15 Things A Relocated Floridian Appreciates About "The North"

I was thinking this morning that I really have enjoyed our relocation to Columbia, SC.  If you take out the facts that I hardly have any friends up here, that just about all our family lives a major drive away, that I'm stuck with coverage of USC sports instead of UCF, and that we all really miss our friends in Florida, things are awesome.  Living "up north" isn't so bad.  I've found many things that I actually prefer living in the northern reaches of our country.

[Ed. Note: We realize that South Carolina is not "up north" by any stretch of the imagination.  But, take into consideration that it is eight hours north of where the writer grew up.  Moving eight hours north of Columbia puts you in Cleveland.  Think about that.]

1. You can leave cold food from the grocery store or chocolate in your car for a few minutes to run another errand without worrying that you will come out to a pool of nastiness in your trunk.
2. You can make it all day without the ice in your cup of soda or tea melting.
3. Hot drinks are extra good because they warm you up when it is cold instead of adding to the already severe case of heat stroke you've developed in the middle of January.
4. You don't have to mow your grass for months when it is dead due to the many random freezes.  And it apparently comes back as grass - not weeds.
5. Speaking of grass, you can roll around in the grass without itching all over or worrying you will get a "grass cut" (similar to a paper cut, but with a grass blade).
6. No lizards. 
7. It SNOWS!  Everyone up here said that it "hardly ever snows" in Columbia.  Yes, but by definition, that means it DOES snow at some point.  Growing up in Florida, in NEVER ever snows in Florida.  And don't try to tell me that just because a couple of flakes fell in Pensacola or Tallahassee and were on your car windshield for six hours that it snowed.  Unless it covers everything, it isn't snow. We've already had it snow twice here - one "Florida" snow and one real one that stuck around for five days.
8. SNOW AGAIN!  People north of us hate snow because it never goes away.  But having it come a few times a year is pretty cool.  The fact that the South is completely unprepared to handle any level of snow also means that you get to have entire days off to play in the snow.  That rocks.
9. No Halloween Horror Nights commercials.  
10. No Morgan and Morgan: For the People commercials or billboards.
11. Elevation.  The land is not flat.  This is cool to me.  I never liked the fact that the highest point within fifty miles of me was a dump.
12. Teenagers answer me by saying, "Yes sir."  Every school I've taught at with Kaplan, that has been consistent.  Politeness is underrated in America.  (Could I have sounded more elderly there?)
13. Gas expenses are much lower.  One, the gas is cheaper.  Two, things aren't so far away that a thirty minute drive is a normal expectation.  Thirty minutes here gets us to the other side of the city.  An hour almost gets us to Charlotte.  It takes me five to ten minutes to get 90% of where I need to go.
14. History.  There are Civil War and Revolutionary War battlefields all over the state.  Sure, there are a lot of people that don't like the way the first one of those turned out.  But as a history buff, I like to experience areas that existed before Walt Disney built a theme park.
15. South Carolina has a cool logo.  I'm not talking about the university (although they also have a cool logo and great colors).  The state itself has the palmetto tree with half moon logo that is everywhere.  At first, I was confused.  I asked our realtor why South Carolina had a logo that looked like a Muslim symbol.  His snarky reply was, "It was designed by a Muslim."  Then he laughed because that was so ridiculous.  Or because I was so dumb that I even thought that in the first place.  Eventually, though, the logo grows on you.  It is everywhere - usually in blue and white.  And it looks really cool.  Florida doesn't have a cool logo.  What would Florida even use?  An orange? A sun? An aligator? A bag of cocaine?

Yes, there are many things I don't enjoy about South Carolina.  I hate mustard based BBQ sauces. The taxes on cars, restaurants, income. Racists.  And there are many things that seem identical to Florida - terrible drivers, massive potholes in the road, bugs.  But there is also a lot to enjoy in the Palmetto State.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go sit in carline and not melt.  OOOO, there's another thing...

