The Sporting Life: SMSU name change flap detracts from real issues

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Brent Lawrence, who has never bared his breast in front of a nationwide audience, is a columnist for Springfield Business Journal. |ret||ret||tab|

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The debate over the Southwest Missouri State University name change is a microcosm for all that's wrong with the government.|ret||ret||tab|

We have some legislators wanting to change the name of SMSU to Missouri State University. I'm an SMSU graduate and don't really give a rat's rear if we drop "Southwest" off the name or not, but if it will help the university (and I'm not just talking about athletics, either) I'll support it. SMSU, it seems to me, has earned the designation as a statewide university.|ret||ret||tab|

But why should Sen. Ken Jacob, a Democrat from Columbia, be able to hold the entire process hostage? I understand that filibustering has a long tradition in government, dating back to the mid-1800s. (The record for the longest individual speech in the U.S. Senate goes to South Carolina's J. Strom Thurmond who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957, according to the U.S. Senate Web site.)|ret||ret||tab|

Jacob had, at one time, engineered a deal that would have attached a provision to the SMSU name change, linking it to approval of the sale of $190 million in bonds that would benefit the University of Missouri's four campuses.|ret||ret||tab|

But the problem with filibustering and these I'll-scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine deals is that they aren't good for the public. Sure, Jacob probably believes that keeping SMSU from becoming MSU is good for the University of Missouri. That's fine let him vote against the measure. But also let everybody else have their vote on the bill, too.|ret||ret||tab|

Pass it or reject it on its own merits. Get it done and then move on.|ret||ret||tab|

The same goes for the $190 million in bonds. If they're worthy of being passed, let them pass on their own merits. Far too many of these deals result in unnecessary projects that cost us taxpayers.|ret||ret||tab|

What the political leaders sometimes the terms "politicians" and "leaders" seem contradictory need to do is move on to more important matters. |ret||ret||tab|

All the time wasted on trying to get a vote on SMSU's name should have been used to try to slice and dice the state budget to get proper funding to primary and secondary education. If we can't get the kids smart enough to attend college coming out of high school, then it doesn't matter what our universities are called.|ret||ret||tab|

Our school districts are crying for money and making all kinds of cuts, yet we're wasting time fighting over SMSU's name change. If a business were to behave this way, it would have closed long ago.|ret||ret||tab|

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Super Bowl|ret||ret||tab|

Great game, atrocious halftime show.|ret||ret||tab|

I'm not shocked and definitely not bothered by seeing an occasional breast. But I do object to the entire Super Bowl halftime show because it's completely inconsistent with what the NFL promotes. The league is often called the No Fun League because it fines players for everything from minor uniform violations, like having their socks too low, to excessive on-field celebrations.|ret||ret||tab|

Yet the league willingly promotes halftime shows that feature crotch-grabbing music stars grinding on each other. The league also penalizes teams and players for taunting and unsportsmanlike conduct, yet lends its NFL trademark to video games that are full of taunting.|ret||ret||tab|

The league can't have it both ways. If the NFL is going to promote itself as family-oriented entertainment, then it needs to make sure it's sending a consistent message. Pat Boone and the Osmond Family aren't the right answer, but there's no reason Nelly, P. Diddy and Kid Rock can't perform something a little more tasteful.|ret||ret||tab|

As far as Janet Jackson's exposed breast, it's just one more lowering of the standards for public decency. We've already got profanity on prime-time television, and bare butts after 9 p.m. Each little occurrence just pushes the envelope a little further. How long until the first f-bomb? Probably within five years.|ret||ret||tab|

One final note on the subject: Janet Jackson sure got a better plastic surgeon than brother Michael Jackson did.|ret||ret||tab|

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Quotable|ret||ret||tab|

While at a recent evening function at The Tower Club, I was staring out the windows at the new baseball park, parking garage and the city lights.|ret||ret||tab|

A friend, Paul Yarnal, walked up, stood next to me and while looking at the cars 22-floor below us, said: "You know that the people who jumped from the World Trade Center were 70 floors higher than this. And that seemed like the best option at the time. How soon we as a country forget."|ret||ret||tab|

Well said, sir.|ret||ret||tab|

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