Brian McNicoll is a conservative columnist and freelance writer based in Alexandria, Va. He has worked as a newspaper writer, editor and columnist, as a senior writer for The Heritage Foundation and as director of communications for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He also is a high-level girls basketball coach. McNicoll, who hails from Shreveport, La., is married with two children. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianMcNicoll http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianMcNicoll TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2012 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Sat, 05 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT Sat, 05 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ A few months ago, I was golfing in Maryland, and I happened to get paired with a member of the Maryland General Assembly. I had covered Maryland politics at one time, so we did a few "do-you-knows" as the round... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianMcNicoll/2012/05/05/taking_the_long_view 1c0539cc-feac-4428-a41a-51da1be3c8da Sat, 05 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT Look, I know you're probably not going to vote for Buddy Roemer for president, even if he somehow wrangles his way onto the primary ballot in your state. And I'm not even trying to talk you into it here. He's a fair... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianMcNicoll/2011/12/16/buddy_roemer_man_of_courage 942583c5-a834-4783-bbf6-668b8b33beda Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:49:00 GMT There is a problem with the Bowl Championship Series, but it's not the one you probably think. College football doesn't need a playoff. A traditional playoff system - an eight-team or even four-team bracket - brings... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianMcNicoll/2011/11/22/dont_hatch_a_rematch 88c76789-eee2-4a25-93ea-e26c54886a70 Tue, 22 Nov 2011 05:01:00 GMT Back in 1999, I was driving into State College for a Penn State football game, listening to the pregame show on the radio. They were interviewing Jerry Sandusky about his impending retirement. The play-by-play man... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianMcNicoll/2011/11/12/more_to_the_story_at_penn_state d141a6a9-d346-4d95-b5dd-dd228a0ab0e9 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:01:00 GMT For a couple of weeks, the narrative of Occupy Wall Street coverage was that, beyond the opportunity to decry greed, no one could be clear what the protesters wanted. Then, of course, a list appeared. Most of the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianMcNicoll/2011/11/09/the_student_loan_mire 4e5eff68-4282-4395-9704-c3f7500ffb12 Wed, 09 Nov 2011 05:01:00 GMT Any time you see a poll of, say, the best third basemen of all time or the best guitarists or the best presidents, you will notice a bias in favor of the modern. Even among the most knowledgeable of fans, few know how... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianMcNicoll/2011/10/05/stupidest_protest_ever d2ed474f-faac-4a5c-b2a2-3c57161a64af Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:51:00 GMT Of all the absolutely mindless things coming out of Washington these days, it's hard for me to imagine anything more mindless than the Obama administration's thinking on energy policy. His energy secretary has said... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianMcNicoll/2011/09/30/end_mindless_energy_policy 40df43c7-3efa-4286-84d4-b583ad6b6cf1 Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:59:00 GMT Our most-pro-abortion president ever is at it again. As Tony Perkins, my fellow Louisianan and ally in the culture wars, pointed out on Wednesday, the federal government, as part of ObamaCare, is preparing... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianMcNicoll/2011/09/11/lets_all_pay_for_our_own_fun e296ebb1-78d8-497f-8897-2fbb7713145f Sun, 11 Sep 2011 04:01:00 GMT This year, Labor Day fell three days before President Obama plans to address the nation on the subject of jobs. We know what he won't say because his first instinct - and that of many of his supporters - would be... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianMcNicoll/2011/09/06/no_more_jobs_programs_._please 781ba1f9-b64c-4806-9cba-7a3e82a37e6c Tue, 06 Sep 2011 17:07:00 GMT Somewhere in the files of The Heritage Foundation there is a photo of President Clinton holding up a Heritage report for photographers to see. The report, issued in 1993 at the height of anti-Clinton mania, recommends... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianMcNicoll/2011/09/02/elections_have_consequences 2dd638f2-70b6-460b-9f79-4118885da100 Fri, 02 Sep 2011 04:01:00 GMT "Paging the Onion . Do we really need a national weather service? (From FOX News, of course)." This is a tweet from Eric Boehlert, who works for the George Soros-funded Media Matters for America website. There's a... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianMcNicoll/2011/08/31/with_nws,_the_jokes_on_taxpayers eea9e38e-925f-4c28-a201-d73b6315b539 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 04:01:00 GMT