Trouble in Tally

I wrote this for my fantasy football site after USF humiliated FSU last week. In light of the defeat at the hands of Boston College, I decided to post it on my blog, too. Being up in Tallahassee for this football season, I am paying attention more to the Seminoles. I'm not able to keep up as well with UCF as I wish, so I have to settle for FSU.

And settle really is the right word for it. It really made me wonder what is going on up here. Leading up to the USF/FSU game, there was a lot of smack talk between the USF and FSU camps. It sounded like a little brother mouthing off to big bro - with the older sibling about to drop a Big Stinky Leg Drop on the little punk. But it turned out that the little guy had been doing HGH and Steroid cycles while gone to college and the big guy had been doing keg stands. So there was a beating, but not what anyone expected. The game wasn't even as close as the score indicated. Remember USF missed two field goals and one of FSU's scores was a result of a micro-field.

What made it all even worse - and something echoed by the announcers on ESPN U (where U is for Ubvious Uverstatement) to the point of nausea - was that all of the damage was done by a quarterback who grew up in Tallahassee and idolized FSU. The question that stems from that is something FSU seriously must address - but probably won't. HOW IN THE HECK DID THAT HAPPEN? How did B.J. Daniels end up whipping FSU instead of playing for them? As I kept hearing the announcers mention this fact, I really began to wonder. What caused arguably the most dominant team in college football in the 90s to degrade to this point? This is the same team that went 14 years straight finishing in the top five. Who does that? Now, they can't even string two good games together.

I have a couple of theories (which, honestly don't mean jack crap). First of all, FSU has completely lost its recruiting abilities. I know, they signed five of the ESPN Top 150 last year. But I looked at some stuff over the weekend and found out something interesting. Florida is the best supplier of high school players, period. 25 of the ESPN Top 150 were from Florida. The next closest is Texas (19), Georgia (16), and Kahleefornyuh (15). So it really isn't even close. This has been the case for a LOOOOOOONG time. Florida is chock full of speed and talent. Once upon a time, there were three major Florida schools. They would divide up the best of the Florida booty. Things have changed, though. I went through the rosters of the nine biggest football programs in Florida (UF, FSU, UM, USF, UCF, FIU, FAU, FAMU, BCC). Most of the smaller schools have now pilfered the Florida ranks (except for UCF, who recruits like it is a nationally known school - but it is NOT). Here's what I found:

• USF - 91.7% Florida players
• BCC - 91.6% Florida players
• FAU - 89.5% Florida players
• FIU - 85.8% Florida players
• FAMU - 83.5% Florida players
• UCF - 68.7% Florida players
• UM - 66.7% Florida players
• UF - 63.1% Florida players
• FSU - 52.8% Florida players

Combined, that adds up to 691 players, if you are curious. Do you notice something strange about that chart? I can understand the big difference between the first five and the bottom four. The first five are newer and smaller programs, so they are reduced to pulling from their backyard. That is what happens all over the country. The other four teams (yeah, UCF too) are more nationally known. They have been around longer, have larger campuses, more national coverage. (Remember UCF has had two top 5 Heisman finishers, three bowl appearances, and is the largest school in Florida.) So they can pull from the best of the country. That is why UF, UM, UCF, and FSU have smaller percentages. BUT, once you hit a certain point, doesn't the number start to mean something more? I mean, you are in Florida. You are nationally known with great facilities. You have a legend as a coach. How can you only get 56 state kids? I mean, South Carolina has 22 from Florida. The pool has been depleted, for sure, thanks to the higher number of suitors. (Not to mention Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, Auburn, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech, NC State, Boston College, Notre Dame, Mississippi State, and Ohio State all have between 10 and 20 Florida boys.) I just think that FSU's luster has worn off in-state. There is no reason to be that inept at recruiting in your backyard. That's how B.J. Daniels escapes.

