightful:

Finally, if you lose your humility, you're on your way out.

Read the entire interview.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Catching up with Bill James

Clear Thinkers favorite and the original sabermetrician Bill James is the subject of this Dan Ackman/Opinion Journal piece, which provides the usual dose of Jamesian good sense regarding objective analysis of baseball. James, whose original Baseball Abstract in 1977 revolutionized the way in which statistics are used to evaluate baseball players, never worked for a Major League Baseball team until 2002, when the Red Sox hired him as consultant. Among the most interesting observations that James makes in the article is the following:

Mr. James, a rationalist in a church of red-blooded true believers, takes the long view: "In any given season there is an immense amount of luck in who wins the division, even if it's a lopsided race," he says. "People are made very uncomfortable by the notion that our lives are random, but there are huge random parts in everything that happens. It's uncomfortable because it's our job to drive the randomness out and make the system work."

Read the entire piece.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

June 24, 2007

What's the excuse?

Despite the fact that Craig Biggio (-9 RCAA/.271 OBA/.382 SLG/.653 OPS) has been one of the least productive hitters (-28 RCAA) among regular National League players over the past season and a half, I at least understand the Stros' decision in continuing to play him regularly as he plods toward his landmark 3,000th hit.

But what's the Stros' excuse for continuing to trot Woody Williams (-18 RSAA/5.75/17 HR's in 92.1 innings) out to the mound every fifth game?

For the season, Williams is now the third least productive starter of the 90 or so regular starters in the entire National League. Unlike Biggio, he is not a franchise icon. Rather, Williams is a 40 year-old speculative off-season pickup who has not worked out. There is simply no reasonable explanation for not giving some of the Stros minor league talent a shot while having Williams play out his string in a less damaging role, probably as a long reliever.

By the way, after ridiculing the Rockets' Les Alexander's quite reasonable decision to change management, the Chronicle's Richard Justice now thinks maybe Stros' owner Drayton McLane should fire Stros General Manager Tim Purpura, despite the fact that Purpura has been an integral part of the Stros management team that has overseen the most successful decade in the club's history.

As noted in the earlier post, I don't understand why Chronicle management thinks Justice has any business analyzing sports. However, at least he is doing that rather than making management decisions for any of the local sports teams.

Posted by Tom at 4:18 AM | Comments (1) |

June 23, 2007

But what about the price of the smoked gouda?

Best crack yet on the Federal Trade Commission's remarkably misdirected lawsuit to enjoin the proposed Whole Foods-Wild Oats Markets merger comes from Mr. Juggles over at Long and Short Capital. Commenting on the FTC's novel theory that the merger will reduce competition in the market catering to those of us who seek a "superior grocery store experience," tongue firmly planted in cheek, Mr. Juggles observes as follows:

Frankly, I agree [with the FTC's theory]. I spent 20 minutes waiting in the deli line at Food Lion last week, only to be sold ground beef that looked like it had been dropped on the floor and then put back in the deli case. I love superior quality and superior service and abhor the idea that Whole Foods could acquire the only other superior provider, Wild Oats. At that point, given their monopoly on quality service, what would happen next? I’ll tell you what: we’d probably all end up paying a huge premium for our smoked gouda and wild Alaskan salmon.

Posted by Tom at 4:41 AM | Comments (0) |

June 22, 2007

The song of a salesman

I've never watched even one episode of American Idol. However, my nephew Rich passed along this four minute excerpt of an episode from the British version of the show, and it's truly about as inspiring as anything I've seen recently from television. There is some speculation around the Web that the performer was a ringer, but this critic makes a good case that he is legit. Take a look. It might just make your day.

Posted by Tom at 4:32 AM | Comments (1) |

Trouble in Lake Wobegon

Garrison Keillor didn't much like the way in which some "burly" security men behaved during his trip to Texas last year, but this post indicates that security matters can get a bit out of hand even in such progressive outposts as Keillor's beloved Minneapolis. A couple of Minneapolis' finest apparently decided to arrest, rough up and Taser a citizen who had the audacity to attempt to ride home from the local airport on his bicycle. The bicyclist ended up spending 24 hours in jail before being released on a $2,000 bond. A trial, in which the bicyclist is apparently representing himself, is scheduled for mid-July. Stay tuned.

Posted by Tom at 4:21 AM | Comments (0) |

Help for J. Fred

Charles Kuffner passes along the news that J. Fred Duckett -- the longtime public address announcer for Rice University sports teams, the Stros, the Oilers, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the Texas Relays and many other events -- is battling leukemia and in need of blood platelet donations. Kuff's post has the information on how to arrange a donation, as does this post from the Rice forum. Please give if you can and pass along the information to anyone who has enjoyed J. Fred's good-natured style over the years (no one who ever heard it will forget J. Fred announcing at Stros games "Jose Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuzzzz!").

Update: Sad news. J. Fred died on Monday, June 25. Charles Kuffner has more.

Posted by Tom at 4:13 AM | Comments (0) |

June 21, 2007

Fiddling while the Whole Foods-Wild Oats deal burns

Geoff Manne (see also here) and Thom Lambert (see also here) over at the Truth on the Market blog are having a field day bashing the misdirected FTC opposition of the Whole Foods-Wild Oats merger. And with good reason.

The latest development in this bizarre episode of excessive governmental regulation is the publication of the unredacted version of the FTC's complaint against the proposed merger, which relies heavily on comments that Whole Foods CEO John Mackey made to his board about the merits of the merger. Not surprisingly, Mackey told the Whole Foods board members the straight truth as to why it would be good for Whole Foods to acquire Wild Oats and, in do doing, pooh-poohed the ability of other supermarket chains to compete with Whole Foods. This David Kesmodel/WSJ($) article sums it up well:

The lawsuit quotes Mr. Mackey as saying that the company "isn't primarily about organic foods" but "only one part of its highly successful business model," citing as others "superior quality, superior service, superior perishable product, superior prepared foods, superior marketing, superior branding and superior store experience."

What is wrong with that? All Mackey is saying is that other supermarkets are not currently a direct competitor of Whole Foods because they are focused on price rather than the Whole Foods shopping experience. But nothing is stopping those other chains from changing course and imitating the Whole Foods karma if it's in the interest of their shareholders to do so. The FTC's theory that Whole Foods is attempting to monopolize the "hip" grocery shopping experience borders on the absurd.

Mackey has fired back with his own blog post, which is well worth reading. Among other things, he points out that Whole Foods' prices are unaffected by whether it is competing in a particular area with a Wild Oats store and that several other grocery chains are bigger and more direct competitors to Whole Foods than Wild Oats. Frankly, Mackey's blog post would be an excellent affidavit in support of a summary judgment motion for Whole Foods and Wild Oats.

Wouldn't it be interesting if Whole Foods could, through discovery, find out why the FTC is pursing this costly regulatory charade in the first place?

Posted by Tom at 4:24 AM | Comments (0) |

Want a season ticket? Take out a mortgage

Conde Nast's Megan Barnett reports on how the lion's share of the new Yankee Stadium is apparently going to be financed. The idea is that the seats in the new Yankees Stadium will be sold in advance to investors who will own them in perpetuity. Morgan Stanley and its partner, a start-up entity called Stadium Capital Financing Group, are hoping that their structure becomes the accepted way of privately-financing sports stadiums. They have even applied for a patent regarding the concept, which seems like a stretch. Here's how it would work:

Fans would buy seats for a designated period of time and finance them much like a mortgage. Pricing mechanisms can vary, but the most appealing option for buyers might be a 30-year loan with an annual payment equal to the current price of a season ticket. In exchange, the seat becomes real property, equivalent to, say, a condominium. The team (or university or other owner) receives the principal amount of the loan up front, to put toward construction costs. This arrangement is different from seat licensing, which gives the holder the right to buy a season ticket for a specific seat. . . . Under [the] system, people own seats, not shares of a team. Say, for instance, the current price of a season baseball ticket is $3,240. A 30-year loan at 6 percent interest with an annual payment of $3,240 results in a principal amount of $45,000. Even if the price of the seat doubles in the next 20 years, the seat owner still pays $3,240. Investors will have the option of making annual payments over 30 years, paying the entire amount up front, or something in between. Owners can also sell their seats at any time for market value, but rest assured—the team will get a cut of any profits.

At least one expert on financing stadiums, though, does not believe the financing technique will be all that earth shattering:

Roger Noll, a Stanford University economics professor who has written extensively about stadium financing, says that such an approach might make a dent in required public funding but will never replace it. Noll points out that most teams can't afford to sacrifice future revenues in order to pay for their ball fields. "At the end of the day, stadiums are not good investments," he says. "This isn't going to be a revolution."

H'mm, think this might work to defray the cost of this proposed boondoggle?

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Saving for a boondoggle

Buried in this Chronicle article about increasing tolls on the Harris County toll roads and congestion on the Westpark Tollroad is the following nugget about yet another of the Metropolitan Transit Authority's decisions that is contrary to its purpose of improving mobility in the Houston metro area:

Six months after the four-lane Westpark Tollway opened in 2004, traffic backups began occurring in certain areas, said Peter Key, toll road authority deputy director. Congestion has worsened since then.

The toll road authority would have preferred building a six- or even eight-lane tollway, Key said. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which owned the land in the area, was willing to sell only enough for a four-lane tollway, he said. Metro wanted to keep the remaining land in case it builds a commuter rail line along the tollway, Key said.

Metro vice president John Sedlak said Metro has considered using the corridor for rail for several decades and may build a light rail line along parts of the corridor, from the Hillcroft Transit Center to an undetermined distance east of the West Loop.

As noted in this previous post, Metro's bias in favor of inefficient rail lines is a costly bet for Houstonians. Those who are driving the Westpark Tollroad on a daily basis are finding out that such costs far exceed even the formidable expense of building inefficient rail lines.

Posted by Tom at 4:12 AM | Comments (0) |

June 20, 2007

Why is Richard Justice analyzing sports?

One of the many curious aspects about the Houston Chronicle is that the local newspaper employs Richard Justice as a sports reporter and columnist. We already know that he has trouble evaluating baseball (see also here) and football. So, today Justice nails the trifecta of incompentence in evaluating Houston's major sports teams with this post about Houston Rockets assistant general manager Dennis Lindsey's decision to leave the Rockets to join the San Antonio Spurs front office:

The San Antonio Spurs have the NBA's smartest front office. The hiring of Dennis Lindsey reenforces that notion. This is a tough loss for the Rockets, a very tough loss. He was excellent at what he did. Carroll Dawson had groomed him to be his successor, but Clueless Les went for Daryl Morey.

Who is calling who "clueless?" As noted in this post from almost three years ago, the Rockets have been mismanaged for a long time. The club has not won a playoff series over the past decade, one of the few NBA teams to hold that distinction. With the exception of Yao Ming, the Rockets' draft picks over that period have been generally mediocre or poor. As a result, the Rockets have gone from being one of the top NBA teams playing in a sold out arena to the third best NBA team in Texas with an arena that often resembles an expensive mausoleum. Although Lindsey is certainly not responsible for all of that decline, his tenure with the Rockets coincided with that downturn.

So, owner Rockets Les Alexander went outside the organization to hire a new general manager. That hire may or may not work out, but it was certainly an understandable decision. Nothing that the Rockets have accomplished during Lindsey's tenure with the club merited that Alexander simply hand him the job. That Lindsey is apparently cordial to Justice -- as was former Stros GM Gerry Hunsicker -- doesn't justify Justice simply ignoring the facts.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (4) |

How Not to use PowerPoint

Comedian Don McMillan nails it in this hilarious video. It's a must view for anyone who has ever endured a bad PowerPoint presentation (is there anyone left who has not?). Hat tip to Craig Newmark.

Meanwhile, the WSJ's ($) technology columnist Lee Gomes takes a look at the status of PowerPoint on its 20th (!) birthday.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (2) |

All about Angel

No, we're not back in the 1960's when pro golfers regularly puffed cigarettes on television under the stress of tournament competition. That's new U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina on the left enjoying a quick smoke with his caddie this past Sunday. Golf Digest's Jaime Diaz provides this timely and excellent profile of Cabrera, which includes this observation about Cabrera by longtime Houston golf professional, Charlie Epps:

Charlie Epps, a Houston-based teaching professional who lived in the small Argentine city of Villa Allende in the 1980s and met Cabrera when he was as a young caddie at the Cordoba GC, believes that Cabrera's problems with keeping his composure stem from a deep-seated anger rooted in growing up in an impoverished broken home. "I remember that when he started playing he really had a temper--he just couldn't handle bad shots--and that hurt him as a tournament player for a long time," says Epps. "He's a wonderful guy who had a lot of issues because of a very tough childhood, and with time he's learned to overcome the them"

Meanwhile, Stu Mulligan over at the Waggle Room passes along more information about Cabrera in this interview with longtime Champions Tour pro Eduardo Romero, who is also from Argentina and is one of Cabrera's sponsors.

Although not well-known outside of golf circles until this past weekend, Cabrera has long had a serious golf game. He is one of the Tour's longest hitters and an excellent ball-striker. A balky putter has been what has kept him from being a regular winner on the Tour. He sunk a few putts this past weekend and it was enough for him to take home his first major tournament trophy. As with late-bloomer Lee Trevino a generation ago, it may well not be Cabrera's last.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

June 19, 2007

Summing up Oakmont

So, Phil Mickelson is probably not going to be able to play any tournaments for the next three weeks in preparation for next month's British Open because of the injury to his wrist that he injured while hitting out of the absurdly dense rough at Oakmont Country Club for last weekend's U.S. Open. Lawrence Donegan sums up how the the United States Golf Association can even screw up a nice story such as Angel Cabrera winning the U.S. Open:

But in the midst of a spirit-lifting triumph for the underdog there was also something of a travesty for the game itself as once again the organisers of this historic tournament laid out a course that bordered on farce. It takes some doing to engender sympathy for golf's pampered millionaires but the USGA somehow managed to do exactly that.

In my view, the U.S. Open is easily the least enjoyable of all of the major golf tournaments and frankly not as much fun to watch as The Players or any number of mid-major tournaments. Perhaps having a few of the top players elect not to play in the U.S. Open because of injury risk might be what it takes to get through to the U.S.G.A. Their obsession with tricking up golf courses already elevates luck over skill in determining a champion. Now, it has become downright dangerous for the participants. And for those who think that a wrist injury is not all that serious for a professional golfer, remember what such an injury did to the once-bright playing career of former University of Houston golfer and two-time NCAA champion Billy Ray Brown.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

The next business prosecution

With the Conrad Black trial winding down in Chicago, it's about time for another dubious prosecution of a businessman, this time former Brocade CEO Greg Reyes, who is the first executive to be prosecuted for fraud in connection with backdating stock options. Larry Ribstein has been following the case since the start and has excellent analysis of the selective nature of the prosecution. Here is Steve Stecklow's WSJ article on the trial. Given the widespread nature of backdating, there are probably more criminal defense attorneys watching this trial than any other single prosecution of a businessperson over the the past five years. If a blogger pops up to cover the trial, I'll pass it along.

Posted by Tom at 4:06 AM | Comments (1) |

The Texas Water Safari

I've heard about The Texas Water Safari, but didn't realize quite what is involved:

The Texas Water Safari begins in San Marcos with a gunshot that sends 200 paddlers madly thrashing across a murky pond.

Multicolored boats, ranging from six-seated scull-like canoes to single-seat kayaks, barrel into each other, tipping and tossing their occupants into the water. The bigger boats slam into the smaller ones, driving them toward rusty pilings.

Once the paddlers traverse the pond, they jump into the mud and drag their boats through thick brush to portage a dam churning with whitewater. They twist ankles and skin knees as they carry their boats down an incline of sharp rocks to the mouth of the San Marcos River near the center of Texas.

And that is only the beginning of the 262-mile endurance test that takes most entrants two to three days to complete and has enough danger lurking along the way to give Indiana Jones nightmares.

Poisonous water moccasins fall from trees. Wasps and fire ants are constant threats, mosquitoes and mayflies swarm at night.

In fast water, logs turn into torpedoes and trees tumble like boulders. In high water, hanging limbs snatch water jugs and knock competitors unconscious.

Paddlers navigate rapids in the first half of the race and cope with the broiling heat of the Texas summer in the daytime, then fight off hypothermia at night.

There are 12 classes for boats entered in the race, but competitors can use any kind of craft, as long as it is human-powered. No sails or motors are allowed.

No wonder it is billed as the world’s toughest canoe race. [. . .]

Remarkably, no one has died in the race’s 44-year history.

But many have come close.

Read the entire article. Golf, anyone? ;^)

Posted by Tom at 4:00 AM | Comments (0) |

June 18, 2007

Steroids, home runs and variables

This post about Barry Bonds from a week or so ago prompted an interesting exchange in the comments between me and Gary Gaffney, a University of Iowa physician who blogs about steroid use over at Steroid Nation. Following on that exchange is this Michael Salfino/Grand Rapids Press article that raises questions regarding the conventional wisdom these days that steroid use dramatically increased home run totals in Major League Baseball:

Between 1995 and 2003, the era where, [steroids critics contend that] home run totals were inflated dramatically by alleged steroid use, each team hit, on average, 173 homers.

Unfortunately for [the steroids critics' argument], home run totals per team post-steroid testing are actually up, not down: 176 homers for the average team in the average year.

Leaguewide, there were 5,250 homers hit on average between 2001 and '03; 5,290 between '04 and '06.

One argument is that between '00 and '02, seven batters slugged 50 or more homers. Between '03 and '05, just one did.

But two batters, Ryan Howard and David Ortiz, hit more than 50 homers last year, and another, Albert Pujols, just missed with 49.

We again share the great insight by Art De Vany, professor emeritus of economics at the University of California-Irvine, that hitting home runs is an act of genius.

So, De Vany concludes, we must expect wide variance in the best years of athletes just like we accept wide variance in the best films of directors, albums of musicians or books by authors relative to their main body of work.

De Vany also concludes that large swings in individual home run performance are irrelevant to the steroids debate.

This year, teams are hitting homers at a 4,632 pace, which would be the lowest, by far, per team, in all the years cited by Kriegel except for '95. The homer rate thus far could be a fluke that will correct itself going forward.

Still, it would be surprising if the year-end total cracked 5,000, about where it stood in '02 and '05. Swings of 10 percent are common in every era. In the modern context, that means a range of anywhere between 4,800 and 5,800 homers should be considered normal.

Professor DeVany comments.

Posted by Tom at 4:25 AM | Comments (0) |

And you thought your boss was bad?

Argentina's Angel Cabrera won the U.S. Torture er, I mean, Open Golf Tournament yesterday over Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk, but the more interesting story from the Open was Colin Montgomerie's extraordinary effort to retain his "most unpopular golfer" status on the PGA Tour.

A couple of weeks ago, Monty summarily fired his longtime caddy while going through the worst stretch of his career. Thus, for the U.S. Open, Monty picked up a local caddy who had previously worked for Jack Nicklaus. Apparently, while Monty was missing the cut at the Open, things did not go swimmingly between Monty and his new bagman:

Colin Montgomerie's love affair with the US Open is on the rocks after his latest attempt to win the championship ended in abject failure and an ignominious falling out with his 62-year-old caddie.

On a day when a quartet of Britons conjured up hopes of ending Europe’s eight-year drought in the majors, Montgomerie slumped to his worst score in the tournament since his debut in 1993.

He missed the halfway cut at unforgiving Oakmont by eight shots and allowed the volatile side of his nature to wreak its revenge on the hapless Billy Goddard.

The veteran caddie, hired to carry Montgomerie’s clubs after the 43-year-old Ryder Cup star sacked long-term bagman Alistair McLean last week, tried to find a kind word to say about his temporary employer.

"He’s a good guy but he just gets mad at himself," said Goddard. "And he got mad at me, absolutely." [. . .]

After contacting the caddiemaster at Oakmont Country Club to request an experienced bagman — the main condition of his employment being that he should not talk too much — Montgomerie was allocated Goddard, a man with a reputation as a kindly soul who can get along with anyone.

Even though Goddard is so valued that he has caddied for Jack Nicklaus, he was to learn that Montgomerie can be easily upset by what seem innocuous comments.

After a first-round 76 left him with plenty of ground to make up, Montgomerie was unable to cope with the increasingly difficult demands of Oakmont’s penal rough and slick greens as he tossed shots away like a highhandicapper having a bad day.

Montgomerie was so distressed by an incident during the front nine of his second round that he walked over to speak to his girlfriend, Gaynor Knowles, on the 10th fairway and was overheard to say: "It’s such a shame. It’s really upset me. It really, really has."

When Goddard was asked whether he knew what had caused Montgomerie to become so agitated, he admitted being responsible, saying: "On the fourth hole he asked me what the yardage was and I said: 'Lay up or go for it?'. He said: 'I’m going for it'. After he made a bogey on the hole, he said to me: 'You should never have said the words lay up'. After that we hardly talked. That was the first taste I had of his reputation." [. . .]

On the 18th his drive landed in such thick rough that he could not see the ball and hacked it only 10 yards forward.

When he launched his third towards the green, a youth yelled ‘Get in the hole’ to be greeted by the coldest stare Montgomerie could muster. As the object of his anger was identified, the spectator turned to the rest of crowd and appealed: ‘I was only trying to encourage him.’ [. . .]

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

So far, so good

The Rice Owls are enjoying their sixth trip to the College World Series in Omaha so far as the Owls have won their first two games, have a couple of days to rest their pitchers before facing the winner of Tuesday's North Carolina-Louisville Loser's Bracket game on Wednesday, and are set up well to compete for one of the two spots in the best two-out-of-three final championship series that determines the champion. The Woodlands boys on the Owls are playing particularly well, which makes watching the Rice games in the series all that more interesting for me. Here is the bracket for the entire World Series, the World Series website, the World Series blog, as well as the local Rice Owls Baseball blog. Go Owls!

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM |

June 17, 2007

Father's Day 2007

It's a working Father's Day for me this year, so I am passing along this Father's Day post from a couple of years ago on a very special father. Here's hoping that all fathers out there in the blogosphere have a joyous and fulfilling Father's Day.

Posted by Tom at 4:54 AM | Comments (1) |

June 16, 2007

Say again, Johnny?

My sense is that former U.S. Open champ and NBC golf color commentator Johnny Miller is not going to be joining B.J. Lisko of the Salem News for cocktails any time soon after this broadside prompted by a U.S. Open press conference earlier this week:

The kingpin jackass of all golf media had his own press conference. Yes, Johnny Miller himself took the stage and squawked and squawked and squawked. Miller is perhaps the most pompous, self-righteous, arrogant man to ever have played the game. And to top it off, aside from the miracle tournament he had at Oakmont Country Club back in 1973, his golfing career certainly didn’t amount to anything epic. So now what does Johnny do? He squawks. Just like the rest of them. Only Johnny is on NBC Sports so we get the distinct pleasure of listening to him on an almost weekly basis.

Well, according to Johnny not only did he “usher in Tiger and Phil,” but he also played “tee to green, under pressure, the best round of golf he’s ever seen.”

“I’m not trying to pat myself on the back,” he said. Yes, Johnny. That’s exactly what you’re doing. And it didn’t stop.

For over a half hour he yammered on about how great he was and how great and difficult the course that he won on was. “This is the finest golf course in the world,” he said.

Then Johnny went on to say that “when you make a championship ridiculous, you can get ridiculous winners. You can get winners that will never win again, just happened to have a hot week putting or a good bounce here and there. We are trying to identify the A-plus player, not the only guy to survive that can hardly make a cut on the Tour.”

Okay then Johnny, I thought to myself. If we’re trying to find the “A-plus player,” then why is every professional predicting perhaps the most ridiculous scores in the history of a major championship? Why did Tiger Woods say the funest hole on the course is “the 19th?”

So I asked him, “If Oakmont is as ridiculous as all the players are saying it is, and it’s setting up like the winner is going to be a lot more lucky than good, does that change your opinion of the course?”

Well, this of course threw Johnny for a loop as he backtracked into saying how great the USGA was and that the USGA wouldn’t let a tournament get so out of hand. Well, they already have. Numerous times. Some players won’t even try to qualify for the U.S. Open, and if they already did, won’t play in it. Why is that? Because the best ball striker, the best player on the course, likely doesn’t win these tournaments. Good shots are not rewarded, and the scores go so high it becomes miserable for those in attendance. I’m not saying the U.S. Open shouldn’t be hard. It should. But walking around the course, my feet completely obscured by the rough just off the fairway, running my hand over undulating fairways cut as low as the greens on most public courses, this thing is going to be ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as the questions the press will be asking all weekend. But no where near as ridiculous as Johnny Miller’s fantastic insight on what every player needs to do, even though he can’t do it himself.

Posted by Tom at 4:21 AM | Comments (1) |

June 15, 2007

Enjoy some laughs with Robin Williams

One of my sons and I had a good laugh together watching this David Letterman interview of Robin Williams from a couple of years ago, so I am passing it along for you to enjoy at your leisure. Who other than Williams could, in the course of a 15-minute interview, generate laughs on subjects as diverse as the U.S. legal system, jury duty, golf announcers, linguistics, family therapy, acting with his daughter, welding, baseball, Barry Bonds, and Christopher Reeve? The first excerpt of the interview is below and the three other excerpts from the interview are after the hyperlinked break below:

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

A risky strategy in the Black trial

Mark Steyn -- who has done a wonderful job blogging the Conrad Black trial -- reports that the case will go to the jury next week after the defense rested this week with Black electing not to testify.

The Black's defense team strategy in holding Black off the witness stand is risky. As Martha Stewart and Jamie Olis learned the hard way, jurors in white collar criminal cases expect to hear the defendants explain why the government's charges are not true. When the jurors do not hear from the defendant, no jury instruction will ever remove the seeds of doubt from the jurors' minds that the defendant is trying to hide something. Granted, as Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay experienced, testifying in one's own defense certainly does not assure a successful defense. Likewise, the courtroom dynamics of each trial are different, so those in play in the Black trial courtroom may favor Black staying off the stand. But as the late Edward Bennett Williams used to advise his white collar criminal clients, "If you elect not to testify, then you better bring your toothbrush with you to the courthouse." Inasmuch as the government's case in the Black trial appears to be extraordinarily weak, here's hoping that the Black defense team's decision to keep Black off the stand does not come back to haunt them.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Investing in fat people?

Following on earlier posts here and here on how the U.S. anti-obesity industry often misrepresents the nature and extent of the health problems related to widespread obesity in American society, Laura Vanderkam reviews NY Times nutrition columnist Gina Kolata's new book, Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss--and the Myths and Realities of Dieting (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2007) in which Kolata challenges the conventional wisdom that an obese person's capacity to lose weight and maintain that reduced weight is merely a question of an individual's willpower.

Despite Kolata's book and a growing body of research that questions the anti-obesity crusade, investing in anti-obesity appears to be a potentially lucrative investment opportunity. A case in point is this Merrill Lynch research report on how best to invest in "the emerging obesity epidemic." Table 5 presents "stocks that represent the ML Obesity Theme" which, by the way, includes Whole Foods and Wild Oats Markets.

"The developed world is getting older and fatter," writes ML analyst Jose Rasco. "People are increasingly eating more proteins and processed foods, leading more sedentary lives and gaining weight." Inasmuch as ML projects that the number of obese people worldwide will increase to 700 million in 2015 from 400 million in 2005, there's money to be made in those companies that are fighting obesity or, as ML might say, "why not monetize a trend of more fat people?"

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (1) |

June 14, 2007

Perverting justice in predator hunting

Earlier posts here, here and here addressed NBC's To Catch a Predator series in which a television crew cooperates with police and a vigilante justice group to create child predator crimes. Then, the television crew follows the police as they apprehend the suspects, which NBC then broadcasts for all to see in a sort of modern witch hunt. On Tuesday night, a local Dallas news program aired the report below about how the show operates, including the tragic case of Louis Conradt, Jr. It does not paint a pretty picture:

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Probably not the best spokesman for home schooling

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (3) |

Banning the live bloggers

The National Collegiate Athletic Association's dubious regulation of intercollegiate athletics has been a frequent topic on this blog, but I must admit that this absurd example of overwrought regulatory control from last weekend's NCAA Super-Regional baseball series surprised even me:

Everybody can watch a game on TV and put their musings online. But don't try blogging from a press box at an NCAA championship.

After the NCAA tossed Louisville Courier-Journal reporter Brian Bennett for doing just that at an NCAA baseball tournament game Sunday — actually revoking his media credential during a Louisville-Oklahoma State super regional game — it said Monday that it was just protecting its rights.

Like rights to live game radio or TV coverage, suggests NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson, live coverage online is a longstanding "protected right" that is bought and sold. Blogging reporters can report about things such as game "atmosphere," he says in an e-mail, but "any reference to game action" could cost them their credentials.

Christianson says those online "rights" were packaged into media deals with CBS and ESPN — which aired the game. Monday, ESPN spokesman Dave Nagle said "our rights are the live TV rights. We didn't ask them (to take the reporter's credential.) And they didn't ask us."

A similar incident occurred at the Rice-Texas A&M Super-Regional in Houston.

Howard Wasserman analyzes the speech restriction issues, while Rich Karcher reviews it from an intellectual property standpoint. And the NY Times is reporting today that the Courier-Journal is weighing whether to mount a legal challenge to the NCAA's action on First Amendment grounds.

What on earth are these NCAA-types thinking?

By the way, not everyone is pleased with the way in which Rice won the Houston Super-Regional.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (1) |

June 13, 2007

The Jamie Olis connection in the KPMG criminal case

Following up on this post from a couple of weeks ago, the WSJ's ($) Paul Davies and David Reilly report on how the shadow of former Dynegy executive Jamie Olis is hovering over the pending criminal proceedings against 16 former KPMG LLP executives in New York. Larry Ribstein and Peter Lattman on the issues confronting the former executives in attempting to obtain a fair trial after the prosecution browbeat KPMG to stop paying for their defense.

As I've noted before, I think we are still too close in time to the barbaric treatment of Olis to be able to comprehend the full implications of that case. How many innocent business executives pled guilty to crimes that they did not commit out of fear of an Olis-like sentence? I suspect more than a few.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

Subjective baseball perceptions

In driving back to the office today, I was listening to Charlie Pallilo -- who, like me, analyzes baseball using mostly objective criteria -- and reminded me of a point that I meant to make in my most recent periodic review of the Stros season -- that is, subjective perceptions about baseball are usually quite inaccurate (a point noted in this post from the midway point of the 2006 season).

A case in point this season is Stros LF Carlos Lee. The consensus among most of the media that covers the Stros is that Lee is having a great season and that 1B Lance Berkman is having a lousy season. Well, that latter part of that statement is certainly correct -- Berkman, by his lofty standards (career 357 RCAA/.414 OBA/.556 SLG/.971 OPS), is having a bad season (2007 stats: 4 RCAA/.383/.381/.765).

However, the reality is that Lee has not been any more productive than Berkman. Going into last night's game with the A's, Lee has generated exactly the same number of runs as Berkman (i.e., 4) over what an average National League hitter would have created for the Stros using the same number of outs as Lee has used. Lee's key stat line (4/.340/.496/.836) is a bit better than Berkman's this season, but not all that great by league leader standards. Moreover, Lee's high number of RBI's (52) is largely the result of where he hits in the order, not any great hitting performance. Lee's hitting is largely undermined by the fact that he leads the league in grounding into double plays (14) and his low walk rate (18, compared with Berkman's 46).

As noted earlier here, Lee's career numbers (82/.344/515/.859) are nowhere near as good as Berkman's and really not all that much better than 3B Morgan Ensberg, who is mostly riding the bench these days. Even Luke Scott, who has a 3 RCAA for the season, is about as productive as Lee, while Mark Loretta -- who most folks believe has been much more productive than Scott this seaon -- has actually been slightly less productive (2 RCAA) than Scott. Meanwhile, Biggio -- who has been one of the least productive hitters in the National League from June 12, 2006 through June 12, 2007 (-31 RCAA!) continues to leadoff regularly.

The point of all this is that baseball is not rocket science, but many folks still make it more complicated than it is. Over a long season, a club's best hitters based on career performance are generally going to produce the most runs for the team. The Stros need to play Berkman, Lee, Ensberg, Scott, and Hunter Pence regularly, fill in the other spots with the most productive players available and and then let the chips fall where they may. It's highly improbable that the Stros will score more runs taking any other approach.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (9) |

Time to check out Oakmont

It's T-minus 24 hours or so until the the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in the Pittsburgh area gets underway, so it's time to check out the Golf Digest.com flyover of the golf course and Ran Morrissett's Oakmont course profile at GolfClubAtlas.com. Hat tip to Geoff Shackelford.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

June 12, 2007

But what about Pakistan?

Senator Joe Lieberman's hawkish comments from over the weekend regarding Iran received much media attention, but Gregory Scoblete in this TCS op-ed makes the case that Pakistan is actually the more toubling foreign policy problem:

While the 2008 presidential candidates are busy fielding questions about how they would confront Iran's nuclear ambitions, few seem interested in addressing a much more pressing issue: Pakistan. [. . .]

The truth is Pakistan represents a far greater danger to the U.S. than Iran, at least for the foreseeable future. Let us count the ways. Pakistan is a nuclear power. Iran is not. Pakistan has a proven track record of proliferation, including a dalliance with al Qaeda. It was Pakistani nuclear scientists, after all, who met with bin Laden. Indeed, it was a Pakistani scientist, A. Q. Khan, whose black-market network significantly expanded the reach of nuclear equipment and know-how. Meanwhile, Iranian scientists are still laboring to master the basic elements of the nuclear fuel cycle (though progress continues).

Pakistan was one of three countries prior to 9/11 to recognize and provide significant material support to the Taliban - the one regime whose accommodation made 9/11 possible. Iran opposed the Taliban. Elements within the Pakistani military continue to support rump Taliban elements as they battle NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The New York Times reported that Pakistani army elements have gone so far as to directly fire on Afghan forces (though Pakistan denies it).

Ideologically, Pakistan is vastly more sympathetic to al Qaeda than Iran. Its religious schools preach the extremist variety of Sunni Islam that animates bin Laden's jihad. While Iran's Shiite theocrats preach "death to America," few Iranians have actually embraced the mantra. There are, for instance, 65 Pakistanis in Guantanamo Bay; there are zero Iranians. Unlike al Qaeda, Iran's Shiite proxy Hezbollah has not embraced mass-causality suicide terrorism against American civilian targets. Indeed, Hezbollah's most significant anti-American strike was against a military target 24 years ago: a Marine barracks in Lebanon.

The single most important element, however, is the presence of a reconstituted al Qaeda leadership network in Pakistan. The country plays host (whether willingly or not) to the architects of the largest massacre on U.S. soil in history: Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. In contrast, Iran reportedly harbors a small number of lesser al Qaeda figures.

In Senate testimony earlier this year, intelligence chief John Negroponte described Pakistan as a "secure hide-out" within which al Qaeda plots further carnage. In February, the New York Times reported that al Qaeda "had been steadily building an operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan" including full-fledged terror training camps. In Waziristan, al Qaeda inhabits a failed state within a functioning, nuclear-armed one.

In sum, the danger to Americans in America is emanating principally from Pakistan, not Iran. . .

Read the entire article. Scoblete makes a compelling case.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (2) |

How the Presidents stack up

This Wall Street Journal Online provides this nifty graphic overview of the approval ratings of all U.S. presidents since Truman. Take a few minutes to check it out and enjoy the surprises of a quick history refresher. For example, I had forgotten about the length of the bounce in President Carter's approval ratings after the Iranian hostage crisis began in late 1979. Of course, that bounce didn't last as the hostage crisis dragged on for over a year, contributing substantially to Carter's loss to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Thinking about traffic snarls

Clear Thinkers favorite -- USC Urban Economics Professor Peter Gordon -- is one of the participants in this Wall Street Journal Econoblog from earlier this year, in which the subject is one near and dear to most Houstonians -- that is, the cost of traffic congestion, the problems that such congestion poses for urban areas and the policy options that are effective in dealing with the problems. The discussion is a very good overview of the policies and the problems involved in implementing them.

Posted by Tom at 4:00 AM | Comments (0) |

June 11, 2007

It's U.S. Open Week

The U.S. Open begins this week at historic Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh. As noted in this Matthew Rudy/Golf Digest article after last year's Open, the tricked-up nature of the famed Winged Foot course undermined much of the enjoyment of that event for both the competitors and viewers. According to this E.M. Swift/Golf Digest article, we can expect more of the same this year at Oakmont.

When is the United States Golf Association going to realize that setting up a course so that shooting a good score is a crapshoot is neither a good way to determine the nation's golf champion for the year nor particularly interesting to watch?

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

Act of God or Man?

It's hurricane season in the Gulf Coast region, which always generates some interesting issues involving insurance markets and liability (see also here). Along those lines, this Tim Haab post discusses an interesting case arising from the floods of Hurricane Katrina regarding the difference between an Act of God and an act of man under a homeowner's insurance policy. A good reminder to pull out your homeowner's policy and review what type of damage is covered and what's not in the event of a hurricane.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

What's at stake in Stoneridge

I've been meaning to pass along this Peter Wallison/American.com article that does an excellent job of summarizing what is at stake with regard to the U.S. Supreme Court's review of the Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific-Atlanta case involving the issue of secondary liability for companies that do business with a company that commits securities fraud:

It is an old legal saw that hard cases make bad law, but Stoneridge should not be a hard case. The legal principle advanced by the plaintiffs—that persons unrelated to the statements that constituted securities fraud could be held liable for the plaintiffs’ losses—would be impossible to restrict or cabin in any effective way. Every party that engaged in ordinary commercial transactions with a public company in the United States could later be accused of participating in a securities fraud if the commercial transaction itself could be characterized as fraudulent or deceptive—even if the commercial transaction was not understood by the defendant to be part of a securities fraud.

Like this.

Posted by Tom at 4:02 AM | Comments (0) |

June 10, 2007

Stros 2007 Season Review, Part Three

Back when the Stros were close to a .500 ball club, I concluded the previous periodic Stros season review (all previous 2007 reviews are here) as follows:

Thus, my sense is that Stros management, for all their declarations of trying to field a playoff contender, is really biding its time this season as Biggio trudges toward his 3,000th hit. There is simply no way that this club will be much better than a .500 ballclub with its current starting pitching staff and Biggio, Everett, Ausmus and the pitcher burdening the hitting lineup on most nights. The Stros should be honest and concede that the club is attempting to compete as well as possible while supporting Biggio's climb toward 3,000 hits and dispense with the ruse that this club, as presently configured, has any meaningful shot at the playoffs.

Well, as if on the cue, the Stros (26-35) went into the tank immediately thereafter, posting a 6-14 record during the past 20 games (after going 9-12 and 11-9 in the first two eighth segments of the season), including an excruciating 10 game losing streak in which the club gave up a total of 72 runs while scoring only 20. To make matters worse, overmatched Stros Manager Phil Garner panicked as the streak worsened, using nine different lineups, four right fielders, three first basemen, three third basemen and three leadoff hitters. The Stros responded by scoring fewer than two runs in a game five times and allowing eight or more runs in a game five times.

