Some Quick Thoughts

• Pete Rose admitted to betting on baseball yesterday. After all these years of denial he finally admitted to betting on the Reds every evening when he was manager.
  
  I know betting on sports is basically wrong and illegal in most states. I know betting on sports when you're an active participant is pretty reprehensible. But should Rose be condemned as much for betting for his team as he might have been had he bet against his team? I know there's point spread implications but, maybe I'm missing something, I don't think point spread matters a whole lot in Major League Baseball. If he'd bet against the Reds and actively worked to throw the game then he should be in jail. But if he bet for the Reds and, as a good manager should, tried to win the game and the # of runs didn't matter...well, I'm not going to be on his case too terribly much. After all both operations had the same goals... Oh well.
  
  
• Yesterday Tennessee Senator Mike Williams dropped out of the Republican Party and officially became an independent. I say good job, and what took you so long, Mike? And that has nothing really to do with the fact he was a Republican or Democrat, just that he is the latest in a not-long-enough list to finally shed official Party designation and realize there are two sides to every argument, and that you don't have to follow a "platform" to be a successful lawmaker or person. I think someone's political integrity goes up in my estimation when they do something like this. Here's hoping Joe Lieberman eventually takes that next step in the US Senate, but admittedly the pressure is much greater there. Although the Democratic Party has certainly done him no favors.
  
  I don't know much about Williams, but he has voted with the Democrats in a number of issues in the past - I just hope he doesn't become an IINO - "Independant in Name Only."