The other main thing is that FSU is killing itself with its refusal to make a coaching change. Everyone knows that Bobby Bowden is not the coach of that team. Jimbo Fisher is the coach. Bobby is a guy in a sun hat and Oakleys wandering on the sideline wondering where his sandwich is. This can't be positive. The players have to be torn. In the Miami game, there was one point where Bowden and Fisher both were trying to talk to one of the players. The youngster looked confused and then went over to Fisher. The only ONLY reason that Bowden is still there is that he wants to beat Paterno. FSU finally got smart and put some "Associate Head Coaches" in place, like Penn State did. But Bowden (and his supporters in the Boosters) still hold too much sway. The game has passed him by - as well as Mickey Andrews and other St. Bobby staff guys. FSU really just needs to gut the coaching staff. They need to fire everyone (Fisher included, who I have not been impressed with at all). Then they need to dangle a truckload of money at some brilliant coach and say, "Here are the keys. Fix it." And not someone out of the "FSU Family." Someone who knows what they are doing.

See, the new coaches like Urban Meyer don't give a rat's tail about who ends up at the top of the all-time win chart. They don't plan on staying anywhere long enough to get a field named after them. They are going to jump into the pros or the broadcasting booth anyway. They are hired guns. Very effective, potent, intelligent guns. They have mastered the new recruiting world (texts, tweets, cell phones). It isn't about sitting in a living room and convincing mama any more. It is impressing and seducing and relentlessly pursuing. I respect FSU's loyalty - it is so rare now in our world. But it is hurting that program. The victory over FSU was huge to USF - they are going to have an even better recruiting edge now, more respect, blah blah blah. But it was huge to FSU because it showed them they aren't the big dog any more. In reality, there is UF in the top tier. FSU, UM, USF are in the next tier. UCF, FAU, and FIU are nipping at their heels. It isn't the Big Three - it is the Big One and the Next Six. FSU had better do something, or they are going to be destined to 7-5 seasons and being home before New Year.

State of Florida Sports: Why UCF Is Irrelevant

The third part of my examination of the Florida Sports Scene is an honest look at my favorite college team, UCF.

I love UCF.  There may be some pulling of my heart in other sports between teams.  But there is nothing of the sort with college sports.  It is UCF all the time, all the way.  The day I set foot on that campus, every other school fell away.  I still align with UGA when it comes to big things, but there is a clear number one - and no number two.  I have told my kids they are free to cheer for other teams in other sports.  But they have to root for UCF if they root at all.  Being the fan of a mid-level school is hard.  As badly as you want them to be important, it rarely happens - rarer still for them to be important in multiple sports.  As bad as I could wish that I could shut my UF supporting buddies up, I know that won't happen.  UCF is not in their league.  And honestly, it probably never will be.  Here are some things that I see, as a very ardent supporter of UCF, that keep UCF from playing any role in college sports.

1. INFERIORITY COMPLEX - I once had a buddy who worked at a very large church.  When I asked him about the place, he told me, "It is a big church that thinks it still is a small church becoming a big church."  It was always trying to prove it belonged, trying to look big.  It never realized that it WAS big and should just be itself.  UCF is the same way.  They are like the 5th largest school in the country - the largest east of the Mississippi.  They have a gorgeous campus, a new on-campus stadium, rabid fans, a supportive community, a brilliant President, and amazing academic programs.  They are a part of a mid-major conference, have been to two bowls, the NCAA Basketball Tourney, and the College Baseball Regionals.  They have produced major league baseball players, NFL players, Olympians.  Why are they still trying to prove they deserved their invite to the party?  Get over it and just BE yourself.  

2. CELEBRATING MEDIOCRITY - As a friend reminded me today, UF fired their football coach for going 7-5.  UCF gave their football coach a 10 year extension and a raise for GOING to (and losing) a bowl game.  The basketball coach is constantly rewarded for getting to the NCAA Tourney and getting destroyed in the first round.  Every year, the football team plays between one and three "real teams."  In their history, they have won exactly ONE of the games.  They always play the games close.  But they never win them.  However, there is still that "way to go guys, you did great against them.  No one expected you to win."  Why not?  Appalachian State can beat Michigan and UCF can't knock off a pathetic Miami?  Now that UCF is in Conference USA instead of the uh, Atlantic Sun, or MAC, it is now okay to not make the postseason in basketball and baseball.  Since Memphis in roundball is there, and Rice in baseball, we are excused.  That's just ridiculous.  Start demanding more.  Which ties into point three.