So, just a little over a year and a half since the club's first World Series appearance, the Stros have turned into one of the worst teams in the National League -- only the Reds (24-38) and the Nationals (25-36) have worse records through 37% of the season than the Stros. In fact, the Stros are not much better than the worst teams in all of Major League Baseball, the Rangers (23-39) and the Royals (23-40).

The Stros have continued their long trend of poor overall team hitting, scoring 12 fewer runs than an average National League team would have scored using the same number of outs as the Stros have used through this point in the season ("runs created against average" of "RCAA," explained here), which is 10th among the 16 National League clubs. But the pitching overall has been even worse, giving up a total of 21 more runs than an average National League staff would have given up through this point of the season ("runs saved against average" or "RSAA," explained here), which is 12th among the NL clubs. When a club is running a net deficit of -33 runs to what an average National League club would generate hitting or give up pitching, you know that team's record will be decidedly below-average.

The season statistics for the Stros to date are below, courtesy of Lee Sinins' sabermetric Complete Baseball Encyclopedia. The abbreviations for the hitting stats are defined here and the same for the pitching stats are here. The Stros active roster is here with links to each individual player's statistics:

Whenever a team goes south in the drastic manner that the Stros have, fans and pundits tend to criticize everything about the club and its management. In the case of the Stros, that's unfair, particularly given that the club has had only one sub-.500 season over the past 14 seasons and has been in the playoffs six times in the past 11 seasons. So, it wasn't clearly wrong to let Clemens and Pettitte go (how would you like to have $35 million tied up in those two injuries waiting to happen?) and, contrary to much of the media's superficial analysis, the Stros did not give up too much in the Jennings deal that may ultimately be undermined by injury risk. Yeah, the Woody Williams deal hasn't worked out, but that deal isn't a bank-breaker and was nowhere near as risky as investing big dollars in Clemens and Pettitte would have been.

As noted in each of the annual previews for the past four seasons (here, here, here and here), the main problem with the Stros has been the inability of the club's management to replenish the lineup with good-hitting position players as the Biggio-Bagwell era draws to a close. Over the past ten seasons, the only Major League position players that the Stros have developed in their minor league system are 3B Morgan Ensberg, OF Jason Lane, 2B Chris Burke, and rookie CF Hunter Pence. As good as Pence has been so far this season (15 RCAA/.391 OBA/.607 SLG/.998 OPS), that's not an impressive return on investment in regard to position players in the club's minor league system.

With few new position players coming up through the pipeline, it hasn't taken much to turn this season into what appears to be a loss cause. Indulgence of the over-the-hill Biggio (-8/.275/.382/.657) over better alternatives, a season-long slump by Lance Berkman (4/.384/.380/.764), average or below-average hitting by everyone other than Pence and Carlos Lee (7/.351/.528/.879), below-average starting pitching outside of Roy Oswalt (8 RSAA/3.38 ERA), Chris Sampson (6 RSAA/3.43 ERA) and Jennings (5 RSAA/2.70 ERA), spotty relief pitching, and Manager Garner's typical below-average performance -- add all those deficiencies up and you get the mess of the season that the Stros have endured to date.

Is there any hope for the remainder of this season? Well, in terms of competing for a spot in the playoffs, probably not, although the National League Central competition remains tantalizing mediocre. As bad as the Stros have been this season, they remain only six games behind the division-leading Brewers (33-29) in the loss column. Nevertheless, it's doubtful that this Stros team has the overall pitching talent that drove the second half-of-the-season rallies that resulted in two playoff berths and a near berth over the past three seasons.

Having said that, my sense is that the Stros probably can at least be close to an average National League team if Manager Garner realizes that playing Biggio, SS Adam Everett (-10/.282/.317/.598) and C Brad Ausmus (-7/.322/.313/.635) at the same time and trotting Williams (-14 RSAA/5.79 ERA) out to the mound every fifth day makes the club likely to lose. Biggio, Everett and Ausmus are creating an astounding 25 fewer runs than National League average hitters would generate using the same number of outs as those three have used in the lineup this season. Thus, simply playing Burke (-1/.343/.386/.730), IF Mark Loretta (3/.403/.385/.788) and C Eric Munson (-1/.313/.429/.741) more often in place of those three will likely improve the Stros chances of winning. Similarly, playing Ensberg (-2/.323/393/.716) consistently in recognition of the fact that he is a better career hitter than anyone on the Stros other than Berkman, Lee and Biggio is far more likely to generate useful production from the third base position than any of the other alternatives that the Stros have tried in that position to date. Pitching-wise, there is also some hope because the club's pitching staff generally performs better as the season wears on and the club does have some viable alternatives to Williams in the club's minor league system.

After today's game against the White Sox (26-32) and tomorrow's makeup game against the Cubs (27-33) , the Stros return to Minute Maid Park on Tuesday for a six game interleague series against the A's (33-28) and the Mariners (32-26) before going back on the road for a nine-gamer against the Angels (40-23), Rangers and Brewers and then returning for an 11 game homestand beginning in late June against the Rockies (30-32), Phillies (32-30) and Mets (36-24). A 12-8 record over the next 20 games is probably about the best that the Stros could reasonably hope for, which would give the club a 38-43 record at the halfway point of the season (July 1, if no rainouts occur between now and then).

Posted by Tom at 11:18 AM | Comments (0) |

Is Barry Bonds this era's Jack Johnson?

Inasmuch as I have never been comfortable with the characterization of Barry Bonds as a fraud because of his steroid use (prior posts here), this Skip Sauer/Sports Economist post comparing Bonds' situation to that of former heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson caught my eye:

This week's Chronicle of Higher Education has an piece worth reading by historian Warren Goldstein, on the simmering feud between Barry Bonds and his critics in baseball and the media. Goldstein sees an analogy between Bonds and the black superstars who were run out of sport in the 19th and 20th Century as racism became institutionalized in American society. The list, borrowing from William Rhoden's recent book, $40 Million Dollar Slaves, includes Isaac Murphy, a three time winner of the Kentucky Derby, Major Taylor, the top cyclist exiled to France, and boxer Jack Johnson. Since watching Ken Burns' documentary on Johnson a few years ago, I've viewed Bonds and Johnson as soul mates of a sort. So I am predisposed to both Goldstein and Rhoden's take on this.

Bonds plays in an era where overt racism is much diminished, and banishment akin to his predecessors seems unlikely. But he is caught front and center in the anti-drug witch-hunt, and he -- like just about every other player of his cohort -- is unapologetic. Indeed, I sometimes wonder if Bonds would not mind being immortalized in a manner similar to Murphy, Taylor, and Johnson. Just as Bud Selig and various members of the media shrink from celebrating Bond's pending achievement, it is likely that Bonds finds the prospect of sharing the moment with his detractors to be repulsive. For reasons both valid and perhaps a bit petulant, he'd rather figuratively hang with hishomies Murphy, Taylor, and Johnson. I can see his point: they're an accomplished group.

Posted by Tom at 7:38 AM | Comments (4) |

June 9, 2007

The folly of regulation through criminalization

In this recent blog post on the closing days of the Conrad Black criminal trial in Chicago (prior posts here), Mark Steyn explains why criminalization of merely questionable business transactions is a manifestly unfair and arbitrary way to regulate business:

How many times does Jim (The Skim) Thompson, four-time Illinois Governor and serial skimmer, get a pass?

Yesterday, hostile witness Pat Ryan of KPMG testified that at a Hollinger International Audit Committee meeting he asked and received confirmation from Governor Thompson that the non-compete payments had been approved.

Today, late in the morning, Chris Paci, a lawyer for Shearman & Stirling, had been doing some "due diligence" work for the Wachovia bank and requested a meeting with the Audit Committee to ask specific questions about the non-competes and other related-party transactions. He asked the Big Skim explicitly whether the disclosures on Hollinger 10K and proxy statements were correct. "He said that yes, the related-party transactions had been approved by the Audit Committee and that the disclosures were correct," testified Mr Paci. "I recall that I came away satisfied that I had got the answers I needed."

How many times does a four-term Governor get to skate on this? Risible as it is, he can just about get away with testifying that he "skimmed" the 11 official documents put his name to and missed the same passage on 11 separate occassions, and it just coincidentally happens to be the same passage that his two fellow members of the Audit Committee claim to have missed 11 times, too. As I said at the time, that's Olympic-level synchronized skimming, but if he can say it with a straight face good for him.

But does he skim human conversations, too? Can he plausibly claim not to have confirmed his approval to Pat Ryan? And, even more of a stretch, can he claim not to have known what he was doing at a meeting where he was asked explicit questions about the approvals and in which Mr Paci had been invited to participate in order to receive confirmation of those very approvals?

Why are four men facing the rest of their lives in jail for these allegedly non-approved non-competes but the guy who approved them in writing and verbally multiple times gets to skate? How many different approvals and confirmations does the Serial Skimmer get to disavow?

In civil litigation, all of the Hollinger directors and executives involved in the allegedly questionable non-compete payments to Black and his associates would be included as defendants. Thus, in such a case, responsibility for the payments -- if they were found to be wrongful -- could be allocated among all of directors and executives involved. But the sledgehammer effect of criminal prosecution focuses all of the responsibility for the transactions in question by hanging the threat of long prison sentences over Black and his associates even though it is clear that the allegedly wrongful payments were disclosed to and approved by Hollinger's directors. This is not the way a truly civil society would resolve such issues.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

June 8, 2007

Toughest baseball ticket in town

No question about it -- the toughest ticket to a series of baseball games in Houston this season will be to this weekend's NCAA Super-Regional baseball tournament series between the Rice Owls and the Texas A&M Aggies at Reckling Park on the Rice University campus in the shadow of the Texas Medical Center. The winner of the best-of-three series moves on to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, which begins on June 15. Ryan over a Texas A&M & Baseball INPO provides a good preview of the matchup.

Inasmuch as Houston is one of the most prominent high school and college baseball hotbeds in the country, the series sold out shortly after tickets went on sale earlier this week. The Owls (52-12) have been a college baseball power over the past decade under the driving force of Coach Wayne Graham, while the Aggies (48-17) this season revived a generally strong program that had been underperforming for the past several seasons. Game times are today at 6 p.m. (ESPN); Saturday: 5 p.m. (ESPNU); and Sunday, if necessary at 6:35 p.m. (ESPN2).

I'll be pulling for the hometown Owls in this series because I had the privilege of coaching a couple of the Owls' players -- LF Jordan Dodson and C Danny Lehmann -- during their youth baseball days in The Woodlands. Both players were able to overcome my coaching to become starters at The Woodlands High School and at Rice, where they have already enjoyed one trip to the College World Series over the past three seasons. Although I cannot take any credit for either Jordan or Danny's baseball accomplishments, I am proud of the fact that both of them are high on-base percentage guys with solid slugging percentages who understand that the teams that create the most runs are the ones with players who get on base and hit the ball hard a high percentage of the time.

By the way, this earlier post reported on pointed criticism that Owls Coach Graham was receiving around some baseball circles for the high injury rate of minor league baseball pitchers coming out of the Rice program over the past several years. The Chronicle's John Lopez recently wrote this profile of Coach Graham in which he addresses that criticism head on. Check it out.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

Snow Fall

Robin Moroney over at The Wall Street Journal's Informed Reader blog picks up on this interesting Ken Dermota/Atlantic ($) article that reports on the weird economics relating to the demand, the supply and the price of cocaine:

Demand for cocaine stays steady, Colombia’s coca fields are destroyed, yet the drug’s street price in the U.S. continues to fall . . . [as] drug smugglers and dealers have eked out efficiencies in their operations to keep their prices low. The U.S. Coast Guard has been able to catch only a small percentage of the drugs entering the country since President Nixon declared a “war on drugs” in 1971. In 2000, the U.S. decided to switch tactics and take the fight to Colombia, which produces 90% of the cocaine sold in the U.S. Since then, it has spent $4.7 billion fighting rebels who grow and sell the crop, as well as spraying coca fields from the air.

The price of cocaine—the pure version, not crack—has kept falling. In the early 1980s, the price of a gram of cocaine was about $600. By the late 1990s the price had fallen to about $200. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the street price of a gram of cocaine in 2005 was $20-$25 in New York, $30-$100 in Los Angeles and $100-$125 in Denver.

Some of the price decrease has come from more efficient distribution networks. Some New York smugglers have chosen to eliminate the middleman and pick up their drugs directly from Colombia, offering “factory-to-you” prices. The surging trade with Mexico has increased the nooks and crannies for drugs to be hidden as they cross the border, making smuggling both safer and cheaper.

Labor costs also have decreased. Street vendors take a smaller cut of the drug’s proceeds. A lot of the drug dealers who fell prey to an aggressive imprisonment campaign in the 1990s are now leaving prison. Their felony conviction and minimal job experience means they have few other ways to make money and are willing to take a pay cut.

The falling street price also reflects the lower risk of handling the drug. The violence of the 1980s crack boom has faded and, since 2001, federal drug prosecutions have fallen 25% as agents get diverted to the hunt for terrorists.

While the Atlantic article focuses on why the price of cocaine continues to drop even though the supply sources are declining, what's particularly interesting is that the demand for cocaine is not rising dramatically as the price declines. Given its addictive nature, it makes sense that the demand for cocaine would be somewhat price inelastic, but it seems logical that demand would increase at least to some extent as the price falls. This does not appear to be happening. Sounds like a good exam question for an economics course.

Posted by Tom at 4:14 AM | Comments (0) |

It's not been a good week for federal agencies

First, it was the dubious decision of the Federal Trade Commission to sue to enjoin the proposed merger between natural foods grocers Whole Foods Markets and Wild Oats Markets.

Then, as this Daniel Drezner post notes, Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin chose a rather interesting way to criticize the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision this week striking down the FCC's policy governing "fleeting expletives" on television.

So it goes in the wacky world of governmental regulation.

Posted by Tom at 4:07 AM | Comments (0) |

June 7, 2007

Giuliani's hypocrisy

Doug Berman notes that Rudy Giuliani thinks that Scooter Libby got a raw deal. That is unquestionably correct, but what Giuliani failed to mention is that he is one of the politicians primarily responsible for the culture of criminalization that gobbles up productive citizens such as Libby.

As noted earlier here and here, Giuliani's politically-motivated prosecution of Michael Milken and related destruction of Drexel Burnham during the late 1980's ignited the criminalization of business interests that reached its peak with the destruction of Arthur Andersen, the prosecution of former Enron executives Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay last year and the ongoing trial of former Hollinger CEO Conrad Black this year. Indeed, the Bush Administration's willingness to toss business interests into the cauldron of internecine criminal prosecutions for transient political purposes has largely undermined the Republican Party's credibility in challenging the motives of dubious white collar prosecutions of businesspersons or politicians.

And lest you think that rich and powerful people are the only ones affected by what Giuliani has helped wrought, remember the name of Lisa Jones. As Daniel Fischel brilliantly explains in his book Payback: The Conspiracy to Destroy Michael Milken and his Financial Revolution (Harper-Collins 1995), Jones is a remarkable American success story -- a teenage runaway and high school dropout who worked her way up through the ranks of Drexel to become the top assistant to one of Drexel's most successful traders. Giuliani threatened to indict Jones in an effort to get her to turn on Milken (sound familiar?), but Jones refused to give in and remained loyal to Milken and Drexel to the end. Giuliani eventually prosecuted and convicted Jones for crimes that were never proven (sound familiar?) and she was sentenced to a year and a half in prison, later reduced to ten months. Other than Milken, Jones was the only longtime employee of Drexel Burnham who ever spent time in prison.

I don't know about you, but that's not the political legacy I'm looking for in a presidential candidate.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (2) |

Ron Paul shines on The Daily Show

Republican Congressman and GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul from the Houston area exhibits a deft media touch while handling an interview by Jon Stewart of The Daily Show.

Banjo Jones must be proud.

Paul's political warts and quirks -- and there are many -- will become exposed as the campaign wears on. However, his willingness to speak his mind -- a rarity in American Presidential campaigns -- is refreshing.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

And you think Houston freeways are dangerous?

All you folks who enjoy swimming in coastal bays and inland waters close to the Gulf, take a look at what was caught in one of those over in Florida.

Meanwhile, when you have 8 minutes or so, watch the remarkable YouTube video below about a very tough buffalo calf's difficult day. HT to Jane Galt:

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

June 6, 2007

Why these shareholders?

This Bloomberg article on Austin-based Whole Foods' proposed acquisition of Wild Oats Markets confirms that officials at the Federal Trade Commission do not have enough to do:

U.S. antitrust regulators plan to file suit to block the proposed merger between Whole Foods Market Inc. and Wild Oats Markets Inc., the largest and second- largest natural-foods grocers. [. . .]

The agency is concerned that the combined company will control too much of the U.S. natural-foods market and increase prices. . .

``If Whole Foods is allowed to devour Wild Oats, it will mean higher prices, reduced quality, and fewer choices for consumers,'' Jeffrey Schmidt, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. ``That is a deal consumers should not be required to swallow.''

The commission voted 5-to-0 to authorize staff to seek a temporary restraining order.

I mean, what on earth are these people at the FTC thinking? Since they haven't moved to block a retail merger in a decade that it's time to try and block one? What else could explain attempting to block a relatively small $600 million deal that would result in a combined company with just over 300 stores? Besides, it's not as if Whole Foods is doing all that great, anyway.

The FTC seems to be saying that Whole Foods and Wild Oats are in a different market than conventional grocery chains. But that's just plain silly. Not only will customers move to non-organic products if Whole Foods and Wild Oats price an organic alternative too high, virtually every retail grocery operation is now offering their own organic section in their stores. For goodness sakes, even Wal-Mart is offering an organic product section in many of its grocery stores these days.

Dana Cimilluca over at the WSJ DealJournal speculates that the FTC action is a pure political move to chill the overheated merger market. Maybe so, but that's sure a petty reason to deny a relatively small group of shareholders an opportunity to realize some increasingly rare equity upside in the brutally competitive grocery business.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (5) |

Minor League baseball can be pretty entertaining

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Elk gets his spikes right

Houstonian and Clear Thinkers favorite Steve Elkington apparently found a U.S. Open qualifier this year that allowed the competitors to wear spikes on their shoes. Elk fired a 36 hole score of 137 (64-73) to earn one of the 16 U.S. Open qualifying spots on Monday at the Colonial Country Club in Memphis, only the second time since 1999 that Elkington has qualified for the Open. 72 players were already exempt for the Open and Elkington nabbed one of the additional 83 spots that were up for grabs in sectional qualifying at 13 courses in the U.S., England and Japan on Monday. The Open will be held for a record eighth time next week at Oakmont, where Geoff Ogilvy will attempt to defend the title that he won last year at Winged Foot.

Speaking of local golf, the venerable Texas State Amateur Championship begins on Thursday and runs through Sunday at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, one of the best tracts in the Houston region. The 144-player field will be cut to the low 54 and ties after Friday's second round. Former winners of the Texas State Am includes such noteworthy PGA Tour pros as Ben Crenshaw, Bruce Lietzke, Scott Verplank, Mark Brooks, Charles Coody and Bob Estes.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

June 5, 2007

The importance of the images of war

Following on recent posts here and here on the seemingly intractable problems in Iraq, this David Carr/NY Times op-ed comments on the efforts of the U.S. military to control the publication of images of injured or killed soldiers from the Iraq War. Carr's op-ed prompted this letter to the Times editor by University of Houston Professor Bill Monroe, who you may recall had the best line at the Memorial Service for the late Ross M. Lence. Professor Monroe's letter provides as follows:

To the Editor:

“Not to See the Fallen Is No Favor,” by David Carr (The Media Equation, May 28), suggests that the reigning assumption among leaders in Iraq is that we can’t handle the truth. In a curious way, it may well be the duty of fallen soldiers to let us see them — wounded, dying and dead.

If we have the temerity to ask them to risk life and limb protecting American interests, we must ask them to help us know what it looks like, what it feels like, so that we can decide, as a Republic and a people, whether we in fact want to exact that private and public cost.

“It is well,” Robert E. Lee is reported to have said, “that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it.”

We can’t handle the truth? We had better.

William Monroe
Houston, May 30, 2007

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

Milberg Weiss on the brink

The longstanding criminal investigation and finally the indictment of the class action plaintiffs' firm Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman has been a common topic on this blog, so it has been with interest that I have been following the WSJ's Nathan Koppel, Peter Lattman and Ashby Jones' excellent coverage (see here and here) over the past week of the plea deal rumblings for the firm and at least one of the prominent attorneys ensnared in the prosecution. In short, David Bershad is supposedly negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors that reportedly could have a domino effect on several current and former partners of the firm, including Mel Weiss and Bill Lerach.

Inasmuch as the plaintiffs' class action securities fraud bar tends to be a lightning rod for criticism regarding vexatious, costly and unproductive litigation, there hasn't been much public support for Milberg Weiss and the individuals involved in this episode. But as Larry Ribstein points out in this wise post, the Milberg Weiss criminal case is not only thick with ironies and contradictions, the issues involved in the case are not easy to sort out. Encouraging the government to use its overwhelming prosecutorial power as the default regulatory tool to deal with the unpopular businesspersons or business lawyers of the moment is not as neat and tidy as it may seem on the surface, despite what this narrow-minded WSJ ($) editorial suggests.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Texas' medical licensing logjam

The number of insurance companies offering medical malpractice insurance policies has dramatically increased and malpractice insurance premiums have substantially decreased since the 2003 legislation enacting medical malpractice caps in Texas, but the med mal caps have contributed to at least one unanticipated problem:

. . . about 2,250 license applications await processing at the Texas Medical Board in Austin. The wait could be as long as a year for some of the more experienced doctors because it takes longer to review their records.

The fear is that some doctors will give up on Texas and go elsewhere instead of waiting. A $1.22 million emergency funding request was approved during the last days of Texas legislative session for the Texas Medical Board, which licenses physicians. That is on top of the $18.3 million regular biennial appropriation, said Jane McFarland, the board's chief of staff.

The board plans to add nine new employees to its 139-member staff, seven of which will help chop away at the backlog of license applications.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

June 4, 2007

Champions Cypress Creek overrated?

Don't expect Jack Burke, owner of Houston's venerable Champions Golf Club, to be taking out any new subscriptions of Golf Magazine any time soon after this Golf.com article rates Champions' Cypress Creek Golf Course as the fifth most overrated course in the U.S.:

Champions was founded as an Augusta National—style retreat 50 years ago by Texas golf legends Jimmy Demaret and Jackie Burke, but the only thing this Ralph Plummer design shares with its Georgia counterpart is that Tiger Woods has won at both. The grand history—a U.S. Open, a Ryder Cup and multiple Tour Championships—doesn't compensate for the flat fairways, shapeless bunkers and overgrown ditches masquerading as water hazards.

At least Burke and his Champions members can take solace in the fact that Augusta National, Pebble Beach, the Country Club, and Pinehurst No. 2, among others, also made the list.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Competing with the NFL? Or with NCAA football?

Mark Cuban's Shareslueth speculative venture has not exactly been going gangbusters, so his announcement last week of a new professional football league to compete with the National Football League probably does not have the NFL owners quaking in their very well-heeled boots. Phil Miller has a good rundown on the basic economics behind Cuban's football venture, not the least of which is the current cost of an expansion NFL franchise -- probably $800 million or so to the other NFL owners even before absorbing other startup costs.

But is the NFL the real competition for this new venture? It seems to me that NCAA football will be the new venture's main competition, particularly for players. Could Cuban's venture be the professional minor league football league that could spur NCAA members to reform big-time college football toward the college baseball model that has been so successful over the past couple of decades?

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Life in Baghdad

Further in line with this sobering analysis from last week on the obstacles that U.S. Armed Forces face in training the Iraqi Army, Terry McCarthy -- Baghdad correspondent for ABC News -- provides this equally daunting report on day-to-day life in Baghdad:

Danger is everywhere in Baghdad; life here is a continuous series of risk assessments. From the moment people wake up, they have to check whether it is safe to leave the house. Is there an unusual amount of gunfire? Have strangers been seen driving through the neighborhood? Is there something new to be afraid of?

Anything out of the ordinary is cause for fear. A friend who lives in southwest Baghdad says a man recently parked a car on the main street across from his apartment block, then ran away. He was spotted by a butcher, who summoned a U.S. patrol. The troops cordoned off the area and defused what turned out to be a massive bomb inside the suspicious car. The brave butcher was taking a risk either way: He could have had his store blown up, but now he risks a bullet from insurgents for informing the Americans about the car.

Read the entire intriguing piece. And also this one on the status of the current U.S. "push" to stabilize Baghdad.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

June 3, 2007

A Wie incongruity

Anyone who follows professional golf even casually knows about the recent travails of teenage phenom, MIchelle Wie, who Butch Harmon thinks is playing worse now at the age of 17 than she was as a 14 year-old. The latest golfing embarrassment for Wie was withdrawing this past Thursday from her first LPGA tournament of the season after posting a 16 over par score on her first 16 holes of the tournament. As Geoff Shackelford reports, most folks think Wie withdrew to avoid the LPGA's "88 and over rule," which bans a non-LPGA member from playing in an LPGA event for a year if the non-LPGA member shoots 88 or over in any tournament round.

Juxaposed against Wie's golf problems, however, is this annual Sports Illustrated list of the 50 highest earning athletes for 2007. Tiger Woods laps the field with his prodigious $100 million in endorsement income, but the only female on the list is Wie, who comes in at no. 22. Interestingly, Wie has the higest ratio of endorsement income to income derived directly from competition at 26-to-1 (she earned about $750,000 in golf earnings last year). And she hasn't even entered Stanford University yet!

Is American a great country or what? ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

June 2, 2007

Edwardsian demagoguery

As if on cue after this post from yesterday, Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards is engaging in his usual brand of demagogery (earlier examples here):

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards says a wave of mergers in the oil industry should be investigated by the Justice Department to see what impact they have had on soaring gasoline prices.

During a campaign stop in Silicon Valley Thursday, Edwards planned to berate the oil industry for "anticompetitive actions" and outline an energy plan he says would reduce oil imports "and get us on a path to be virtually petroleum-free within a generation."

"Vertically integrated companies like Exxon Mobil own every step of the production process -- from extraction to refining to sale at the pump, enabling them to foreclose competition," says an outline of Edward's energy plan.

Now, you can peruse the "Economics-Energy Prices" category archive of this blog and find many credible resources that utterly debunk Edwards' theory regarding the cause of rising gasoline prices. But Andrew Morriss, one of Larry Ribstein's colleagues at the University of Illinois College of Law, provides this handy SSRN paper in which he cogently explains that governmental interference with gasoline markets has a far larger impact on gasoline prices than anything Exxon Mobil does:

Rising gasoline prices have brought energy issues back to the forefront of public policy debates. Gasoline markets today are the result of almost a hundred years of conflicting regulatory policies, which have left them dangerously fragmented. In this article, I analyze that regulatory history, highlighting the unintended consequences of regulation that have pushed the United States into a series of loosely connected regional markets rather than a broad, deep national market. This fragmentation leaves the American economy is vulnerable to natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and foreign dictators in ways that it need not be. It also produces higher prices for consumers and reduced innovation by refiners.

TigerHawk understands, too.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) |

June 1, 2007

$12 million = Billions in damages

American Enterprise Institute's Ted Frank provides this excellent WSJ ($) op-ed on the stakes involved in the upcoming Supreme Court decision in Stoneridge v. Scientific-Atlanta, which could seriously erode the Central Bank rule against holding financial institutions secondarily liable for damages in providing financing for a company that defrauds its investors. As usual, Professors Ribstein and Bainbridge do a fine job of explaining why it would be poor public policy to undermine the Central Bank rule, while J. Robert Brown makes the case for expanding secondary liability.

But policy reasons aside, there is a practical reason why the Supreme Court should uphold the Central Bank rule. The Court is currently considering whether to expand the Stoneridge v. Scientific-Atlanta case to include the review of the denial of class status to the plaintiffs in the main securities fraud lawsuit against several investment banks that provided financing for Enron. One of the myriad of claims in that case is one based on the much-discussed the Nigerian Barge transaction that has already resulted in the unjust conviction and imprisonment of four former Merrill Lynch executives. The plaintiffs in that Enron securities fraud case contend that Merrill should be held liable for billions of dollars in damages resulting from Enron's demise because Merrill purchased an interest in the barges that allowed Enron to book $12 million in allegedly false earnings.

So, the Enron securities fraud case provides a preview of what we will get from erosion of the Central Bank rule: Help arrange $12 million in earnings = liability for billions of dollars in damages.

I don't see the Supreme Court buying that math.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

What is it about John Edwards?

Presidential politics is outside the usual scope of this blog, but Democratic candidate John Edwards is a lawyer and was so underwhelming as the 2004 Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate that he became a fairly regular topic with his frequent gaffes. Well, along those lines, in this article in this week's Time magazine, former Kerry campaign advisor Bob Shrum new book is previewed and here's some of what Shrum has to say about Kerry's first meeting with John Edwards when he was considering him as the VP candidate:

Kerry talked with several potential picks, including Gephardt and Edwards. He was comfortable after his conversations with Gephardt, but even queasier about Edwards after they met. Edwards had told Kerry he was going to share a story with him that he'd never told anyone else—that after his son Wade had been killed, he climbed onto the slab at the funeral home, laid there and hugged his body, and promised that he'd do all he could to make life better for people, to live up to Wade's ideals of service. Kerry was stunned, not moved, because, as he told me later, Edwards had recounted the same exact story to him, almost in the exact same words, a year or two before—and with the same preface, that he'd never shared the memory with anyone else. Kerry said he found it chilling . . . [. . .]

Kerry also wanted a specific reassurance. He asked Edwards for a commitment that if he was chosen and the ticket lost, Edwards wouldn't run against him in 2008. Edwards agreed "absolutely," as Kerry recalled him saying. If Kerry had shared this at the time, I would have told him what I did later: it was naive to think he could rely on a promise like that.

Shrum also alleges that Edwards told him that wanted to vote against the Iraq War, but didn't do so because he thought it would hurt his career.

Now, Shrum has not been the most successful political advisor, so perhaps these allegations should be taken with a grain of salt as the sour grapes of a bitter man with an ax to grind. But much of it sure seems consistent with what was revealed about Edwards during the 2004 campaign. Given his lackluster performance during the 2004 campaign, and now with a former prominent Democratic Party advisor throwing him under the campaign bus, how does Edwards remain a serious political candidate?

Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in this development.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (1) |

Nothing changes at TSU

As bad as Texas Southern University's chronic problems are, they can be resolved through a combination of forceful leadership and common sense. However, intractable local and state political forces prevent TSU's problems from being addressed effectively. Consequently, it is somehow appropriate that the first act of the new board of trustees of TSU to address TSU's financial problems is taken against the folks least capable of resolving those problems -- i.e., the students:

Texas Southern University's regents approved a new round of tuition increases Wednesday, with students paying 8 percent more at the historically black institution this fall. [. . .]

The tuition hike follows a 22 percent increase last year. The university had tried in previous years to hold off increases because of the potential hardship for students, many of whom are working adults or recent high school graduates from low-income families.

Regents said they voted reluctantly for the tuition increase, but the university's financial problems required the additional revenue.

TSU's tuition is now higher than Houston's other open-admissions university, the University of Houston Downtown Campus, which does a better job of educating its students than TSU.

I put the over/under for the next scandal at TSU at three years.

Posted by Tom at 4:04 AM | Comments (1) |

May 31, 2007

Mapping political contributions

This is interesting. Maplight.org is a new Web site that attempts to correlate lawmakers’ voting records with the money they’ve accepted from special interest groups. Other sites such as OpenSecrets.org provide information on the source of candidates financing, but to my knowledge, Maplight.org is the first site that attempts to establish the relationship between money given and votes actually cast.

Click the "Video Tour" button on the home page and the site takes you through a six-minute video that illustrates the site's purpose. In deliberating on the U. S.- Oman Free Trade Agreement, the video reveals that special interests in favor of the bill -- such as pharmaceutical companies and aircraft manufacturers -- gave each senator an average of $244,000. On the other hand, lobbyists for the anti-poverty and consumer groups that opposed the bill could generate only $38,000 per senator. Under the "Timeline of Contributions" button, you can see that the contributions increased during the six weeks leading up to the vote and a hyperlink is provided to the name of each member of Congress so that you can see how much money each legislator received.

Oh yeah, in case you had any question about it, the bill passed. ;^)

Maplight.org is not particularly user-friendly, but the folks who designed the website are still adding features and data to the site. It's definitely worth plugging around for awhile and checking back in on from time to time. As they say in the smoke-filled rooms, it's always good to know who is for sale in Washington. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (1) |

Dan Jenkins for the World Golf HOF

In this GolfWorld op-ed on why Clear Thinkers favorite Dan Jenkins should be in the World Golf Hall of Fame, John Hawkins sums up Jenkins' remarkable writing talent well:

Knowing Jenkins as I do--he's far more of an idol to me than a confidant--I don't suppose for a minute he cares all that much either way. In what might serve as a crummy imitation of his prose, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting an avid golf fan who has become engrossed in his work. Like the Merry Mex himself, Jenkins has all the shots and has never backed away from anyone. A bust in St. Augustine would be a nice touch, a fitting end to a stellar career, but then, the old man would probably write another novel, this one about some warhorse wordsmith who missed his Hall of Fame induction because he was canoodling some broad named Mimi Whatnot.

Either way, Jenkins is a 15-time major champion in my profession, a guy other writers love because he keeps it simple but takes it deep. When you're one of the best who ever lived at what you do, when you make people laugh and get them to think, you've earned a spot on the ballot. From there, let the votes fall where they will.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Voting in the Wiz's Digital Billboard Contest

You can now vote for your favorite submission in Jay Christensen's college football-digital billboard competition (previous posts here and here).

With this late submission, University of Texas supporters now have a tough choice between that one and this earlier submission.

Posted by Tom at 4:00 AM | Comments (0) |

May 30, 2007

Is there such a thing as
Texans Underexpectation Syndrome?

Maybe it's simply because the Texans have been one of the NFL's worst expansion franchises in modern times.

Maybe it's because of the scars from the Tony Boselli deal. Or perhaps the Philip Buchanon deal.

Maybe it's just because of the concern that is raised whenever Richard Justice declares that the Texans are about ready to turn the corner.

But does it trouble anyone else that the management of the Atlanta Falcons apparently knew this information about QB Michael Vick and still traded their backup quarterback to the Texans, anyway?

Posted by Tom at 4:32 AM | Comments (0) |

Damaged goods?

Don't you know that an eyebrow or two was raised around town with the following disclosure deep within Jose de Jesus Ortiz's Chronicle article today on the return of the Stros off-season acquisition Jason Jennings from a bout of tendonitis in his pitching elbow:

Jennings, who is earning $5.5 million this year, was 9-13 with a 3.75 ERA last year with the Rockies. The workload was a testament to his pain tolerance. He dealt with discomfort since June and skipped bullpen sessions between starts for most of the second half. It's too early to tell whether he'll need surgery to fix his elbow.

Jennings is eligible to become a free agent after this season, so it was a bit odd that the Stros announced that they had put contract negotiations on hold with Jennings until after the season shortly after Jennings went on the disabled list. Jennings is a proven MLB starter and overuse injury risk is a fact of life for MLB pitchers. However, if Jennings and the Rockies did not disclose that Jennings was dealing with the condition last season when the clubs consummated the trade for Jennings, or if the Stros medical team believes that the condition is more serious than mere tendonitis, then that would certainly explain the Stros' stance in backing off of contract negotiations. One can't blame Stros management for being a bit miffed that the club traded away its best minor league pitching prospect, Jason Hirsh, for goods that the club did not know were damaged.

By the way, the other players involved in the Jennings deal haven't set the league on fire. Hirsh has been slightly above-average for the Rockies with a 2 RSAA and 4.30 ERA in 60 innings of work so far this season (10 starts, 2-4 record). The other two former Stros players included in the deal -- CF Willy Taveras (-4 RCAA/.378 OBA/.340 SLG/.719 OPS) and pitcher Taylor Buchholz (-4 RSAA/5.81 ERA) -- continue to be well below-average MLB players. The throw-in from the Rockies to the Stros in the deal -- Miguel Ascencio -- has been horrible at AAA Round Rock, giving up 23 earned runs and 37 hits in 23 innings of work, which computes to an atrocious 8.75 ERA as a reliever. Somehow, he retains a spot on the Stros' 40 man roster.

Posted by Tom at 4:22 AM | Comments (0) |

The Bo Legend

Has it really been 20 years since Bo Jackson made his Major League Baseball debut? Joe Posnanski tells some of the remarkable stories about this era's larger than life athlete.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

May 29, 2007

Chronic lack of adult supervision

In the wake of the Monica Goodling Congressional testimony, James Joyner laments the lack of adult supervision in the Bush Administration Justice Department.

Joyner has a valid point, but did he just notice the problem now?

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Training the enemy

Regardless of one's position on the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, this does not sound good:

Staff Sgt. David Safstrom does not regret his previous tours in Iraq, not even a difficult second stint when two comrades were killed while trying to capture insurgents. [. . .]

But now on his third deployment in Iraq, he is no longer a believer in the mission. The pivotal moment came, he says, this past February when soldiers killed a man setting a roadside bomb. When they searched the bomber’s body, they found identification showing him to be a sergeant in the Iraqi Army.

“I thought, ‘What are we doing here? Why are we still here?’ ” said Sergeant Safstrom, a member of Delta Company of the First Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division. “We’re helping guys that are trying to kill us. We help them in the day. They turn around at night and try to kill us.” [. . .]

On April 29, a Delta Company patrol was responding to a tip at Al Sadr mosque, a short distance from its base. The soldiers saw men in the distance erecting burning barricades, and the streets emptied out quickly. Then a militia, believed to be the Mahdi Army, which is affiliated with the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, began firing at them from rooftops and windows.

[Sgt. Kevin O’Flarity] and his squad maneuvered their Humvees through alleyways and side streets, firing back at an estimated 60 insurgents during a gun battle that raged for two and a half hours. . . .When the battle was over, Delta Company learned that among the enemy dead were at least two Iraqi Army soldiers that American forces had helped train and arm.

Read the entire troubling article.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Richard Justice, Texans Cheerleader

Following this post from last month, the Chronicle's Richard Justice continues to lead the cheerleading (see also here) for the Houston Texans:

Times have changed. The Texans have this city's best owner in Bob McNair. They have competent people in charge, especially GM Rick Smith. They've got a core of talented under players around which to build, and for the first time, they've got veteran leadership. The Texans seem headed for respectability in Gary Kubiak's second year on the job.

Interestingly, Justice's effusive praise of the Kubiak-Smith regime sounds remarkably similar to the following September 12, 2004 article ($) extolling the talents of the now disgraced Charlie Casserly and Dom Capers:

The Texans have made good use of their honeymoon. They've drafted wisely and spent shrewdly on free agents. They've assembled a front office admired around the NFL. Their players seem to be quality people. [. . .]

