Ever the Contrarian

Let's see: I've already outed myself as Christian, capitalist, and Republican at a time when and in a place where Christians are accused of being intolerant, capitalists are accused of being greedy, and Republicans are accused of being uncaring. I'm on record for saying property taxes should be higher, as should gas prices. Heck, I've even said my utilities bills are too low.

So what more could I possibly say to convince you that I am certifiably insane? Well, for starters:

1) I think the Electoral College is the best way to elect a president. Folks, we're a representative democracy, not a democracy. And, if you don't like that there are swing states versus irrelevant states, consider the alternative of a popular vote, which would be that candidates would only spend their time in dense urban areas, completely neglecting the sparse rural areas that make up the vast majority of our land. Urbane urbanites might say "good!" but my point is that a popular vote leads to distortive campaigning behavior just like the Electoral College does.

2) I think the BCS is the best way to determine a national champion. You might convince me that a four-team playoff is a good alternative, except that the scheduling logistics might be challenging, and I know we've given up on calling the players "student athletes," but two bowl games during finals, both potentially involving long road trips, seems a bit much. The BCS takes a combination of humans and machines and spits out a 1 and a 2, and they play each other, which isn't half bad. The old system, or a playoff system, aren't as clean.

3) I don't think there's anything wrong with the intentional walk or the designated hitter. I'm as much of a baseball purist as anyone as young as me can be. But there's nothing wrong with pitching around the other team's stud when the game is on the line. Baseball is more of a team sport than most others for the very reason that, when the chips are down, you can't send your best hitter up at will, as he has a set spot in the lineup and he can only come up once every nine at-bats. And if the other team wants to put him on first, it's up to the guy after him. I fail to see why this is bad for the game. As for the DH, who doesn't like more hitting? And who doesn't like the wrinkles that result from AL teams playing in NL ballparks, and vice versa?

I have more, but I'll stop here.