3. UCF HANGS ON TO COACHES TOO LONG - UCF didn't want to fire Gene McDowell because of his contributions to the football program.  They finally did, and then kept Mike Kruczek too long because he got Daunte Culpepper to go to UCF.  Then they brought in O'Leary.  In his five years at UCF, O'Leary has led UCF to 0-11, 8-5, 4-8, 10-4, and now 4-8.  In addition, a player died during the offseason at workouts.  The entire event was characterized by coverups, lies, and threats by UCF.  O'Leary on several occasions lied about what happened - this from a man with a history of lying.  Yet he is still not in hot water?  Loyalty is an admirable quality.  Refusing to pull a trigger is another.

4. LACK OF VISION - When UCF opened their stadium, they actually had a real home field advantage for the first time ever.  The stadium itself would bounce and sway when fans got excited.  They jumped on the bleachers and made the whole place shake.  It was known as The Trampoline.  Other teams actually FEARED FOR THEIR LIVES.  You could hear audible fear in announcers' voices.  ESPN guys called the stadium the loudest stadium they had been in.  So, what did UCF do?  They banned the song.  They forbade the jumping.  They solidified the stadium.  So, instead of being a place where opponents feared to play, it became a source of discontent for the home crowd.  BRILLIANT!  Kirk Speraw, UCF basketball coach, has made his entire career of recruiting JuCo players, only getting two years of play before they graduate.  There is no continuity, no long-term plan.  They reload every two years.  Fans can't get used to the players.  They just transfer in for a year or so and then leave.  BRILLIANT!  The fact that UCF took 20 something years to decide that they should play Division I football shows this best of all.

Until UCF is willing to fully commit to its sports program, and address the problems, it is going to remain a distant competitor - watching its bigger neighbors play for all the marbles.

State of Florida Sports: The Bandwagon Lives Here

The second part of my examination of the Florida sports scene addresses the dreaded "Bandwagon."

The fact that Florida as a whole functions as a "sports town" means that our state is more susceptible than most to the sports Bandwagon.  For those of you unfamiliar to that term, the Bandwagon can be defined one of three ways:

1. The showering of positive predictions on a franchise by a large group of sports "experts" - usually a team that has had a checkered past and is aimed at a "breakout season."  EX: This year's Portland Trailblazers in the NBA.  [A Corollary to this is a large group of experts predicting doom for a team - like this year's Spurs.]
2. A large number of fans suddenly supporting a team that is doing well.  Often this involves a team with a "good story."  EX: This year's Tampa Bay Rays
3. A large number of fans suddenly claiming "I've always liked this team" when that team starts doing well - even though they never indicated that before.  EX: The millions of Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots fans that crawled out of the woodwork in recent years as those teams did well.  The same thing happened last year with the Celtics.

The reason that Florida is more vulnerable to this problem is that it seems that everyone here is really from somewhere else.  This makes them likely to jump on the Bandwagon with both definitions 2 and 3.  Here is how it all works.

Johnny moved from Connecticut to Lakeland when he was eight years old.  Before they moved, the family cheered for the typical New England Combo Platter - Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox, Bruins.  Since they moved to Florida, they followed those teams, but they were never diehard fans.  They lived in Lakeland, so they actually had more pull towards the Detroit Tigers, since they had a minor league team there.  Every Sunday they were predestined by the NFL to watch the Bucs.  And the local papers eventually started more coverage of the Magic and Rays and Lightning.  So, by geography, they became more familiar with and invested in the local teams.  And it helps that for the first portion of their lives after the move, the Boston teams were lousy.

So, like most Central Florida residents, they got behind the Bucs in 2002 when they won the Super Bowl.  And they pulled for the Magic when they got in the playoffs.  But, they also had the pull to the Boston teams once they started doing well and getting national coverage.  So Johnny buys a Patriots jersey, a Red Sox cap, a Celtics shirt.  And he claims he "always cheered for those teams."  No one around him growing up knew that.  But now, he is more vocal - partly because they won.  And he also is happy when his Florida teams win.  