The danger for them is that their greatest strength could become their greatest weakness. They've done so many things right and have built such a model operation that it's impossible not to put expectations on a fast track. [. . .]

So far, it's impossible not to be impressed with what the Texans have done. They are run as efficiently as any sports franchise I've ever been around.

Just before the start of training camp, Casserly gathered his employees and thanked them for all their hard work. Then he went down the list of different departments and explained some little thing each had done that made the team - and the organization - better.

That's the kind of thing the people who run sports franchises almost never do, and it left every person who was mentioned proud to be associated with the Texans.[. . .]

Capers believes it's vital to emphasize doing things right because "if you ever slip, you can never get it back."

So far, the Texans haven't slipped in any significant way.

That sunny appraisal of the Casserly-Capers regime was immediately before Year Threee, and Justice held on to that view well into the disastrous 2-14 Year Four when most reasonably well-informed folks had concluded that the direction of the franchise needed to change. Of course, Justice eventually embraced a disparaging view of Casserly and Capers as if he had doubts about the two from the beginning.

Justice may be right about the current direction of the franchise under Kubiak and Smith, but it's worth noting that the chronic left offensive tackle problem has not been resolved, the pass rush remains unproven, no receiver has emerged to force teams to back off double teaming Andre Johnson, the running back position has no gamebreaker and a porous defensive secondary has not been upgraded. A little more objectivity from Justice about the Texans' situation may allow his analysis of the team to age a bit better.

Posted by Tom at 4:03 AM | Comments (2) |

May 28, 2007

Is Jamie Olis' freedom worth less than ours?

The title to this post poses an unsettling question on this day when we pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. But recent revelations from the trial of the civil case relating to the criminal trial of former Dynegy mid-level executive Jamie Olis reveals that some powerful forces did not consider Olis' freedom worth very much at all.

Earlier posts here and here reported that the Department of Justice threatened to put Dynegy out of business unless it threw Olis under the locomotive of the DOJ's criminal investigation of a complicated structured finance transaction called Project Alpha. The Chronicle's Tom Fowler follows up with this revealing article regarding the nature of the enormous pressure that the DOJ brought to bear on Dynegy's leaders to abandon Olis:

The letter from the U.S. Attorney's Office that arrived at Dynegy's headquarters on Jan. 9, 2003, was hardly welcomed by CEO Bruce Williamson.

"We have become increasingly concerned that Dynegy's 'cooperation' is more apparent than real," read the letter from former U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby, referring to an investigation of a deal called Project Alpha. "As a result, we are re-evaluating whether we can continue to rely on Dynegy's claim of good faith cooperation with the investigation."

Williamson was just a few months into his new job trying to turn around the troubled natural gas and power company. Dynegy teetered close to bankruptcy as it dealt with an industrywide fallout of Enron's collapse, a flagging stock price, and civil and criminal investigations.

When Williamson met Shelby face to face the next day, he was lectured on what Dynegy needed to do to avoid criminal charges.

"I walked out of there a few pounds lighter," Williamson testified in court last month. "An indictment clearly would have put the company out of business." [. . .]

Shortly after the January 2003 meeting, Williamson testified, Shelby sent him the Thompson Memo. Williamson said he saw it as a message to stop paying fees for Olis and Foster.

Several months passed, during which Shelby's office built its case against the trio. On June 12, indictments against them were unsealed, and they were arrested.

Shelby made a point of thanking Williamson publicly that day for his cooperation, and even sent a wall plaque for his office saying as much.

A month later, on July 15, an assistant U.S. attorney called Larry Finder, a Haynes & Boone lawyer representing Dynegy, asking why the company was still paying for Olis and Foster's legal fees. On July 18, Williamson sent an e-mail to Shelby saying he was "totally supportive of trying to modify our legal support posture. I have wanted to do so for some time."

Shelby wrote back the next day, thanking him for "looking into this" and adding, "I think it is in neither of our interests to have the company pay for the defense of individuals whose actions were so egregious."

So much for the presumption of innocence, eh?

Fowler also provides this related article regarding the testimony from the civil trial by Olis, who did not testify during his criminal trial that initially resulted in a barbaric 24 year prison sentence. Based on Olis' testimony, it appears that over a half-dozen unnamed Dynegy employees should be giving thanks to Olis for their freedom:

Jamie Olis repeatedly turned down offers to cooperate with prosecutors, even after the former Dynegy worker was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

"I just couldn't do it," he testified in a civil trial this month.

Olis spoke by phone from federal prison in Bastrop during the trial, where his former attorney won legal fees from Dynegy that he claimed the company held back under pressure from prosecutors. A recording of the testimony was obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

Olis testified that in May 2003, shortly before he and two co-workers were indicted for their roles in Project Alpha, the government pressured him to make a deal. Olis said an assistant U.S. attorney took him aside after a hearing and said: " 'Hey, we know you're the small guy on this stuff, plead guilty and you don't owe anybody anything.' "

Olis declined, and he and his boss, Gene Foster, and co-worker Helen Sharkey were indicted on June 12.

In August 2003, after Foster and Sharkey entered plea agreements, Olis said he was offered a similar deal but he didn't take it. Even after he was found guilty in November 2003 and later sentenced to 24 years in prison, he said prosecutors tried to get him to enter into a deal that would reduce his sentence.

Lloyd Kelley, an attorney representing Olis' former attorney in the trial, asked if he was tempted to take it.

"I did think about it, but there was no way I could have done it," Olis said.

"Why?" Kelley asked.

"Because it wasn't a matter of just pleading guilty," Olis said, his voice trembling with emotion. "What they wanted was for me to tell the story that I and everyone else engaged in a conspiracy."

The "everyone else" was a list of more than a half-dozen Dynegy workers that Foster said in the criminal trial had conspired to withhold information about Alpha from outside accountants. No one beside Olis, Foster and Sharkey has been charged.

"And I couldn't ruin those people's lives," Olis continued in a halting voice. "I'm Catholic. And I can't do that."

Olis claimed Foster's testimony about a conspiracy wasn't truthful.

"We were all consistent in our SEC depositions, and we never talked to each other," he said, referring to statements the three gave to the Securities and Exchange Commission. "Then at the trial Mr. Foster comes on after pleading guilty and does a 180, and starts to say we had a conversation."

So, Olis works on Project Alpha with over a dozen other Dynegy employees, lawyers and accontants in an effort to improve the company's earnings. In the inflamed anti-business environment of the immediate aftermath of Enron, the SEC launches an investigation of the transaction, to which Olis cooperates. The U.S. Attorney decides to criminalize the transaction and makes Dynegy's CEO an offer that he cannot refuse -- throw Olis and a couple of his co-workers under the bus and the federal government will not put Dynegy out of business as it did with Arthur Andersen. When Olis is the only one of the defendants who provides a consistent story in both the SEC investigation and the criminal case, the DOJ prosecutes him to the hilt, resulting in a 24 year sentence, later reduced to "only" six years. For what it's worth, the current U.S. Attorney sees nothing wrong with all of this.

As we contemplate on this Memorial Day the sacrifices that have assured our freedom, do any of us really think that we could preserve that freedom and stand upright in the winds of the overwhelming governmental power that was brought to bear on Jamie Olis if that power were turned on us?

Judge Kaplan, I hope you are listening.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) |

May 27, 2007

Pitching well?

Jose de Jesus Ortiz is the Chronicle's beat writer for the Stros, but curiously, the newspaper allows Ortiz to provide subjective blather about the club and its players rather than objective analysis. Get a load of Ortiz's latest on the reeling Stros:

The pitching staff has actually been good, considering Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte are gone and Jason Jennings has been on the disabled list most of the season. Pitching coach Dave Wallace has aided the development of rookie Chris Sampson and Wandy Rodriguez, who have stepped up and helped ace Roy Oswalt lead the rotation while veteran Woody Williams tries to get back on track and Jennings works his injured right elbow back into shape.

"The pitching staff has actually been good?" Here are the facts.

The Stros pitching staff overall has allowed 15 more runs than a merely average National League pitching staff would have given up through 48 games of the season, which rates 11th among the 16 National League pitching staffs. Two fifths of the rotation -- Woody Williams (-11 RSAA) and Matt Albers (-9 RSAA) have been among the worst starting pitchers in the National League this season, while another starter -- Wandy Rodriguez (-2 RSAA this season) -- has been one of the worst starting pitchers in the National League (-38 RSAA) over the past two and a third seasons. In just the past week, reliever Rick White has given up 9 more runs in his appearances than an average NL pitcher would have given up and fellow reliever Brian Moehler has surrendered 8 more runs than an average NL pitcher would have given up pitching the same number of innings. I wonder if Ortiz thinks that Stros pitching coach Dave Wallace "has aided the development" of those pitchers?

Meanwhile, in the same article, Ortiz bashes the Stros anemic hitters, which is certainly legitimate criticism. However, although those hitters have generated 16 fewer runs than a lineup of average NL hitters would have created using the same number of outs, than output is only one run less than the -15 RSAA of the pitching staff. So, using objective criteria, the Stros pitching staff overall has been every bit as bad as the Stros hitters so far this season, which is the point that Ortiz should be making.

Adding this latest Ortiz column to a couple of dubious previous ones (here and here), a good case can be made that Ortiz is having every bit as bad a season writing about the Stros as the Stros are having on the field.

Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (5) |

May 26, 2007

The PGA Tour's Texas Mess

The Tiger Chasm has had an extremely detrimental effect on the Texas PGA Tour events (see here and here). Texas golf writer Art Stricklin picks up on that theme in this Golf.com op-ed in which he points out that the PGA Tour has forsaken the four Texas events that contribute more to charity than virtually any other Tour events:

There used to be something on Tour called the Texas swing, during which three of the four events in the Lone Star State — the Houston Open, the Byron Nelson and the Colonial — were played in near succession. (The Texas Open was usually held later in the year.)

The proximity in dates and distance of the tournaments added to their appeal because a pro could stay in a single state, albeit a big one, for almost a month. The events also had long traditions and famous frontmen. Jack Burke Jr. remains Houston's Mr. Golf, an honorific bestowed in Dallas on the late Byron Nelson (who personally rounded up player commitments) and in Fort Worth (home of the Colonial) on the legendary Ben Hogan.

Further, all of the Texas tournaments have been good to charity. According to several tournament directors, in 2006 the Texas Open ranked first on Tour in charitable contributions with $7 million, while the Nelson was third ($6.3 million), Houston fifth ($4.5 million), and the Colonial kicked in $2.6 million. That's $20 million from Texas. [. . .]

The Tour applauded itself for taking Texas's money but returned the favor with four lousy spots on the schedule.

The Houston Open, which has never been graced by Tiger Woods, was moved to the week before the Masters, always a dark period for the No. 1 player in the world. The Nelson, with its prime mid-May date reassigned to the Tour-owned Players Championship, was stuck in a late-April pit, and the results were predictable: Of the top 15 players only Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia showed up — especially lamentable because this was the first Nelson since the death of its namesake.

This week's Colonial was cast into the late-May lull between the Players and Jack Nicklaus's Memorial, and at press time only one top 10 player had committed.

But these events are prime compared with the Texas Open, consigned to the worst fate of all: the irrelevance of the post-FedEx Cup fall season.

Maybe the commissioner really believes that what a tournament gives away matters, and that on the PGA Tour doing good is as important as doing well. No one in Texas does anymore.

The PGA Tour is in real trouble in Texas. Is anyone in the PGA Tour office listening?

Posted by Tom at 12:19 AM | Comments (0) |

May 25, 2007

We have a winner for EGL

After four months of bidding, CEVA Group PLC -- a UK public limited company owned by affiliates of New York City-based Apollo Management LP -- has emerged as the winner for Houston-based logistics company EGL, Inc. over the management led-private equity bid championed by EGL chairman and CEO, Jim Crane (prior posts here). Although his private equity buyout failed, Crane is certainly not a loser on the deal. His 17.4% stake in EGL has increased in value by about 60% over the past four months, which means his EGL stock has increased in value by about $125 million to around $337 million. Not exactly a bitter pill to swallow.

Although the winning bid in this type of competition is always interesting, a fascinating development was revealed yesterday in a Schedule 13D/A that EGL filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Get a load of this:

EXPLANATORY NOTES: This Amendment No. 8 to Schedule 13D (this "Amendment") is being filed by James R. Crane and the other reporting persons (collectively, the "Reporting Persons") signatory hereto as identified in the Schedule 13D filed on January 22, 2007, . . .

The Reporting Persons wish to make clear that Mr. E. Joseph Bento, who was one of the signatories to the Schedule 13D filed on January 22, 2007 and to Amendments No. 1 through 7 thereof as previously filed, was not a signatory to Amendment No. 8 to the Schedule 13D and is not a signatory to this Amendment.

The Reporting Persons have excluded Mr. Bento as a signatory and as a member of the group because they believe, based on reliable information, that Mr. Bento, while purporting to cooperate with the Reporting Persons in their offer to acquire the Issuer, in fact has been secretly and improperly cooperating with Apollo Management VI, L.P. and its portfolio company, CEVA Group Plc (collectively, "Apollo/CEVA") in the competing offer by Apollo/CEVA to acquire the Issuer.

The Reporting Persons further believe, based on reliable information that, while holding himself out to the Reporting Persons as a person cooperating with the Reporting Persons' bid for the Issuer, Mr. Bento in fact has, without the prior knowledge of or permission from the Reporting Persons, improperly shared confidential information relating to the Reporting Persons' bidding strategy and other confidential information regarding the Reporting Persons' offer to acquire the Issuer. The Reporting Persons cannot give any assurance that prior statements of Mr. Bento in the Schedule 13D as to his intentions were in fact truthful and accurate.

The Reporting Persons intend to explore all appropriate remedies, including legal action for damages and other relief, that they may have against Mr. Bento.

Well, you certainly don't read excerpts like that every day while perusing SEC filings!

It's a bit difficult to know at this point what the claim against Berto would be. It would not appear that EGL or its shareholders have been damaged by anything the Berto is alleged to have done. Although Crane's group may have been hurt in its effort to become the winning bid by information that Berto supposedly provided to Apollo/CEVA, it's not as if Crane and his group were prevented from continuing to bid on the company. That Crane and his group might have been the successful bidder at a lower price but for Berto's supposed leaking of confidential information doesn't seem like much of a basis for a lawsuit because that lower bid would have come at the expense of EGL's shareholders to whom Crane and his management team still owed a fiduciary duty. So, we'll just have to stay tuned on that potential litigation front.

At any rate, one has to tip their hat to EGL's Special Committee of the Board of Directors, its counsel (Andrews & Kurth) and its financial advisors (Deutsche Bank) -- they really played these two competing bidders off on each other brilliantly. Although at first CEVA/Apollo appeared to be a tire-kicker, they turned out to be a motivated buyer because EGL represented a special opportunity to acquire a substantial freight forwarding business that could be integrated with CEVA's existing contract logistics business. On the other hand, EGL was Crane's baby, so the board knew that his group would also fight hard to retain control. In the end, Apollo/CEVA paid an extremely favorable price for a company that has not been doing all that well over the past couple of years and certainly was not considered a hot property in the marketplace. EGL shareholders did not quite get their 52-week high stock price of $51.49, but they did end up receiving almost a 60% premium on their $29.78 share price when this all started.

Suffice it to say that such a premium would have been realized had Ben Stein been calling the shots.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

And you think the Stros are bad?

As the Stros wander off to their second losing season in the past 15 seasons (21-26 record, lost 6 of their last 7), this earlier post reminded that it could be much worse. Along those same lines, it's comforting to read this Jim Reeves/Ft. Worth Star Telegram op-ed confirming that the other Texas Major League club continues to toil in its perpetual state of futility:

What's happened to the Rangers (18-29) this season isn't one man's failure, or even two. This is an organization-wide travesty that starts at the top with [owner Tom] Hicks himself. Most of all, it's a players' failure and for anyone who cares to debate that point, I refer you to the team's .248 batting average, 5.15 team ERA and 39 errors going into Monday night's homestand opener against the Twins. Argue with those numbers, if you can.

Of course, this is all Greek to Hicks, who just happens to be in Greece this week to see his Liverpool soccer team play. Guess he figured his baseball team could continue to fall apart without him. Or maybe he just wanted to see a real offense at work.

Absence, in this case, definitely makes the heart grow fonder.

Hicks is the root cause of many of the Rangers' problems, whether he'll admit it or not, and not all of it even has to do with the fact that he spends money like he owns a team in Tampa or Kansas City instead of a top 10 market.

It was Hicks who hired the youngest and rawest general manager in baseball history and didn't insist that he at least add a veteran baseball voice as a sounding board in the front office. Then the owner compounded the problem by signing off on a manager with absolutely zero major league managerial experience.

Gosh, the plight of the Rangers makes a starting rotation that includes Woody Williams, Matt Albers (mercifully demoted yesterday to AAA Round Rock) and Wandy Rodriguez almost seem tolerable.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (3) |

Checking in on the annual Cannes Vanity Fair Party

Reports on the social affairs surrounding the Cannes Film Festival don't usually interest me much, but WaPo's William Booth does a great job of placing the annual Vanity Fair party in perspective:

The annual Vanity Fair Oscar party in Los Angeles is now an institution filled to the rafters with Hollywood celebrities, our celebrities, the ones in our tabloids. This Cannes VF gig is different. Here it's London socialite Jemima Khan, the ex-wife of Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan, daughter of Lady Annabel Goldsmith. She's hot. She's smart. She's rich. She's huge. But we are going to confess this as an innocent abroad: We kinda had to Google her.

Read the entire clever piece.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

May 24, 2007

The DOJ's threat to go "Arthur Andersen" on Dynegy

This post from last week reported on how a recent civil lawsuit against Dynegy, Inc. involved issues relating to the Justice Department's 2003 threat to indict the company that contributed dramatically to the barbaric prosecution and prison sentence of former mid-level Dynegy executive, Jamie Olis. The evidence from that trial is now slowly filtering out and reveals a systematic effort by federal prosecutors to interfere with Olis' defense of the government's charges. The following is from a Platt's.com's ($) Gas Daily:

The CEO of Dynegy, who four years ago cooperated with a fraud investigation that resulted in a former colleague getting a six-year prison sentence, feared at the time that prosecutors might deal Dynegy a fatal blow by seeking a criminal indictment against the firm.

According to transcripts from a late-April trial, [Dynegy CEO] Bruce Williamson testified that after a January 2003 meeting with the US attorney, “I walked out of there a few pounds lighter. An indictment clearly would have put the company out of business.” [. . .]

Williamson testified for three days in late April about his thought process in 2003 as the US Attorney’s office in Houston was preparing an investigation into Project Alpha — a probe that led to the conviction of Olis and two other former employees.

At the time of the Project Alpha inquiry, Williamson had been on the job just a few months, having been named CEO in October 2002 when Dynegy was facing severe liquidity and credit problems and its future as a viable company was in doubt.

Lloyd Kelley, Yates’ attorney, told Platts last week that prosecutors, under the direction of then-US Attorney Michael Shelby, pressured Williamson and other Dynegy officials to cut off support to Olis and other ex-employees under investigation or face the prospect of a criminal indictment against the company itself.

“Shelby basically threatened Dynegy, and Williamson agreed to do whatever the government wanted, which meant they would order people to give testimony,” Kelley maintained. “They had to waive their Fifth Amendment privilege, waive attorney-client privilege.”

According to the transcripts of last month’s trial, Williamson testified that in early January 2003, he arranged a meeting at Shelby’s office after receiving a letter from Shelby indicating his displeasure with Dynegy’s lack of cooperation into the Project Alpha investigation.

“I wouldn’t say it frightened me, but it was another issue along with all the debt that we needed to pay off, along with a FERC investigation, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission investigation, all the other things going on,” he testified.

Williamson said he feared that a criminal indictment against Dynegy on the heels of mass layoffs would have “shut the company down” by forcing the departure of the firm’s remaining 1,400 employees. An indictment never came. Williamson told the court that he took a hard line against any current or former Dynegy employee being investigated by the government.

“I’m not going to give people the presumption of innocence,” he said. “Anybody on that list needs to be investigated fully and we needed to determine whether they were guilty or not. If they are, they need to leave the company. If they are going to be indicted, they need to leave the company. If there is a doubt, they need to leave the company,” Williamson testified. . .

Don DeGabrielle, the current US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, told Platts that his predecessor, who died last July, did nothing wrong in his prosecution of the Project Alpha case. . . .

It's a sad sign of our times that federal authorities deem "nothing wrong" with threatening to put a company out of business for merely defending its employees. Despite the recent jury verdict against Dynegy, Williamson and the Dynegy board did the correct thing for the company's shareholders by tossing Olis to the wolves -- having to pay several million in damages for failing to subsidize Olis' defense costs is peanuts compared to the billions in damages that would have resulted from a Dynegy bankruptcy. But Dynegy's board should never have been forced to make that Draconian choice in the first place. In the face of such interference with Olis' defense, the prosecution of Olis should have never been allowed to proceed. Peter Henning reports that the latest development in the KPMG case is prompting Judge Kaplan to confront the same issue in that case (Larry Ribstein also comments here). Here's hoping that the injustice heaped upon Jamie Olis helps lead Judge Kaplan to the correct decision.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

Pros and Cons of the Top 20
Democratic Party Presidential Candidates

John Moe provides the fun. My favorite:

5. JOE BIDEN

Pro: Technically still running for president.

Con: Dude. Come on.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Proof that Texas legislators don't have enough to do

The lead in to this Ft. Worth Star Telegram article is a dead giveaway that Texas legislators are in a "throw the money around" mood as they near the end of the legislative session:

Many Texas students are too fat, experts say, and face future health problems because of their poor fitness. This week, the Legislature may weigh whether a new annual fitness test can help whip them into better shape. Fitness guru Dr. Kenneth Cooper of Dallas teamed up with Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, to author legislation that would require schools to monitor students' health to prevent childhood obesity . . .

According to the bill, students in kindergarten through fifth grade must have “moderate or vigorous" activity for 30 minutes each day. Students in grades six, seven and eight must have physical activity 30 minutes a day for four semesters. Additionally, schools must annually assess the physical fitness of students in grades three through eight. Under the legislation, the Texas Education Agency would be asked to adopt a testing tool that measures aerobic capacity, body composition, muscular strength, endurance and flexibility.

According to the bill, the TEA must also analyze the data for a correlation between physical fitness and academic achievement, attendance, disciplinary problems and obesity . . .

The wording in the bill that describes the required testing tool mirrors language on the Web site for Cooper's FitnessGram, developed in 1982 to measure health and fitness levels of children . . . The FitnessGram would cost about $230 for each child when purchased from its distributor, Human Kinetics. The nonprofit Cooper Institute receives $30 from each sale.

Sandy Szwarc nicely sums up the skimpy clinical evidence upon which the above-described legislation is based:

The bottom line was that [Harvard School of Public Health] researchers were not able to clearly establish a direction between fitness and overweight. Meaning, the slightly lower levels of athleticism among heavier children didn’t necessarily point to that as being the cause for their size, nor that trying to turn them into better athletes will make them slimmer.

There is no credible evidence that the levels of physical activity and fitness among fat children are less than thinner kids to explain their diversity in sizes. There is no credible evidence that school or after-school physical activity programs reduce obesity among children. The medical evidence long ago demonstrated that heredity and genes account for aerobic capacity, upper body strength and athletic prowess. Researchers have also found that different children have different physical aptitudes, just like academic and artistic abilities. Research, for example, in the journal of the North Association for the Study of Obesity, Obesity Research, found that “obese” and nonobese school kids had similar levels of physical activity, while nonobese boys engaged in more sports. The fat children did poorer on propulsion tasks, but showed greater grip strength and similar scores with the other kids on overall fitness.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

May 23, 2007

Checking in on the NBA

Rockets owner Les Alexander doesn't have a clue on how to fire a coach properly, but most of Yao Ming's fans are happy with the move, anyway.

Meanwhile, NBA Commissioner David Stern's absurdly stubborn ruling last week that effectively derailed the Phoenix Suns' chances of defeating the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semi-finals has reinforced the overall lack of competitive balance in the NBA:

Of the 30 current N.B.A. teams, 14 have never won a championship. Five franchises — Celtics, Lakers, Bulls, Pistons and Spurs — have won 70 percent of all titles. Although the Celtics and the Lakers were not serious contenders this season, with the defeat of the Mavericks, there is a better chance that the Bulls, the Pistons or the Spurs will once again be crowned champions.

This pattern, in which the same franchises keep taking the league’s top prize, is not seen in other sports. In the past 20 years, 11 different N.H.L. teams have hoisted the Stanley Cup. In the N.F.L., 12 different teams have won the Super Bowl. And in baseball, the league in which competitive balance is perpetually thought to be a problem, 14 different teams have won the World Series in the past two decades.

The reason for the imbalance? Somewhat surprisingly, it's simple demographics. Read Dave Berri's explanation here.

Speaking of demographics, did you know that the Spurs are having trouble selling tickets to the Western Conference Finals games against Utah?

Moreover, Kevin Grier over at MR proposes these common sense modifications to the NBA, to which I would add including all teams to the playoffs and using the regular season schedule to seed the playoffs and provide weighted home court advantage (say, the first three home games and the final two in a seven game series) for the first couple of playoff rounds.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (4) |

Now that's a low blow!

This earlier post regarding the Texas-OU rivalry noted Jay Christensen's clever college football digital billboard contest over at the sporting Wizard of Odds. The likes of Texas and Oklahoma have pretty thick hides, but now the competition has generated this billboard on little Rice University, which is still trying to figure out how to profit from being a sacrificial lamb in the big-time college football wars. I don't think this particular billboard will be the basis of the Owls' advertising campaign for the upcoming football season. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

More on that little boondoggle

Charles Kuffner has an interesting post about the John Lopez column noted earlier here that suggested that the $80 million or so in public financing for the proposed downtown soccer stadium is a political payback to the minority groups that have given certain civic leaders a pass for supporting the two more expensive downtown stadiums, Minute Maid Park ($286 million) and the Toyota Center ($250 million). Kuff goes on to observe about the location of the proposed stadium:

If it's going to be in Houston and not Sugar Land or the Woodlands, then I think downtown is fine. It will be both more convenient and more attractive than Robertson Stadium, where I presume they're at least drawing enough of a crowd to be viable. I just think they ought to pay for that downtown stadium themselves.

Norm Chad, as an aside to his funny column regarding the Dodgers' stadium seats that come with free food, makes the following observation about the number of folks who are really watching MLS soccer:

Column intermission: "Beckham Fever" is contagious. This month, MLS games have attracted throngs of 7,426 in Kansas City, 7,802 in New York and 9,508 in New England. One fan in Houston even thought she sighted David Beckham, but it just turned out to be a good-looking grad student from Rice wearing a Subway sandwich board.

Come to think of it, has any civic leader bothered to ask how many folks are attending Dynamo games?

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (1) |

May 22, 2007

Super bidding

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is pulling out all of the stops today to convince the other NFL teams owners to award Dallas Super Bowl XLV in 2011 -- Hall of Famer QB Roger Staubach will assist Jones in Dallas' presentation to the team owners. Dallas' main competition is Indianapolis, which at least is better for Dallas than competing against Miami or San Diego.

But the fact of the matter is that a Hall of Fame pitch man and new stadium isn't enough anymore for being assured of a Super Bowl. Texans' owner Bob McNair learned that the hard way in connection with making Houston's presentation for the most recent Super Bowl. As a part of that presentation, McNair promised the other NFL owners a trip to a South Texas ranch for some quality quail hunting, which in these parts is a pretty powerful inducement.

Unfortunately, Dolphins' owner Wayne Huizenga, who headed up Miami's competing presentation, one-upped McNair. He offered each owner the use of a yacht while they were in Miami for Super Bowl week.

The owners voted for Miami by a landslide.

"Don't worry, Bob," Huizenga reportedly told McNair after the vote. "We'll serve quail on the yachts."

Update: North Texas lands its first Super Bowl.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

How high will the bidding for EGL go?

Just when it looked as if an outside bidder had outbid Jim Crane's management led-private equity group for control of Houston-based EGL, Inc., Crane's group upped its bid to $46.25 a share (prior posts here) this past Friday. Then, yesterday, the Crane group's main competitor for EGL -- an affiliate of Apollo Management, LP -- sweetened its bid to $47.50 per share. EGL's board, which is being toasted daily by EGL shareholders, notified Crane's group that it is available until Wednesday to discuss a revision to that group's $46.25 per share offer.

For those of you keeping score, that newest bid price represents just under a 60% premium over the EGL share price from when Crane's group announced its his original bid for the company earlier this year.

This all must be very confusing to Ben Stein.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Passport hell

Question: What do you get when changes are made in the processing of a governmental service that, even in the best of times, doesn't really function all that smoothly?

Answer: According to this Lisa Falkenberg/Chronicle column, a real mess:

The scene at the George Thomas "Mickey" Leland Federal Building in downtown Houston resembled a soup kitchen. Outside, tired-looking people crowded benches and sprawled on grass. Inside, State Department guards kept teeming hordes at bay in the lobby so they wouldn't add to the lines, snaking through hallways outside the fourth floor passport office.

"We started out in a line to get in a line to get to the elevator so that we could get in a line to get a number to wait in another line," Prothro told me.

Applicants, from El Paso to Oklahoma City, waited like cattle in holding areas, clutching suitcases, gripping manila envelopes of itineraries, some frantically calling congressmen for help. Even those with appointments were shooed by guards to the rear of the line.

The nationwide passport backlog — prompted by a federal law that took effect in January requiring U.S. citizens to obtain passports before flying to places such as Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean — was exacerbated this week in Houston by two days of computer system failures, said Eric Botts, assistant regional director.

The crowd grew so large, it presented a fire hazard.

"I can certainly understand people are frustrated," Botts said.

Botts said his staff has worked overtime, doing "everything humanly possible" for the past two years to meet surging passport demand. Each day, the office may get 500 e-mailed or faxed congressional inquiries about cases, and 800 from the national passport information center. He said his office has a backlog of 90,000 passports.

By midday, passport purgatory quickly deteriorated into passport hell. Around 3 p.m., a worker delivered grim news to an outside line:

"If you're here trying to get a passport today, that's not going to happen," he said. "I don't know why they sent all of you here. As you can see, they sent thousands of people here. There's no way an agency this small can handle all this work."

Inside the stuffy office, more than 250 people, including screaming toddlers, waited in line or in plastic chairs, staring at Fox News, sharing gripes in every language and glaring anxiously at passport agents behind thick glass windows. Many went several hours without eating or drinking, for fear of losing their spots in line. [. . .]

Occasional applause erupted when someone emerged with a passport. These lucky few adopted a distinctive swagger and a wide grin as they coveted their hard-earned treasure.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (3) |

May 21, 2007

"Superstar historian"?

Please excuse three straight posts bashing various Chronicle articles, but this Chronicle/Allan Turner reads like a press release from Rice University regarding the institution's hiring of former Tulane University history professor, Douglas Brinkley:

The man who once took a busload of college students on a madcap tour of the nation's historic and natural wonders, including the Grand Canyon and author Ken Kesey's farm, may be just what Rice University's austere public policy think tank needs to make itself a household name.

That, at least, was the hope on Thursday as university officials explored the possible benefits of their latest faculty hire — New Orleans superstar historian Douglas Brinkley — might bring to Rice and its Baker Institute of Public Policy.

A protege of best-selling historian Stephen Ambrose and a regular commentator for CBS News, Brinkley is renowned for his ability to make complex ideas understandable. He is a prolific author, and his 700-plus page tome chronicling Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast will receive the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Book Award later this month.

Brinkley, said Baker founding director Edward Djerejian, could be "a bridge between the world of ideas and action," helping the institute spread its policy recommendations to the general public.

"He's going to bring us a huge amount of visibility," added Rice humanities dean Gary Wihl.

"Superstar historian"? That characterization of Brinkley is certainly not shared by all in the academic community, as noted in this earlier post regarding this William McCrary review of Brinkley's Hurricane Katrina book:

Let me confess that I haven't read all of the writings of Douglas Brinkley. I doubt that anyone -- perhaps not even Mr. Brinkley himself -- has ever done that. He is a veritable ... deluge of literary productivity, with books to his credit on a dizzying array of subjects, ranging from Beat poetry to Jimmy Carter, and from Henry Ford to, most recently, the failed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Indeed, the range of his literary productions is so wide as to seem indiscriminate. But his bestknown writings seem to have three things in common.

First and foremost is their relentless mediocrity. I cannot think of a historian or public intellectual who has managed to make himself so prominent in American public life without having put forward a single memorable idea, a single original analysis, or a single lapidary phrase -- let alone without publishing a book that has had any discernable impact. Mr. Brinkley is, to use Daniel Boorstin's famous words, a historian famous for being well-known.

For what it's worth, I have read both Brinkley's book on Hurricane Katrina and Jed Horne's Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great Ameican City (Random House 2006). Horne's book is a good read and far superior to Brinkley's book, which is borderline unreadable.

Moreover, this skeptical view of Brinkley's academic talent is not new. Back in 1999, Slate's David Platz penned this well-know article about Brinkley taking advantage of his friendship with John F. Kennedy, Jr. to publicize himself after Kennedy's death in a plane crash:

According to the Washington Post, Brinkley cut a $10,000 deal with NBC for a week of exclusive Kennedy commentary, but then agreed to provide it pro bono. Editors at George [Kennedy's magazine] are reportedly so annoyed about Brinkley's death punditry that they have dropped him from the masthead.

Even amid this week's staggering hyperbole, Brinkley's emotional profligacy has distinguished him. He is, as he rarely fails to remind his audience, 38 years old like Kennedy, a vegetarian like Kennedy, and a Sagittarius like Kennedy. That identification with Kennedy accounts in part for Brinkley's tenuous proposition: that Kennedy's death is the signal event of his generation, the moment Gen X lost its innocence. In the opening paragraph of his New York Times op-ed, Brinkley opined: "It's as if suddenly, an entire generation's optimism is deflated, and all that is left is the limp reality of growing old." Kennedy's death may have affected his friend Brinkley this way. I am not sure anyone else outside Kennedy's circle was so moved.[ . . .]

Brinkley's sunniness and ardor are appealing, but his public history has its shortcomings. His idols, Ambrose and Schlesinger, have won the admiration of the academy and the public. Brinkley has won the public but has not wowed the academy. Some of his colleagues' dismay is simply jealousy of his entrepreneurship, but some is more substantive. His books read like good journalism--and that's no insult--but they are not great history. "He has made no analytical contribution at all," says one Ivy League historian who professes to like Brinkley.

I am glad that the Chronicle considers Rice's hiring of a history professor is newsworthy. However, for the Chron article not even to mention the well-known doubts about the academic merit of Brinkley's work is the type of cheerleading usually reserved for the Chronicle sportspage.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Rationalizing the latest boondoggle

Houstonians are currently enduring the rationalizations of a couple of boondoggles, a big one and a relatively small one. The Chronicle is always a good source for these rationalizations, such as this romantic interlude from Chron soccer writer Glenn Davis regarding the proposed downtown soccer stadium:

[A] downtown stadium will be an unparalleled vehicle for promoting soccer. Stadiums out in the hinterlands in MLS are still trying to prove them-selves as a magnet for fans.

Fans migrating to stadiums located in the inner city can become a part of a ritual.

When I was growing up in New Jersey, my father used to take me to sporting events at Madison Square Garden in the heart of New York. The ritual began as we left the house.

Take the train from the suburbs to Hoboken, N.J., then jump on the Path train (subway) under the Hudson River. As we exited the Path and scrambled up the steps to the street, a whole new world opened up.

The streets of Manhattan were alive with vendors, scalpers hawking tickets, and fans of the New York Rangers or Knicks. The air crackled with competition and excitement.

For a kid from the suburbs, this was like going into a new world. To this day, these impressions are indelible in my mind. Whether going to Madison Square Garden or to Giants Stadium to watch Pelé and the New York Cosmos, I always felt that sense of anticipation.

[Dynamo CEO Oliver] Luck has told me his ritual with his father was taking public transportation to go to Cleveland Indians games.

Stadiums in the U.S. have in many cases become soulless, with their flight to the suburbs and attempts to woo fans more for the buildings and their amenities than why they were built in the first place.

Stadiums should be a meeting place for like individuals from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds who come together with the common bond of a sport.

I almost broke into a solo of Kumbaya over that one. At least Chronicle sportswriter John Lopez is more realistic, if not more persuasive, of the real basis for public financing of another downtown stadium:

The predominantly white fan base that follows the Astros got theirs. The largely white and black fan base of the Rockets got theirs, too.

What about Dynamo fans? What about the fan base that has been estimated at roughly 45 percent Hispanic, 45 percent white and 10 percent Asian? [. . .]

On paper, yes. It has to make sense. But in the eyes of many, it's also about getting the same things the Astros, Rockets and Texans fans got. Acknowledgment.

Or, as Kevin Whited muses: "So, we need a new soccer stadium downtown so that Houston can be more like Manhattan, and so that fans of what is a minor-league sport in the United States won't cry racism?"

Meanwhile, Dennis Coates, a professor of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, provides the following persuasive analysis of the lack of any economic merit to a similar initiative to build a downtown arena in Baltimore:

Studies like that done by KPMG about a new arena for Baltimore have been thoroughly discredited by independent observers. They are much like the predictions of psychics. While a psychic's predictions of the future are rarely assessed for their accuracy, the predictions of stadium benefits have been thoroughly scrutinized by a wide array of independent researchers. There is almost no support for any of the predictions made by the stadium and arena benefit psychics when those predictions are compared to data on what actually happened. The bottom line is the feasibility studies are more a PR process than a fact finding one. I urge you to not buy into the PR as if it is objective science.

Thus, the local debate regarding another downtown stadium is off to an inauspicious start. If proponents of the stadium deal admit in campaigning for the deal that the economic benefits of the deal are questionable, but that the intangible benefits to the community override the financial risk of the deal, then most reasoned opponents of such deals would at least be satisfied with the debate of the issues. They might not be persuaded to support the deal on that basis, but at least they would have the comfort that the public's assessment of the deal would be based upon an honest presentation of the issues. As it stands now, the presentation of the economic issues in most stadium campaigns is muddled by highly questionable assertions of direct economic benefits derived from such deals. Here's hoping that the Chronicle will at least promote truth in advertising in regard to the debate over the downtown soccer stadium deal.

Posted by Tom at 4:02 AM | Comments (2) |

Playing well?

As noted here last year, the Chronicle's beat writer for the Stros, Jose de Jesus Ortiz, regularly reveals that he doesn't really understand the game even after covering it for 10 years and writing a book on the subject. Here is Ortiz's latest example of analytical confusion, again involving former Stros centerfielder, Willy Taveras:

Former Astros center fielder Willy Taveras stole his 10th base of the year in the Colorado Rockies 40th game. The 10 stolen bases would have tied for the team lead last year.

