Surely we can discuss sports topics without the bickering, finger-pointing and name-calling that's defined the presidential primaries.
Feel free to disagree with issues I am for and against without the risk of being compared to Lyin' Ted, Crooked Hillary or Dangerous Donald.
FOR: Big 12 expansion
I pay little attention to the Big 12 except to be thankful Arkansas is no longer one of the piglets suckling on the sow that is the University of Texas. Thank you again, Frank Broyles.
Whenever there's a problem you can usually point to those blowhards at Texas, whose collective egos would make even Donald Trump blush. Inviting Cincinnati as a traveling partner for West Virginia and adding Houston or BYU to the Big 12 seems reasonable, even if Texas resists.
That way, the Big 12 can split into two divisions and hold a championship game similar to the other conferences. If you want to be treated like everyone else, shouldn't you have to play like everyone else?
AGAINST: Ads on uniforms
I am convinced large corporations would plaster the Statue of Liberty with ads if they could get away with it.
There are no statues in the NBA unless you count James Harden, who doesn't guard anybody after he's done shooting. But there will be ads on the players themselves.
The NBA said so, beginning in 2017-2018 when ads may be placed on the front of jerseys where the NBA logo appears. The additional revenue could bring in more than $1 million for a league already raking in the money.
Supporters will say, hey, NASCAR does it, why not the other major sports?
Yeah, but I don't watch NASCAR. If I want to see something go around in circles, I can stand by the pen and watch my dog Ruffin chase his tail. He wears nothing but a collar and doesn't hurt himself when he crashes into the fence.
FOR: Multi-sport athletes
Did you know nearly 90 percent of the players selected in the recent NFL draft played multiple sports in high school?
It is more evidence against those who believe a player must decide at a young age his athletic future. Years ago, I met a dad who trained his young son in race walking because he thought it was the boy's easiest path to the Olympics. Not sure how that turned out, but I prefer kids who run and jump.
Not everyone is good enough to play multiple sports, but high school athletics should be fun without a young person feeling the pressure to specialize.
AGAINST: Bloated postseason formats
Young people won't believe this but in the olden days, long before Justin Bieber was even born, postseason was a reward for teams who did well in the regular season. Not anymore.
Only two of the 14 baseball teams in the SEC are left behind when the league holds its annual tournament in Hoover, Ala. Even Arkansas, which was 7-18 in league play heading into Saturday and blew a 9-1 lead at LSU, can still qualify with a late a late surge.
It is strange indeed when Arkansas Pine-Bluff (21-23), which has already clinched a division championship, is having the best year of the five Division I baseball programs in the state.
AGAINST: The designated hitter
For the love of Bob Gibson, please don't let this happen to the National League in my lifetime.
Gibson was my hero growing up. He was the ace of the St. Louis Cardinals staff in the 1960s and '70s and an all-around athlete who once played basketball for the Harlem Globetrotters. Gibson could hit, too, and field and do all the little things to help himself and his team.
Pitchers today should at least be able to put a bunt down to advance a runner, if the situation requires. Besides, a pitcher who throws at batter's head should face the consequences by standing at the plate himself.
Even if his knees are shaking and he's three feet outside of the batter's box.
FOR: Mike Anderson
If anyone needed a break it is Anderson, the Arkansas basketball coach who retains Moses Kingsley after Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls left as underclassmen the previous year.
Kingsley's decision to return for his senior season has some already predicting Arkansas will make the NCAA Tournament. Of course, these are the same people who were gushing over Jimmy Witt before the start of his freshman season in college.
"It's a given we're going to be in the (NCAA) Tournament," Anderson said in a press conference last week. "In my mind, getting to the tournament, that's a given."
That's bold talk for a coach relying heavily on three junior college players to transform the Razorbacks, who failed even to finish above .500 in a league as bad as the SEC in basketball.
OK, Mike. Love the optimism. But it's time for results, not promises.
Sports on 05/15/2016