So, Johnny has become a Bandwagoner.  Even though he has legitimate reasons, he jumped at both groups of teams with their success.  If you check his closet, he has a Bucs jersey and shirt ("In case I go to a game").  During the course of a year he watches 30 Magic games and 10 Celtics games.  He actually has taken his Bandwagon ways and expanded them into what Bill Simmons labels "Sports Bigamy."  He truly has two teams in each sport - the local and the "real team."  This is a natural pull - especially in today's media heavy sports world.  It is hard to not care about the local team when that is what you are saturated with.  It is easier to get coverage of your team from back home, but the local stuff is everywhere.  

So, for one of many reasons, most Florida residents pull off this Bandwagon jumping and Sports Bigamy with every sport.  It could be that they went to a different college than the one they cheered for growing up.  That happened with me when I went to UCF after being a UGA fan.  UCF is clearly my college team, but we're usually out of play long before UGA is (something I'll address in my next post).  It could be that a spouse liked a team different than them.  They may move within Florida.  Moving from South Florida to Orlando will test those Dolphin allegiances - since they teams shown here are the Bucs and Jaguars.

What is the big deal?  There isn't really any big deal.  To people who spend way too much time worrying about sports and how other people deal with sports, both the Bandwagon and Sports Bigamy are very offensive.  These are the people who want you to "pick a team and stick with it."  If your team moves or shuts down or becomes offensive, you should cheer for no one rather than pick a different team.  And most of these people are from New England - where they have nothing to do for months except think about things like this.  I think a lot of it comes from being Red Sox fans, and staying true for 86 years, and then watching a bunch of people jump on the Bandwagon right at the end.  They wanted to separate themselves (the "real" fans) from the newcomers (the "bandwagoners").  This is why Florida is so offensive to those people.  The whole state is a bandwagon.  Our newer teams and recent success and tons of implants from other areas invite you to cheer for two (or more) teams.  

So, next time someone accuses you of jumping on the Bandwagon when you haul out your brand new Arizona Cardinals jersey or Atlanta Falcons hat, don't try to defend yourself.  Don't tell them about how you have always really loved the Cardinals, since they were in St. Louis.  Don't give some story about your family history in Atlanta.  Just say, "That's right!  I'm on the Bandwagon.  It's a Florida thing - you wouldn't understand.  Until you move here when you get old and drive slow in the left lane."

State of Florida Sports: Florida is a Great Sports Town

After watching Tampa Bay's amazing run to - and pathetic performance in - the World Series, it really got me thinking about sports in Florida.  I have lived in Florida all my life.  And really, it is a great place to live if you are a sports lover.  But it is a little unique in the world of sports.  Most of the time, there are big cities that have teams and rabid fan bases.  Look at places like Boston, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia.  They are known as "sports towns."  They have teams with histories and lots of very opinionated fans.  And in the mainstream sports media, they are respected more than the "casual" fans that populate other places - like Florida.  

The thing that you have to think about is that Florida is a new sports frontier.  The state itself has grown by leaps and bounds.  Did you realize that Florida is the 4th most populous state?  And it probably will pass New York before long.  In 1980 it was 7th.  In 1950 it was 20th.  In 1920 it was 32nd.  So, when teams like the Red Sox and Cubs were already developing curses, Florida was a nothing state.  I am 34 years old and Florida native.  I was born in West Palm Beach and lived there until I moved to Orlando for college.  With the exception of the Dolphins, every single Florida professional franchise began after I was born.

So think about that for just a minute.  I have three kids and am trying to get them interested in sports.  There is not a multi-generational rooting structure in place.  My dad cheered for the Celtics and Chicago Bears.  When I was kid, what did I have to pick from?  In the NFL there was Miami (which I hated) or Dallas (the big team at the time).  So I was a Cowboys fan.  In baseball, there were the Yankees and Dodgers - so I picked the Yankees.  In the NBA, well I started cheering for the Hawks because TBS showed their games.  And I was Georgia Bulldog fan because I lived on Georgia Avenue and they were big because of Herschel Walker.  Since I was a kid, here is what has happened on the Florida sports scene.