After a slow start, Taveras is playing well for the Rockies. And although he's among the league leaders in being thrown out, he has added a running game that Colorado didn't have last year when Matt Holliday, Jamey Carroll and Cory Sullivan all tied for the team lead.

Taveras, who actually missed the second week of May with groin issues, didn't need nearly as much time to reach 10.

Playing well? Through a quarter of the season, Taveras has generated 3 fewer runs for the Rockies than a merely average National League player would have created using the same number of outs as Taveras, which is worse than Chris Burke (-1 RCAA) gave the Stros during his brief stint in centerfield earlier this season. Taveras has improved his on-base percentage to a respectable .373, but he undermines that with a horrific slugging percentage of .339 (the NL league average is .432), which is the result of having only 4 doubles, no triples and no home runs among his 33 hits. He has whiffed 22 times while drawing only 11 walks in 130 plate appearances, and his 10 stolen bases is more than offset by the fact that he has been thrown out 7 times.

The bottom line is that Taveras is a well below-average Major League hitter. Inasmuch as Ortiz does not understand that, his analysis of the Stros should be taken with a very large grain of sale.

Posted by Tom at 4:01 AM | Comments (0) |

May 20, 2007

The real price gougers

George Will brilliantly explains the folly of governmental initiatives to control the price of gasoline and, in so doing, exposes the true price gougers:

[House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi announced herself "particularly concerned" that the highest price of gasoline recently was in her San Francisco district -- $3.49. So she endorses HR 1252 to protect consumers from "price gouging," defined, not altogether helpfully, by a blizzard of adjectives and adverbs. Gouging occurs when gasoline prices are "unconscionably" excessive, or sellers raise prices "unreasonably" by taking "unfair" advantage of "unusual" market conditions, or when the price charged represents a "gross" disparity from the price of crude oil, or when the amount charged "grossly" exceeds the price at which gasoline is obtainable in the same area. The bill does not explain how a gouger can gouge when his product is obtainable more cheaply nearby. Actually, Pelosi's constituents are being gouged by people like Pelosi -- by government. While oil companies make about 13 cents on a gallon of gasoline, the federal government makes 18.4 cents (the federal tax) and California's various governments make 40.2 cents (the nation's third-highest gasoline tax). Pelosi's San Francisco collects a local sales tax of 8.5 percent -- higher than the state's average for local sales taxes.

To understand how gasoline prices are set, read this.

Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (4) |

May 19, 2007

Stros 2007 Season Review, Part Two

As the Stros reach the quarter pole of the 2007 season, the club's prospects on the surface seem to be somewhat improved over the dreary first eighth of the season (prior season reviews here). The Stros (20-21) stabilized a bit during the second eighth of the season with a 11-9 record marked by overall improved hitting and pitching, and the spark provided by the arrival of rookie centerfielder, Hunter Pence (9 RCAA/.392 OBA/.652 SLG/1.044 OPS). Despite those positive signs, however, there is nothing that has occurred in regard to the direction of the club over the past 20 games that indicates that this Stros team has much of a chance at competing seriously for a playoff spot.

Through a quarter of the season, the Stros have scored 2 more runs than an average National League team would have scored using the same number of outs as the Stros have generated this season to date ("RCAA," explained here). That ranks 7th out of the 16 National League teams and trails National League Central rivals the Brewers (26-16 record/29 RCAA, 4th in NL) and the Cubs (19-21/7 RCAA/6th). The Stros had a -13 RCAA during the first 21 games of the season, which ranked 10th among National League teams at the time.

The Stros' pitching has improved modestly, too. The Stros pitching staff has saved 3 more runs over what an average National League pitching staff would have saved over the same number of innings ("RSAA," explained here), which ranks 9th in the National League and behind NL rivals the Brewers (13 RSAA/5th in NL) and the Cubs (9 RSAA/6th). The Stros pitching staff had saved 7 fewer runs than an average NL staff during the first 21 games of the season, which ranked 13th among the NL clubs at the time.

Despite this mild improvement, I'm still not bullish on the Stros' prospects this season. The Brewers are a clearly superior club through the first quarter of the season and the loser of the National League East -- either the Mets (27-14) or the Braves (25-16) -- appear to be the likely NL Wild Card team. So, the Stros are probably going to have to win the NL Central in order to achieve a playoff spot and I do not see Stros management making the hard decisions necessary for the Stros to overtake the Brewers and probably the Cubs.

The season statistics for the Stros to date are below, courtesy of Lee Sinins' sabermetric Complete Baseball Encyclopedia. The abbreviations for the hitting stats are defined here and the same for the pitching stats are here. The Stros active roster is here with links to each individual player's statistics:

The reasons the Stros will likely not be contenders this season can be summed up in two reasons: inadequate starting pitching and Manager Phil Garner's stubborn personnel decisions. The remarkably consistent Roy Oswalt (8 RSAA/2.83 ERA) continues to excel, but the following are the numbers for the other currently active starting pitchers:

Chris Sampson 1 RSAA/3.56
Wandy Rodriguez -2 RSAA/4.33 ERA
Woody Williams -8 RSAA/5.10 ERA
Matt Albers -8 RSAA/6.51 ERA

Jason Jennings (1 RSAA/3.0 ERA, who has been sidelined for the past month with elbow tendonitis after pitching only 12 innings this season, will probably return in a week or so, which will allow the Stros to drop one of the unproductive pitchers from the rotation, probably Albers. But that change will bring only a marginal improvement as this group simply does not appear to have the potential to save the number of runs above that of an average National League staff that the strong starting pitching staffs of the past several seasons provided the Stros. Thankfully, the relievers have all been at least average or slightly above-average in terms of saving runs, which has allowed the staff's overall RSAA to remain near average.

By the way, despite the mediocrity of the other starters, Roy O continues to put together the foundation of a Hall of Fame career. With his latest strong performance against the Giants, Roy O has now moved into the top 10 pitchers of all-time for career RSAA as of the age of 29:

Meanwhile, Garner's acquiesence to playing the increasingly unproductive Biggio (-3/.288/.418/.706) and batting him at the top of the lineup is causing all sorts of problems for the club. Make no mistake about it, Biggio's insistence on making the club endure his march to 3,000 hits is tarnishing his certain Hall of Fame career. Since June 12th of last season, Biggio has generated 22 fewer runs than an average National League hitter would have generated using the same number of outs as Biggio has. To put that in perspective, Biggio has been only moderately more productive than Ausmus (-36 RCAA since June 12, 2006) and Everett (-39 RCAA since June 12, 2006) -- two of the worst hitters in Stros history -- during that period of time and far less productive than Morgan Ensberg (-4 since June 12, 2006), who is now sitting squarely on the Stros bench. Biggio is also a serious defensive liability as his range is limited and he cannot throw with much authority any longer.

There is other collateral damage from indulging Biggio, too. Chris Burke (-1/.344/.388/.732), who has been blocked by Biggio at 2B for two seasons now despite the fact that he would be a more productive player than Biggio at this point in their relative careers, is now back in AAA Round Rock after Pence replaced him in centerfield. Because of Biggio's drag on the lineup, Garner didn't believe that he could afford to be patient with Ensberg (-4/.315/.321/.636), the Stros best 3B, during his slow start this season, so now Mike Lamb (5/.438/.491/.929) is getting most of the starts at 3B. Unfortunately, Lamb is a brutal defensive player, so now the Stros infield has two below-average defensive components in Lamb and Biggio. Meanwhile, the black hole in the Stros lineup from the 7th through the leadoff positions continues with no relief in sight and only improved hitting from the core of the Stros lineup of Lance Berkman (9/.432/.393/.825), Carlos Lee (4/.348/.540/.888), Luke Scott (1/.325/.436/.761) and the irrepressible Pence has kept the Stros scoring around an average number of runs.

Thus, my sense is that Stros management, for all their declarations of trying to field a playoff contender, is really biding its time this season as Biggio trudges toward his 3,000th hit. There is simply no way that this club will be much better than a .500 ballclub with its current starting pitching staff and Biggio, Everett, Ausmus and the pitcher burdening the hitting lineup on most nights. The Stros should be honest and concede that the club is attempting to compete as well as possible while supporting Biggio's climb toward 3,000 hits and dispense with the ruse that this club, as presently configured, has any meaningful shot at the playoffs.

The Stros finish up their interleague series with the Rangers (16-26) over this weekend and then hit the road for three games with the Giants (20-20) and four with the Diamondbacks (22-21) before returning home at the end of the month for a six game homestand against the Reds (16-26) and the Cardinals (16-23).

Posted by Tom at 8:25 AM | Comments (2) |

May 18, 2007

The Bill Fuhs of the Conrad Black trial

In this post from last week, I noted the similarities between the federal government's vacuous case against Conrad Black and the notorious prosecution of the four former Merrill Lynch executives in the Enron-related case known as the Nigerian Barge case. Now, according to this Mark Steyn blog post on the trial, yet another similarity has arisen between the two cases.

Although the entire Nigerian Barge prosecution was an abomination, the case against former Merrill mid-level executive William Fuhs was particularly egregious. Of the four Merrill Lynch defendants in that case, only Mr. Fuhs was not a managing director of the company. He did not participate in the one telephone conference with former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow in which Mr. Fastow allegedly induced Merrill Lynch executives to buy an interest in the barges by assuring them that Enron would broker a deal for Merrill's interest for a tidy profit within six months. Indeed, Mr. Fuhs' only connection with the deal was the ministerial processing of the transaction after Merrill had agreed to buy the interest in the barges from Enron.

During the Enron Task Force's presentation of its case at trial, none of the government's fact witnesses even knew Fuhs. Fuhs never conferred with anyone at Arthur Andersen (Enron's auditors) regarding the transaction and the deal was the only Enron transaction that Mr. Fuhs ever worked on. The prosecution presented no witnesses or evidence that Mr. Fuhs -- who is not an accountant -- had any idea that Enron's booking of a $12 million gain on the Nigerian Barge transaction was arguably improper, much less that he or Enron intended to do mislead anyone with regard to the accounting of the transaction. As one defense attorney involved in the case put it to me, "the Enron Task Force effectively prosecuted Fuhs for making copies."

Unfortunately, a weak case in a media and government-stoked anti-business climate didn't make any difference. Fuhs -- a young man in his early 30's with a wife and two young children -- was convicted on multiple counts and sentenced to 37 months in prison (the prosecution an over-the-top request for a 10+ year sentence). After Fuhs served about a year of that sentence, a clearly appalled Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals took the highly unusual step of ordering Fuhs released from prison shortly after oral argument on his appeal and then threw out the entire conviction against him a few weeks later. As Fuhs and his young family picked up the pieces of his career and their lives, the Task Force prosecutor who promoted this atrocity went on to a lucrative career in private practice.

According to Steyn, the government is deploying the same tactics that it used on Fuhs against a fringe player in the transactions that are being criminalized in the Black trial:

At least two of the four defendants in this courtroom -- Peter Atkinson and Mark Kipnis -- are only here because they refused to be steamrollered into a plea bargain by the US Attorney's heavies. But the hollowness of the case against Kipnis, the Hollinger in-house counsel in Chicago and the most junior defendant, beggars belief. The government's proposition is that the bonuses Kipnis received during his time with Hollinger was a pay-off for facilitating the $60 million scam. "He got $150,000 in bonus money to help do their crime," said Jeffrey Cramer during his opening address. That seems like a very piffling share of the swag, but, as Cramer put it, "His price was just a little bit lower. That’s all. That’s the only difference."

Yesterday, David Radler testified that he'd told the government that Kipnis' bonuses had nothing to do with the non-competes and were related to money he'd saved the company on outside legal fees by his work on CanWest and the other deals.

In other words, Cramer and his fellow prosecutors knew all along that they had no case against this guy, but they chose to pursue it anyway. He will most likely survive, but they've destroyed his reputation and his legal career, and he now runs a branch of a commercial-sign store. Kipnis' signature is on a lot of documents for the same reason my assistant's is: she's around when I'm out of town. Radler was mostly in Vancouver, and Kipnis was the guy who signed for him in Chicago.

Patrick Fitzgerald's team knew this. For them to punish Kipnis for declining to submit to their retrospective criminalization of events is the act of a third-rate bully.

Indeed. There has been a lot of third-rate bullying (see also here) during this era of repugnant criminalization of business interests.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

Set up for failure

A question for you. Who would establish a popular entertainment business along with a hundred or so partners and then doom it to fail for most of the partners?

Answer: The presidents of the university-members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

This Frank Fitzpatrick/Philadelphia Daily News article sums up the dire financial picture for most of the NCAA members:

Better than 90 percent of Division I athletic programs spend more than they earn, by an average of $7.1 million annually, according to figures released yesterday by NCAA researchers.

The statistics, for 2004-05, were included in a report urging the NCAA to standardize its procedures for collecting financial data, which was presented during a meeting of the Knight Commission, a college sports watchdog agency.

Only 22 of the 313 Division I athletic departments were self-supporting, the study noted. The rest required bailouts, either direct subsidies from their institutions or student fees, to balance their books. [. . .]

The report did not identify the 22 self-sustaining schools, though commission members indicated they were all among the college football superpowers. . .

This Brent Schrotenboer/San Diego Union-Tribune article analyzes the financial challenges faced by one of the have-nots in the world of minor league professional sports, San Diego State University:

While the current fiscal year doesn't close until June 30, the athletic department again will receive about $2.8 million in “one-time” or “auxiliary” funding from other university sources to balance its budget of about $27 million.

The infusion is necessary despite a $160 annual student fee increase implemented in 2004 by SDSU President Stephen Weber, overriding a student referendum. That has added $4.8 million to $7 million to the athletic department coffers annually. An additional $5 million in athletics revenue comes from the state general fund. [. . .]

Most athletic departments at NCAA Division I-A schools are not profitable. But for more than a decade, SDSU has needed help at a higher rate than the national average for public schools.

. . . In the two most recent fiscal years, 42.7 percent of athletics revenue has come from student fees, the general fund and other university funding, according to audited financial statements. [. . .]

Before the season, SDSU projected football ticket revenue of $3 million but ended up with only $1.9 million, forcing tightening in other athletic department expenses this year. The year before, SDSU projected $2.5 million in football revenue and brought in $2.3 million. Meanwhile, the team hasn't finished better than 6-6 since 1998.

This year, the SDSU athletic department has a projected budget shortfall of $100,000 to $250,000 – even after about $2.8 million in “one-time funding” was arranged from a university contract with a broadband communications company. . .

The SDSU athletic program finances are the same as most other major college programs, including the University of Houston and Rice University's programs. As noted here over a couple of years ago and in more recent posts here and here, the present structure of big-time college football and basketball is corrupt, but certainly an entertaining form of corruption. The issue is whether the leaders of NCAA member institutions have the courage to restructure college athletics in a manner that reduces the incentives for corruption while retaining many of the salutory benefits of the enterprise. Inasmuch as history indicates that such reforms will not occur under the NCAA, could a rival concern -- one that treats big-time college football and basketball as the minor league professional sports enterprises that they are -- be a lucrative play for an entrepreneurial entertainment or media concern?

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

The Jenkens & Gilchrist post-mortem

The Wall Street Journal's Nathan Koppel has authored an excellent review (W$J article here) of the demise of Dallas-based Jenkens & Gilchrist (prior blog posts here), which shut down earlier this year after mass defections and an expensive settlement with the federal government. Koppel's piece follows this earlier Dallas Morning News article that does a good job of chronicling the demise of the firm.

Given that the former leaders of the firm candidly admitted that the firm took big risks in the tax shelter business in order to generate increased profits, Larry Ribstein makes a typically insightful observation about how strict regulation of law firm structure may have contributed to the firm's questionable risk-taking:

It is at least worth exploring whether freeing law firms from these constraints would produce more responsible firms. Jenkens is another reminder that it is folly to assume that such an innovation would besmirch some Platonic ideal of non-profit-oriented professionalism that law firms currently adhere to.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

May 17, 2007

An interesting consequence of
criminalizing the right to counsel

One of the most egregious aspects of the federal government's criminalization of business during the post-Enron era has been the prosecution tactic of threatening to go Arthur Andersen on companies if they fulfilled a corporate policy or obligation to pay the defense costs of the company's business executives against whom the prosecution was pursuing criminal charges. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan called the government in on the carpet for this tactic in the KPMG case, but the government got away with the tactic in a number of other cases with disastrous consequence for the individual defendants.

Once of those was the sad case of former Dynegy executive Jamie Olis in which the prosecution threatened Dynegy with indictment if the company followed its corporate policy of paying for Olis' defense of a government's indictment against him. As a result, Dynegy stiffed Olis for his defense costs and Olis -- who is not a wealthy man -- was forced to scrape together funds for what amounted to a skeletal defense at trial. Dynegy's forced betrayal of Olis undoubtedly contributed to the disastrous result at trial as Olis was convicted and sentenced to over 24 years in prison. Much later, after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that abomination, Olis was resentenced to about six years in prison.

But now for the rest of the story. After Olis was convicted, Terry Yates, Olis' trial counsel, filed a civil lawsuit against Dynegy seeking to recover damages in the amount that Dynegy should have paid him for Olis' defense. The case went to trial in state district court in Houston earlier this month, but flew under the radar screen of the media. So, it was with great interest that I read the following short blurb in the Chronicle's "Around the Region" column yesterday:

Jury wants Dynegy to pay lawyer

A jury said Tuesday that Dynegy owes $2.5 million in legal fees and damages to the lawyer of former Dynegy worker Jamie Olis.

The state court jury determined Dynegy committed fraud when it did not pay Terry Yates, Olis' attorney during the November 2003 trial, for representing him during the trial. Olis was found guilty and sentenced to 24 years in prison but later had his sentence overturned and reduced to six years.

Yates was awarded $500,000 in legal fees and $2 million in damages.

A spokesman for Dynegy said the Houston-based energy company respects the jury's verdict but is still considering its options, including an appeal.

The Reuters story on the jury verdict is here. Here's hoping that Yates is able to obtain a judgment based on the jury verdict and collects every dime of the damages. I only wish that the government lawyers who strong-armed Dynegy into welching on the company's obligation to defend Olis and deprived him of at least a fairer trial are the ones who would have to pay Yates.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (1) |

There is no such thing as easy time

One of the most disturbing aspects of the federal government's criminalization of business since 2001 has been the delight that many people in American society took in having various businesspeople hauled off to prison. The sociology of that reaction is complicated, but my anecdotal experience is that people who have either experienced prison themselves or have had a loved one imprisoned are far less likely to revel in such a fate for another.

Along those lines, this Luke Mullins/American.com article provides an excellent description of the desultory nature of life even in the best of America's prisons. The willingness of many Americans to impose these conditions even where reasonable doubt exists that a crime has occurred -- as well as the troubling trend in the U.S. to criminalize almost everything -- is a disturbing development within our body politic.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Anadarko's interesting investor

Well, well, well. Look who has bought a big stake in The Woodlands-based Anadarko Petroleum Corporation:

Icahn Management LP, one of investor Carl Icahn's investment vehicles, has purchased about 3.1 million shares in Anadarko Petroleum Corp., according to a Reuters report Tuesday.

The purchase amounts to a 0.7 percent stake in Anadarko, which has 463.9 million shares outstanding.

Reuters said regulatory filings stated that his ownership in The Woodlands-based Anadarko (NYSE: APC) was worth about $133.5 million as of March 31.

The always-entertaining Icahn lost out last year to Anadarko in the bidding over Kerr-McGee.

Posted by Tom at 4:00 AM | Comments (0) |

May 16, 2007

The Ensberg exit

I took in the first game of the Stros-Giants series last night, and it was probably the best game of the season to date. The Stros took a 3-0 lead, only to blow as the Giants went up 5-3, then the Stros' rookie CF Hunter Pence tied it with a two-out, two-run yak that hit the left field foul pole in the bottom of the eighth, and LF Carlos Lee (who had two taters, two singles and a walk) finally won it for the Stros 6-5 with a walk-off moonshot in the bottom of the 10th.

Despite the excitement, however, I found myself feeling a bit sad for Stros 3B Morgan Ensberg, who struck out in a pinch hitting role. Ensberg is clearly on the trading block after a slow start to this season (-4 RCAA/.323/ OBA/.330 SLG/.653 OPS). 2B Chris Burke was recently sent to AAA Round Rock to play 2B as he prepares to replace Craig Biggio, hopefully as soon as possible after Bidg gets his 34 hits to attain the 3,000 hit level because that .306 OBA at the top of the lineup sure is getting ugly. Meanwhile, Brooks Conrad -- the only remaining position player-farmhand at the high level of the Stros' minor league system who has a legitimate shot at becoming a regular MLB player -- has slid over to 3B at Round Rock in contemplation of getting a shot at that position with the Stros. Meanwhile, Mike Lamb (7/.455/.521/976) and Mark Loretta (4/.412/.403/.815) are currently getting the starts at 3B in place of Ensberg.

I can't help but think that the Stros have mishandled Ensberg and that his career could have turned out quite differently had he been treated more fairly. Ensberg burst on the scene as a 27 year old rookie in 2003 (20/.377/.530/.907), but was inexplicably platooned by former Stros manager Jimy Williams at 3B with the notoriously unproductive Geoff Blum (-23/.295/.379/.674) in a move that probably cost the Stros a playoff spot that season (the Stros finished one game behind the Cubs for the NL Central title that season).

Laboring under the incompetent Williams during half of the 2004 season, Ensberg struggled that season (-12/.330/.411/.742) for his only truly subpar MLB season, but then rebounded in 2005 with his best season (39/.388/.557/.945), although he faded late that season after suffering a hand injury from a pitched ball. Ensberg took off like a rocket again in 2006 and looked like he was going to repeat his 2005 season, but he hurt his shoulder in early June and never really recovered, although his overall hitting statistics for the season were still well above-average (16/.396/.463/.858). In fact, Ensberg's career numbers (55/.370/.478/.848) are much closer to that of the Stros' $100 million man, Carlos Lee (80/.340/.496/.836), than Lee's career numbers are to the Stros' best position player, Lance Berkman (362/.417/.562/.978).

So, why are the Stros -- a team bedeviled by poor hitting over much of this decade -- getting rid of the club's third or fourth best hitter? Yes, he is off to a poor start, but that happens to even great hitters sometimes (Berkman didn't exactly light up the scoreboard during April this season, either). Ensberg's decline in power since the shoulder injury last season is a legitimate concern, but are 125 plate appearances really enough to conclude that Ensberg is such damaged goods that the Stros should give up on their last homegrown position player to reach the majors before Pence?

Count me as skeptical. By the way, Ensberg's replacement last night was Mike Lamb, whose career numbers (-18/.339/.426./765) are nowhere near as good as Ensberg's. Lamb was 0 for 5 with two strikeouts.

Posted by Tom at 1:00 AM | Comments (3) |

Dubious Chronicle advertising

David Barron generally does good work for the Chronicle, particularly in reporting on media developments relating to professional sports and collegiate athletics. And this Barron piece in yesterday's Chronicle about Waco chiropractor John Patterson's work on various professional athletes is filled with all sorts of interesting anecdotes on the miraculous results of Patterson's treatments on such professional athletes as Tracy McGrady, John Smoltz, Earl Campbell and former UT star pitcher and current Oakland A's closer, Huston Street, among others.

But don't you think that any reasonably objective newspaper article would at least mention the fact that there is substantial research (see also here) that has concluded that what Patterson is doing is quackery?

By the way, Street went on the disabled list yesterday with elbow tendonitis.

Posted by Tom at 12:46 AM | Comments (0) |

This boondoggle is getting personal

Well, at least the city's proposed financing for this boondoggle is less than this one ($80 million versus $150 million plus who knows how much?).

But really. How many new and well-furnished high school football stadiums are located in the Houston area that would be more than acceptable for what amounts to minor league soccer? Half a dozen? At least the major league football and baseball teams could argue that the city's facilities were no longer adequate when compared to other cities' major league football and baseball stadiums. What is soccer's reasoning? That the local governments financed stadiums for football, basketball and baseball, so it should do the same thing for soccer, too?

However, what really gripes me about all this is the proposed location for the soccer stadium -- it's smack dab in the middle of where I park for Stros games. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 12:29 AM | Comments (0) |

May 15, 2007

Ben Stein's bad day

NY Times business columnist Ben Stein has penned some real stinkers, but this past Sunday's column may just be his worst yet.

First, Brad DeLong explains Stein's basic misunderstanding of fundamental principles of unemployment and economic growth, and then observes of Stein's confusion:

It's a misconception like... like... like this: "Dear Dr. Gridlock: I took my foot off the accelerator three second ago. Why is the car still going 60? Why doesn't the car instantaneously stop when I take my foot off the accelerator?"

So if only Ben Stein would stop calling himself an economist, it would brighten my day, so I pray for it.

Note that I no longer prayer for competent editors at the New York Times who would exercise even a little quality control. Of that I have despaired.

Then, Felix Salmon proceeds to eviscerate the remainder of Stein's column, including Stein's populist call for a WalMart in Midtown of New York City:

A Wal-Mart in Midtown? Maybe we could tear down Rockefeller Center and build one there. Or repurpose the Central Park Zoo as a big-box retailer; the Sheep Meadow could be the parking lot. Obviously we'd need to give Wal-Mart the space rent-free, or for maybe no more than a buck or two a foot, because that's how the company can offer us its everyday low prices. But doing so would surely be worthwhile: "every New Yorker needs food and paper towels." I only wonder how we've all managed to cope until now.

Finally, in regard to another topic that Stein has addressed in his column, the bidding competition for Houston-based freight logistics company EGL, Inc that was noted here last week continued over the past weekend:

The bidding war continues for EGL Inc.

Over the weekend, both EGL Chief Executive Officer James Crane and CEVA Group PLC, an affiliate of New York-based Apollo Management LP, upped the ante on their offers for the company. [. . .]

On May 11, Crane amended his offer to $45 per share in cash.

On May 12, CEVA countered with $46 per share in cash, and on May 13, EGL's special committee determined that the revised proposal from the CEVA group was a superior proposal as defined in the merger agreement.

The committee has given Crane's group until May 16 to make another offer.

EGL's stock was trading at $29.76 a share when EGL chairman and CEO Jim Crane made his original management led, private equity-backed offer to take the company private. Sounds like a good deal for EGL shareholders, eh? Not according to Ben, who said the following about such buyouts in his Times column earlier this year:

[M]anagement buyouts are great for management. But by every standard I can see, they are yet another sad sign of how our corporate trustees have lost their moral compass. The time for them to stop is long overdue. If the stockholders have hired you and pay your wage to manage their assets, your job is to do that for them—not to buy them out at fire-sale prices and turn around and make billions that rightfully belong to them. The management buyout is a sad and infuriating avatar of a decadent age.

To which I commented at the time:

My anecdotal experience is that a good sign to hold on to one's pocket book firmly is when someone tells you that it is better to have fewer bidders competing to purchase something. Indeed, my sense is that a management-led, private equity-financed play for a public company is usually just as likely to spur competing offers for the company as it is an attempt to lowball the public company's shareholders. When the folks who know the most about a company's business show that kind of confidence in the value of the company, that sends a strong signal to the market that more value can be made. Such confidence tends to be contagious.

Has there ever been a Times columnist as far out of their league as Stein?

Update: Don't miss Larry Ribstein's post regarding the Times editors' decision to hire Stein, which includes this wry observation:

Is this why the Times needs a governance structure that insulates its managers from markets?

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Appreciating the Stros

The Stros are not off to the best of starts this season. But if you are having trouble appreciating the local ballclub, take a moment to read this annual early May column of Kansas City sportswriter Joe Posnanski declaring the end of the Kansas City Royals' season:

Well, sadly, yes, it’s time once again for the annual, “You’ve got to be kidding me, the baseball season is over already?” column. We wrote this column last year on May 5, so if there’s any consolation, at least this year’s version comes a week later.

You’re right. There’s no consolation.

We begin this installment by first offering a list of May Royals highlights over the last 10 years. Every Kansas City fan knows the Royals have been awful in April (.390 winning percentage in the last 10 years). What not everyone appreciates is they have been even worse in May (.384 winning percentage). This team has routinely dug a hole so deep in those first two months they actually play June games in China.

(Technically speaking — according to my sixth-grade science teacher — if you tried to dig a hole through the Earth, you would not end up in China. You would end up, well, technically speaking, you’d end up dead. So, let’s not speak technically.)

May 23, 1998: Royals lose their eighth game in a row — the lowlight of the streak being a three-game series sweep by the Cleveland Indians. In those three games, the Indians score 36 runs, the Royals score 10 — it is the worst stomping the Royals had ever endured in a three-game series. “Is it getting old, losing like this?” a reporter asks manager Tony Muser.

“It got old a long time ago,” Muser says.

May 11, 2000: The Royals are actually playing good baseball and need a win on this day to climb into a first-place tie. Instead, they lose a squeaker to Cleveland, 16-0. It’s the second-worst loss ever for the Royals. Cleveland’s Manny Ramirez hits two home runs — on one of them he broke his bat. The Royals — thanks in large part to a dreadful bullpen, finish with a losing record despite having the highest-scoring offense in team history.

May 4, 2001: The Royals lose their fourth in a row, sparking Tony Muser to make his famous philosophical statement about the team’s lack of toughness: “I’d like to see ’em go out and pound tequila rather than cookies and milk,” Muser said. It is the beginning of the end, and almost exactly one year later …

May 1, 2002: It is actually at midnight — so just as April turned to May — that Royals general manager Allard Baird informs Tony Muser that he is being fired. Unfortunately, Muser had already been informed of his demise by reporters who knew about it two hours earlier. “I wanted to do this the right way,” Baird would say later.

May 1, 2004: The Royals — in a move so stunning you would swear it was from a rejected “Major League” movie script — decide to start a minor-leaguer nobody had ever heard of named Eduardo Villacis at Yankee Stadium against the New York Yankees. Shortly after Villacis is ripped to shreds, manager Tony Peña guarantees the Royals will win the division even though they are, at the time, in last place. “We are going to be unstoppable,” Peña says. The Royals end up losing 100 games, of course, and almost exactly a year later …

May 10, 2005: Peña resigns after another loss, the Royals’ eighth in nine days. “It’s tough to go to the ballpark and lose game after game,” Peña would say.

May 25, 2006: The Royals lose their 13th straight. Royals general manager Allard Baird has essentially been fired — he knows it, everybody knows it — but owner David Glass will not pull the trigger. One player says, “This team is some kind of circus, isn’t it?”

So, there’s some May history for you. And now? Now the Royals are 11-26 — 13 games back — worst record in the American League. They’re hitting .244 as a team; they’ve also given up more hits than any team in the league. The Royals have been hit by more pitches than any team in the league, but they’ve hit opposing batters less than any team in the league. That tells a story right there.

The Royals lost Friday’s game when their young shortstop Tony Peña Jr. — a defensive whiz — let a double-play grounder go through his legs. They lost Thursday’s game when the pitching staff gave up a team record six homers to an Oakland A’s team that, up to that point, couldn’t hit at all. They scored one run on Tuesday. On Sunday they were losing 13-0 at one point, in large part because Zack Greinke gave up three two-run homers in the same inning. The day before that, the bullpen blew a lead.

And so on.

Read the entire column. And then say a word of thanks for the Stros, who have had only one losing record in the past 15 seasons and have gone to the playoffs in 6 of the last 10.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Not your typical academic research project

It's not every day that a Baylor University professor's conversion from an Evangelical Protestant to Roman Catholicism (reversing a prior conversion the other way) generates a story in the weekend Washington Post. Here is Professor Francis J. Beckwith's announcement of his conversion, the announcement of his resignation from the Evangelical Theological Society, and an interview of Beckwith regarding his decision. James Grant provides this reaction from an evangelical standpoint to Professor Beckwith's decision, while Father Alvin Kimel provides a Roman Catholic perspective of the decision.

Posted by Tom at 4:07 AM | Comments (2) |

May 14, 2007

The American Experience on Alexander Hamilton

PBS' excellent American Experience series provides a two-hour documentary tonight appropriately entitled "Alexander Hamilton" (PBS, Monday 8-10 p.m. CDT, but check your local listings), which will focus on the remarkable life of arguably America's most controversial Founding Father. One of my favorite books of the past several years is Ron Chernow's excellent biography of Hamilton, so I am looking forward with great interest to the American Experience's treatment of the man who is most responsible among the Founding Fathers for the success of the U.S. market system.

Hamilton's numerous political opponents used to call him "the bastard son of a Scottish peddler," but the truth is that his parents were not legally married, he grew up dreadfully poor in the West Indies, and he was orphaned at an early age. Although the prideful Hamilton was ashamed of his troubled start in life, it fueled a fierce ambition that propelled him as a teenager to write newspaper articles that were so impressive that a group of men from St. Croix passed around the hat to pay his way to New England so he could attend college. At the age of 17, Hamilton literally stepped off the boat in Boston into the beginning of the American Revolution and, within three years, had risen through the ranks to become General Washington's chief of staff and most trusted aide.

That the young Hamilton in just a few years went from writing newspaper articles about hurricanes in the West Indies to becoming one of the key leaders of the American Revolution is merely one of numerous remarkable aspects of his compelling life. So, pull up a chair tonight and enjoy the fascinating story about the man who has much to do with establishing the foundation for the enormous wealth creation that has taken place in American society over the past 200 years.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (1) |

Rationalizing a boondoggle

Anne Linehan over at BlogHouston.net continues to do a fine job of following the various rationalizations of several local governmental types over how to justify public financing for the proposed the Astrodome hotel project (Charles Kuffner comments, too). The latest proposal being floated is to give the deal $150 million in hotel and sales tax breaks over a ten year term to facilitate about half a billion in private financing for the deal. The rationalization is that the rebates are worth it because the tax revenue wouldn't be there in the first place but for the hotel generating it. Plus, the hotel really is a good thing for Houston, so why worry about a measly $150 million over the long term?

Putting aside that dubious reasoning for the moment, the reason that this project is a boondoggle isn't because of $150 million tax rebates over ten years. On a boongoggle of this potential magnitude, that's peanuts. The real financial risk comes when the hotel falters in paying its private financing. In almost every case, the local government that backed the facility will be placed in the difficult position of either putting up additional funds and security for the project or face the politically untenable position of watching the project fail. Guess what politicians usually vote to do when the alternative is to be embarrassed with a failed deal on their watch?

The problem with boondoggles of this type is that they "eat" -- they must be fed money when the operating losses start mounting. There is a reason that the promoters of this deal can't arrange private financing. That is a reason for the county government to back off the deal, not to embrace it.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (1) |

The real New York squeeze play

One of Houston's many alluring qualities is the depth and variety of affordable housing, so those local businesses or institutions in competition with New York entities for employees should take note of this recent NY Times article:

As the [New York City] apartment-hunting season begins, fueled by college graduates and other new arrivals, real estate brokers say radical solutions among young, well-educated newcomers to the city are becoming more common, because New York’s rental market is the tightest it has been in seven years. High-paid bankers and corporate lawyers snap up the few available apartments, often leading more modestly paid professionals and students to resort to desperate measures to find homes.

While young people in New York have always sought roommates to make life more affordable, they are now crowding so tightly into doorman buildings in prime neighborhoods like the Upper East Side that they may violate city codes. [. . .]

. . . The rents for one-bedroom apartments in Manhattan average $2,567 a month, and two-bedrooms average $3,854 a month, . . . but rents tend to be far higher in coveted neighborhoods like the Upper West Side and TriBeCa.

Because landlords typically require renters to earn 40 times their monthly rent in annual income, renters of those average apartments would need to earn at least $102,680, individually or combined, to qualify for a one-bedroom and $154,160 to afford a two-bedroom.

Posted by Tom at 4:00 AM | Comments (0) |

May 13, 2007

Trouble at Whole Foods

Former Austin resident Joe Weisenthal over at DealBreaker sums up this Street.com analysis of the continuing financial performance troubles of Austin-based Whole Foods:

Being from Austin, it's a little painful to see cracks in a homegrown success story like Whole Food success story (Dell has been painful enough). Then again, every company has to get its comeuppance, which is what the company is now in the process of receiving. Sure, it continues to open new stores, and apparently the one on Houston even has a sushi conveyor belt, although we haven't been able to verify that first hand. But everyone sells sushi now, and everyone sells organic foods. Basically, a Whole Foods store isn't unique like it used to be, and the company is feeling the pain. Plus, the high-end grocery space is getting more crowded. In the east, there's Wegmans, which ostensibly makes Whole Foods look like an Albertsons. And then supposedly there's a chain called Eataly, coming from Italy, which will make Whole Foods look like your little Korean grocer down the street. So it's finally getting tested, something its investors aren't used to.

Whole Foods shares dropped more than 10 percent Thursday, closing at a 2 1/2-year low of $41.15. That Texas grocery store competition remains absolutely brutal.

Posted by Tom at 4:01 AM | Comments (0) |

May 12, 2007

Doesn't it always happen this way?

Yesterday morning, Golf.com blogger Josh Sanburn provided this remarkable piece of information about PGA Tour professional Tom Lehman and the devilish 17th island hole at the TPC at Sawgrass (picture on the golf post from yesterday):

Lehman has 55 straight safe landings at 17

Who's the master of the par-3 17th? That honor goes to Tom Lehman, who, through 55 rounds at the Players Championship, has never hit his tee shot in the water and is 13-under overall on the hole. He parred the 17th on Thursday.

"You catch the wrong gust on that one, you're in huge trouble," Lehman said after his two-under first round, which put him among the leaders. Lehman hit an 8-iron to the left side of the green Thursday, good enough for a two-putt par. We'll see if he can keep the streak alive through the rest of the week.

So, what did Lehman do when he played the 17th later in the day on Friday? Of course, he dunked his tee shot in the drink.

Posted by Tom at 12:20 PM | Comments (0) |

May 11, 2007

Thoughts on the "pay for a better jail" option

As a result of this article about the option that some California prisoners have of paying for better prison conditions, there has been quite a bit of comment around the blogosphere about the fairness of providing such a perk. Heck, even the judge in Paris Hilton's revocation of probation hearing felt compelled to deny Paris the "pay for a better prison" option in sentencing her to 45 days of jail time.

However, given the abysmal condition of most jails in the U.S. and the intractable political problems that prevent those conditions from being improved, I found Rick Garnett's comment on the issue particularly insightful:

What should we think about these "upgrades"? Certainly, one could hardly blame one convicted of a "relatively minor" crime for wanting to take advantage of this option. And, these upgrades might well provide a useful source of revenue. I wonder, though: Why stop at $82.00 per day? I would think that corrections agencies could fill their "upgrade" cells while charging substantially more. What if it turned out that many of those convicted of "relatively minor" offenses were willing to pay, say, $1000 per day -- or $10,000 per day -- not to avoid the loss of physical freedom associated with punishment, but to avoid the non-trivial risks of being harmed by other inmates? What would this willingness tell us about the extent to which we are failing in (what I take to be) our obligation to protect those we incarcerate?

