Written for Philly.com

Phillies fans have been in love with Cliff Lee from the start, but he really sealed the deal when he turned down a $148 million contract from the Yankees and opted for a smaller contract with the Phillies. In fact, the first time I drew Lee in a cartoon, it featured him being covered with female fan’s panties, Tom Jones style.

Fast-forward to 2013. With the Phillies facing the possibility of a losing season, the rumors swirling around the team’s interest in trading away Lee have resurfaced. Being traded isn’t new for Lee (he’s probably the best pitcher to be traded four times), but I was surprised how cold he viewed the current situation when asked about it on Tuesday night.

“I definitely want to win. I want to be on a winning team,” Lee told CBS Sports. “That should be what it’s all about.”

That seems like a far cry from Lee’s feelings following his return to Philly in 2011, when he said, “I never wanted to leave in the first place.” Maybe Lee’s looking to position himself as the first rat to try and escape a sinking ship. Currently, there are nine teams he can be traded to without his approval, and at some point, it might be worth dealing the 34-year-old lefty to help replenish the team’s barren wasteland of a farm system.

Lee will always be a hero to Phillies fans who remember his complete shutdown of a potent Yankees lineup in Game 1 of the 2009 Wold Series. That was the reason Lee came back to the Phillies – to be part of a team on the upswing with the potential to challenge for a championship every year.

With Halladay out, Ruiz ailing, Utley and Howard banged up, a manager close to the exit door and a streaky but uninspiring offense, the prospect of leaving town might genuinely be appealing to Lee. If the Phillies can’t turn this season around, Ruben Amaro might have to face the prospect of dealing Lee and doing what he didn’t have the guts to do in the offseason – starting the rebuilding process.

Written for WHYY/Newsworks

After Rutgers men’s basketball coach Mike Rice was fired over his abusive actions towards his players, I spoke to a lot of friends and colleagues to get their take on how it all went down. 

Opinions about the firing, which occurred after a video showcasing Rice dishing out tons of physical and verbal abuse made its way online, seem to diverge into two camps.

On the one hand, some think it was absolutely inexcusable that it took so long for Athletic Director Tim Pernetti to fire Rice, who saw the video five months ago and decided the appropriate punishment was to suspend the coach for three games and fine him $75,000. Remember, Rice’s homophobic outbursts came in the aftermath of the tragic suicide of Tyler Clementi, who jumped from the George Washington Bridge after his roommate and a fellow hall-mate shared webcam video of Clementi kissing another man.

Their view seems to be substantiated by the resignation of Pernetti, who threw himself on his sword over what university president Robert Barchi called a “failure of process” during a press conference on Friday.

Another group of friends, who tend to skew older, don’t necessarily defend Rice’s actions, but it’s obvious they’re not too concerned with them either. Most recalled back to their days playing basketball, and remember coaches yelling, pushing and acting not so differently than Rice. Sean Hannity echoed these comments on his popular Fox News show, saying that he kind-of liked the “old-fashioned discipline” that Rice exuded.

College is more than sports

The problem with both of these opinions is that they miss the elephant in the room – the dominance of college athletics over academics that is being driven by big sports contracts and lots and lots of money, none of which go to the players and doesn’t even cover the costs of the school’s sports programs.

Hannity derided players who were forced to deal with Rice’s abusive actions by saying they have the choice to leave and go play somewhere else. “They’re adults,” Hannity said (he’s wrong, they’re kids).

The reason most of them are at Rutgers is because of the generous scholarships they received to attend a college that in many cases has become out of reach financially for many families. Last year, both tuition and room and board were increased, jacking up the cost of attending a state college to over $24,000 for in-state undergraduates living on campus.

High cost of sports

On the flipside, Mike Rice was paid over $655,000 last year to coach a very mediocre basketball team that finished 15-16 despite all of his hard-edged motivational techniques. Women’s basketball coach Vivian Stringer earned $1 million last year, making her the state’s highest paid employee.

And don’t get me started on the lavish benefits and pay Rutgers threw at former head football coach Greg Schiano, who’s brief run of success can be summed up in two words – Ray Rice.

Based on data complied by Bloomberg, Rutgers spent more money on athletics than any other public institution in the six biggest football conferences during the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Despite cuts to sports ranging from crew to fencing, the sports program didn’t come close to breaking even. As a result, more than 40 percent of sports revenue came from student fees and the university’s general fund.

This problem isn’t unique to Rutgers. In 2011, sports programs cost more then they brought in at 48 of the largest names in college sports. The rationale is always that sports helps market the schools by exposure, visibility and positive branding, although having perennial losing seasons and coaches that call players “faggots” seems to argue against any good will the program creates.

I’m not saying colleges should get rid of sports. I’m a huge sports fan, and college athletics plays an important role in the development of young men and women into adults.

I just think colleges really need to re-think their priorities. When the highest paid employee in the state is a coach at the same time we’re laying off public employees, cutting university aid and nixing professors, something’s gone terribly wrong. 

Or maybe it’s just a coincidence underpaid professors never seem to get in trouble for calling their students “faggots” and “fairies.”

Check out more of my sports cartoons here

Order a print of this Elena Delle Donne cartoon – only $19.95!

Order a print of this Elena Delle Donne cartoon – only $19.95!

Down by seven points at halftime at home, the unstoppable All -American Elena Delle Donne helped lead the Lady Blue Hens past West Virginia 66-53. Delle Donne ended the game with 33 points (2o points came in the second half) along with 7 rebounds and 4 blocks.

It’s just the second NCAA tournament win in the history of Delaware women’s basketball. If you’re counting that 26 straight wins for the Lady Blue Hens. They’ll play the winner of North Carolina and Albany on Tuesday at home in Newark.