NFL

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Founded in 1976 - Six Division Championships - One Super Bowl
• Jacksonville Jaguars - Founded in 1995 - Two Division Championships - Two AFC Title games - Six playoff appearances
• Miami Dolphins - Two Super Bowl Losses

NBA 

• Orlando Magic - Founded in 1989 - Three Division Titles - One Finals Appearance
• Miami Heat - Founded in 1987 - Seven Division Titles - One NBA Title

MLB

• Florida Marlins - Founded in 1993 - Two World Series Championships
• Tampa Bay Rays - Founded in 1998 - One Division Title - One World Series Appearance

NHL 

• Tampa Bay Lightning - Founded in 1992 - Two Division Titles - One Stanley Cup
• Florida Panthers - Founded in 1993 - One Stanley Cup Appearance

NCAA (Since 1974)

• University of Florida - Eight SEC Football Championships, Two Football National Titles, Two Heisman Trophy Winners, Fourteen Basketball NCAA Tourney Appearances, Two Basketball National Titles, Five College World Series Baseball Appearances
• Florida State University - Twelve ACC Football Championships, Two Football National Titles, Two Heisman Trophy Winners, Four Basketball NCAA Tourney Appearances, Fourteen College World Series Baseball Appearances
• University of Miami - Nine Big East Football Championships, Five Football National Titles, Two Heisman Trophy Winners, Five Basketball NCAA Tourney Appearances, Twenty-three College World Series Baseball Appearances, Four Baseball Titles
• University of South Florida - Football team founded in 1997, Three Football Bowl berths, ranked as high as 2nd in polls
• University of Central Florida - Football went Division I in 1996, One Conference-USA title, two both berths, three NCAA basketball Tourney appearnaces
• Florida Atlantic University - Football team founded in 2001, One conference title, one bowl berth
• Florida International University - Football team founded in 2002

In addition, we host about 25% of Super Bowls thanks to Miami and Tampa being two of the best host sites.  The Orange Bowl in Miami hosts the BCS Championship every four years.  The Capitol One, Outback, Gator, and Florida Sports bowls bring top teams to the state every year.  The Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 are in Daytona each year.  And the UF/UGA game is in Jacksonville every year.  

So, as you can see, there is a lot of sports development in Florida in the past thirty years.  The thing is, just about everyone here is from somewhere else.  So they cheer for the team from whence they came (Steelers, Red Sox, Oklahoma) and then they celebrate when Florida based teams do well.  Some would label this bandwagon-riding (something I will address in my next post).  But this also is because there is not a lot of passion for Florida-based teams - for the most part.  People around the country don't have a lot of connections to Florida teams.  And Florida residents are kind of just happy that their state is doing well. [This of course does not apply to UF/FSU or FSU/UM rivalries.]  It is like the whole state is a sports town.  If you talk about Cleveland's or Philly's title droughts (well, not Philly now), that means that the city hasn't had a winner in decades.  But in Florida we are like, "Yeah but Miami won a few years ago and Tampa won."  There are HUGE differences between regions in Florida.  But not as much of a difference when it comes to sports.  There is a "all for one, one for all" mentality in most people.  I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

Watch Out for Charlie Crist

At the risk of being too political, there is something that is really bugging me lately.

For those of you reading this that live in Florida, you'll figure this all out quickly.  For those in other states, you may not care.  But you should still read this because I guarantee that your state is going to make stupid choices like this soon.  As you probably know, a state takes in various taxes from its citizens.  This helps to fund the budget for the state.  Now, for larger states (like Florida), the budget is bigger than most countries.  That is what happens when so many people move to your state like flies on a fresh carcass.  

So, the state has various taxes - property, sales, vehicle.  Most states have a state income tax.  Florida does not, so that means that it has to rely even more on taxes to fill its coffers.  So, if you were to remove or cut a particular tax, that would cut a large amount of money out of the budget.  What is the next step?  Things that the budget funds get cut.  And I'm sure that there are tons of personal ego projects that the legislature and governor have crammed into the budget.  So what actually gets cut is important stuff.  This is how it happens in our personal budgets, right?  If you stop getting income, you have to cut expenses.