I assume we don't want to say that these risks are "part of" the punishment that is justly imposed upon those convicted of crimes. So, if someone buys their way out of those risks, it is not -- is it? -- that they are buying their way out of duly imposed "punishment." But, once we acknowledge that there are non-essential, unpleasant incidents of punishment that we *are* willing to allow people to pay to avoid, then how do we justify imposing those incidents on those who cannot (or simply do not) pay to avoid them?

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

They're off at The Players!

The Players Championship is underway over in Ponte Vedra, Florida near Jacksonville on the renovated Tournament Players Course at Sawgrass. Each year, The Players has the strongest field of any golf tournament -- 48 of the top 50 players in the World Rankings are playing this week. For some reason, the PGA Tour continues to believe that it must attempt to persuade everyone that the tournament should be considered a the fifth "major" tournament along with The Masters, the U.S. and British Opens and the PGA Tournament, and the Tour has moved the tournament to May this year in an effort to facilitate that goal. But regardless of whether it's characterized as a major, The Players is a terrific tournament with the best golfers competing on a great golf course. From a pure golfing standpoint, what more can you ask for?

Sal Johnson provides this excellent Golf Observer overview of the tournament, and the Golf Challenge is providing extensive coverage of the tournament today and during the morning hours on the weekend, while NBC takes over coverage during the afternoons on the weekend. Golf Digest provides this handy interactive overview of the TPC at Sawgrass, while The Players website includes about halfway down the page The 17th hole "Pipeline", which provides a really slick telecast of the famous island green par 3. When the wind blows as it did on Thursday (and probably will through the tournament given that a tropical storm is swirling off the northeastern Florida coast), watching the players play the 17th is a real blast. Check it out.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

More on the futility of dieting

Earlier posts here, here and here discussed the general ineffectiveness of dieting. Now, this Gina Kolata/NY Times article reports that researchers at Rockefeller University are finding that "it is entirely possible that weight reduction, instead of resulting in a normal state for obese patients, results in an abnormal state resembling that of starved nonobese individuals.”

In other words, being fat may just be an inherited condition.

Posted by Tom at 4:00 AM | Comments (0) |

May 10, 2007

More on the Enronesque prosecution of Conrad Black

David Radler, the key prosecution witness against former Hollinger International chairman and CEO Conrad Black, is currently testifying in the trial. Mark Steyn's blog of the trial continues to be the "go to" site for keeping up with the proceedings.

In thinking about Radler's testimony, it occurs to me that the criminal case against Black is quite similar to the notoriously misguided prosecution in the Nigerian Barge case (see also extensive discussion thread here) against four former Merrill Lynch executives in connection with the demise of Enron.

In the barge case, the prosecution contended that the Merrill Lynch executives had entered into a secret oral "side deal" with Enron CFO Andy Fastow that rendered illegal Enron's accounting of the sale of a energy-producing barge interest to Merrill. Among many other problems with the prosecution, the government's theory ignored the undisputed fact that the written agreements between the parties contained standard provisions that rendered any such oral side agreements unenforceable and specifically provided that neither party in doing the deal was relying on oral representations of the other that were not contained in the written contract.

In Black's trial, the prosecution essentially contends that Black and several of his associates stole $60 million in sales proceeds that should have gone to Hollinger International despite the fact it is undisputed that the Hollinger board of directors approved multiple documents in the ordinary course of their duties that disclosed the payment of $60 million in non-compete fees out of the sales proceeds to Black and his associates.

Moreover, in both cases, the government liberally appealed to jury bias against wealthy businessmen and relied on only one key witness (it was Ben Glisan in the barge trial) who cut a deal with the government in return for testimony against the defendants.

So, in both cases, the prosecution pursued criminal cases against wealthy businessmen regardless of undisputed documentary evidence that might well have formed the basis of a summary judgment for the defendants in a civil case involving the same allegations. At the very least, the documentary evidence in both cases established reasonable doubt regarding the government's allegation that a crime had occurred. Nevertheless, the prosecutions proceeded, stellar business careers were badly damaged, families who rely on these men were disrupted, four men have already been unjustly imprisoned for a year, and Conrad Black's freedom hangs in the balance.

Do we really want the most powerful force in American society pursuing criminal cases in such a manner?

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

Debating Christianity

Don't miss this Christianity Today debate between theologian Douglas Wilson and atheist author Christopher Hitchens on the question -- "Is Christianity good for the world?" Regardless of which position you favor, you have to admire Wilson's the following response to Hitchens' argument that Christians have been guilty of bad acts:

[Y]ou say that if "Christianity is to claim credit for the work of outstanding Christians or for the labors of famous charities, then it must in all honesty accept responsibility for the opposite." In short, if we point to our saints, you are going to demand that we point also to our charlatans, persecutors, shysters, slave-traders, inquisitors, hucksters, televangelists, and so on.

Now allow me the privilege of pointing out the structure of your argument here. If a professor takes credit for the student who mastered the material, aced his finals, and went on to a career that was a benefit to himself and the university he graduated from, the professor must (fairness dictates) be upbraided for the dope-smoking slacker that he kicked out of class in the second week. They were both formally enrolled, is that not correct? They were both students, were they not?

What you are doing is saying that Christianity must be judged not only on the basis of those who believe the gospel in truth and live accordingly but also on the basis of those baptized Christians who cannot listen to the Sermon on the Mount without a horse laugh and a life to match. You are saying that those who excel in the course and those who flunk out of it are all the same. This seems to me to be a curious way of proceeding.

This installment in the debate is the first of several installments in the debate that will occur over the next month, so stay tuned.

Update: Part two of the debate is here.

Update: Part three of the debate is here.

Update: Part four of the debate is here.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

UT's favorite billboard

It's still five months until the annual Texas-OU Weekend in Dallas, but the Texas-OU rivalry is big news any time of the year. So, this billboard from the Wizard of Odd's ongoing digital billboard competition will definitely warm the hearts of the Longhorn faithful.

Update: Watch out, Longhorn fans. Phil Miller is already leading the counteroffensive.

Posted by Tom at 4:00 AM | Comments (1) |

May 9, 2007

What was Ben Stein saying again?

Have you checked out what's been going on this week in regard to EGL, Inc chairman and CEO Jim Crane's proposed private equity buyout of EGL?:

Jim Crane, chief executive of EGL Inc., has a decision to make. The company's special committee of board directors said Monday that it has determined that the latest bid for the company by an affiliate of Apollo Management LP is superior to Crane's bid.

The New York private equity firm, through an affiliated European company, CEVA Group Plc, submitted a new bid at $43 on May 3. That is $5 a share higher than an offer accepted by the board from Crane and his partners, Centerbridge Partners LP and The Woodbridge Co. Ltd.

In March, Crane -- the transportation and logistics company's largest single shareholder -- was forced to sweeten his cash offer from $36 to $38 in light of pressure from Apollo, which claimed that Crane was trying to steer the board away from its first offer.

Crane has until May 11 to respond to the special committee's decision with a revised proposal. If no further bid is tendered, the board would then consider whether or not to terminate the existing merger agreement with Crane and accept the Apollo bid.

EGL would have to pay a $30 million termination fee to kill the current deal with Crane and his partners.

Apollo's latest offer for EGL (NASDAQ: EAGL) puts a $1.75 billion value on the company, or about 8 percent higher than the May 2 closing price of $40.

Let's see now. By my calculation, when Crane's group made its original buyout proposal early this year, EGL stock was trading at $29.78. Now, four months later, Apollo is offering $43 a share, despite the fact that EGL's financial performance was less than stellar during the 4th quarter of 2006.

And Ben Stein says that management led-private equity buyouts are bad for public company shareholders?

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Bainbridge on Sarbanes-Oxley

Given how much this blog addresses issues relating to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the following announcement is timely:

[Stephen Bainbridge's] Complete Guide to Sarbanes-Oxley is now shipping from Amazon.

Amazon's Product Description:

Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in response to major corporate and accounting scandals--and many consider the act to be the most significant change in corporate governance and securities regulations in the past seventy years. SOX requirements have brought about far-reaching changes for public corporations, private corporations, and nonprofits. Every manager and director should be aware of how the business landscape will be affected.

The Complete Guide to Sarbanes-Oxley answers in nontechnical language such questions as: What does SOX mean to me now? Do I have to worry about it? How much legal and accounting help do I need? What information technology requirements will I face? If you're a business owner, you need The Complete Guide to Sarbanes-Oxley!

As SOX turns 5, this up-to-date guide gives you a complete picture of how the statute has been implemented and continues to evolve.

Given Professor Bainbridge's insight on SOX, any attorney or auditor providing advice to public companies on corporate governance or accounting issues would be well-advised to read this book and have it handy as a reference resource.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Chesnoff strikes again

Peter Lattman reports that my old friend, former Houstonian and current Las Vegas criminal defense lawyer extraordinaire David Chesnoff had an interesting morning this past Sunday after the De La Hoya-Mayweather fight Saturday night in Las Vegas:

Las Vegas police arrested HBO Chairman Chris Albrecht early Sunday morning for allegedly assaulting a female companion. He was taken into custody at about 3 a.m. Sunday after police reportedly saw him engaged in a physical altercation with his girlfriend outside the MGM Grand Garden Arena, where they had attended the Mayweather-De La Hoya fight, carried by HBO. Here’s the story from the WSJ.

It’s surely not the first time a powerful business executive or celebrity has found himself in Las Vegas and in need of a good lawyer. And it appears that Albrecht found one in David Chesnoff, a Sin City criminal defense attorney.

“Like anything else, there shouldn’t be a rush to judgment,” Chesnoff told the WSJ, adding that he was still “gathering facts.”

And we’ve gathered some facts on you, Mr. Chesnoff. The 51-year-old Suffolk Law grad has a roster of celebrity clients, according to a 2005 story in the Review-Journal (link unavailable). Chesnoff has reportedly developed a something of a sub-specialty in shotgun Las Vegas weddings, helping Britney Spears annul her 55-hour marriage back in 2004 and representing Nicky Hilton in her attempt to maintain control of her wedding photos. He was also part of a team of lawyers that unsuccessfully argued Martha Stewart’s appeal, and described the domestic doyenne as an old friend. Finally, befitting a Las Vegas lawyer, Chesnoff plays professional poker.

As you might expect, just listening to David's stories during our periodic golf games is quite entertaining. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 4:00 AM | Comments (0) |

May 8, 2007

Dr. Don W. Chapman, R.I.P.

Longtime Houstonian Dr. Don W. Chapman died last Thursday at the age of 90 (a Chronicle article is here). With Don's passing, Houston has lost one of the extraordinary group of doctors who catapulted Houston's Texas Medical Center into one of the premier medical centers in the world. I had the privilege of getting to know Dr. Chapman and his loving wife of 60 years (!), Mary Lou, through my father and mother, who were lifelong friends of the Chapmans.

As with my father, Don was a member of the groundbreaking generation of post-World War II doctors who embraced the optimistic view of therapeutic intervention in the practice of medicine, which was a fundamental change from the sense of therapeutic powerlessness that was widely taught to doctors prior to the post-WWII medical professors such as Don Chapman and Walter Kirkendall. We all take therapeutic intervention in medicine so much for granted these days that it is easy to overlook just how revolutionary this change was in the way medicine had been dispensed for decades and even centuries before Don and Walter's special generation of teachers and researchers.

Don and my father completed their medical residencies together at the University of Iowa Medical School just in time for WWII. Don served in the war with great distinction as a Major in the Medical Corps of the U. S. Army and as the primary Cardiac Consultant for the European Theater while stationed at the 5th General Hospital and later the 98th General Hospital. Upon returning from the war, Don went on the faculty of Baylor College of Medicine and was one of the original ten Baylor faculty members who moved to Houston when Baylor moved to the Texas Medical Center location in 1944. Don and and the other Baylor faculty members at the time began operating in a fledging medical center that consisted of the new medical school and one 234-bed hospital.

Within two years of arriving in Houston, Don introduced cardiac catheterization to the Medical Center, which allowed Baylor faculty members and Methodist Hospital physicians to offer precise cardiovascular diagnosis and groundbreaking heart disease intervention for the first time. Under Don's leadership, the Medical Center quickly became a pioneer in cardiovascular diagnostics and surgery as Don pioneered the use of a mechanical pump to circulate blood during open heart surgery, participated in one of the first coronary bypass operations in a Houston hospital and was a member of the team that researched and developed the initial mechanical heart implants. For good measure, Don in 1955 was one of the founding partners in Houston Cardiovascular Associates, which grew into one of the best cadiology private practices in Houston.

As director of Baylor's Section of International Medicine, Don also became a leader in promoting cardiology education around the world by starting a program at Baylor that sends students to teaching centers around the world. Don served as a visiting professor and conducted seminars in numerous countries, including China, Columbia, Germany, South Africa, Guatemala, Switzerland, and Turkey. Not coincidentally, Texas Medical Center institutions now serve over 10,000 international patients annually.

Don was also a prolific researcher, authoring and contributing to more than 100 publications of medical literature. He received many professional honors, but the ones that he treasured the most were the ones he received for teaching, such as the Baylor Distinguished Faculty Award in 1978, 1981 and 1993 and the Outstanding Teacher Awards that he received from Baylor students in 1958 and 1962. In 1992, the Cain Foundation honored Don with the endowment of the Don W. Chapman, M.D. Chair of Cardiology at Baylor and, in 1993, the University of Iowa honored Don with that institution's Distinguished Alumni Award.

Don's contributions to Houston and the Medical Center were enormous. Today, 63 years after Don's arrival in Houston, the Texas Medical Center is comprised of over 45 institutions (including 11 educational institutions and 15 hospitals and specialized patient care centers) that contain 6,500 patient beds and employ 75,000 people. Not only is the Medical Center now the largest employment center in Houston, Baylor College of Medicine is now widely acknowledged to be one of the best medical schools in the country.

How's that for a professional legacy?

But Don's remarkable professional accomplishments don't provide the full measure of this man, who was a genuinely kind and warm human being. When my father at the age of 55 decided with my mother to move our large family (10 children!) to Houston from Iowa City at the beginning of 1972, Don and Mary Lou Chapman graciously welcomed us to Houston and took an active interest in the unwieldly Kirkendall clan. Don took a particular interest in me while I was a wayward undergraduate student in the early 1970's and kept up with me as I worked my way through law school and became a part of the Houston legal community. I will never forget the wonderful impression that this successful man made on me in taking the time to express his genuine interest in what I was doing in my career. I was particularly touched by his phone call to me after my father's sudden death in 1992 in which he told me how the eulogy that I delivered at the funeral had moved him to tears and how much he was going to miss his lifelong friend and colleague.

The memorial service for Don will be at 2:00 p.m. today in the sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church, 5300 Main Street, in Houston's Museum District just north of the Texas Medical Center. Immediately following the service, the family will receive friends during a reception in the church's Fellowship Hall. In lieu of usual remembrances, contributions in memory of Don may be directed to the Memorial Garden, First Presbyterian Church, 5300 Main St., Houston, TX, 77004 or to Methodist Hospital Foundation Cardiology Department Research, 6565 Fannin St., Houston, TX, 77030.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

The Clemens deal

Well, as Kuff noted, it was probably meltdown yesterday on the local sports talk radio programs as local hero Roger Clemens decided to reject the home team Stros and go back to New York for another round with the Yankees. Although it's fun to watch even a fading Clemens pitch for another several months during the autumn of his Hall of Fame career, the reality is that the Stros are better off that Clemens took the Yankees offer over that of the Stros.

The Clemens deal with the Yankees is the biggest in baseball history by average annual value, $28.5 million for the year or about $18.5 million for the 2/3rds of a season that Clemens will play. Add in the luxury tax hit and the Yanks are committing about $26 million in signing Clemens.

The reason that it's good for the Stros that they didn't sign Clemens is that -- for any other club than the Yankees -- it simply does not make sense to pay that kind of scratch for a number 2 starter. Baseball Prospectus projects Clemens this season as saving roughly 28 runs more than a replacement level starter (think Brian Moehler or Wandy Rodriguez, at least so far this season) and generating 3.5 more wins than a replacement level starter. Given Clemens' age (44), the fact that he has been nagged by leg injuries over the past three seasons and is going from the relatively weak NL Central to the powerhouse AL East, my sense is that that projection is overly optimistic and that Clemens probably is more likely to be worth only a win or two more than whatever other starter that the Stros will trot out there (the Yankees are already downplaying Clemens' probable impact on the club). But what the heck, we're talking Clemens here, so he might just be as good as BP projects. But even so, are 3.5 wins worth $18 million?

No way, at least for the Stros. Clemens will pitch limited innings over the rest of this seaon, that 44 year old body is at high risk of giving out, and the probable Stros' replacements -- particularly Juan Gutierrez at AAA Round Rock or Troy Patton at AA Corpus -- will likely be better than replacement level, which reduces the impact that Clemens would have on the Stros. Moreover, even a couple of extra wins is not likely to make a difference with this Stros club between making the playoffs or staying home.

The bottom line is that signing Clemens simply does not address the Stros' main problem, which is a chronic lack of hitting. The Stros invested $100 million in the off-season to sign slugger Carlos Lee and, through 30 games, Lee has been a below-average National League hitter while grounding into a league-leading 8 double plays. Throwing $18 million at the Rocket only constrains the Stros' flexibility later in the season to make a personnel moves if a good hitter or two becomes available on the trade market.

Is it worth for the Yanks to spend $26 million to sign Clemens? Probably, because if they didn't, then the Red Sox probably would have. In a tight AL East pennant race, a game or two improvement from Clemens could definitely make a difference.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

Kirby & Westheimer -- high crime area?

Well, it's not every day that one receives an email such as the one below from a young female attorney at a prominent Houston law firm. For those unfamilar with Houston, the intersection of Kirby and Westheimer is a popular commercial area between two of the toniest residential neighborhoods inside the loop in Houston, River Oaks to the north and West University to the south:

From: (Name withheld)
Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2007 9:14 PM
To: (list suppressed)
Subject: Personal experience you don't want happening to you - please share with others if you like

Dear friends,

First of all, I am fine ... but earlier today I had an experience that I'm sharing with you so that you will be careful.

After going for a run with [deleted] today, I went to get cash at the Sterling Bank ATM near the Taco Milagro on the corner of Kirby and Westheimer (Upper Westheimer District, Houston). It's a busy area, and it was still daylight. The ATM fronted on Westheimer. There were lots of people out on the patio at Taco Milagro [a popular local restaurant], just 50 yards or so away.

I got out of my car, locked it, and went to the cash machine. As soon as I had put my card into the machine and entered my PIN, a woman came up and stood right next to me on my left, put a gun in my side and told me that she wouldn't shoot me if I didn't scream and gave her $800. I had only punched in $200, so she grabbed that and told me to get $800 more.

My bank has a $400 daily limit (I have since learned), so after trying $800, $700, $600 and so on, I was able to withdraw $200 more. During this time she repeatedly told me not to scream or she would shoot me, and asked many times for my PIN code. I didn't speak to her and didn't answer her question, and all kinds of things were going through my head - mostly was she going to use the gun, but also would she steal [my boyfriend's] car (which I was driving), my purse (which I was holding), my rings (which I was wearing), the receipt which showed our bank balance.

After withdrawing the second round of cash, she grabbed the money, told me to stay where I was, and took off. After ten seconds or so, I turned around and realized she had run across the little side street just east of the ATM, jumped into a car that took off just as I looked over that way. I tried to see the license plate, but they were just far enough away that I wasn't able to make out the numbers, although I did make a mental note of the kind of car and the way they headed out. I had grabbed my receipts as soon as I was sure she (and the gun) were gone, and got back in my car to get home asap.

HPD came to our house and took down the case. I am pretty sure they will be able to see the woman on the videotape from the ATM because she was standing right next to me the whole time, and I had the receipts that showed the exact times of the two transactions.

All I can say is: be careful about ATM's. The police said that robberies like this are happening all over the city, in broad daylight, in good neighborhoods. They look for easy marks (women by themselves) and they have it down to a science. I am so lucky that I wasn't hurt - and she didn't steal the car, my purse and jewelry, etc. Maybe you will be more careful than ever before and this - or worse - won't happen to you. The entire episode made me realize that every day we are in seemingly harm-free situations that can quickly turn into dangerous situations.

Much love from Ella Lee Lane, NOT Ben Taub Hospital - Be careful!

p.s. If you are reading this, please promise you won't tell my parents or in-laws about this. They worry enough as it is!

Posted by Tom at 4:00 AM | Comments (3) |

May 7, 2007

The court of investor opinion

Alex Pollock has an interesting idea to help decide the debate over the true effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on the U.S. securities markets:

[I]f Sarbanes-Oxley 404 were voluntary, would investors differentiate among American companies and pay a premium for the securities of those companies which implemented it, compared to those which chose not to? . . .

In this context, we can say there are two competing theories:

A. Sarbanes-Oxley is bad for investors because the costs are excessive relative to the benefits, and

B. Sarbanes-Oxley is good for investors because it protects them and makes them willing to pay more for securities.

Theory B is usually used as an argument for keeping Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 mandatory, but it is actually a great argument for making it voluntary.

Under a voluntary regime, if Theory B is right and investors love how they are protected by Sarbanes-Oxley 404, they will bid up the prices of the securities issued by companies who implement it. We will then observe within the U.S. market a premium analogous to the “cross listing” premium, and everyone will end up following suit.

But if, as many of us believe more likely, investors think their money is better spent on research and development or marketing than on excessive accounting routines, paperwork, and bureaucracy, the companies will respond accordingly. [. . .]

Investor choice would demonstrate whether Theory A or Theory B is correct. Alternately stated, let’s send Sarbanes-Oxley to the court of investors.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (1) |

Practice range back-biting

So, you think the competition on the PGA Tour is intense? According to this John Huggan/Scotsman article, the intensity of that competition is nothing compared to what goes on between the golf instructors of the top PGA Tour players:

Especially at the top level, the teaching of golf is a bitchy business. Typical was the vitriolic reception that Hank Haney received from many of his peers in the wake of his assuming the role of coach to Tiger Woods, replacing the aforementioned Harmon. For a while there, things were neither hunky nor dory.

The last word in that particular skirmish, however, belonged to Haney. In the immediate aftermath of the 2005 Masters Tournament - Woods's first of four major victories under the tutelage of his new coach - the Dallas-based instructor lifted a leaf out of Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, and took dead aim at one of his biggest critics, wannabe star teacher Jim McLean, describing him as "the biggest asshole I have ever met" - a label that left little room for misinterpretation.

"As for other teachers who have been critical [most notably and ironically, Harmon and Smith], it was obvious where they were coming from," Haney declared. "I viewed them speaking out as a form of pre-emptive strike. They wanted Tiger to lose patience with me before we even got started, so I wasn't surprised by the crap they were talking. Those other instructors never wanted to give us a chance. The result was never going to make them look better."

Read the entire piece.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Comparing economic development

In this NRO op-ed, Greg Kaza compares the economies of Texas and Arkansas over the past generation and concludes that talent and capital really do react logically to choices:

State Line Road is the boundary that separates the Arkansas and Texas sides of Texarkana, a border town that is sometimes described as “the Gateway to the American Southwest.” State Line, to the casual observer, is merely another road separating two states. But for those in the neighborhood, the road represents something of a great divide.

Of course, on the cultural side of the ledger, we have the date that will live forever: December 6, 1969. That’s when the top-ranked Texas Longhorns edged the second-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks, 15-14, in a dramatic college football game witnessed by President Richard M. Nixon and George H.W. Bush, a congressman at the time. “The Game,” as it is known locally, is still talked about on both sides of State Line Road.

But in terms of economic growth, the divide is much more lopsided: Employment growth in Texas has been significantly higher than in Arkansas during periods of economic expansion. The population in Dallas has nearly tripled in the post-WWII period, while the population in Little Rock has barely doubled in size. Per capita personal income in Texas is 94 percent of the U.S total. In Arkansas it’s 77 percent of the nation’s total, a level that has hardly budged since the 1970s.

The list of statistical disparities is long, and there’s a good reason why: While Arkansas and Texas share a common border, each taxes income and capital in radically different ways.

Arkansas has a top income-tax rate of 7 percent, the highest among the bordering states. Texas, however, does not impose an income tax. The imbalance is the same for capital gains: Arkansas taxes them. Texas does not.

As a result, we can see a very basic economic principle at work: Talent and capital always will flow toward higher returns.

Read the entire piece.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

May 6, 2007

Never underestimate a potential lawsuit

Looks as if I was wrong that CBS doesn't have at least a colorable argument that it had grounds to terminate Don Imus' contract for cause. This NY Times article reports that CBS has refused Imus' demand to pay him the balance of the compensation under the contract and that Imus is preparing to sue CBS for terminating Imus' contract for cause. Apparently, CBS is relying on a provision of the contract that appears to shift some termination risk to Imus if he made a controversial statement on the air that placed the network at risk of regulatory sanction.

Although different jurisdictions have varying standards for deciding such cases, CBS would have a tough case to make if Texas law controlled the dispute. CBS encouraged Imus' offensive statements for years before his insult of the Rutgers women's basketball team blew up in Imus and CBS' collective faces. My bet is that the case is settled before too long with Imus taking a small discount for what he is owed under the contract in the settlement. But not before the lawyers on both sides take their cut. ;^)

Posted by Tom at 4:00 AM | Comments (0) |

May 5, 2007

The Big Fight

The sad state of boxing in the U.S. is such that it has become rare that a professional bout generates much interest from the casual fans of the fight game who only check in for a truly big fight. But one of those special events is happening tonight in Las Vegas as WBC super-welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather battle for the super-welterweight title. The bout will be shown on HBO pay-per-view for around $50 and has been the subject of a slick HBO documentary miniseries, "24/7," that has followed the camp preparations of both boxers.

This is a particularly interesting fight because De La Hoya personifies strength and power in the ring while Mayweather is one of the speediest boxers of all-time. Mayweather, who is 30, is younger by four years and smaller than De La Hoya, but he is the WBC welterweight champion, is undefeated in 37 professional contests, has held world titles in four weight divisions, and is widely considered to be the best overall boxer in the fight game at this time. His nickname is "Pretty Boy Floyd" because virtually no one ever lays a glove on his face.

On the other hand, the older De La Hoya (38-4) has been known as the "Golden Boy" since he won a gold medal in the 1992 Olympics and has taken on virtually every good fighter in the 150 or so pound weight classes since that time. Although not as fast as Mayweather, De La Hoya certainly is not slow by any means and combines superb balance with one of the most lethal left hooks in boxing. Only two non-heavyweight fights have generated over over one million pay-per-view purchases and they both involved De La Hoya. This fight will be the third and will almost certainly generate the most pay-per-view purchases of any non-heavyweight fight.

One of the interesting subplots to this fight is that Mayweather's father has been De La Hoya's trainer for the past six years and offered to train De La Hoya for this fight against his son for a cool $2 million. De La Hoya thought about it, but ultimately declined because he decided that the arrangement would just be too weird. Maybe so, but that is precisely the type of spice that looks to make this fight special even for folks who do not tune in the fight game much.

Posted by Tom at 4:34 AM | Comments (0) |

May 4, 2007

The Lord Browne Affair

It was not one of the mainstream media's better weeks as the vultures have been circling the carcass of former BP chairman and CEO Lord Browne's business career after the lurid Daily Mail was finally allowed by an English court to reveal that Browne had engaged in a homosexual affair with a younger man. Lord Browne has resigned in disgrace, but there is much more to this story than the headlines that most of the mainstream media is passing along.

Turns out that the Daily Mail has been pursuing for over a year a story to out the 59 year old Browne, who had built a fine reputation while rising through the management ranks of England's largest company. A private man who has never married and still lives with his mother, Lord Browne had a four year relationship with a 27 year old Canadian with the surreal name of Jeff Chevalier, who Browne had supported in a small business that, of course, folded.

So, what was Chevalier's response to Lord Browne's generosity? Cozying up to the Daily Mail for some "Kiss n' Tell" money at the expense of Browne's private life.

Lord Browne didn't react well initially to this attack, but it was understandable that the top executive of a huge, multi-national energy concern wanted to keep a private homosexual relationship out of the media glare while he is responsible for dealing with many foreign executives who don't have particularly tolerant views toward such relationships. Matt Parris summed this point up well:

When Lord Browne told his shaving mirror, that it was not in the interests of BP’s shareholders that his gay private lifestyle became public property, he was not imagining the problem. One can only imagine what Vladimir Putin thinks about gays – but this was a statesman whose confidence Browne (and BP) needed. The Arab and Muslim world has no problem with secret homosexuality, but every kind of problem with acknowleged and proclaimed homosexuality.

As a result, Lord Browne panicked and perjured himself about where he met Chevalier, claiming that he met him while "out jogging" rather than in a gay chat-room. Even though he quickly recanted and apologized, that mistake in judgment ended up costing Browne at least $20 million, his reputation and a sterling business career.

The Daily Mail's self-serving justification in outing Lord Browne was that he was "misusing BP's resources" in helping Chevalier and, thus, it was in the BP shareholders' interests for Lord Browne's private life to be exposed. But an internal BP investigation found that allegation to be baseless. Sure, Browne should not have lied, but the only reason he was placed in that position in the first place was that the Daily Mail decided that he deserved to be outed because he was rich, powerful and gay.

So, a proud and talented executive was not allowed to go on managing the largest British company while maintaining the privacy of his personal life, publicity of which was not in his company's interests for the reasons noted above. That he was not allowed to do so is a poor reflection on English society, in general, and the Daily Mail, in particular.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

Big Jim's testimony at the Black trial

Big Jim Thompson, the former governor of Illinois, followed fellow Hollinger International director and audit committee member Marie-José Kravis to the witness stand in the criminal trial of Conrad Black this week. Thompson testified that he was just as clueless as Mrs. Kravis about approving the non-compete payments to Black that are the basis of the criminal charges against the Canadian businessman and author.

As you might expect, things did not go smoothly for Thompson on cross-examination in attempting to explain how he "skimmed over" $60 million in non-compete payments to Black and several of his associates that were liberally disclosed in a dozen corporate documents that Thompson approved and signed. Mark Steyn -- who has been doing an extraordinary job of blogging the Black trial -- sums up the scene this way:

Governor Thompson's daily stipend for attending a couple of short audit and board meetings at Hollinger on Feb 25 2002 and remembering nothing about them five years later: $18,000.00

Chicago juror's daily stipend for sitting through eight hours of testimony and being expected to pay attention rather than "skim" it: $45.00

Entertainment value of watching a four-term governor and star witness melt down on the stand: Priceless.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (1) |

The Nanny State on overdrive

A nice couple with a couple of adopted young chidren also enjoys adopting rescue dogs — those dogs that are ignored, abandoned, malnourished, and mistreated. After two of the family dogs passed away, the couple decides its time for a family outing to the local SPCA to adopt a new dog for the family. The couple picks out a lovable St. Bernard, but the SPCA representatives balk at approving the couple's request to adopt the dog. Interesting interaction results, but the bottom line is that the couple has "been declared fit to adopt two baby girls, but unfit to adopt a dog." Read the entire incredible story.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (4) |

May 3, 2007

Regulating incompetence? Or incompetent regulation?

Let's see if I've got this straight.

As a member of the Hollinger International board of directors and audit committee, Marie-José Kravis, wife of Henry R. Kravis of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts fame, approves $60 million in non-compete payments that go to former Hollinger CEO Conrad Black and several of his associates. Given the context in which they were paid, the non-compete payments to Black were not particularly unusual or wrong.

The federal government then decides to prosecute Black and his associates on the theory that they misappropriated the $60 million from Hollinger. Probably in fear that she might also be indicted, Mrs. Kravis tells the feds that she didn't realize what she was doing in approving the non-compete fees in favor of Black, et. al. The two other members of the audit committee said the same thing.

Subsequently, Mrs. Kravis and other Hollinger directors receive Wells Notices from the SEC for being negligent in approving the non-compete payments for Black. The typical SEC sanction in such manners is a ban from serving as an officer or director of a publicly-owned company, usually for life and at least for five years.

As a result, Mrs. Kravis agrees to testify for the government against Black and admits that she didn't realize what she was doing in approving the $60 million in non-compete fees in favor of Black and the others.

The SEC then withdraws its Wells Notice to Mrs. Kravis.

So, the SEC threatens to ban Mrs. Kravis from being an officer or director of a publicly-owned corporation because she is an incompetent director, and then withdraws the threat when Mrs. Kravis confirms that she is an incompetent director.

And Conrad Black's freedom and storied career hangs in the balance.

A truly civil society would not tolerate such a travesty.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

Rearranging the deck chairs at TSU

So, the regents who Texas Governor Rick Perry appointed to oversee Texas Southern University have now all resigned as a result of the latest edition of the chronic scandals at the institution. Governor Perry now plans on appointing five new regents, although it remains unclear where he is going to find five saints to step into the current TSU mess. Plus, there is no reason to think that Governor Perry's new regents will be any better equipped to deal with TSU's problems than Governor Perry's former regents.

Governor Perry's response is the typical band-aid approach to dealing with TSU's problems that have been the norm for decades. As noted earlier here, TSU's problems are systemic and cannot be resolved without rethinking and redefining the university's purpose. Based on Governor Perry's approach, you can count on that we will be discussing the next scandal at TSU in a few years.

As a matter of fact, it didn't even take that long.

Update: The former TSU chief financial officer who was involved in the most recent TSU scandal was convicted today of misapplication of fiduciary property over $200,000. The jury is now hearing the sentencing phase of the trial.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Changing history

The NY Times' medical reporter, Lawrence Altman, M.D., tells the story of how Houston's famed heart surgeon Michael E. DeBakey changed the course of history by persuading the late Boris Yeltsin that he could survive heart bypass surgery after the Russian president had suffered a heart attack in the fall of 1996. The surgery saved Yeltsin's life and allowed him to live for another decade.

Of course, there are some who would argue that Dr. DeBakey efforts did not change history for the better.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

May 2, 2007

Well, at least UT's football players
can't be bought that cheap

Does anyone else get the feeling that The Daily Texan student reporters are having a ball covering the University of Texas Office of Student Financial Services scandal?

In its latest article on the scandal, the Texan reports that the financial services office rated student-loan firms based on "treats" and other meals provided to university officials. In internal reviews of their lists of lenders that were recommended to students, UT financial-aid officials rated the loan companies based on a number of criteria, including "visibility," which was defined as "based on the number of lunches, breakfasts and extracurricular functions for entire OSFS staff." One document titled "Lender Treats" listed a "Hula Hut Happy Hour" provided by one lender and a lasagna lunch contributed by another.

Last month, UT put Lawrence Burt, its associate vice president and director of student financial aid, on paid leave after it was reported that he owned an interest in the former parent of Student Loan Xpress Inc. (now a unit of CIT Group). For his part, Burt has stated publicly that his interest in the company had nothing to do with UT funneling student loan business to the company. And, yes, Student Loan Xpress Inc. was rated "very good" in free meals and functions in a recent financial services office review.

The UT investigation comes in the wake of a larger investigation by the new Lord of Regulation, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who announced earlier in the week that six more universities have agreed to settle deceptive-trade-practice claims involving undisclosed payments from firms on preferred-lender lists. A half-dozen or so financial aid officials remain under investigation for taking payments from student loan firms.

My goodness, all this over some lasagna and happy hours? If Cuomo and the institutions were interested in really taking on some real corruption on college campuses, then they would be doing something about this.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

The Mickelson Affair

Phil Mickelson has had quite a year already -- one PGA Tour win, blowing another one on the 18th hole, replacing swing coaches. But none of that compared to the firestorm that Philly Mick provoked last week when he got a pass from the PGA Tour brass on playing in the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament Pro-Am because bad weather prevented him from flying into Dallas the night before the Pro-Am. Normally, missing a Pro-Am -- which is considered a necessary nuisance by most PGA Tour players -- means that the offending Tour player is not allowed to play in the tournament. However, an exception was made in Mickelson's case, even though it is pretty clear than Mickelson could have made his tee time if he had been willing to get up early enough and fly into Dallas on the morning of the Pro-Am. PGA Tour member Robert Allenby spoke for the vast majority of players:

"He came here, was on site and he elected to go somewhere else, knowing the weather was going to be crappy. He took the risk. Take the risk and you pay the penalty."

And Doug Ferguson chimes in with this piece about the Tour's double-standard with regard to playing in Pro-Am's:

In 2005, Chad Campbell wanted to play the 84 Lumber Classic – the tournament even had his wife sing at one of its functions – but he asked out of the pro-am Wednesday to attend his grandmother’s funeral. The Tour made him choose between the pro-am and the funeral, and Campbell withdrew from the tournament. [. . .]

Wes Short Jr. wanted to skip out on a pro-am because his father was about to have quadruple bypass surgery, but he had to choose between the pro-am and spending time with his father.

But leave it to a Houstonian -- the always entertaining Steve Elkington -- to bring a sense of perspective to the situation:

"They've opened themselves up to a dangerous precedent," Elkington said of the tour. "Next time it's raining in Houston, I might call and say I can't get there."

"That being said, this tournament needs Phil Mickelson. Look at the crowds. You've got to give the guys who carry the tour a bit of slack. That's always been there. We're in the business of entertaining people."

As Elkington spoke, thousands of spectators swarmed along the 18th hole, trying to catch a glimpse of Mickelson, . . .

By the way, Geoff Shackleford -- the best golf blogger around in my book -- has put together an entire category of blog posts attempting to keep up with Philly Mick.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (1) |

More on the Tiger Chasm

In this column, the Chronicle's chief golf writer has seen the Tiger Chasm that is gobbling up Texas' PGA Tour events and he does not like what he sees:

If the first half of the season is any indication, the gap between the marquee events and all the others is getting wider than ever. For every WGC event that has dibs on the top 64 players, there's a Bob Hope making do with only one player ranked in the top 10 when the season began. For every Nissan Open landing every top-10 not named Woods, there's a New Orleans event without any star power.

Look for the summer events to suffer a talent drain, because the top players will be bracing themselves for a season-ending, four-week playoff run.

Maybe the season will build to a crescendo as the playoffs draw closer, but that isn't helping Tampa, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, New Orleans or Memphis much.

A show of hands from all of those captivated by whether Kenny Perry can hold on to his one-point lead over Steve Lowery for the 144th — and final — playoff spot. The white coats will be along shortly with the straightjackets.

Yes, 144 players will make the first round of players. In other words, 19 players who aren't good enough to finish in the top 125 — the threshold for keeping a tour card — will make it to the playoffs. Even the NCAA knows better than to water down its basketball tournament that much. . . .

Make no mistake: The new system should produce a season with a better flow. The season has some sort of ending instead of fizzling out in the fall. Clearly, though, there is too much disconnect between the marquee events and the mundane.

Campbell goes on to wonder whether the Texas PGA Tour events have seen the last of Tiger Woods:

Has Tiger Woods played a PGA Tour event in Texas for the last time?

