PrintBy JOE O'NEILL
Tribune correspondent
There's a new sheriff's directive in town.
Starting Oct. 1, smoking will no longer be permitted on Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office property. And that, finally, means those less-than-thoughtful, unnaturally cloudy, cardio/pulmonary-compromising zones - also known as designated smoking areas - will be history.
No longer will the sheriff's office be enablers for those who won't kick the habit. No longer will the sheriff's office, which doesn't (knowingly) hire employees who use tobacco, be undoing its part in helping to target the largest preventable cause of death in the United States. And no longer will nonsmokers be imprisoned, however briefly, with smokers as they navigate designated smoking areas.
Well done, sheriff's office. Timing is everything. Your tobacco-free strategy addresses the ultimate bottom line: further incentivizing wellness while helping to rein in the costs of health insurance premiums.
And the new rule will end the de facto policy of sending a counterproductive, mixed message. In short, as long as there are employers offering designated smoking areas, there will be designated rationales to maintain the status quo. Ultimately, that's neither a sound - nor healthy - approach.
Meyer earns big pay
Urban Meyer will now make $4 million a year to coach the Florida Gators. He's worth it.
No, I'm not a hardcore Gator fan, but I am a fan. (Actually I'm a hardcore Penn State fan.) And, yes, I'm aware of the skewed priorities inherent in the parallel universe that is big-time sports. And although cancer researchers should make more than football coaches, that bizarro universe is also part of the free-market system. It's an obscenely compensated meritocracy.
Florida football is big business involving big network television deals, big marketing dollars and a big stadium with big luxury boxes. And big expectations. Merely winning - even in the football cauldron that is the Southeastern Conference - is not enough. It's about winning national championships. UF has won two in Meyer's four years. And he's done it without turning Florida into an outlaw program.
Meyer's salary is funded through the University Athletic Association. In other words, no state money is used to pay Meyer. In fact, the UAA kicks back money to the university. This year it gave UF $6 million to help address a budget deficit. Meyer also gives back. His commitment to the Florida Opportunity Scholars program is $1 million.
In addition to what he brings UF - in revenue, national stature and PR coups - Meyer must also be judged in context. For example, Charlie Weis, the Notre Dame coach with an undistinguished, four-year record, makes more than Meyer. Pat Burrell, the Tampa Bay Rays' designated out, makes twice as much.
Sure, it's all relative. But, absolutely, Meyer is worth it.
Court priority
At first it seemed like one of those stories: Kids and their parents go to a judge to seek redress because of perceived unfairness about something important to them. That you can't help but empathize with. It's the principle. Teachable moment stuff. It was reported by both the local print and electronic media.
Then I read the details about a controversial youth baseball call - that was overturned by a national commissioner - that adversely affected the Spring Hill National Triple-A Majors All-Stars. They're a Dixie Youth Baseball team of 11- and 12-year-olds.
I'll spare the specifics, but it involved the commissioner making a decision more steeped in the spirit of the law than the letter. It didn't go Spring Hill's way, so they took it to a Hernando County judge who didn't rule in their favor.
"Rules Bench Youth Team" read one daily's headline. "Ruling Spikes Youth Team" read the other. Photos of the despondent and disappointed accompanied the accounts.
So the script, as it's usually written, ends with those on Spring Hill's side - players, parents, friends and attorneys - not quitting. They gave it their best shot. They fought the good fight. They wanted to right a wrong.
But this really wasn't a Jimmy V moment. Nor a movie starring the adolescent Mickey Rooney. Don't cue the "Rocky" theme. No, this was, frankly, the sort of unnecessary case an overburdened court system in an overly litigious society doesn't need. It couldn't have been a judicious use of Hernando County Judge Kurt Hitzemann's time.
In rendering his decision, Hitzemann pointed to the league's own rule book for the basis of his decision. "I didn't see anything in this book that said if you don't like what the national commissioner says you can take it to court," Hitzemann said.
That, ironically, was the teachable moment's lesson.
Solheim sisters
Next week in suburban Chicago begins the Solheim Cup, the prestigious, biennial women's golf competition that pits the United States against Europe. Each side is represented by 12-player squads.
The Tampa Bay region will be better represented than any other area. The U.S. squad features Kristy McPherson of Tampa and Brittany Lincicome of Seminole.
Joe O'Neill can be contacted at www.opinionstogoonline.com or moesez@aol.com
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