Well, at the primary election, we in Florida also had to vote on Amendment One.  It was personally proposed and shepherded by our Governor Charlie Crist.  Up until this point, property tax in Florida was handled thusly:

• When you bought a house, your house was appraised and you were levied a tax depending on area of town, price of house, etc.  Let's just say this figure was $3600 a year - which is a common figure in the Orlando area.
  
• Next year, your tax was only legally allowed to go up 3%.  That is the most if could ever go up.  So your tax would be $3708.  This happens each year.  $3819.  $3933.  And so on.
• However, when you moved, your new home was subject to the current tax rates.  
• This caused problems for especially the elderly, who would live in a home for 30 years and still be paying taxes based on when that law first was passed.  Then they would get a smaller place and pay twice in taxes.

Crist's proposal was that you would now be able to take your 3% with you.  So your new home would only be able to have your tax raise 3% - even if the house value was higher than what you were in.

Sounds great, right?  If you are a homeowner you would love this.  You would pretty much lock in your tax rates on the first home you bought.  (Of course, with property values nosediving, it doesn't sound so great now.)  However, as the vote neared, I began to notice something as I thought on this issue.  Just about every public service group (Police, firefighters, teachers) were fighting the issue.  Why?  Well, think about it.  When that Amendment passed, the legislature would find itself with a shortage.  And we all know the first thing they are going after.

Crist was confronted with this and waved his arms and squawked, "No no no people.  I will not let a single public service get hurt by this."  The media helped Crist by trying to paint this as a home owner vs home renter issue - which never made any sense.  I voted No for several reasons.

• I don't believe that legislative issues like this should be run through making Amedments.  It is a fact that in Florida it is easier to pass an Amendment than a bill.  So this was a way to circumvent the legislature - who already had shot this proposal down.
• If this passed, the state would know that they would only have one shot to nail a homeowner with a high tax rate - on their first home.  How much you want to bet that tax rates are going to skyrocket on new homes?  That $3600 will be $6000 before you know it.  (Doesn't sound like much?  That adds $200 a month to your mortgage!)
• I knew that the services would get whacked.  I've watched politics enough to know they are ALWAYS the first thing that gets hurt - regardless of Crist's thoughts.

Turns out I was part of the 29% minority as the Amendment sailed through.  So what happened?  The legislature is working on the budget right now.  And they immediately told every state-funded service to slash their budgets.  The biggest hit?  Schools.  Orange County Schools were told to cut $70 MILLION out of their budget!  (jaw drops)  So, the people of the state took this into their own hands and just shot their kids in the foot.  The new teacher hires in the state have been cut in half.  And road repair, emergency services, etc etc all took hits too.

Way to go Governor Crist!  Of course, people are starting to get angry.  Florida is the worst hit by the subprime fiasco, with Orlando in the top 10 cities in America for foreclosures.  (I heard it was #1 at one point.)  And now these people realize that schools just got decimated by the budget cuts.  Crist's popularity is the lowest since he took office.  And his solution to all of this?  You ready?  No seriously, this is how proposal.  He wants to legalize gambling.  Not just lottery, which we have had for 20 years.  He wants to legalize full-scale gambling.  Awesome.  Yes, my friends, this is the man who was personally hand-picked to replace Jeb Bush (who was a GREAT governor - I don't care what his last name was).  Charlie Crist, defender of the conservative moral right.  

Oh it gets better.  You want to know who is high up on the short list for Republican Vice President list?  That's right.  Charlie Crist.  So those of you out of state just went back and re-read this post?  Charlie Crist is being considered for the Vice Presidential nomination.  That kills me.  In 15 months he has lost 20 percentage points of favor in the third most populous state in the country.  He personally damaged the already struggling education system.  And he mortgages the state's future for the present (on second thought, he sounds like he is perfect for the national stage).  