Woods skipped the only Texas tournament in his regular schedule, the Byron Nelson, for the second consecutive year. With Nelson no longer around to answer, don't be surprised if Woods forsakes that event unless it lands a date more suitable to his schedule.

Woods' only appearance at the Texas Open in San Antonio was in 1996, when he was trying to earn his PGA Tour card. He played Colonial in 1997, tying for fourth, and hasn't been back since. Though Woods has never played the Shell Houston Open, he has teed it up in Houston four times. Woods played the Tour Championship at Champions Golf Club in 1997 (12th), 1999 (won), 2001 (13th) and 2003 (26th). With Atlanta's East Lake established as the home of the Tour Championship for the foreseeable future, it's highly unlikely Woods will make another competitive appearance in Houston.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

May 1, 2007

An appropriate image

The Houston Rockets are engaged in a first round Western Conference playoff series with the Utah Jazz, which plays a style of basketball that reminds one of professional wrestling. Inasmuch as the Rockets play a rather plodding style of ball that revolves around their two stars -- Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming -- and attempts to minimize below-average players at the point guard and power forward positions, the first four games in this series have bordered on being unwatchable.

The fifth game in the series took place in Houston last night and began in the same boring manner as the first four. Then, midway through the second quarter, seemingly out of nowhere, the style of play quickened for both teams, players on both teams began hitting shots that they had previously missed for much of the series, and presto! -- a real NBA playoff game broke out. The Rockets went on to win the surprisingly entertaining affair to take a 3-2 lead in the best of seven series.

One of the absurdities of NBA basketball is that the referees are often wildly inconsistent in the way in which they call fouls on certain dominant centers, allowing the opposing teams to pummel away on the big guys relentlessly without calling fouls, while calling fouls against the center that the refs wouldn't think of whistling if the same action was inflicted on the center. Wilt Chamberlain was probably the first NBA center to endure this treatment, but many others -- including Shaquille O'Neal recently -- have experienced the same thing.

Well, the Rockets' Yao is definitely experiencing this syndrome in the current series as the Jazz players hammer away on him with impunity. One image from the end of last night's game speaks volumes about the absurdity of this syndrome. With over three seconds left in the game with the Rockets up by four points, Yao grabbed a rebound of a missed Utah shot and was grabbed by Utah's Carlos Boozer to stop the clock. Although Utah's chances were slim at that point, 3+ seconds in an NBA game is still enough time to get off a shot or two. Nevertheless, the referees refused to call a foul on Boozer, no matter how much he grabbed Yao. With a resigned look of "what the hell," Yao finally just tossed the ball to one of the refs as the final few tenths of a second ran off the clock and started trudging toward the locker room, with scatches and bruises all over his arms clearly visible.

So it goes in the life of a big NBA center.

Posted by Tom at 6:06 AM | Comments (0) |

The Hurwitz conviction

You probably have already heard by now that Dr. William Hurwitz (previous posts here) was convicted this past Friday afternoon on 16 counts of drug trafficking for prescribing opioid prescriptions to his chronic-pain patients. The New York Times' John Tierney -- who deserves an award for his coverage of the trial and the sad case of Dr. Hurwitz -- interviewed three of the jurors after the trial and his findings are disturbing:

[The jurors] said that the jury considered Dr. William Hurwitz to be a doctor dedicated to treating pain who didn’t intentionally prescribe drugs to be resold or abused. They said he didn’t appear to benefit financially from his patients’ drug dealing and that he wasn’t what they considered a conventional drug trafficker.

So why did find him guilty of “knowingly and intentionally” distributing drugs “outside the bounds of medical practice” and engaging in drug trafficking “as conventionally understood”? After attending the trial and talking to the jurors, I can suggest two possible answers:

1. The jurors were confused by the law.
2. The law is a ass (to quote Mr. Bumble from “Oliver Twist”).

I can’t blame the jurors for being confused, because that’s the norm in trials of pain-management doctors. The standard prosecution strategy is to charge the doctor on so many counts and introduce so much evidence that the jurors assume something criminal must have happened. Their natural impulse, after listening to weeks of arguments, is to look for a compromise by digging into the mountain of medical minutiae – and getting in so deep that they lose sight of the big picture.

According to Tierney's inteview, the Hurwitz jury essentially convicted Hurwitz of not examining his patients adequately. Remarkably, the jurors were candid with Tierney that they did not understand the legal standard of "outside the bounds of medical practice." Rather, they just decided "to go with our gut."

Sound familiar?

Dr. Hurwitz's conviction is troubling for medical professionals on several levels, not the least of which is described by a doctor in the following comment to Tierney's post:

The Hurwitz persecution scares the bejabbers out of me. If I refuse to treat pain adequately that is a criminal offense. If I over treat pain that is a criminal offense. If I cannot tell a smooth, practiced, professional liar from real pain that is a criminal offense. I am expected to be all things to all people, omnipotent and infallible - and if I fail I will be stripped of my license or sent to prison.

Just recently I received a phone call that one of my patients was selling my narcotic prescription on the street. Was this real, a crank call, or a sting operation by the prosecutor? My only avenue of survival was to immediately file a complaint against the patient with BAYONET (a narcotics strike force). Welcome to 1984, Hurwitz jurors. So now that you have forced me to survive by turning people in to the secret police, how do you feel about coming to me and discussing your personal issues?

The message is clear. Pain specialists better be careful who they treat -- and undertreat those patients who they elect to take on -- or risk going to jail as a result of America's draconian drug prohibition policy. The doctor-patient relationship has just become much more complicated. And not for the better.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

O'Toole on Houston's urban planning

Cato Institute fellow Randal O'Toole was in town last week as the invitee of a Houston Property Rights Association luncheon and, by Tory Gattis' account, provided an entertaining lecture on the overreaching nature of centralized urban planning and wasteful rail transit systems in various cities around the country. The Chronicle's Rad Sallee caught up with O'Toole while he was in town, and notes the following observation by O'Toole on the impact of Houston's biggest urban boondoggle:

Question: You say that for the most part, Houston gets it right, while Portland (Ore.), where you used to live, is a textbook example of government gone wrong. A lot of people would say it's just the reverse.

Answer: Except for the light rail part, Houston really is a model for how urban planning ought to be done — which is privately.

By the way, O'Toole has a new blog focusing on urban economics called the Antiplanner. Check it out.

Posted by Tom at 4:12 AM | Comments (0) |

OTC.07

One of the biggest and most interesting annual Houston conventions is taking place this week at Reliant Park, the 2007 edition of the Offshore Technology Conference (previous posts here). See my previous posts for background on the conference, and the Chronicle's Tom Fowler is blogging this year's conference. Regardless of whether you are involved in the energy industry, the exhibit area of the OTC is fascinating and well worth a few hours if you can score a ticket.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

April 30, 2007

The myth of clutch hitting

As the Stros' hitters continue to strand baserunners by the dozens, most of you are undoubtedly having to endure comments on the radio and elsewhere such as "the Stros are not good at hitting in the clutch" or they "are not good at situational hitting."

As this hilarious Fire Joe Morgan post explains, those comments are mostly blather. Extensive statistical analysis of baseball statistics over the years has shown that there is rarely any meaningful difference between a hitter's performance in "clutch" versus "non-clutch" situations. Rather, a combination of bad luck and weak overall hitting are the true reasons why teams go through periods such as the Stros are enduring now in which they leave a large number of runners on base.

The fact that the Stros are 10th out of the 16 National League clubs in both on-base average and slugging percentage has much more to do with the Stros leaving a large number of runners on base than any lack of "clutch hitting." By the way, after Sunday's loss, that $100 million off-season acquisition, slugger Carlos Lee, has generated 5 fewer runs than a merely average National League hitter would have created using the same number of outs as Lee has made so far this season, a .290 on-base average and a paltry .738 OPS.

Posted by Tom at 4:52 AM | Comments (0) |

Is it the farm subsidy? Or the processed food subsidy?

Michael Pollan, the Knight professor of journalism at the Cal-Berkeley and the author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” (earlier post here), has been writing a series of op-eds for the New York Times in which he is addressing in an abbreviated manner various nutritional issues that he covers in his book. In this recent piece, Pollan examines why calorie-intensive processed foods have such a relatively cheap price at the supermarket in comparison to fresh fruits and vegetables:

For the answer, you need look no farther than the farm bill. This resolutely unglamorous and head-hurtingly complicated piece of legislation, which comes around roughly every five years and is about to do so again, sets the rules for the American food system — indeed, to a considerable extent, for the world’s food system. Among other things, it determines which crops will be subsidized and which will not, and in the case of the carrot and the Twinkie, the farm bill as currently written offers a lot more support to the cake than to the root. Like most processed foods, the Twinkie is basically a clever arrangement of carbohydrates and fats teased out of corn, soybeans and wheat — three of the five commodity crops that the farm bill supports, to the tune of some $25 billion a year. (Rice and cotton are the others.) For the last several decades — indeed, for about as long as the American waistline has been ballooning — U.S. agricultural policy has been designed in such a way as to promote the overproduction of these five commodities, especially corn and soy.

That’s because the current farm bill helps commodity farmers by cutting them a check based on how many bushels they can grow, rather than, say, by supporting prices and limiting production, as farm bills once did. The result? A food system awash in added sugars (derived from corn) and added fats (derived mainly from soy), as well as dirt-cheap meat and milk (derived from both). By comparison, the farm bill does almost nothing to support farmers growing fresh produce. A result of these policy choices is on stark display in your supermarket, where the real price of fruits and vegetables between 1985 and 2000 increased by nearly 40 percent while the real price of soft drinks (a/k/a liquid corn) declined by 23 percent. The reason the least healthful calories in the supermarket are the cheapest is that those are the ones the farm bill encourages farmers to grow.

Read the entire piece.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Richard Justice, Texans Cheerleader

As noted in this earlier post, Chronicle sportswriter Richard Justice was a devoted supporter of the Charlie Casserly tenure as Texans general manager far beyond the time that most reasoned observers had concluded that Texans ship was leaking profusely. After the Texans bottomed out at the end of their horrid 2005 season, Justice finally turned on Casserly with the same vehemance that he previously used in supporting him. Since then, Justice has routinely mocked Casserly and former Texans coach, Dom Capers.

Now, on the heels of this weekend's NFL Draft, Justice is drinking the Kool-Aid again with regard to the tenure of the Gary Kubiak/Rick Smith regime with the Texans:

The Texans are going to be a long time escaping their past. But these are not the Texans of 2004 or 2005. Check the facts. They haven't done a single dumb thing since Charley Casserly left the organization. Not one. They'll win your confidence only by winning on the field. That's why next season will be interesting.

H'mm. Kubiak and Smith haven't done "a single dumb thing" since taking over? That offense from last season sure could have fooled one into thinking that Kubiak and Smith had done a "dumb thing" or two since coming on the scene.

Frankly, my sense is that the Texans draft this year was rather underwhelming (an opinion shared by one local draft expert). Okoye, the number one draft choice, is a fairly raw 19 year old playing at a position (defensive tackle) in which he will be pitted against wily veterans; it's by no mean certain that he will be any more successful next season than first round draft choice Mario Williams was last season. The Texans next draft choice -- third round WR Jacoby Jones (the Texans didn't have a second round pick) -- does not even appear likely to start next season. In fact, absent injury, none of the Texans' 2007 draft choices outside of Okoye are sure bets to be in the starting lineup for the Texans next season.

Granted, it might actually be a good thing if most of the Texans' 2007 draft choices aren't expected to start next season because that would indicate that the Texans are developing the type of depth that is necessary to contend for the playoffs in the NFL. Likewise, those draft choices cannot be fairly evaluated for several years. But Justice's chronic cheerleading for the Texans is better left for the team's website, not for a newspaper that is supposedly dedicated to providing objective analysis of news events.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (2) |

April 29, 2007

Capitalism Rorschach Test

In this clever and insightful post, Warren Meyer provides a handy Rorschach Test for how Americans view capitalism and markets by using the competing views toward the adjustment that has been taking place in subprime mortgage markets over the past several months.

Guess how Loren Steffy and Ben Stein test out? If you need a hint on Stein, see this Larry Ribstein post.

Posted by Tom at 4:08 AM | Comments (1) |

April 28, 2007

The trick in drafting NFL players

Today is the beginning of the annual two-day media feeding frenzy known as the National Football League Draft, which I'm beginning to think is becoming more popular than the NFL games themselves. Channeling research about the draft that was addressed in this earlier post, the WSJ's ($) Allen St. John notes that football fans should not be as concerned with what star players take in the first couple of rounds, but rather should focus on the hidden gems that their team takes in the later rounds:

So, in general, how well does the NFL draft do in finding future stars? A look at the All-Pro teams of the past five years reveals some surprises. Of the 80 position players who made the All-Pro teams since 2002, 35, or 44%, were not drafted in the first round. That means that practically every NFL team passed on them at least once. And 21 All-Pros weren't picked until the third round -- or later.

How many No. 1 draft picks were All-Pros over that period? One: Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts. Five players who went totally undrafted -- running back Priest Holmes, tight end Antonio Gates, fullback Mack Strong, center Jeff Saturday and offensive lineman Brian Waters -- earned that honor. [. . .]

Even more important than spending first-round picks wisely is being able to tab superstars in the later rounds. To measure that we'll use APDA, or All-Pro Draft Average, which averages the overall draft slot for a team's All-Pros. (Undrafted players are ranked as if they were taken after the last player drafted that year.)

Which team found the most diamonds in the rough? The San Diego Chargers -- with an 80.3 ranking. They selected four All-Pros after round two, including Mr. Gates, a three-time All-Pro. The Ravens were next at 70.9, thanks largely to drafting linebacker Adalius Thomas in the sixth round and signing undrafted running back Priest Holmes (who would achieve fame with the Kansas City Chiefs). The NFC leader: the Panthers (40.8), followed by the New York Giants (36.5). [. . .]

So if your favorite team doesn't have a top pick, don't sweat it. APDA reveals that in today's NFL, potential superstars are available in the second round -- or second day of the draft. The trick, as the league's most successful teams know, is to find them.

Although the Texans drafts are routinely trashed in the mainstream media, the Texans drafted All-Pros in WR Andre Johnson, KR Jerome Mathis, and LB DeMeco Ryans, a potentially All-Pro caliber CB in Dunta Robinson, and have had a reasonable degree of success in picking decent players in the later rounds. On the other hand, the Texans' non-draft acquisitions (think Tony Boselli and Philip Buchanan) have been unproductive, which has a lot more to do with the team's relative lack of success than the team's draft picks.

Finally, if you still think that the Texans' first round draft picks have been bad, take a look at this hilarious video of the announcements over the years pertaining to the New York Jets draft picks:

Posted by Tom at 12:15 PM | Comments (0) |

April 27, 2007

Stros 2007 Season Review, Part One

The first 21 games of the season of the Stros' (9-12) season has been one of streaks -- they started out the season by losing 5 of their first 6 games, rebounded momentarily by winning 8 of their next 9, only to blow that comeback by losing their next 6. As a result, the excuses of the club's spotty performance are already in full bloom:

"Berkman and Lee haven't started hitting yet."

"If Jennings comes back strong, the starting pitching will be fine."

"Burke is a good athlete who will find his way in centerfield."

"Biggio is such an inspiration."

Well, maybe all those statements are true. But the harsh reality is that this is not a good baseball team right now.

As noted in the 2007 season preview, none of this is particularlry surprising. Despite catching lightning in a bottle in the post-season during 2004 and 2005, the Stros have been trending downward for most of this decade into the current mediocre edition of the club. During most of that time, reasonably strong pitching tended to mask the decline in the club's overall hitting.

However, through the first eighth of this season, both the hitting and the pitching on this Stros club have serious questions. The Stros' hitters have already generated 13 fewer runs than an average National League club would have scored using the same number of outs at this stage of the season (RCAA, explained here), which ranks 10th out of the 16 National League teams (the NL Central-leading Brewers are at +18 RCAA). The pitching staff has been about as bad, saving 7 fewer runs already than an average National League staff would have saved so far this season (RSAA, explained here), which ranks 13th among National League clubs.

The season statistics through to date are below, courtesy of Lee Sinins' sabermetric Complete Baseball Encyclopedia. The abbreviations for the hitting stats are defined here and the same for the pitching stats are here:

Here is the Stros active roster, which includes links to each player's individual statistics.

Almost every position player is underachieving from a hitting standpoint, led by future Hall of Famer Craig Biggio (-2 RCAA/.302 OBA/.457 SLG/.759 OPS), who is now a shadow of the player he once was. It took Bidg 62 plate appearances this season before he drew his first walk and he still has a total of only 4 walks in 87 plate appearances. He has struck out 18 times already (20% of the time) and has hit 3 home runs, which means that he has scored only 7 runs the rest of the time. Part of that is attributable to the hitters behind Bidg not driving him in, but that poor run production is mainly the result of Bidg's rather pathetic .302 on-base average.

Sadly, however, there are not many better alternatives to Bidg on the current roster. Chris Burke has been below-average both at bat (-3/.321/.338/.649) and in centerfield. Mark Loretta (2/.410/.417/.827) would probably be an upgrade over Bidg at second, but neither Luke Scott (-1/.333/.407/.740) nor Jason Lane (-2/.231/.553/.784) has been effective enough to justify full-time play in the outfield, so the prospect of moving Burke to second to spell Bidg remains on hold waiting for Hunter Pence (.405/.579/.984 at AAA Round Rock) to arrive. With both Berkman (0/.385/.329/.714) and Lee (-2/.298/.482/.780) not yet hitting their respective strides, and with Ausmus (-2/.333/.360/.693) and Everett (-2/.329/.344/.673) continuing to drag down the bottom of the batting order, the Stros offense is every bit as bad as it has been over the past several seasons.

Meanwhile, beyond the steady Roy Oswalt (2 RSAA/3.34 ERA), the starting pitching is tenuous. Jason Jennings is still at least a couple of weeks away from returning from a bout of tendonitis and Woody Williams (-6 RSAA/5.90 ERA) appears to be washed up. Chris Sampson (-1 RSAA/4.26 ERA) had a couple of promising outings before he pitched batting practice to the Phillies in his most recent outing and Wandy Rodriguez (-2 RSAA/4.50 ERA) is on the brink of disaster at all times. On the good side, the injury to Jennings has allowed rookie starter Matt Albers (0 RSAA/3.75 ERA) to gain some valuable experience and he has looked reasonably good, while the relief pitching has also been generally acceptable, although Brad Lidge (-3 RSAA/7.36 ERA) continues to struggle and Rick White -- who has been particularly effective (3 RSAA/1.54 ERA) in the early going -- just went on the disabled list with a pulled muscle in his rib cage area.

Finally, it doesn't help things that Manager Phil Garner appears overmatched. Quick note to Manager Garner -- batting Ausmus and Everett (not to mention pitcher Rodriguez yesterday) late in close games with runners in scoring position is not conducive to winning those games.

So, what to do? On one hand, it's too early to panic. One way to look at the season to date is that the Stros are still within shouting distance of .500 even before Berkman and Lee begin hitting. So, if the pitching holds up -- and the Stros pitching has been generally good to very good over the past several seasons -- the Stros should improve when Berkman and Lee start generating more runs. Inasmuch as the other NL Central clubs all have their own problems (the division leading Brewers just lost Ben Sheets again), the Stros can probably remain in contention so long as they muddle around at .500.

On the other hand, there is not much else the Stros can do. Pence would appear to be a clear upgrade in center over Burke and Juan Gutierrez (2.35 ERA at Round Rock) is better than any currently-pitching starter with the exception of Roy O. However, those are the only two prospects that appear to be ready and better than any of the Stros' alternatives at this point, which is a stark reflection of the poor development of position players in the Stros organization over the past 7 years or so. Outside of Pence, there are no position player prospects in the Stros high minor league levels who are a viable alternative to the position players currently on the Stros active roster. It's not particularly comforting that the Stros executive who was in charge of making most of those player development decisions is now calling the shots as the Stros general manager.

Finally, although somewhat understandable from a public relations standpoint, the Stros' indulgence of the club's icon Biggio has had real and substantial costs. At key times in their respective baseball careers, both Burke and Lane have been blocked from regular playing time over the past several seasons by Biggio. Neither of those two will ever be the player that Bidg once was, but both of them provided key home runs for the club in the post-season and there is a reasonable probability that both of them would have been more productive than Bidg during the past several seasons had they had the opportunity to play regularly. Depriving a club's best prospects from developing their talents at the MLB level while indulging a marginally productive veteran is a surefire way to stunt the development of an organization's best talent.

After spending most of the past two weeks on the road, the Stros begin a six game homestand against the Brewers (13-8) this weekend and the Reds (10-12) starting Monday before going out on the road again for a week against the Cardinals (10-11) and the Reds. Look for the next Stros season update around May 20th or soon thereafter if a rainout or two occurs between now and then.

Posted by Tom at 8:07 AM | Comments (7) |

Baker Hughes settles Kazakhstan bribery case

Houston-based oil field services provider Baker Hughes Inc. on Thursday announced that it has agreed to pay $44.1 million to settle the Department of Justice and the SEC's long-standing allegations that a unit of the company had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Under the terms of deal, a subsidiary of the company pleaded guilty to violations of the FCPA regarding payments made to a commercial agent in Kazakhstan between 2001 and 2003, the company entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice that provides that federal government will not prosecute the company if it meets the conditions of the agreement for two years (including a government-approved monitor to oversee its compliance efforts), and the company agreed to a consent judgment with the SEC, which charged violations of the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA related to the Kazakhstan deal.

The company announced the govenment probes publicly almost five years ago and the probe was well-known within the Houston legal community even before that. Sometimes delay really is the best strategy.

Posted by Tom at 6:11 AM | Comments (0) |

What was Dr. Hurwitz's motive?

The NY Times' John Tierney, who has done an outstanding job of covering the sad case of Dr. William Hurwitz, provides this insightful post on the utter lack of a motive for Dr. Hurwitz to commit the crime for which he is being prosecuted -- i.e., violating America's drug prohibition policy:

Prosecutors charged that Dr. William Hurwitz was in a conspiracy with some of his patients to illegally distribute drugs, but there was no evidence that the patients had shared the profits when they resold the painkillers he prescribed. The only money he got was from the medical fees he charged. The prosecutors tried to portray his practice as a lucrative operation, and him as a doctor motivated by greed. This is a bit hard to square with what the jury heard about his background. which included stints in the Peace Corps and the Veterans Administration. And it’s really hard to square with his bank account.

In 2003, before the charges in this case had even been brought against him, authorities seized Dr. Hurwitz’s assets. (That’s standard procedure in drug cases like this, and one more reason why doctors have such a hard time mounting a defense.) There wasn’t much to seize. They took all his retirement savings — which amounted to less than $250,000. He was at that point 58 years old and had been practicing medicine for decades. . . .

“It’s so ridiculous to hear the prosecutor talk about this rich doctor,” Mrs. [Nilse] Quercia [Dr. Hurwitz's former wife] told me. “Except for that Keough account they seized, he had nothing but debts and a 1990 Subaru.” His subsequent legal expenses, she said, were paid by friends and relatives and by the law firms now representing him pro bono.

In my experience, when a prosecutor must fabricate a motive for the white collar criminal act that is being prosecuted, it's a pretty darn good indication that a lack of prosecutorial discretion is behind the decision to pursue the charges in the first place.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

Not your typical obituary

Based on this Rolling Stone obituary, it's a safe bet that the family of Boris Yeltsin will not be hiring Matt Tabbi to write the official biography of the late former Russian premier:

Boris Yeltsin was literally born in mud and raised in shit. He was descended from a long line of drunken peasants who in hundreds of years of non-trying had failed to escape the stinky-ass backwater of the Talitsky region, a barren landscape of mud and weeds whose history is so undistinguished that even the most talented Russian historians struggle to find mention of it in imperial documents. They did find Yeltsins here and there in the Czarist censuses, but until the 20th century none made any mark in history. The best of the lot turned out to be Boris's grandfather, a legendarily mean and greedy old prick named Ignatiy Yeltsin, who achieved what was considered great wealth by village standards, owning a mill and a horse. Naturally, the flesh-devouring Soviet government, the government that would later make Boris Yeltsin one of its favored and feared vampires, liquidated Ignatiy for the crime of affluence, for the crime of having a mill and a horse. [. . .]

The communist government found its leaders among the meanest and greediest of the children who survived and thrived in places like this. Boris Yeltsin was such a child. As a teenager he only knew two things; how to drink vodka and smash people in the face. At the very first opportunity he joined up with the communists who had liquidated his grandfather and persecuted his father and became a professional thief and face-smasher, rising quickly through the communist ranks to become a boss of the Sverdlovsk region, where he was again famous for two things: his heroic drinking and his keen political sense in looting and distributing the booty from Soviet highway and construction contracts. If Boris Yeltsin ever had a soul, it was not observable in his early biography. He sold out as soon as he could and was his whole life a human appendage of a rotting, corrupt state, a crook who would emerge even from the hottest bath still stinking of booze, concrete and sausage.

There is much more.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

April 26, 2007

Applying the Apple Rule

My, what a flurry of activity with regard to Apple.

First, the San Jose Mercury News reports last weekend that Apple CEO Steve Jobs appeared to be in the clear of the risk of criminal charges in regard to the investigation into backdating of stock options at Apple.

Next, on Tuesday, Dealbreaker's John Carney noted that two former Apple executives in the crosshairs of the SEC's parallel investigation -- general counsel Nancy Heinen and CFO Fred Anderson -- are taking very different approaches to dealing with the investigation. On one hand, Heinen is fighting the SEC charges, while Anderson has settled up with the SEC.

But then, in a somewhat unusual development in such matters, Anderson proceeded to issue a public statement that appears to contradict Jobs' story that he didn't really understand the implications of this whole backdating thing.

Finally, after all this, Apple's stock price went through the roof on Wednesday on the heels of strong second quarter earnings.

So, leave it to the originator of the Apple Rule to size up the possible implications of these events:

Indeed, it may be that all this backdating stuff really is all about stock price. When the alleged backdating was going on at Apple, the stock was hovering at around 20. Under several more years of Jobs leadership, it's up over 90. Backdating could bring back to 20.

Posted by Tom at 4:34 AM | Comments (0) |

No free speech in Beaumont?

In this WSJ Law Blog post, Paul Davies of the WSJ Law Blog passes along this Chronicle article about Beaumont plaintiff's attorney Brent Coon issuing a subpoena to the editor and a reporter of a new weekly paper called the Southeast Texas Record, which is bankrolled by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform in Washington to promote an tort reform agenda (the Chronicle's Mary Flood has more). Coon's purpose in issuing the subpoena is that he believes that the editor and the reporter of the newspaper were attempting to taint jurors in one of his pending asbestos cases with regard to the newspaper's April 2 inaugural issue. "This shameful propaganda machine is deceptive and demonstrates a willingness to misrepresent fact," Coon complained as he was charging that the editor and reporter might have committed a "criminal act."

Sounds as if Mr. Coon is better at pursuing plaintiff's cases than Constitutional Law. The editor and the reporter's writings are clearly protected free speech under the First Amendment. Not even a close call. Even in Beaumont.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (1) |

Making sense of the subprime markets

In this WSJ ($) op-ed, American Enterprise Institute fellow Ted Frank provides a particularly lucid explanation of the many benefits of the markets relating to subprime mortgages and the absurd nature of the attempt by some plaintiffs' firms to extract some ransom from some institutional investors in those markets. While reviewing how certain members of Congress refuse to allow their ignorance to stop them from attempting to make matters worse, Ted asks:

"Shouldn't at least one of the two political parties have someone heading up the House Financial Services Committee who understands financial services?"

Meanwhile, Michael Lewis asks three common sense questions in regard to the allegations of wrongdoing in regard to subprime mortgages:

1) If the subprime home-loan market was a cynical conspiracy, why did so many of the putative conspirators wind up taking so much of the risk? [. . .]

2) Why does the most financially obsessed and presumably well-informed character on earth, the American Investor, insist on playing the fool? [. . .]

3) Why in this new drama is it so easy to imagine borrowers in a different role, other than the one in which they are currently cast: The Victim? [. . .]

Messrs. Frank and Lewis both hit on an important characteristic of American markets in general and the subprime markets, in particular. The U.S. mortgage market is the most efficient in the world largely because it is the most securitized. Banks don't need to take the risk that doomed many of them back in 1980's when they commonly held on to home mortgages that they originated. Now, banks sell them into the bond market to institutional investors who disperse the risk to those who can afford to take it.

Interestingly, a strong case can be made that the mortgage-backed securities markets is a descendant of the liquidity crunch in home mortgage lending that resulted from the savings and loan crisis of the 1980's, Just as Congress had a big hand in causing the S&L debacle, the current Congressional crusaders are threatening the markets that corrected the 1980's downturn in home mortgage lending.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

April 25, 2007

Go Barney Go!

Barney Frank, that conflicted anti-business Congressional crusader (see here and here) who is nevertheless challenging the federal government's ludicrous prohibition of internet gambling, has decided to introduce legislation to overturn the prohibition, and he thinks it has a chance of passing.

Good for Barney. But how sad is it that Rep. Frank -- who is essentially a socialist with regard to economics, business and big government issues -- is one of the only national politicians who is willing to advocate reasonable and common sense restraints on the federal government's prosecutorial power against business interests?

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (1) |

This is not going to look good on TV

I buzzed up to Ft. Worth for a hearing yesterday and the golfers in the crowd were all talking about the EDS Byron Nelson Golf Tournament, which already has a less than inspiring field. Now, it turns out that several greens at the Tournament Players Course at Los Colinas are not going to be particularly picturesque on television:

One after another, competitors at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship struggled Monday to describe the patchwork greens that greeted them at the TPC Las Colinas course.

Riddled with bare patches and marked by evidence of multiple grasses growing on selected greens, the bumpy surfaces triggered a mea culpa from officials at the Four Seasons Resort, who own and oversee maintenance on both courses used at the Nelson tournament. [. . .]

Players who competed in Monday's pro-am at the Cottonwood Valley course reported thin fairways on selected holes but praised the greens. Competitors at TPC, on the other hand, wondered if PGA Tour officials could find three viable pin placements during tournament week at selected holes.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Tax simplification made simple

One of the more distressing aspects of the Bush Administration's distractions is the abandonment of the movement toward income tax simplification. In this lucid EconTalk session, Alvin Rabushka of Stanford University's Hoover Institution lays out the case for the flat tax, which he has been advocating with colleague Robert Hall since 1981. Rabuska's plan would reform the current system that is based on the 66,000 page U.S. Tax Code with a single rate and no deductions other than personal exemptions, and each individual tax return would be the size of a postcard. This is a common sense reform that is long overdue for many reasons, including one that Russ Roberts makes: "Wouldn't it be wonderful if all the talented people who currently help rich people avoid taxes were instead encouraged to something productive?" Check out Rabushka's talk.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (3) |

April 24, 2007

More love for Zach

Clear Thinkers favorite Dan Jenkins is not having any part of the notion that Zach Johnson's victory in The Masters Golf Tournament was boring due to a tricked-up Augusta National:

I, for one, loved it. The Augusta National, with an assist from nature, finally reined in technology. That alone was worth a roar, wasn't it?

They took the winning 72-hole score back to 289, the highest it had been since 1954 and 1956, when the basic culprits were strong, gusty winds and the hard old Bermuda/rye greens that wouldn't hold a pitchfork if Tiger Woods was swinging it.

If there was anything I liked better than seeing the tour pros have to face a tough course for a change, it was learning that Zach Johnson, the new Masters champion, is an unapologetic God-fearing lad who has a Yorkshire terrier like I do.

Only his is named Hogan.

Read the entire article.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

Criminalizing business in Kazahkstan

This New York Times article reports on the troubles of American businessman Mark Seidenfeld, the telecommunications entreprenuer who made a fortune during the dizzying days of Kazahkstan's conversion from a communist to a market economy. The case against Seidenfeld is controversial and is being watched closely, largely because Kazakhstan is perceived to be one of the least repressive countries in the region for foreigners to do business. However, what is most chilling about the account is how many similarities exist between the way in which the Kazahkstan criminal justice system is handling this case and the way in which many recent criminal prosecutions against U.S. businesspersons have been handled in the American criminal justice system (a point made earlier here). Interestingly, several human rights organizations are weighing in with the Kazahkstan government about the handling of the Seidenfeld case, something that is unheard of in regard to similar prosecutorial tactics that are taking place in the U.S.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

MLB team values

Forbes just published its annual valuation of Major League Baseball clubs, with the Stros rating a solid 11th among the 30 clubs at an estimated $442 million, or a bit more than a 1/3rd of the value of the top-ranked Yankees and about 60% of the value of the second-ranked Mets and Red Sox. The Texas Rangers are valued at about $80 million less than the Stros. Craig Depken provides some heavy duty analysis of the numbers and comes to the following conclusion:

In the business of baseball, especially in an era of free-agent salaries and the luxury tax, the more the team wins, the lower the profits. What's going on? The source of this conundrum is the diminishing returns to quality on the revenue side: marginal improvements in team quality do not increase revenue as much. On the cost side, marginal improvements in team quality become ever more expensive.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (2) |

April 23, 2007

The Glisan Interview

Tongues were wagging all over Houston this weekend as a result of Wall Street Journal reporter John Emshwiller's exclusive interview ($) with former Enron treasurer and Andy Fastow confidant, Ben Glisan (excerpts of the interview are here). The theme of the interview is that Glisan initially deluded himself into thinking that he hadn't done anything wrong while at Enron, but that he discovered his true self during his 4+ year prison term and came to terms with his criminality. Emshwiller -- whose coverage of the Enron case has been subject to serious issues before -- laps up the morality play. Next thing you know, Glisan will be joining Sherron Watkins as a speaker on the "corporate governance reform" rubber chicken circuit.

However, as with almost everything pertaining to Enron, the true story about Glisan is more nuanced than meets the eye. Glisan was a golden boy at Enron, a rising star in the management circles who Fastow plucked as his hand-picked replacement after running off Enron treasurer Jeff McMahon in early 2000. Contrary to the unsupported statements contained in the interview with Emshwiller, there are real questions as to whether Glisan did much of anything wrong in his duties as Enron's treasurer. But he did use bad judgment in getting drawn into one of Fastow's partnership deals in which he made a quick $1 million in mid-2001 on a nominal investment, although even then it remains unclear as to whether Glisan actually knew that he was engaged in any criminal wrongdoing in taking that return on his investment. Nonetheless, later in 2001, a month or so before Enron filed its chapter 11 case, Glisan was ultimately canned as Enron's treasurer because of his failure to disclose that investment in connection Enron's failed merger negotiations with Dynegy, and so he quickly came under the scrutiny of federal investigators who were suspicious about Glisan's $1 million prize.

For over a year and a half after being fired by Enron, Glisan continued to maintain to investigators that he had not engaged in any criminal conduct while at Enron. But soon after being indicted in 2003, Glisan -- who had not made big money at Enron and was not financially capable of mounting a formidable defense to the criminal charges -- copped his deal with the Enron Task Force and began serving his prison sentence.

The rest of the story is not particularly surprising. Glisan was treated roughly during his early days in prison and he quickly began negotiating with the Task Force prosecutors for better accomodations in return for testimony in other Enron-related criminal cases. He ended up being one of the key witnesses in the Nigerian Barge trial, even though he was not directly involved in the transaction. Most of his testimony in that trial was hearsay of alleged statements made by other "co-conspirators" that was admitted as evidence under an exception to the hearsay rule that would have otherwise excluded such testimony. That testimony helped lead to the improper convictions of four former Merrill Lynch executives that were later overturned on appeal (see also here).

Glisan then parleyed his Nigerian Barge work into a transfer to a better prison, where he offered his testimony (which is reviewed here and here) against former Enron executives Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay in return for liberal furloughs from prison to Houston, where he lived at home while working with prosecutors. Although the Lay-Skilling jurors viewed him as an effective prosecution witness, there remain substantial questions whether Glisan was truthful during much of his testimony.

So, what to make of all this? Simple morality plays are easier to write and understand, and certainly easier (and legally safer) to spin on the rubber chicken circuit. The truth in such matters is often far less certain and more difficult to understand, but it's far more likely to prevent the injustices that have been heaped upon the four former Merrill Lynch executives, Jeff Skilling, Ken Lay, Kevin Howard and Chris Calger, just to name a few. As Ellen Podgor comments:

Although not the focus of [the Glisan interview], it is interesting to note that the risk and cost of trial weigh heavily in the decision to plea. Glisan, like Martha Stewart realized the value of "getting it over with," and "moving on." But is that the way the justice system is supposed to work?

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

The next troubled Texas PGA Tour event

The Shell Houston Open recently finished a rather uninspiring 2007 edition of the event. Now, the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in Dallas -- which has also had (earlier post problems brewing) over the past several years -- is looking as if it will have its weakest field in years, although it still appears to be better than the SHO's field. Another PGA Tour event entering the Tiger chasm? The Star-Telegram's Gil LeBreton thinks so:

The message this time, though, seems unmistakable. If the tributes planned for Byron weren’t enough to lure Woods back this year, what makes anyone think that he’ll come back next April? Or the year after?

Or that Tiger Woods will ever play tournament golf again in Texas?

His first and last appearance at Colonial came in 1997. A disappointing final round left Woods steamed and tied for fourth place, and he has never returned.

He played in the Texas Open, a fall tour event in San Antonio, in 1996 and came in third. He has never returned.

Woods has never played in the Shell Houston Open.

The Nelson, however, was supposed to be Woods’ tournament. The tournament where Fergie, the Duchess of York, once came to see Tiger play. From 1997 to 2004, Woods played in the Nelson Championship seven times, shooting a combined 77 under par.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Nifty graphic relating to the Virginia Tech shootings

The New York Times has published this nifty graphic display that provides an excellent overview and explanation of the specific locations of the shootings at Virginia Tech last week. Definitely worth checking out.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

April 22, 2007

Protecting the Metroplex from the evils of poker

This post from late last year reported on the dubious policy of the Dallas Police Department to deploy SWAT teams to bust peaceful poker games. To update that precarious state of affairs, Radley Balko passes along this long email from a fellow who was arrested during one of the raids, even though he was simply chopping veggies for the gamblers to eat. The following is a glimpse of what occurred during the raid:

The raid occurred around 7:40 p.m. I was in the kitchen area which was just inside the front door when suddenly there was loud banging from the door. Within seconds, the room was full of Dallas SWAT officers yelling for everyone to put their hands in the air. Behind the Dallas SWAT team came many more law enforcement officers and several camera crews for the A&E reality show, Dallas SWAT. The camera crew’s chests were clearly marked as “A&E Film Crew.”

Bear in mind that, prior to police entering, the place was virtually quiet. There was the sound of poker chips in the air, but not much else. The players were essentially professionals and working stiffs having fun…there were doctors, lawyers, accountants, and other professionals. There was hardly anything “dangerous” about the place at all. In fact, the cops found no weapons in the facility or on anyone there. The show of force and weaponry brought by the cops was simply outrageous and unjustified, given the circumstances, but, then again, are they enforcing the law or making a TV show?