Here’s a taste of Francesa’s brilliance:

“The cardinal… this is it… the arch bishop of.. but he’s an arch bishop. Oh, this is it… it is… this is the Pope From Buenos Aries? From Argentina? He’s it? Is that it? ”

“Jorge Mario… Berg… ber… ber-goal-io? That it, he’s the new Pope?

[h/t Jimmy Traina]

Back in 1986, notoriously shy cartoonist Gary Larson, creator of the much beloved “The Far Side,” sat down for a terrific profile piece on 20/20. There are all sorts of cool gems throughout this clip, including Larson’s Mom reading lines from “Mr. Bear Squash-You-All-Flat,” one of his favorite books growing up.

There is also a part devoted to Larson’s criticism of the marketing and merchandising aspect of his comic’s success.

“I think it’s getting to be these days almost where the comic pages are becoming mostly little advertising vehicles for other things that are where the real money is,” Larson said. “I think it sucks. I think it should be humor. ”

Watch the video:

[ h/t Tyson Cole via The Daily Cartoonist ]

“Hard to believe what a POS Tormoe is, I think he will be the merit badge counselor for Fisting Merit Badge? It appears as a giant ahole he has the experience, hehehe. All the homosexual fire fighters, police and soldiers can stay home, easy choice.”

Here’s the cartoon in question:

Republican also-ran Mike Protack, a Delaware politician who has the distinction of losing every race he’s ever run in, also didn’t appreciate my opinion. He decided to take to trolling my Facebook page:

Just because he’s a bigoted troll doesn’t mean he’s not capable of putting together a thought-provoking response to my opinion that it hurts the Boy Scouts in the long run to be so aggressive towards gay scouts:

Written for WHYY/Newsworks

It’s that time again. All across the region, girls have begun peddling their delicious cookies, dutifully stationed outside of Wawas and grocery stores and going door-to-door with Thin Mints, Tagalongs and the rest of your resolution-destroying favorites.

I bet when you bent over to give that little girl your $20 for those delectable treats, the last thing on your mind was, “I wonder if she’s gay.” Like most Americans, you were probably more focused on helping fund a great scouting organization that has helped mold millions of young girls into upstanding citizens than the sexuality of the children in question.

See, the Girl Scouts are more representative of our society’s every-growing inclusiveness of homosexuality. They practice what conservatives preach – they respect the values of their members and don’t intrude into their personal matters. That’s inclusion, not exclusion. Forget “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the Girl Scouts practice “Come One, Come All!”

And that brings me to the Boy Scouts.

As many of you might know, I’m a former Eagle Scout. Last year, I mailed my Eagle Scout Badge (much to the chagrin of my mother, a lifelong Scouting volunteer) back to the heads of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in protest of their decision to continue their discriminatory policy of banning gay scouts and scoutmasters.

Last week, when all signs seemed to point to the Boy Scouts finally changing their outdated views on what the term “morally straight” means, they backtracked again, delaying a decision on any policy change until May at the earliest. 

The paranoia is ridiculous.

Defenders of the Boy Scouts bigoted policies think the only thing a young man who happens to be gay cares about is having as much sex as possible and talking about it all the time. They also seem to think gay adults are the only ones capable of sexually abusing children. That doesn’t require having a gay scoutmaster, it just requires having a weak or immoral one, as the Boy Scouts clearly know (and have tried to cover-up over the years).

The irony of course is any bigoted policy harms young men instead of helping them. What will a young man learn from the Boy Scouts current policies – kids that happen to be gay are somehow different and weird, and can’t be trusted to participate in activities with “normal” kids? That’s a far cry from the Boy Scout’s slogan, “Do a good turn daily.”

It’s not as if the Boy Scouts have always been so vocally anti-gay. In the first edition of the Boy Scouts Handbook in 1911, they promised, “every American boy shall have the opportunity of becoming a good scout.” That seems pretty inclusive to me. 

What makes the Boy Scouts so scared of allowing gay members into their ranks, when the Girl Scouts have been doing so successfully for as long as I can remember? It’s easy to blame the influence of religion, but it’s more complicated than that.

The scouting movement began in England in the early 1900s to let boys experience adventure and outdoor activities together. Lord Baden-Powell founded the scouting movement in America 1910 as a youth organization “independent of any single faith or religion.”

The Mormon Church basically co-opted the movement in 1913. Today, virtually every Mormon Church in the country has a scout troop, and Mormon boys are automatically enrolled in the Boy Scouts.

However, it’s not that black-and-white. After all, while Mormons don’t allow same-sex marriage, they do allow gay and lesbian members into the church. Even Mitt Romney, who was on the executive board of the Boy Scouts back in 1994, said he personally felt that “all people should be allowed to participate… regardless of their sexual orientation.”

So why have the Boy Scouts turned up the anti-gay dial to 11 in recent years? 

Look no further than the current Boy Scout leadership, best embodied by Wayne Perry, a proud member of the Mormon Church and the National President of the Boy Scouts of America

. According to campaign filings, Perry gave $15,000 to the Free and Strong America PAC, which among other things, helped fund outfits like the National Organization of Marriage, which worked hard to ban same-sex marriage in California.

Perry also put a lot of money behind the support of anti-LGBT candidates, like Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA). Hastings voted for a Constitutional ban on gay marriage and supports a ban on gay adoptions, and has a 0 percent voting record towards gay rights, by the Human Rights Campaign.

Think lest morals, more politics. Talk about not being trustworthy. 

The Girl Scouts, on the other hand, are a secular organization. Not shackled by religious bigotry, they are free to do what is in the best interest of their kids, which should really be the driving force behind any scouting organization. That’s not to say they exclude religion – on the contrary, they encourage girls to take their own spiritual journeys via their own faiths’ religious recognitions. 

Maybe it’s their level of inclusiveness that makes their cookies taste so damn good.