I will say this right here.  If John McCain picks Charlie Crist, it will have made me 95% sure that I will NOT vote for the GOP ticket.  Unless the Democrats pick a convicted felon.  Actually, I would not at all be surprised that after the completely unexciting Republican offering, and the sure-to-be-contentious Democratic convention, there will be a third party candidate show up and really mess up the whole process.  Seriously.  You watch.  Once the conventions are over, someone will step up and really throw a monkey wrench into everything.  

***This post was not sponsored by the Republican Party, Democratic Party, Green Party, or Bachelor party.  I am David Staples, and I approved this message.

Democratic Delegates

A couple weeks back I slightly pushed the Political Door open.  Then yesterday I pushed it a little further.  Since I haven't gotten attacked or beaten with rods, I guess I should just go ahead and kick the door in and jump.

There is a huge battle brewing about the Democratic Delegates from Florida and Michigan.  Here's the latest.  The Democratic Party punished Michigan and Florida for moving their Presidential primaries earlier in the election season.  The punishment was the that their primaries would not count, and the delegates would not be seated at the convention.  With the Democratic Party, the delegates are handed out based on the outcome of the state.  Every candidate gets them, and the percentage of votes determines number of delegates.  The candidates all agreed to stay away from those two states.  Well, sort of...

Hillary Clinton put her name on the Michigan ballot, even though she wasn't supposed to.  And she actually did some campaigning in Florida, even though she promised she wouldn't.  So, she won both states.  Now, everyone in those two states want their delegates included.  If I was Obama, I would be furious about this.  You see, I can say all of this, because at this point I don't like ANYONE left in any of the races.  So I don't care about defending one person over another.  But these are the simple facts.

• The Democrats agreed to stay out of Michigan and Florida.
• Everyone did that - except Clinton.
• She won both states - largely because of name recognition.
• Voters in both states were told repeatedly their votes did not matter.
• Voters in both states were not given the opportunity to hear both sides.
• Clinton broke the Party's rules in both states.

So, why exactly should we just allow the delegates to be seated based on the original votes?  Clinton is obviously pushing for this because she is in trouble and knows she would score a bucket load of delegates for winning both states.  But is that fair?  I don't think so.  I think that it is dirty pool.  I mean everyone knew this battle would come up.  I don't know if everyone thought the Democratic race would be so close at this point.  But they knew that Florida and Michigan would want seated.  I'm guessing most pundits didn't think it would matter if they were.  But now it does.  

(And how is it that Florida is always at the center of these election fiascos?  I swear, it is like Florida is the Island from Lost or something.  I'm always expecting to run into Jack whenever I wander near a wooded region.  Think about it.  Bizarre weather patterns . . . Beaches . . . Big abandoned hatches all over (air raid shelters) . . . Lots of foreign people with agendas . . . Shipwrecks . . . Always causing trouble.  I'm making sense, aren't I?) 

I know that in Michigan the rules states that if over 15% of voters in the primary picked "Undecided" then the delegates assigned to that percent could vote however they wanted - allowing the other candidates to pick up some votes.  And it ended up that over 40% voted "Undecided."  But, still, that means that Clinton got 60% for breaking the rules.  

I think that the only fair thing is something that - of all people to come up with a smart thought - Howard Dean (head of the Democratic Party) came up with is to re-vote in Michigan and Florida.  This is the only fair thing!  It is the only way to make sure that a "true" democratic process is observed that is fair to all candidates.  It is the only way to allow both Clinton and Obama a chance to win voters.  And it is the only way to make sure that the Democratic Party is able to choose the person the party really wants.  

If you think this doesn't matter to you because you are a Republican or Independent or Green or whatever, think about this.  There is a very good probability that the person who wins the Democratic nomination will be elected.  They are leading in every poll - regardless of who wins the Party nod.  So, it really comes down to the fact that how Florida and Michigan go will determine the nominee.  If it stays as is and the delegates aren't included, Obama will very likely win.  If they are included based on the messed up election, Clinton will very likely win.  Kind of raises the stakes, doesn't it?