Read the entire post. Feel safer?

Posted by Tom at 12:01 PM | Comments (0) |

April 21, 2007

How to fix Houston traffic

Both surprisingly and refreshingly, the L.A. Times runs this insightful piece on several experts' proposals to address various Los Angeles area traffic problems. The experts are a level-headed bunch, including Joel Kotkin, James E. Moore, Donald Shoup and Ted Bakalar. Inasmuch as the Houston region shares many of traffic characteristics with the L.A. area, several of the suggestions are equally applicable to local traffic. My favorite is by Kotkin:

What Los Angeles needs is a transit system that better reflects what it is — a sprawling mid-density city. So build the world's easiest-to-use bus system. This network should expand such transit innovations as the MTA's Metro Rapid buses, which run in dedicated lanes, and Rapid Express buses, which make few stops. These systems are far less expensive to build than light rail or a "subway to the sea."

Posted by Tom at 12:01 PM | Comments (2) |

April 20, 2007

An investment market for Charlie Pallilo

My favorite sports talk radio show in Houston is Charlie Pallilo's afternoon show over at 790-AM, but I've always wondered why the quite bright Pallilo isn't off making millions trading bonds or running a hedge fund. Moneyball's Michael Lewis reports in this CondeNast Portfolio article about a market that is right up Pallilo's alley -- investing in professional athletes:

Wall Street is about to launch a new way to trade professional athletes the way you trade stocks. A piece of Tiger, anyone?

When financial historians look back and ask why it took Wall Street so long to create the first public stock market that trades in professional athletes, they will see ours as an age of creative ferment. They’ll see a new, extremely well-financed company in Silicon Valley that, for the moment, sells itself as a fantasy sports site but aims to become, as its co-founder Mike Kerns puts it, “the first real stock market in athletes.” . . . The athlete would sell 20 percent of all future on-field or on-court earnings to a trust, which would, in turn, sell securities to the public. They’ll also single out the birth of the first European hedge fund that runs a multimillion-dollar portfolio of professional soccer players, the value of which rises and falls with the players’ performances.

As a number of smart people seem to have noticed at once, professional athletes have all the traits of successful publicly traded stocks, beginning with enormous speculative interest in them. Americans wager somewhere between $200 billion and $400 billion a year on sports, and between 15 million and 25 million of them play in fantasy leagues—which is to say that a shadow stock market in athletes already exists. That market may not know everything there is to know about the athletes it values, but it probably knows more than New York Stock Exchange investors know about the N.Y.S.E.’s public corporations. “People worry about lack of transparency in sports,” says the leading sports agent. “My newspaper this morning has two and a half pages of business news and 17 pages of sports. The day after the game, you know Peyton Manning’s thumb is hurt. What do you know about the C.E.O. of I.B.M.?”

Let's see now. You will soon be able to place a legal bet on a professional athlete over the Internet, but not on the outcome of a game?

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

The targetor becomes the target

Famed Houston plaintiffs' lawyer John O'Quinn is used to doing the targeting in the lawsuits in which he is involved. But in the bizarre world of litigation swirling around the estate of the late Anna Nicole Smith, O'Quinn has become the target.

Howard K. Stern, a former attorney and companion of Smith, filed the defamation suit on April 13 against O'Quinn in federal district court in the Southern District of Florida. Stern bases his lawsuit on allegedly defamatory statements that O'Quinn made to the media while representing Smith's mother in connection with litigation in Florida and the Bahamas that erupted after Smith's death from a drug overdose earlier this year. Stern is alleging defamation and false light/invasion of privacy causes of action against O'Quinn, taking dead aim at O'Quinn's multi-hundred million dollar net worth. This press release was issued by Stern's lawyer, L. Lin Wood, a lawyer out of of Atlanta.

In the event this one makes it to trial (highly doubtful, in my view), it sounds ready made for Court TV.

Posted by Tom at 4:12 AM | Comments (0) |

What would Miss Manners say?

Take a sick baby and an anxious mother;

Put them in a Ronald McDonald House waiting room in the Texas Medical Center with other patients and their relatives;

Add in that the mother decides to breastfeed the child in the waiting room;

Toss in a somewhat intolerant observor of the breastfeeding who registers a complaint about it, and

Presto!

All hell breaks loose.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

April 19, 2007

The legacy of Charles Whitman

Following on this post from yesterday on the murderous rampage at Virginia Tech on Monday, Gary Lavergne, the director of admissions research at the University of Texas at Austin and one of the foremost experts on Charles Whitman's 1966 sniper attack from the UT Tower, provides this insightful Chronicle of Higher Education op-ed on the legacy of Whitman in relation to this week's attack:

In Sniper in the Tower I concluded, and later the FBI's premier profiler, John Douglas, in his book Anatomy of Motive would agree, that "[Whitman's] actions speak for themselves." Any cause-and-effect theory, whether organic (brain tumor), chemical (amphetamine psychosis), or psychological (military training or child abuse), embracing the idea that Charles Whitman's judgment or free will was impaired, is not consistent with what he did. He carefully planned every move and detail, and he succeeded in doing what he set out to do -- murdering people and getting himself killed in spectacular fashion. The Whitman case taught me that sometimes our zeal to champion causes important to us or to explain the unexplainable and be "enlightened" blinds us to the obvious.

Charles Whitman was a murderer; he killed innocent people. We should not forget that. In Virginia we appear to have a Whitman-like character. It is vitally important for all to remember that there is only one person responsible for what happened in Blacksburg, and that is the man who pulled the trigger. But in Virginia the diversions have already begun. As I write this, less than a half-day since the senseless killing of nearly three dozen innocent people, Web headlines on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC read: "Did Virginia Tech's Response Cost Lives?" "Parents Demand Firing of Virginia Tech President, Police Chief Over Handling," "Students Wonder About Police Response." Ironically, those headlines are juxtaposed with pictures of law-enforcement officers administering medical treatment and hauling wounded students to safety. Next to those pictures are videos of Virginia Tech's president and chief of police, in pain and in the midst of a nightmare, bombarded with sensational questions from irresponsible reporters. [. . .]

Before we identify and learn the lessons of Blacksburg, we must begin with the obvious: More than four dozen innocent people were gunned down by a murderer who is completely responsible for what happened. No one died for lack of text messages or an alarm system. They died of gunshot wounds. While we painfully learn our lessons, we must not treat each other as if we are responsible for the deaths that occurred. We must come together and be respectful and kind. This is not a time for us to torture ourselves or to seek comfort by finding someone to blame. Maybe as a result of the tragedy we will figure out how to more effectively use e-mail and text messages as emergency tools for warning large populations. We may come up with a plan that successfully clears a large area, with a population density of a midsize city, in less than two hours. Maybe universities will find a way to install surveillance cameras and convince students and faculty members that they are being monitored for their own safety and not for gathering domestic intelligence. All of those steps might be helpful in avoiding and reducing the carnage of any future incidents. But as long as we value living in a free society, we will be vulnerable to those who do harm -- because they want to and know how to do it.

Read the entire piece. Plus, check out Larry Ribstein's observations on the effect that over-regulation may had on the tragedy.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

Joey Crawford and corporate governance

Only Professor Bainbridge has the special insight to note that NBA referee Joey Crawford's suspension-drawing ejection of the Spurs Tim Duncan in a game last week confirms the core of the Professor's approach to corporate governance -- "Whether on the court or in the board room, the power to review is the power to decide."

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

A common sense proposal regarding DNA evidence

Given the well-chronicled problems with the Harris County Crime Lab's handling of DNA evidence, the proposal made in this Roger Koppl/New York Post op-ed focusing on the misuse of DNA evidence in the Duke lacrosse team case makes a lot of sense:

DNA is no magic bullet of truth when the testers are aligned unambiguously with the prosecution. During the testimony in which it was revealed that [prosecutor Mike] Nifong and [DNA Lab director Brian] Meehan had agreed to hide the DNA evidence, Meehan referred to Nifong as "my client." Instead of serving the truth, Meehan's forensics lab was helping its "client," the prosecutor.

When forensic scientists work exclusively for the prosecution, we should expect errors and abuse. Using post-conviction DNA evidence, the Innocence Project has helped exonerate nearly 200 people wrongly convicted of crimes. A study of the first 86 such cases, published in the journal Science, found faulty forensics played a role in almost two-thirds of those convictions.

The time has come to free forensic science from the pressures of prosecutorial bias. To that end, crime labs should become independent of police and prosecutors, and public defenders should be given greater access to forensic advice and testing. Crime labs should be independent, operating under the supervision of an officer of the court, who would be responsible for assigning forensic evidence to laboratories and ensuring that all crime labs in the system are following proper scientific procedures.

Posted by Tom at 4:04 AM | Comments (0) |

April 18, 2007

Thoughts on the tragedy at Virginia Tech

The New York Times:

Sympathy was not enough at the time of Columbine, and eight years later it is not enough. What is needed, urgently, is stronger controls over the lethal weapons that cause such wasteful carnage and such unbearable loss.

Art DeVany:

The Virginia Tech tragedy reminds me, sadly, of what John Lott said in his article that I posted a few days ago. He said students were sitting ducks because of college gun laws. If only one student had been carrying a gun -- and guys in Blacksburg know how to handle guns -- it might have been very different.

The London Times Online:

The simple truth is that Americans themselves remain unwilling to take drastic measures to restrict gun availability. This is rooted deep in the American belief in individual freedom and a powerful suspicion of government. Americans are deeply leery of efforts by government to restrict the freedom to defend themselves. A sizeable minority, perhaps a majority, believe the risk that criminals will perpetrate events such as yesterday’s is a painful but necessary price to pay to protect that freedom.

William Anderson, commenting on Columbine after the 9/11 attacks, but equally applicable to Virginia Tech:

When the police arrived after hearing reports of a massacre under way inside Columbine High School, they did not storm the building to catch the criminals. Instead, these heavily armed officers, wearing their famous coalscuttle helmets, surrounded the outside of the school, "sealing the perimeter," according to their spokesmen.

Inside the high school, Eric Harris and Dylan Kliebold were running freely through the halls, merrily killing and wounding unarmed teachers and students as they tried to escape. In the end, the police didn’t even have to fire a shot, as the two miscreants ended their own lives. Thus, people were treated to a worthless show of force by the authorities, which did almost nothing to save anyone caught in the building.

David Kopel channels that thought in this WSJ ($) op-ed:

At Virginia Tech's sprawling campus in southwestern Va., the local police arrived at the engineering building a few minutes after the start of the murder spree, and after a few critical minutes, broke through the doors that Cho Seung-Hui had apparently chained shut. From what we know now, Cho committed suicide when he realized he'd soon be confronted by the police. But by then, 30 people had been murdered.

But let's take a step back in time. Last year the Virginia legislature defeated a bill that would have ended the "gun-free zones" in Virginia's public universities. At the time, a Virginia Tech associate vice president praised the General Assembly's action "because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus." In an August 2006 editorial for the Roanoke Times, he declared: "Guns don't belong in classrooms. They never will. Virginia Tech has a very sound policy preventing same."

Actually, Virginia Tech's policy only made the killer safer, for it was only the law-abiding victims, and not the criminal, who were prevented from having guns. Virginia Tech's policy bans all guns on campus (except for police and the university's own security guards); even faculty members are prohibited from keeping guns in their cars.

Peter Gordon:

Few differences are as clarifying as attitudes towards "gun control". (The quotation marks give me away.) (1) Control advocates trust the authorities to protect us -- and to somehow enforce gun control (consider long-standing attempts at heroin control and consider how carefully the DMV screens auto drivers); and (2) Gun control advocates cannot distinguish between the gun and the owner. Mere access makes us all equally dangerous. I have problems with both thought patterns.

And even amidst the terrible carnage, courage and humanity still shine:

A 76-year-old Jewish-Romanian lecturer was hailed a hero after blocking his classroom door long enough for many of his students to escape the Virginia Tech gunman, before being shot dead.

Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor, pressed himself against the door of the classroom while shots were fired in the corridor and surrounding rooms. He stood firm, attempting to barricade the door, while his students clambered out of the windows.

The last person to see Professor Liviu Librescu alive appears to have been Alec Calhoun, a student at Virginia Tech who turned as he prepared to leap from a high classroom window to see the elderly academic holding shut the classroom door. The student jumped, and lived. Minutes later, the professor was shot dead.

There is no meaningful distinction between one relative’s grief and another’s sorrow as the bereaved converge on Blacksburg from as near as Roanoke and as far as India. But it is worth reflecting on the significance of Professor Librescu’s life of quiet heroism, which encompassed the Holocaust, a career of internationally admired teaching and research, and a final act of sacrifice that saved at least nine other lives.

The son of Romanian Jewish parents, he was sent to a Soviet labour camp as a boy after his father was deported by the Nazis. He was repatriated to communist Romania only to be forced out of academia there for his Israeli sympathies. A personal intervention by Menachem Begin enabled him to emigrate with his wife to Israel, from where he visited the US on a sabbatical in 1986, and chose to stay. The appalling ironies of his murder by a crazed student after a life of such fortitude and generosity will not be lost on anyone who hears his story.

Yet neither should those who mourn him forget the role that America played in his life. As for so many other survivors of the mid-20th century’s genocidal convulsions, the US was for this inspiring teacher both a beacon of hope and a welcoming new home. Founded on the idea of liberty, it also made, for him, a reality of that idea. Let those he saved now make the most of it.

Update: The NY Times has more on Professor Librescu here.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

This is a meltdown?

What was that about a meltdown in the subprime mortgage market?

This Bloomberg article reports that Fremont General has agreed to sell $2.9 billion of subprime mortgages at a net loss of $100 million. That deal comes on top of another one in which Fremont discounted $4 billion of subprime loans by $140 million. That computes to a loss of 3.5%. Nobody likes to lose money, but that simply is not the type of loss that is going to shatter a reasonably fluid bond market. Perhaps as a result, Fremont shares were trading briskly and enjoyed big gains yesterday.

I wonder what Gretchen will say about that?

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Business is good in one mega-church pulpit

Houston has several of the nation's largest churches and business is quite good in at least one of them:

The next book from megaselling pastor Joel Osteen—Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life—will have a first printing of three million and a one-day laydown on October 15. . . . The Osteen first printing is believed to be the highest for a hardcover book in S&S history, said spokesperson Adam Rothberg.

Osteen made big news last year ("Osteen Heads to Free Press," PW Daily, Mar. 15, 2006) when he jumped the Warner ship for Simon & Schuster for a deal worth some $13 million, according to informed sources, though S&S denied that figure. Osteen's first book, Your Best Life Now, was published by Warner Faith (now Hachette's FaithWords division) in 2004 and has sold more than four million copies to date, with a constant presence on the bestsellers lists.

S&S will publish Become a Better You simultaneously in Spanish-language and audio editions.

Posted by Tom at 4:03 AM | Comments (0) |

April 17, 2007

"Somebody was guilty because they were guilty"

Mary Flood, the Houston Chronicle's lead reporter on the criminal trial of former Enron executives Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay, reports that some of the former Lay-Skilling jurors are now hitting the rubber-chicken circuit:

Deliberating the fate of Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay last year was "horribly confusing" and very intense, juror Jill Ford told a group of appellate lawyers at a dinner Thursday night.

Ford, juror Dana Fernandez and alternate jurors Gary Creakbaum, Amanda Perry and Kristine Statham answered after-dinner questions from the inquisitive lawyers at the Four Seasons Hotel. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, who oversaw the trial, was also in attendance.

Some of the juror observations that Flood reports are quite telling. One of the jurors confirmed that the real presumption in the case was not that of innocence and that Skilling and Lay never really had a chance:

Ford, who was 24 when the jury deliberated last May, said she learned that Diet Coke could keep her awake in the morning and that she took things very seriously. "I felt it was important that somebody was guilty because they were guilty . . . not because we needed somebody to blame," she said.

Flood goes on to report that the jurors thought that former Enron treasurer Ben Glisan (here, here and here) and former investor relations chief Mark Koenig (here and here) were the most damaging witnesses to Skilling and Lay, and that none of them believed Skilling or Lay's testimony, although they all agreed that both of the former executives had to testify under the circumstances. Given the 25 year sentence that Skilling received, one shudders to think what basis the jury would have given Judge Sim Lake to sentence him had he not testified.

Of course, in a trial of such complexity, Skilling's testimony regarding his underdisclosed investment in his former girlfriend's fledgling company named Photofete was a key issue for at least two jurors. And apparently no one cared to ask the jurors what they thought about the fact that the Enron Task Force prevented them from hearing from dozens of witnesses who would have provided exculpatory testimony for Skilling and Lay.

This post outlines the case and evidence that was presented at trial against Skilling, and this one does the same for the case against Lay. But it all still boiled down to Photofete. So it goes in the wacky world of regulating business through the blunt object of the criminal justice system.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (4) |

But what about the Apple Rule?

So, one of the two Wall Street Journal Pulitzer Prizes this year is for the WSJ's reporting on the backdating of options scandal that has snared hundreds of companies and executives over the past year. Frankly, I've been more impressed with the WSJ's Holman Jenkins' writing ($) exposing how the media largely made a mountain out of a molehill in regard to the backdating mess (John Carney over at DealBreaker comments along the same line).

So, my question is this -- if the WSJ backdating series merits a Pulitzer, then what award does the even more insightful series of blog posts that developed the Apple Rule deserve?

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (1) |

Piling on Lidge, but what about Biggio?

Now even the SportsPickle is getting into the act of making fun of embattled Stros reliever, Brad Lidge:

Brad Lidge confident he can help Astros lose in the eighth inning just as much as in the ninth

Although he has been demoted from closer to a setup role, Astros reliever Brad Lidge says he believes he can contribute just as much to team in the middle innings as he can in the ninth inning.

“I’m going to keep going out there, and doing what I do – throwing the ball as hard as I can right down the middle of the plate,” said Lidge. “Whether that’s in the sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth inning, it’s no matter. The batter is going to have to put his bat on it. And if he does, good for him. It’s a guaranteed home run.”

Even though he is disappointed to lose his closer’s role, Lidge admits he may serve the team better as a setup man.

“Seeing me come in for the seventh or eighth inning will be motivating for the team,” said Lidge. “They’ll know that they still have one or two at-bats to come back from the deficit I put them in. Whereas when I gave up walkoff homers as a closer, they never had a chance to come back. Having me available at any point in the game will ensure the team never gets lackadaisical.”

Lidge is an easy target these days, but there are plenty of other Stros who aren't exactly lighting up the scoreboard in the season's early days. For example, through 11 games, Stros icon and lead off man Craig Biggio has an RCAA of -3, an on-base average of .240 and an OPS (OBA + slugging percentage) of .620, he has not yet drawn a walk in 50 plate appearances, has scored only 5 runs and has struck out 10 times while grounding into 2 double plays.

Granted, it's still early in the season. But coming off his least productive season in 2006, Bidg has no business leading off for a Major League Baseball team at this point in his career. Although maybe good for the box office, it's looking as if the Stros are going to be paying dearly on the field as a result of indulging Bidg's quest for 3,000 hits.

Posted by Tom at 4:06 AM | Comments (2) |

April 16, 2007

Stockman's story

Former Reagan Administration budget chief David Stockman is fighting to stay out of prison for the rest of his life as a result of a federal indictment over his stewardship of the defunct auto parts supplier Collins & Aikman. Stockman is essentially taking the same defense approach as former Enron executives Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay, which cannot be particularly comforting for Stockman. Although the entire Landon Thomas-authored profile of Stockman is interesting, the rendition of how Stockman's professional life cratered has to be daunting for any businessperson engaged in taking big risks:

Rumors had begun to spread that Collins & Aikman was experiencing a liquidity crisis. On March 17 [2005], Mr. Stockman presented preliminary year-end results to investors. Badgered on the call by analysts about the firm’s cash position, Mr. Stockman did his best to stay upbeat, while also laying out the challenges ahead.

On May 9, Mr. Stockman made a last bid to save his company, securing, he says, a promise from Chrysler, Collins & Aikman’s largest customer, to give the company better pricing. Mr. Stockman was ecstatic.

However, on that very afternoon, Mr. Stockman got a call from Dennis E. Glazer, a partner at Davis Polk. The law firm was now questioning whether Mr. Stockman gave overly optimistic forecasts during the March conference call.

Mr. Stockman defended himself, saying that he had provided sufficient caveats. But Mr. Glazer was not convinced. In its indictment, the government would charge that Mr. Stockman drafted the materials and made “at least three material misstatements or omissions.”

Late the next night, Mr. Stockman received a call in his Troy, Mich., hotel room from Daniel P. Tredwell, his partner at Heartland. The board would ask for his resignation the next day. Mr. Stockman could not believe it. “The audit committee had taken over the company and delegated authority to a lawyer from New York wearing suspenders,” he says now. That night, he would add a third Klonopin anti-anxiety pill to the two he was taking each night to bring on sleep quickly.

Mr. Glazer declined to comment on the case, citing confidentiality.

The next day the board demanded his resignation.

“Leave your office now and don’t take anything with you,” Mr. Stockman recalled Mr. Glazer as saying.

It had happened so quickly that he could not even call a lawyer.

“I was in shock,” he said. “I had been with the company for 14 years — I mean I had put this whole thing together. I had put these guys on the board, invested the money, owned the shares and they stabbed me in the back. It was like a Stalinist show trial.”

A week later, on May 17, Collins & Aikman filed for bankruptcy.

Have we now come to the point where a chief executive officer of a financially-troubled publicly-owned company cannot speak optimistically of the company's prospects for pulling out of a tailspin because of the risk of a criminal indictment if the company cannot pull it off?

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (4) |

Texas parole shenanigans

Don't miss this Chuck Lindell/Austin American Statesman that reports on the bizarre case of Jimmy Lee Page, a man who was acquitted of murder twenty years ago, but was never released from prison:

Now 52, Page is in prison today because state officials revoked his parole — trumping the jury’s verdict with their own finding of guilt. It’s a common practice. Last year, 91 Texas parolees were returned to prison after being charged with a new crime, even though the charges against them were later dropped or they were acquitted in court.

Bound by looser rules than a court of law, parole officials reached their verdict on Page after hearing testimony from only one witness, a police detective who declares Page is “guilty as homemade sin.” In the years since, he was denied parole a dozen times, most recently in early 2006.

Page is certainly no saint. He was convicted of murder in 1975 and sentenced to life in prison, but he was paroled on that conviction after eleven years. Maybe he still ought to be serving time for that murder. However, he is serving time for a crime for which he was acquitted. That's wrong.

Lindell goes on to address the lax parole hearing process, noting that the system gives undertrained and unprepared people mere moments to look at a case before making a decision and moving on to the next one. In such an environment, maintaining the status quo becomes the most convenient outcome. Constitutional guarantees such as due process, confrontation of witnesses, and a reasonably competent defense are mere afterthoughts.

This looks to me like a process that is ripe for a Constitutional challenge.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

More costs of the new Prohibition

These earlier posts discuss the high cost of the government's prohibition of internet gambling, but this Sallie James/TCS Daily op-ed reports that those costs are about ready to go up another level entirely:

On March 30, a World Trade Organization tribunal handed down a potentially significant finding against U.S. restrictions on internet gambling.

The panel was set up at the request of Antigua and Barbuda, who complained that the United States had not complied with the WTO's earlier decision that it must change the way it regulates gambling over the internet. The previous ruling, in April 2005, found that while the United States was within its rights to restrict the import of goods and services on "public morals" grounds, as it had argued in its defense, those rules must be applied in a non-discriminatory manner. If the United States finds online gambling offensive, it must be consistent in its restrictions and apply them equally to domestic and foreign providers.

And therein lies the rub: the United States allows interstate online betting on horseracing. The United States had also agreed during the Uruguay Round to open its markets to foreign suppliers of gambling and betting services, although the United States Trade Representative (through a spokesman) claimed in 2004 that the previous administration "clearly intended to exclude gambling from U.S. service commitments" when they signed the deal. Both of those inconsistencies lost it the original case.

The United States Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in October 2006, ostensibly to bring its laws into conformity with the April 2005 ruling. But the compliance panel ruled that the United States has taken no satisfactory remedial action that would bring its laws into conformity with its previously-established obligations. Moreover, it appears that the United States applies its laws in a discriminatory manner, by prosecuting foreign gambling entities more than it does U.S. gaming firms. Game, set and match: Antigua and Barbuda.

Frankly, the WTO decision sounds about right to me.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (0) |

April 15, 2007

This is the high road?

What was that about David Carr taking the high road about his divorce from the Texans? Check out the following remarks from this ESPN.com article:

As the losses and sacks kept piling up, football stopped being fun for David Carr. [. . .]

Now with Carolina Panthers, Carr is smiling again -- even though he will be a backup for the first time.

"I've been on an expansion team and it's not fun. ... I've been on teams that aren't winning and it wasn't exciting. Football is a hard enough game when you go out there and you're battling everything and you go out and lose it makes it hard."

"You get to a point where you're in survival mode, which is hard for me,'' Carr said Friday, a week after agreeing on a two-year, $6.2 million deal to be the Panthers' No. 2 QB behind Jake Delhomme.

"Honestly in the last five years we haven't had much spark. If we were stuck in the forest it would be hard to light a fire with what we had going on.''

Carr expressed some resentment Friday toward the Houston Texans, who released him last month after they acquired Matt Schaub in a trade with Atlanta. Schaub was then quickly anointed the starter.

Carr may have had chances to start elsewhere -- he visited Oakland -- but chose Carolina because he wanted to play for a team that has a chance to win.

"I've been on an expansion team and it's not fun,'' Carr said of being the first pick by the Texans. "I've been on teams that aren't winning and it wasn't exciting. Football is a hard enough game when you go out there and you're battling everything and you go out and lose it makes it hard. I wanted to be on a team that was fun and exciting and whether I had a chance to play right away, it didn't matter to me.''

Carr also made it clear he wanted to play for a team with an established offensive line. Carr completed 60 percent of his passes with the Texans, including a career-high 68 percent last season. But Carr also 65 interceptions over five seasons as he faced nearly constant pressure.

So it wasn't surprising Carr quickly sought out members of Carolina's line. Tackle Jordan Gross was one of the first Panthers he met.

"If I learned anything in the last five years, that's where football games are won and lost,'' Carr said. [. . .]

It's believed the 6-foot-3 Carr, who won't turn 28 until July, could blossom when he has time to throw. With Delhomme and the Panthers coming off a disappointing 8-8 season, it's been suggested Carr could quickly challenge for the No. 1 job. [. . .]

Carr also insisted Friday he's content as a backup -- and ready take a break from running away from defensive linemen.

"I need to take a deep breath and be around a good environment and just start enjoying the game again,'' Carr said. "In the last week or two, it's brought back a lot of excitement that I had when I was younger." [. . .]

Carr said he's returning to Charlotte Monday with his wife, and will take part in the team's offseason conditioning program, while pouring over the playbook.

"It's funny, the day I was signed by Carolina, I was throwing balls the next day. I've never done that before,'' Carr said. "I was out there throwing a ball for two or three hours and I couldn't really explain it except I was excited to get a new opportunity and a chance to show what I can do.''

H'mm. I wonder what Carr's former offensive line teammates would say about his poor pocket presence, defective throwing motion, inability to pick up secondary receivers and dubious leadership qualities? I guess none of that contributed to the Texans' poor performance over the past five seasons.

Posted by Tom at 4:47 AM | Comments (1) |

April 14, 2007

Good rhubarbs

Stros manager Phil Garner was ejected in the Stros' win last night over the Phillies as home plate umpire Greg Gibson was putting the squeeze on Roy O, who gave up a career-high six walks and balked in a run. After Oswalt balked in the run, Garner had had enough and chewed out Gibson pretty well. Maybe it worked because a line of Stros pitchers (including Brad Lidge) held the Phils without any runs the rest of the way.

But Garner's rhubarb with Gibson was rather tame in comparison to those that the late Billy Martin used to engage in with various umpires during his rough and tumble career of managing the Twins, Yankees, A's and Rangers. Martin's hair trigger temper led the Oakland A's to feature him in the clever commercial below to sell tickets for the club's opening home game of the 1981 season. Martin had much to be content about that season as A's started out 8-0 on their way to an early-season record of 20-3. They went on to win their division in that strike-shortened split season before losing to the Yankees in the ALCS. Enjoy.

Posted by Tom at 4:47 AM | Comments (0) |

April 13, 2007

Another Zach attack

Has anyone had as much fun in America this week as newly-crowned Master's champion, Zach Johnson?

Johnson appeared on Letterman earlier in the week and recited the Top Ten list, which was entitled "The Top Ten things that I can now say that I've won the Master's." Both Johnson and Letterman are clearly having a good time. My favorite is no. 6: "Even I've never heard of me."

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (0) |

Does Zell understand what he is getting into?

I'm a bit tardy in catching up on Sam Zell's deal for the Chicago Tribune, which Clear Thinkers favorites the WSJ's Holman Jenkins ($) and Larry Ribstein have already analyzed with their usual sharp insight. As Jenkins and Professor Ribstein both note, the deal is potentially quite sweet for Zell and, of course, the sale of the Cubs will be a reasonably lucrative sideshow. However, the structure of the deal is that the Tribune employees will be the main owners of newspaper while Zell will control it. So, it's pretty important to the employee-owners that Zell knows what he is doing in the quickly-changing media business. Based on Zell's comments in this Washington Post article, my sense is that Tribune employees have much to be worried about:

It's time for newspapers to stop giving away their stories to popular search engines such as Google, according to Samuel Zell, the real estate magnate whose bid for Tribune Co. was accepted this week.

In conversations before and after a speech Zell delivered Thursday night at Stanford Law School in Palo Alto, Calif., the billionaire said newspapers could not economically sustain the practice of allowing their articles, photos and other content to be used free by other Internet news aggregators.

"If all of the newspapers in America did not allow Google to steal their content, how profitable would Google be?" Zell said during the question period after his speech. "Not very."

Newspapers have allowed Google to use their articles in exchange for a small cut of advertising revenue, but search engines also help to distribute their content to wider online audiences.

My goodness, what on earth is this all about? First, I don't know much about Google News' business model, but I'm pretty sure that it does not involve giving newspapers a cut of ad revenue. The reason I know this? Because I use Google News frequently and I haven't noticed any advertising. Likewise, Google doesn't steal media content. Rather, it simply indexes the content. Does Zell not understand the difference?

Zell is a smart guy with a track record of success in his ventures. But Zell's comments indicate that he does not yet appreciate how people find information on the Internet, which is a pretty darn important thing to understand if you are going to run a company that produces a tiny bit of that sea of information. If Zell wants to make money with the Tribune online, then my sense is that he better make friends with Google, not threaten it.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

The Imus affair

I have avoided the entire Don Imus flap until now, probably because I abhor the type of "entertainment" that Imus provides. Nevertheless, CBS's decision to fire Imus surprised me, particularly given that Imus' brusque behavior hasn’t prevented from being invited to speak at the National Association of Broadcasters’ dinner or from having a line of politicians, media types and other seemingly important people ready and willing to appear on his show. Is anyone really surprised that he insulted the Rutgers women's basketball team? The hypocrisy of some of Imus' former supporters who called for his scalp is worse than Imus' insult.

My sense is that CBS must have had a valid business reason to do this apart from punishing Imus for the insult. Otherwise, the decision would appear to be an overreaction. Given the nature of Imus' program and his past behavior that CBS willingly indulged, I can't imagine that CBS had grounds to fire Imus for cause, so CBS is presumably on the hook for the balance of Imus' contract. And if Imus wants to work and compete with CBS, it's not as if he is going to have to look hard for a new job. Satellite radio would appear to be ready made for him.

By the way, Jason Whitlock, a bright sports columnist for the Kansas City Star who happens to be a black man, has some interesting thoughts on the Imus affair, as does Radley Balko.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (1) |

April 12, 2007

Kurt Vonnegut, R.I.P.

Novelist Kurt Vonnegut, the author of fourteen novels including “Slaughterhouse-Five” and “Cat’s Cradle,” died last night in Manhattan at the age of 84 after suffering irreversible brain injuries as a result of a fall several weeks ago.

Vonnegut has always interested me, probably because he rented a house in Iowa City one summer back in the 1960's next to my big family's home on Brown Street while he was teaching at the University of Iowa's heralded Writer's Workshop. Vonnegut kept to himself mostly, although my brothers, friends and I would occasionally see him watching us play baseball and football in a big open field that adjoined the house he rented. This was around the time he was probably working on "Slaughterhouse Five" (my favorite), which may explain why my friends and I noticed one day a rather extensive array of empty liquor bottles teeming from the trash cans in the back yard of Vonnegut's house. Chivas Regal was Vonnegut's preferred brand at the time. May his restless and somewhat tormented soul rest in peace.

Posted by Tom at 6:17 AM | Comments (0) |

Barney Frank is a credit snob

Remember awhile back when Barney Frank was actually making some sense in regard to a business matter?

Well, as that post noted, that didn't last long. Rep. Frank is now advocating that investors in mortgage-backed securities should be liable for the underlying subprime loans that those securities facilitated because the investors violated the "loaned too much money" rule:

"More money was being lent than should have been lent,'' Frank said in an interview from Washington. Frank, who last month predicted that the House would approve such a bill this year, said growth in the market for mortgage bonds "provided liquidity without responsibility." [. . . ]

Lenders this decade have increasingly relied on mortgage-backed securities to fund new loans rather than tap capital from federally insured bank deposits. Frank called the process flawed, saying that as a subprime financing mechanism, banks' exposure to the risk of default is excessively diluted.

By dispersing risk, the bonds fueled reckless and unscrupulous lending and compromised underwriting standards, he said. "There should be a decrease" in the money available for subprime mortgages, he said.

H'mm, the markets have already caused a dramatic decrease in the money available for subprime mortgages (without new legislation, mind you). Underwriting standards have tightened and the lenders with poor controls are already being washed out of the market. Investors who could affort to do so poured too much money into the subprime mortgage market, those investors got burned, and now the market has adjusted. But after too much money was poured into that market, just how little money does Rep. Frank want to have available in the future for people who cannot qualify for a conventional mortgage?

Rep. Frank's proposal to penalize bondholders reflects that he doesn't understand what has happened or simply doesn't care because of political considerations. The growth of mortgage-backed securities has made the U.S. mortgage market the most efficient and productive mortgage market in the world. Rep. Frank wants to harm that market. Go figure.

Posted by Tom at 4:30 AM | Comments (1) |

Good training for taxi drivers

The Lives of Others is a masterful Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck film about the Stasi, the East German secret police force, during the final days of the Communist government. I highly recommend that you see it if you have the chance.

This Roger Boyes/Times article about the movie passes along Alex Latotzky's clever observation, which you will understand perfectly once you see the movie:

"Some ex-Stasi became taxi drivers, and very good ones, too; you just had to give your name and they knew the address."

Posted by Tom at 4:14 AM | Comments (0) |

To Buy or Rent, that is the question

Whether to buy or rent is not always an easy decision, so I've been meaning to pass along this nifty NY Times calculator that provides you with a quick and easy calculation whether competing buy or rent offers make sense. This related David Leonhardt article that addresses a number of the issues, including the following observation:

Clearly, there are benefits to owning a house beyond the financial, like the comfort of knowing you can stay as long as you want or can fix the roof without permission. But real estate has been sold as more than a good way to spend money. It has been sold as a can’t-miss investment. Back in 2005, near the peak of the market, the chief economist of the Realtors’ association, David Lereah, published a book called “Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?” The can’t-miss argument was wrong then, and it may still be wrong today.

Check it out. Felix Salmon provides further analysis.

Posted by Tom at 4:05 AM | Comments (1) |

April 11, 2007

All about Zach

Please excuse the all-sports day here today, but newly-crowned Master's champion Zach Johnson has seemingly been everywhere over the past couple of days and he is proving to be a refreshingly normal fellow amidst all the attention. Here is the Damon Hack/NY Times profile, but this Joe Posnanski/Kansas City Star profile captures how Johnson's Midwestern roots define the man. And if you are really into Johnson, check out the Des Moines Register's wall-to-wall coverage of Johnson's Masters victory and the aftermath.

Meanwhile, Geoff Shackelford passes along the following interesting thoughts about the mindset of those who enjoy watching professional golfers struggle on tricked-up courses:

On the news that ratings were actually up for this hardly satisfying 2007 Masters, I've heard from a number of people that they argued with friends over the weekend about the setup and the joys of watching great players suffer.

There is a sizeable audience of the viewing public that enjoys watching the best players struggle. They like seeing them humiliated and brought down to a lower level of skill.

"They know how I feel now."

This mentality has been around a long time and many of the games lesser-informed writers have celebrated the notion of pro golfers serving as modern day gladiators served up for the people to devour in humiliating spectacles.

So I'm wondering if championship golf is going to go the way of everything else in our society. Will it have to become "relatable" (as the marketing folks like to say) for big-time golf to succeed? In other words, will professional golfers eventually serve at the pleasure of the people, with major events played to publicly humiliate millionaire golfers on overcooked layouts in order to make the average man feel better about his lousy game?

Personally, I find it to be an incredibly selfish way to view golf. It's a lot more fun to see the talent of these great players exposed, celebrated and savored. But maybe that's old school?

By the way, a number of folks have asked me about my observation in an earlier post that Zach is a classic one-plane swinger along the lines that Houston-based teaching professional Jim Hardy (see also here) has written extensively about over the past several years. Here is a short video clip of Johnson working with his teaching pro, Mike Bender:

Finally, in case you didn't catch it on Sunday, make sure you catch the video below of Rory Sabbatini's incredible putt on Augusta National's 8th hole. Sabbatini -- who has been a jerk at times while on the Tour -- has a fun-loving response to the crowd's reaction:

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Falling back on spring football

It's been a tough past few days for Texas A&M faithful, what with losing their up-and-coming basketball coach to Kentucky and all. But at least the Ags have hired former Wichita State head coach Mark Turgeon as their new basketball coach and they have their true second favorite sport (behind football) -- spring football practice -- to fall back on. With the annual Maroon & White intrasquad game coming up this weekend, a friend passed along the following progression of how a typical Aggie football fan sizes up the upcoming football season as the off-season progresses toward the first game in the fall:

In December, immediately after the conclusion of the last game of the prior season: "We are full of more holes than a block of swiss cheese. In all likelihood, we win 5 games next season."

In March: "Well, we signed a solid class with some kids that can contribute. Add in the guys that redshirted and we'll surprise some folks next year. Pencil at least 7 in the win column for 2004."

In May: "Spring practices went well, and after seeing our squad in action at the Maroon & White Game, we've come a long way since the end of last year. I think 9 wins is do-able."

In August: "Everyone really hit the weightroom hard this summer, and the team stayed polished with the voluntary workouts on the practice fields. We are much bigger and faster across the board, and reports from two-a-days are very, very positive. A BCS bowl game is within this team's grasp."

After first game: "Wow, Wyoming will probably win 10 games this year. That was a close one."

