The federal government's near-term fiscal improvements give us the chance and the responsibility to deal with the long-term budget challenges posed by demographic changes and ever-rising health care costs.

As GAO states in its letter, OMB did not advise agencies to withhold funds and OMB staff specifically instruct agencies not to improperly withhold funding in the case of cancellations.

We asked for $4 billion in savings in 2005 and got only $300 million, but we dusted ourselves off and asked for the savings again, and more, and got $6.5 billion the next year. Persistence pays off if you're doing the right thing.

Lawrence has a chance to be the national player of the year, and with that comes another degree of responsibility. He's not naturally a vocal guy. He has to step up and become a vocal leader, and lead by example every day.

This is a deliberate break and is a chance where we could put more emphasis on this part of the season. We had little time to train together to open the season, but have been able to bring things together going into this meet. We have three good weeks together and are optimistic about this meet.

When you have a chance, you've got take it, you can't just wait around for something to happen. You've got to make it happen.