30 Days in the Wilderness

(JT baseball writer; Sports Scope and NPB [Nippon Professional Baseball] Notebook columnist)

The night before the presidential election, Barack Obama went on "Monday Night Football" and sparked heated debates in the sports world by asking college football to scrap the Bowl Championship Series postseason system in favor of a playoff.

If Obama can spark such discussion about something so trivial, I can't wait to see him tackle the real issues as mine and America's next president. After all, he won the White House on a promise of change, and my hope is he makes a profound difference in the U.S. and delivers on that.

Hopefully, the changes he makes will force our leaders to think differently, even a bit outside of the box, to help lead the U.S. back into economic prosperity and the good graces of the world.

Obama's election was a sign of how far America has come, but there is still plenty to be done. I believe the most important thing for him is to keep the nation moving forward domestically and internationally, winning back the trust and respect that was lost under Bush.

And if that involves shaking up college football as well as the Washington machine — well, that would sure be some touchdown.

30 Days in the Wilderness

Simon Bartz

(JT staff music and travel writer)

Jason Coskrey

(JT staff sports writer)

Giovanni Fazio

(JT film writer)

Stephen Hesse

(JT environment columnist)

Misha Janette

(JT fashion writer)

Jeff Kingston

(JT book reviewer)

C. W. Nicol

(JT nature columnist)

Roger Pulvers

(Counterpoint, Bilingual columnist)

Tanaka

(JT stage writer)