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

Arriving in New York

The Stros seem to be steadying a bit after a horrendous 1-5 start, but if you think the hometown team's start has been bad, get a load of what happened on Monday to Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins.

Over this past off-season, Rollins provided New York and Philadelphia sports columnists a season full of material by declaring that the Phillies -- who finished a mere 12 games behind the Mets last season in the NL East -- were the team to beat this season in the division.

The two teams met on Monday for the Mets' home owner, during which Rollins proceeded to hit into a double play with the bases loaded, booted a potential double-play grounder with the bases loaded, and wound up with 56,000 Met fans mockingly chanting his name. The Mets came from behind to pound the Phillies, 11-5 and are off to a 5-2 start. The Phils are 1-6. Philly sports columnist Bob Ford puts it all in perspective:

"If you haven't really arrived until they notice you in New York, then Jimmy Rollins made his official major-league debut yesterday. 'Jim-my Roll-ins, Jim-my Roll-ins,' came the mocking singsong from the stands at Shea Stadium. The fans added a verb occasionally, just for effect, but it wasn't all that necessary. Fifty thousand people chanting your name is testament enough."

Posted by Tom at 4:01 AM | Comments (0) |

April 10, 2007

The Tiger chasm defined

The television numbers are in on the just-completed Masters Golf Tournament. CBS Sports’ coverage of the tournament on Easter Sunday earned an average overnight household rating/share of 9.1/21 (meaning that 9.1% of households on average were tuned in at any given moment and 21% of all televisions in use at the time were tuned into the Masters). This year’s final-round rating/share was up 1% from last year’s 9.0/19 when Phil Mickelson won his second Masters title and it was also up 25% from the last time the final round was played on Easter Sunday (7.3/18), when Mickelson won his first green jacket and first career major title in the 2004 event.

Meanwhile, the Shell Houston Open, which was played just a week ago, had a 1.7 share for its NBC telecast on Sunday compared with 2.2 share for the SHO's May date last year on CBS. Even the BellSouth Classic -- the tournament that that the SHO replaced this season on the PGA Tour calendar -- was able to generate a 2.5 share on Sunday last year.

So much for the thought that the SHO's new date a week before the Masters would increase viewership of the tournament. The Shell Houston Open has now officially entered the Tiger chasm.

Posted by Tom at 4:50 AM | Comments (2) |

Speedy treatment of heart attacks

This Gina Kolada/NY Times article examines one of the most underappreciated aspects of treating heart attack victims -- the importance of speedy treatment:

Studies reveal, for example, that people have only about an hour to get their arteries open during a heart attack if they are to avoid permanent heart damage. Yet, recent surveys find, fewer than 10 percent get to a hospital that fast, sometimes because they are reluctant to acknowledge what is happening. And most who reach the hospital quickly do not receive the optimal treatment — many American hospitals are not fully equipped to provide it . . . [. . .]

What few patients realize . . . is that a serious heart attack is as much of an emergency as being shot.

“We deal with it as if it is a gunshot wound to the heart,” Dr. [Elliott] Antman [director of the coronary care unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital] said.

Cardiologists call it the golden hour, that window of time when they have a chance to save most of the heart muscle when an artery is blocked.

But that urgency, cardiologists say, has been one of the most difficult messages to get across, in part because people often deny or fail to appreciate the symptoms of a heart attack. The popular image of a heart attack is all wrong. [. . .]

[M]ost people — often hoping it is not a heart attack, wondering if their symptoms will fade, not wanting to be alarmist — hesitate far too long before calling for help.

“The single biggest delay is from the onset of symptoms and calling 911,” said Dr. Bernard Gersh, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic. “The average time is 111 minutes, and it hasn’t changed in 10 years.”

Read the entire article, which is a good overview of the early warning signs to look for in diagnosing a heart attack. Heck, even this cool customer is at elevated risk of having one.

Posted by Tom at 4:36 AM | Comments (0) |

Washington's biggest business

The Washington Post has just concluded this 27 installment series over the past couple of months on lobbying in Washington, D.C. Although not particularly analytical in terms of evaluating the costs and benefits of lobbying, the series is well worth reading as a thorough review of the enormous growth of the business over the past generation. The following is from the final installment:

As the reach of the federal government extended into more corners of American life, opportunities for lobbyists proliferated. . . Over these three decades the amount of money spent on Washington lobbying increased from tens of millions to billions a year. The number of free-lance lobbyists offering services to paying clients has grown from scores to thousands. [Lobbyist Gerald S.J.] Cassidy was one of the first to become a millionaire by lobbying; he now has plenty of company.

The term "lobbyist" does not do full justice to the complex status of today's most successful practitioners, who can play the roles of influence peddlers, campaign contributors and fundraisers, political advisers, restaurateurs, benefactors of local cultural and charitable institutions, country gentlemen and more. They have helped make greater Washington one of the wealthiest regions in America.

The entire series is here.

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

April 9, 2007

Zach Johnson wins The Masters

It's not every day that a fellow born in my hometown of Iowa City and raised in Eastern Iowa wins a professional golf tournament, much less the the Masters Golf Tournament. But Zach Johnson pulled it off in dramatic fashion on Sunday, holding up wonderfully under the enormous pressure of a draconian Augusta National Golf Course and the challenges of several other contenders, including Tiger Woods, who has now played nine consecutive rounds at The Masters without shooting in the 60's.

Despite Johnson's splendid play, the Guardian's Lawrence Donegan summed up the view of most toward the changes that have been made at Augusta National:

The stunning climax came after three days peppered with double bogeys and broken spirits. Fortunately, the gentlemen in green blazers remembered their tournament has earned its place in folklore because it has long been a byword for excitement. But there are precious few thrills to be mined from the sight of the world's best players fearfully plotting their way round the course as if walking to their own funeral party.

So when play began yesterday morning it quickly became clear everything possible had been done to bring the scoring down. Tees had been pushed forward, the greens had been heavily watered and the pin positions were about as friendly as a Labrador puppy. The overnight changes had the desired effect. For the first time all week cheers echoed along the alleyways and canyons of Alister Mackenzie's classic links.

By the way, Johnson uses a pure one-plane swing, much like Ben Hogan's classic swing that defined quality ball-striking in the modern era of golf. Thus, as with last year's U.S. Open, the player with the purest one-plane swing held up the best under the intense pressure of the final round of The Masters. As usual, there is a Houston connection to the understanding and teaching of that swing.

Posted by Tom at 4:45 AM | Comments (0) |

The real presumption in the Conrad Black trial

As I noted many times in regard to the criminal trial against former Enron executives Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay, the real presumption in the case was not the usual presumption that the defendants were innocent until proven guilty. Rather, the real presumption in the trial was that Skilling and Lay were rich, Enron went bust and investors had big losses, so Skilling and Lay must be guilty of some crime.

Well, Mark Steyn is noticing the same dynamic in his most recent blog post on the criminal trial of Conrad Black:

A lot of my chums on the media benches remain convinced Conrad Black is guilty of something. It’s just that, with every day the prosecution presents its case, it’s getting harder and harder to say of what. Mr Sussman, the boyish charmer on the government side, dutifully refers to the defendants as “co-conspirators”, but for a good conspiracy you have to have someone to conspire against. And, with each prosecution witness, it seems clearer that just about everybody was in on this conspiracy. . . .

As is crushingly obvious, almost everyone connected with these non-competes in any way approved them, disclosed them, filed the paperwork in triplicate. Either everyone is guilty or no one is, but arguing that only these four should swing for it is becoming increasingly absurd.

Which is one of the key reasons why such a case should be in the civil justice system, which is better equipped than the criminal justice system to allocate liability among multiple defendants. Steyn also notes the perverse effect that the adoption of widespread plea bargaining in the criminal justice system generally has on white collar criminal cases in particular, a point that was noted earlier here. Finally, that conspiracy in the Black trial sure sounds a lot like the ephemeral one involved in the Lay-Skilling case.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) |

Wolfowitz at the World Bank

This New Yorker profile provides some interesting information on influential neo-con and World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz and also on the work of the World Bank, which is not well-understood generally. Definitely recommended reading.

By the way, did you know that Wolfowitz taught himself Arabic in the 1980's while working at the State Department, and that he also speaks French, German, Hebrew, and Indonesian?

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (0) |

April 8, 2007

"Turning a masterpiece into a brute"

It's the always-anticipated day of the final round of The Master's Golf Tournament, not everyone is sanguine about the fact that Stuart Appleby's one-over-par 73 on Saturday allowed him to take a one-shot lead over Tiger Woods and Justin Rose at two-over par 218, which is the third-highest round lead in the history of the Masters. The Guardian's Lawrence Donegan characterized the conditions on Friday in a fitting manner:

"As sporting drama goes, this was a bit like Laurence Olivier being acted off the stage by the grave diggers."

The description was equally applicable to Saturday as the golfers struggled to make pars, much less the birdies and eagles that have made the Masters such an exciting tournament over the years. Donegan goes on to describe the renovated course, which another sage called "a golfing Zimbabwe" earlier in the week:

There is no disguising the fact that radical changes to Augusta in recent times, coupled with the bone hard conditions of this week, have turned Alister Mackenzie's ageless masterpiece into a brute. Some, like Woods, used diplomatic language when asked for their opinions ("It's a totally different course...[with ] about 500 extra yards, a billion trees and rough ").

Lorne Rubenstein gets into the act and notes how the lengthening of the par 5 15th hole has drained the drama from the hole:

Much of the confusion is gone because the hole was lengthened last year to 530 yards from 500. Too many players lay up now, which accounts for the much quieter environment among spectators in the area. They, and the golfers, used to hold their collective breath while a ball was in the air. What was its fate? The hole has almost turned into a par-3 because the tee shot and the lay-up have become routine. The third shot matters the most now, not the second.

Finally, don't miss this Nick Seitz/Golf Digest article on the 1956 Master's, which heretofore has been known as "the toughest Master's ever." The winner of that ordeal? None other than Houstonian Jack Burke.

Posted by Tom at 4:12 AM | Comments (0) |

April 7, 2007

"I'm a Texan, but . . ."

This post from a couple of weeks ago observed the following about then Texas A&M University basketball coach Billy Gillispie:

. . . Aggie basketball coach Billy Clyde Gillispie is the toast of Aggieland and he is getting noticed nationwide. This NY Times profile does a good job of describing this somewhat peculiar character -- a pure Texas gym rat basketball coach in the middle of football country. Although Kentucky is now looking for a new coach, my sense is that they need not bother calling Gillispie, who appears to be quite comfortable in Aggieland.

Well, that was two weeks ago. Yesterday, good ol' boy Billy Clyde's strong affinity for Texas evaporated under the heat of a $16 million contract that the University of Kentucky threw at him. No word on whether a horse farm was thrown into the deal for good measure.

Gillispie's decision to leave emerging basketball power Texas A&M for Kentucky is understandable, given the money and UK's legacy in college basketball. But one has to wonder whether Gillispie is making a wise move from a career standpoint. At A&M, he would always be the man that transformed the basketball program into the top-tier of major college basketball and soon would have all the resources that UK offers. Moreover, things have changed over the past decade or so in the college basketball landscape -- Kentucky is no longer the dominant force that it once was. Perhaps Gillispie can return UK to its glory days, but the program is running behind two programs -- Florida and Tennessee -- in its own conference, and neither of the coaches at those programs appear to be going anywhere soon.

Finally, channeling the absurdity noted in the previous post from yesterday, UK would have paid even more for its new coach than the $16 mil that it is doling out to Gillispie -- Billy Clyde was UK's third choice (after Florida's Billy Donovan and UT's Barnes)!

Update: The Chronicle's John Lopez reports that A&M's loss of Gillispie may have been the result of A&M AD Bill Byrne's inept handling of the situation.

Posted by Tom at 4:33 AM | Comments (1) |

April 6, 2007

The connection between coaching salaries and making book

The questionable nature of the NCAA's regulation of intercollegiate athletics has been a frequent topic on this blog, and two recent posts point out a couple of the perverse effects of that regulatory scheme.

First, in this Sports Economist post, Berri points out that the exorbidant salaries being paid to coaches at the top levels of college football and basketball are a direct result of the NCAA's regulation of player compensation:

The research of Robert Brown and Todd Jewell indicates that a future NBA first round draft choice will generate more than $1 million in revenue each year in college (and this was based on data from 1996, so the $1 million figure understates the revenue generation occurring today). Clearly this sum greatly exceeds the cost of a scholarship. Because the NCAA does not compensate the players for the money being generated, this money has to go elsewhere. It seems reasonable that much of this money is currently flowing into the pockets of the coaches. But if the players were paid, the money would not be available to the coaches, and consequently wages paid to coaches would decrease.

Meanwhile, in this Wages of Wins post, Stacey Burke points out that the NCAA's restriction on player compensation also promotes point-shaving, even at such remote outposts as the University of Toledo!:

I think it is a shame that any player (college or pro) shave points or fix games, but the real shame is on the NCAA. College athletes – like men’s basketball and football – who generate large sums of money for their schools are not receiving a salary for their time and effort. This lack of payment occurs so that the NCAA can maintain the appearance that college games are amateur contests. Who does the NCAA think they are fooling? If the NCAA was willing to allow paying college athletes this would substantially reduce the incentive of point shaving.

Again, for decades, university presidents have been easy money for the owners of professional football and basketball teams, who have foisted the risk of capitalizing a minor league system for developing players on the colleges. This appears to be changing somewhat in basketball, where several minor professional leagues are now competing with the colleges for players. But the situation is not going to change for good until the colleges do one of two things -- either embrace professional sports and manage the AAA minor league teams as owners do in the baseball minor leagues or convert intercollegiate football and basketball to the college baseball model and force the owners of professional football and basketball teams to capitalize their own parallel minor league systems.

Frankly, I don't really care which approach the university presidents choose. I just want them to get on with it by showing the courage and leadership to turn their back on the antiquated hyprocrisy of the currently bloated NCAA regulatory scheme.

Posted by Tom at 4:14 AM | Comments (0) |

Metro Development Corp.

Kevin Whited over at blogHouston.net picks up on the latest boondoggle of the Metropolitan Transit Authority -- providing kickstart financing for a couple of blocks of commercial property along the Metro light rail line in Midtown.

The entire deal is really preposterous for a transit authority to be getting into. Metro bought the blocks from the developer for $7.2 million with "the expectation" that the developer is going to buy the blocks back and build a bunch of condominiums (in an already overbuilt market) that will supposedly house 1,000 happy light rail riders. According to the developer, everything is really O.K. because -- get this logic -- it could have been worse!:

[Developer Robert H.] Schultz said Metro may join in developing a parking garage on the site that could be used by rail riders but that the agency chose not to invest in other parts of the project.

"They didn't want to extend that kind of money. They wanted to be much more conservative until they could see this thing was going to happen," he said.

[Metro real estate vp Todd] Mason agreed, saying, "Metro does not want to be a developer and take on a lot of risk, but we want to be an enabler of projects like this one."

As noted earlier here, Metro isn't good enough in doing what it was chartered for to be taking flyers on financing speculative real estate deals. Where is that type of activity described in Metro's charter?

Posted by Tom at 4:13 AM | Comments (1) |

Google v. Microsoft

Jeff Matthews ran this insightful post recently summing up the business competition between Google and Microsoft:

Now, the last quarter I saw, Microsoft had 71,000 employees, whose efforts generated about $3.5 billion in operating income.

Meanwhile, Google’s “random” collection of not quite 11,000 employees generated $1 billion in operating income in the same quarter.

Sharp-eyed readers will have already done the math, which is this: Microsoft generated only slightly more than three times the profit of Google despite having almost seven times as many employees as Google’s random collection of hipster do-good engineers.

That lack of productivity does not speak well of Ballmer’s aging time-card-punchers who, you might recall, now require dinners-to-go from Wolfgang Puck to keep them from seeking greener pastures than Redmond. (See “Microsoft Brings Back…The Comfy Chair” from May 31, 2006.)

Yet Ballmer retains complete confidence in his demonstrably less productive crew's ability to turn back the encroaching tide—or at least he expresses such confidence—despite all evidence to the contrary . . .

Read the entire post. So, which horse are you betting on?

Posted by Tom at 4:01 AM | Comments (1) |

April 5, 2007

It's time for The Masters

The venerable Masters Golf Tournament begins this morning at that golfing Zimbabwe in Augusta, Georgia. Golf Digest's John Hawkins does his usual fine job of handicapping the field and, somewhat surprisingly, doesn't think that Tiger Woods is putting well enough at the moment to be a clear favorite for the tournament.

There have already been some interesting comments this week that reflect that the competitive juices are already peaking. Defending champion Phil Mickelson had the following response to a question during his press interview:

Q. Sticking with the green jacket theme, what did it feel like two years ago to help [Tiger Woods] put on the [The Masters green] jacket?

MICKELSON: I don't know, but I remember what it felt like last year when he put it on me. (Laughter).

Meanwhile, Arnold Palmer will kick off the tournament for the first time by hitting the ceremonial first tee shot that Ken Venturi, the late Byron Nelson, Gene Sarazan and Sam Snead used to handle for many years. Despite the fact that Arnie is no longer playing competitively, he still has a good bit of feisty competitiveness in him. The following was his response to questions during his press interview on Tuesday when asked about rival Gary Player's quest to play in more Masters tournaments than Palmer:

Q. Gary Player is going to tie your record this week for most Masters played. He's talking about breaking it next year. What are your thoughts just about that?

PALMER: Well, if he isn't embarrassed, I won't be embarrassed for him. (Laughter). [. . .]

Q. He's in pretty good shape.

PALMER: What does that mean? Are you saying I'm not in pretty good shape?

Q. Maybe he has like 30 more years left or so.

PALMER: Who gives a shit? (Laughter). If you can't win, it doesn't matter. That's s-h-i-t. (Laughter). Hey, he's my friend and I love him. I can also have fun with him, too.

And asked whether he would he do any “arm-twisting” in the future to get Jack Nicklaus, who won a record six Masters, and Gary Player, a three-time winner, to hit future ceremonial tee shots in what would be a nostalgic reunion of what was once golf’s Big Three?

“To let them join me,” Arnie replied with a chuckle, “or to tell them to stay away.”

Which brings us to the following email that my brother Mike passed along to me that was written by a fellow who viewed an advance screening of a a very special television show that CBS will air before the final round of the tournament on Easter Sunday:

This Masters Sunday will be special. I know this because it's going to begin with Arnold Palmer winning the Masters. The 1960 Masters, that is. "I wanted two generations to see what the magic was all about," said CBS golf commentator [and former Houstonian] Jim Nantz, the man who made this resurrection possible.

We'll be able to re-live the '60 Masters, one of the more exciting finishes in history, because Nantz pried the original broadcast footage loose from the Augusta National vault, went to the incredible time and expense of having it colorized, and turned it into a one-hour show that CBS will air as the lead-in to its Sunday final-round Masters coverage.

This is footage that has never been aired since its original broadcast. The best part is, it's not presented in a highlight package with talking heads. It's shown as if it was a live telecast, featuring host Jim McKay (who left CBS later to join some upstart show known as ABC's Wide World of Sports -- wonder what ever became of him?) with coverage of the last four holes.

I watched a screening of the finished product and offer this advice: Don't miss it. The 1960 Masters had it all. A classic Arnold Palmer charge and Ken Venturi's agony of defeat. The old guard -- Hogan and Snead -- and a young gun -- some amateur named Nicklaus. There was a minor rules controversy. There was an innovative new scoring system for television invented by CBS director Frank Chirkinian. And there was the great man himself, Bobby Jones, the legendary founder of Augusta National and the Masters Tournament, holding court as the host of cabin festivities.

This show is a slice of golf history and a classic piece of broadcast history. If you hate goose bumps or nostalgia, don't watch. This show, a labor of love for Nantz, is one "Wow!" after another. Here's a short list of reasons to watch:

The gaffe that almost cost Palmer the Masters. I had read about, but never before seen the incident at the 16th hole. Palmer is one stroke behind Venturi, who has already finished. At the par-3 16th, he's got a 30-foot uphill putt to a back pin placement. He chose to leave the pin in when he putted -- yeah, that was still legal then. He rolled a superb putt that was dead-center but hit the pin flush and kicked out six inches. Watching the footage, I'd rate it a 90 percent chance that without the pin, Arnie's putt is in. You can see from his reaction that he realizes his tactic backfired and just might cost him the Masters.

Arnold Palmer at 30 is a lot like Tiger Woods. He bashes the ball amazing distances and putts like a genius. At the 17th, Arnie's got a 20-foot uphill birdie putt. It looks as if he's left it short but the ball rolls out and barely topples in while announcer Jim McArthur makes a Verne Lundquist-type call: "It's up and up and up and up .. and in!" Palmer half runs, half dances to the cup to pull out the ball, like Tiger after that putt at Valhalla only without the finger-pointing. At 18, Palmer stiffs his 5-iron approach, spinning behind the hole and stopping it about five feet away. He makes the putt, of course, for the win.

More about Arnie. He is repeatedly seen puffing like a chimney with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. It looked cool in 1960, now it makes you cringe. Palmer was paired with Billy Casper, who played first from the 18th fairway and hit a shot to three feet. Before Palmer hit, Casper walked over and said something encouraging, like knock it close. Can you imagine Tiger doing that to, say, Chris DiMarco? On the green, Palmer let Casper putt out first while he walked over just off the green and -- I'm not kidding, you'll see it on the video -- spread out on the grass.

Ken Venturi comes through. Venturi makes a clutch par on the 18th to finish at five under par. When he taps in a testy two-footer, he holds his pose and pauses for a moment because he thought he had finally captured his Holy Grail, the Masters.

"Old" Ben Hogan. Hogan is seen playing to the 18th green, a pretty good shot. McKay refers to him as "old Ben Hogan" because he's the ancient age of 47. Unfortunately, CBS never shows him putting out.

Interestingly, in 1960, groups weren't paired Sunday by score. So there were six pairings behind Palmer. The next group was Sam Snead and amateur Jack Nicklaus. Snead holes a 40-foot putt from the fringe. Then Nicklaus walks by the camera and McKay introduces him to viewers as the national amateur champion from Columbus, Ohio, and says he's been told this kid "has a great future." The myth about Nicklaus always making his putt on the 18th green? He sinks an 18-footer for birdie here, too.

Pass the hedgeclippers. Augusta National looks surprisingly mangy compared to the way it's maintained now. Even on shots from the fairway, you wonder, "Didn't they mow the grass?" The areas around the bunkers were intentionally left rough and uncut, a very different look from the sharp-edged, perfectly manicured conditions today. The greens were still Bermuda grass and much, much slower.

Ken and Mr. Jones. The post-round ceremony held in the cabin is presided over by Jones and you get to enjoy his thick Southern drawl. He actually isn't bad, much less stilted than some of his predecessors who froze up on camera, like Hord Hardin and Jack Stephens. Jones calls Venturi's effort "lion-hearted" and both Palmer and Venturi get to say a few emotional words.

Six under. Chirkinian, who went on to direct 38 Masters telecasts for CBS, devised a new scoring system to keep track of what was going on in the past. Previously, the scoring was aggregate. So someone would finish at 279 and a player on the course would be said to be at 258 and you'd have to do the math in your head. Chirkinian came up with the score in relation to par -- plus or minus -- and it quickly became the game's standard. CBS also devised rudimentary graphics showing the scores.

Don't tell Ted Turner. The colorizing, which had never been done to a sports telecast before, was remarkable. I thought it would've been fine in black and white but the show opens with black and white footage and then Nantz announces the colorization and when the screen changes from gray to green and Augusta's colors come to life, it's a true goose-bump moment.

Nantz showed the telecast to Palmer and Chirkinian in December and said both men were pretty emotional watching it again. Nantz brought cameras to film Arnie's reaction and interviews the obviously choked-up Arnie at the end. In February, Nantz premiered the finished product at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles. Bel-Air members attended, along with Palmer and Venturi, who is recovering from heart bypass surgery. Palmer and Nantz met with reporters the next day to discuss the telecast.

"I can't tell you how important it is what Jim has done here," Palmer said. "We really had one of the great evenings of all time."

Nantz said the project came about when he was being wooed by another network. In a meeting with CBS president Les Moonves, he was asked what else he wanted. Nantz pitched him his idea about doing a show leading into the final-round Masters telecast, and what he wanted to do with the show, which was resurrect footage from Augusta National's archives. "Do it," said Moonves.

Nantz hopes to do a whole series of similar flashback shows. He kicked it off last year with a one-hour review of the 1986 Masters won by Nicklaus. Next year, he's planning to feature one of Gary Player's wins. This April, however, the spotlight belongs to Palmer. And plenty of good seats are still available.

Posted by Tom at 4:47 AM | Comments (0) |

The sad case of Dr. William Hurwitz

For you doctors out there who believe that what happened to Jeff Skilling could never happen to you, take a moment to read the NY Times' John Tierney's chilling opening blog post on the re-trial of Dr. William Hurwitz, the Virginia doctor who is a sacrificial lamb for America's voracious drug prohibition policy. Dr. Hurwitz is being prosecuted on drug trafficking charges for prescribing pain medications that his patients allegedly abused or sold without his knowledge:

Jonathan Fahey, one of the prosecutors in federal court in Alexandria, Va., told the jurors in his opening statement that Dr. Hurwitz was a drug trafficker — part of a drug-trafficking conspiracy, in fact — because he prescribed large quantities of OxyContin and other pills while ignoring clear “red flags” that his patients were misusing and reselling the pills. The prosecutor said that Dr. Hurwitiz’s prescribing was “without a legitimate medical purpose” and “in its wake it left destruction, devastation and death.” [. . .]

[Defense attorney Richard] Sauber used his opening statement to tell the jury over and over that the case boiled down to one question: Was Dr. Hurwitz a doctor or a drug dealer? Calling him a “passionate advocate for patients who had been unfairly treated,” Mr. Sauber talked about Dr. Hurwitz’s work in the Peace Corps and in Veterans Administration hospitals, and his belief that too many patients were in pain because doctors were afraid to give them proper dosages of opioids. Mr. Sauber also promised to do something that the defense didn’t effectively do in the first trial: use expert testimony to show that the dosages prescribed by Dr. Hurwitz were within the bounds of legitimate medicine.

The Hurwitz case is an appalling reminder of how the Drug Enforcement Agency has pursued a perverse agenda in its pursuit of pain doctors. During Hurwitz's first trial, the DEA actually changed their own guidelines during the trial and removed them from its website because the defense was going to show that Hurwitz prescribed by those guidelines. Meanwhile, DEA head Karen Tandy publicly stated that Hurwitz deserved 25 years in the slammer because he “was no different from a cocaine or heroin dealer peddling poison on the street corner.”

Sound familiar?

Posted by Tom at 4:26 AM | Comments (2) |

Rationing health care

Charles Wheelan, the Naked Economist, lucidly addresses the key issue in regard to the U.S. health care finance system:

Here's a question to ask any presidential candidate from either political party: How do you plan to ration health care?

If the answer is "I won't," then he or she doesn't understand health care. Or, more likely, they understand health care and aren't in any mood to talk straight about it.

"Rationing" has a bad connotation, which is odd, because we ration just about everything. In fact, that's what capitalism does best.

Not everyone gets an S-Class Mercedes-Benz or courtside tickets to the NBA playoffs or roses on Valentine's Day. Who does? People who are willing to pay for them.

We call that a market, which is just rationing with a more attractive name. Everything worth having is scarce to some degree, so we use prices to figure out who gets what.

Health care is similar to German cars and basketball tickets -- not everyone gets everything they want. But health care is obviously different in a crucial respect: People who don't get what they want may become sick, stay sick, or even die. Unlike roses or Lakers tickets, health care is literally a life-and-death matter.

As a result, the most fundamental policy question related to health care is who gets what kind of care -- or, put another way, how we choose to ration resources. Forget all the other complications, like aging baby boomers, malpractice lawyers, greedy drug companies, shockingly fat Americans, insurance forms in triplicate, and so on.

Do those things help to explain why our system is expensive and getting more so? Yes. But for anyone looking to control costs (e.g., a presidential candidate) those factors pale in comparison to the fundamental health care design question: Who gets what care and why? [. . .]

And therein lies the fundamental inefficiency of the American system. We have no good mechanism for saying "no" to expensive technologies and treatments that provide marginal benefits. If you're a patient, that sounds terrific; your doctors will spare no expense. If you're a business trying to keep up with skyrocketing health care costs, or a family trying to pay for benefits, it's not. And, of course, as insurance costs go up, fewer people will have access to that kind of coverage.

At the same time, we don't do a very good job of saying "yes" to treatments for the uninsured that would profoundly improve their health.

The combination of those two factors goes a long way toward explaining why the U.S. spends a ton of money on health care (15 percent of the GDP, compared to 8 percent for Britain and Japan and 10.5 percent for France) and gets relatively mediocre outcomes. . . .

In short, the rest of the industrialized world does a better job of rationing health care than we do.

Which brings me back to my original point. Every presidential candidate is going to talk about controlling health care costs. Most are going to talk about expanding coverage, too. Those goals are impossible unless we can design a system that says "yes" to the most cost-effective care -- even very expensive treatments, provided they have corresponding benefits -- and "no" to treatments with benefits that are too small to justify their costs. In other words, rationing.

Read the entire article. Wheelan doesn't propose any solutions, but he does an excellent job of framing the issue. Stated another way, to what extent is American society willing to underwrite health care costs that individual citizens cannot afford -- or are unwilling -- to pay?

Posted by Tom at 4:09 AM | Comments (0) |

April 4, 2007

Visiting the SHO

The Shell Houston Open concluded on Sunday with the top-rated player -- Adam Scott (3rd in the World Rankings) -- winning the tournament (final leaderboard here) by making a par on the 72nd hole even after pulling his drive into the water. The Chronicle's Steve Campbell's postscript on the tournament is here, while earlier posts on the tournament are here.

After seeing how good the Tournament Course at Redstone looked on television last Thursday afternoon, my buddy Jerry Sagehorn and I visited Redstone on Friday morning to check out the tournament and the course. In so doing, we were able to get a close-up look of what ails the local tournament and why it is unlikely ever to be more than a second tier tournament on the PGA Tour (i.e., behind the majors and the first tier tournaments such as the Players and the Memorial).

Although Redstone is impressive in several respects, the facility is located next to a housing development far away from any of the Houston area's large entertainment or commercial centers. Unlike The Woodlands -- which is one of the most beautiful areas of Houston and has luxury hotels, shops, restaurants and one of the best entertainment facilities in the Houston area to offer -- the area around Redstone is rather bland and has nominal commercial activity. Accordingly, if you go the SHO at Redstone, you go for the golf only and then leave. There is no ambiance to the area around the course.

But the area around Augusta National is no great shakes, either. So, if the golf course is appealing, then the best golfers might overlook the lack of ambiance and come to the tournament, anyway. Unfortunately, the Tournament Course is not -- and likely will never be considered -- a great golf course. That is not to suggest that the course does not have some interesting holes. The 18th hole in particular proved to be a challenging finishing hole. Moreover, the spectator viewing lines around the course are really quite good.

However, as the map below denotes, the course is really split into three separate courses. First, the 1st and 18th holes are next to each other and form a long tarmac leading to the other two parts of the course on the other side of a large and unsightly drainage ditch. Then, the 2nd through 9th holes and the 10th through 17th holes form separate loops that are not easily reached from other parts of the course. Adding to the disjointed nature of the course is that the front nine does not end at the clubhouse and the back nine does not start from the clubhouse.

Thus, the players and spectators are required to walk at least a quarter mile from the 1st green to the 2nd tee (this year, the players and caddies got a ride in a golf cart). Similarly, between the 9th green and the 10th tee, there is another long walk of at least 300 yards. And then, after trudging around the first two parts of the course, the players, caddies and spectators must trek another couple hundred yards from the 17th green to the 18th tee.

Thus, despite having some entertaining holes, good sight lines and being in top condition, the Tournament Course at Redstone is simply not an endearing golf course. That was reflected by the crowd on Friday morning, which was a fraction of the size that used to attend the tournament on Friday mornings when the tournament was played at the TPC in The Woodlands. Although the rain on Saturday morning certainly held attendance down on that day, the crowds on the weekend also did not appear on television to be as large as those that used to attend the tournament in The Woodlands. Perhaps reflecting the lower attendance, neither the HGA nor the Chronicle broadly publishes attendance figures as they used to do when the tournament was played in The Woodlands.

So, what can the SHO do to improve the experience for the players and fans? There has been some talk that Redstone is considering building a Houstonian-type resort facility on the property to attract the better golfers such as the Four Seasons Resort does in Dallas, but my sense is that the lack of surrounding amenities makes such a venture about as likely as redevelopment of the Astrodome into a resort hotel.

Can the tournament attract more than two of the top ten, eight of the top 30, and 20 of the top 60 players in the World Rankings? If Shell or Redstone pursues lucrative sponsorship deals with some of the top players in the same manner as Buick has done with Tiger Woods, then maybe those players would play the SHO in the same manner that Woods plays several Buick-sponsored tournaments. But those deals are costly and risky (some players do not stay on top for long), so I doubt that will happen. Finally, the HGA is going to have to address the knotty problem of how to move spectators and players around the long stretches of the course, which -- unless resolved -- is likely going to deter spectators from making return visits to the tournament.

Thus, my sense is that the SHO is firmly entrenched as a second tier PGA Tour event even after the HGA's prodigious investment with Redstone. That's unfortunate because Houston is a golf hotbed and has a rich golfing tradition, and the HGA is a fine charitable organization that had laid a foundation of success for the tournament over a 20 year period in The Woodands. Shell has signed on as the title sponsor of the tournament through 2012, so the next several Houston Opens are going to be key ones for the HGA. Come time to negotiate an extension of that sponsorship arrangement, will Shell have better things to do with its sponsorship dollars than to support an afterthought on the PGA Tour?

Posted by Tom at 4:41 AM | Comments (0) |

Lessons of the Heart

Following up on recent posts here and here, don't miss this John E. Calfee/American.com op-ed on how recent research into heart disease treatments has not only changed medicine, but also basic science research:

How do we know where heart attacks come from? The answer lies in feedback from pharmaceutical clinical trials to basic research. Long before the stent trials began to upset received wisdom, massive trials of heart drugs had first validated previously controversial hypotheses and then upset the next generation of hypotheses. Eventually, these trials pushed basic research in unexpected directions. [. . .]

So there is a bit more to this week’s news about stents and heart attacks than meets the eye or is described in the media. We are witnessing another episode in the remarkable story of feedback from drug and device development to basic science. And we can expect more drug-tools to wreak more havoc in scientific understanding of human biology.

Read the entire piece, which is an excellent summary on how clinical research spurs development of better drugs, superior treatment and even better-focused research. Check out the new design of American.com, which has quickly developed into one of the most interesting and insightful on-line magazines.

Posted by Tom at 4:15 AM | Comments (1) |

Junk Loans

Felix Salmon, who authors a very good blog about finance and economics, makes the following observation about the dramatic increase in the amount of leveraged loans held by hedge funds:

[J]unk bonds are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Today, it's all about junk loans – illiquid instruments which hedge-funds hedge in the equally opaque and non-public CDS (credit default swaps) market. The good news, insofar as there is any, is that if and when a lot of these loans go sour, the impact on the banking system will be much lower than the volume of loans would imply. But the bad news is that ever-larger chunks of corporate balance sheets are now completely unregulated.

I'm not sure I follow the reasoning of Salmon's final sentence. Privately-owned hedge funds, whose investors are wealthy folks, own a large amount of leveraged loans. That ownership has reduced the risk of loss of lending institutions, which generally do not have the profit margins to take on that sort of risk. Thus, the financing market has developed to shift the risk of these loans to those who can best afford to take the risk, which is a good thing. That large portions of corporate balance sheets are unregulated is one of the reasons that such a market developed in the first place.

Posted by Tom at 4:10 AM | Comments (1) |

April 3, 2007

A big problem with the Stros

Okay, so Stros skipper Phil Garner -- who we already know is not a very good manager -- pulls yet another bonehead move and allows besieged reliever Brad Lidge to blow a fine Roy O Opening Day performance by giving up a two-out, top of the 9th inning tater. And that move letting Ausmus bat second while trying to generate a rally in the bottom of the 10th was real smooth, too.

But even more importantly, when did it become acceptable to bat a guy with the two worst OBA seasons in club history at the top of the order in front of Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee, not to mention Morgan Ensberg (.396 OBA in 2006), Chris Burke (.347), and Luke Scott (.426)?

As I noted in my season preview yesterday, Garner's bullheadedness is going to hurt the Stros this season. Little did I know that it would only take one game to prove it.

Posted by Tom at 8:19 AM | Comments (1) |

"A golfing Zimbabwe?"

The Masters Golf Tournament gets underway on Thursday and the fine Masters website is streaming video of the practice range so that we can watch the pros hit the rock pile in preparation for the tournament. And the NY Times chimes in with this profile on new Augusta National Golf Club chairman Billy Payne. Finally, Golf Digest has its typically thorough preview of the tournament here.

But the prestige of The Masters is simply a signal for Scottish golf writer John Huggan to tweak the controversial changes that have been made to the hallowed course over the past several years:

In what is nothing less than a direct and disrespectful contravention of [Augusta National course designer Alistar] Mackenzie's and [Augusta National founder Bobby] Jones' original and delightful philosophy, the Augusta National that will this week host the world's best golfers resembles nothing more than just another one-dimensional country club. Aerial photographs published in the April issue of Golf Digest graphically portray the tragedy that is the modern Augusta National. In place of what were once spacious and tightly cut fairways, rough has been grown and trees have been planted. What was once the most democratic of courses -- one that allowed every standard of player to figure out his own way of playing each hole -- has become a golfing Zimbabwe, a misguided dictatorship that has all but eliminated freedom of thought and expression.

Huggan is just getting warmed up, so read the entire article. Huggan better watch it or he will end up at the same place as CBS golf announcer Gary McCord during Master's week.

Posted by Tom at 4:33 AM | Comments (0) |

James Hamilton on Saudi oil production

Clear Thinkers favorite James Hamilton is thinking about Saudi Arabia's oil production and that always makes for interesting reading:

Saudi oil production is now down more than 10% from its peak level in 2005; . . . this decline in production has followed an erratic pattern, beginning in October 2005 when oil was selling for $62 and continuing through July 2006 when oil briefly touched $75, making it difficult to see these cutbacks as an effort to stabilize oil prices; . . . the production decline coincided with a doubling in the number of oil rigs employed in Saudi Arabia since 2004 and tripling since 1999.

Has Saudi oil production peaked? Read the entire post. Is Matt Simmons right after all?

Posted by Tom at 4:20 AM | Comments (0) |

Who is running this asylum?

Let's get this straight.

First, the local hotel market has been overbuilt for years, partly because the city government financed some deals of questionable merit. Heck, most any weekend, it's easy to obtain a discount rate on a very nice luxury hotel room in downtown Houston.

Then, the private financing market tells us that the redevelopment of the Astrodome into a resort hotel