Talking Points: Budget your vacation days wisely

1

Yahoo posted on its baseball blog Tuesday that David Roth quit his job in order to watch his son Michael Roth pitch for South Carolina in the College World Series.

Work precluded David from flying to Omaha last year as the Gamecocks won the national championship, and he wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again. So he resigned from his job as a Volkswagen and Audi salesman in Greensville, S.C., and was in the stands Sunday to watch Michael take the mound and help lead South Carolina to a 5-4 victory over Texas A&M.

“Obviously, it was pretty special considering it was Father’s Day yesterday,” Michael said Monday. “I’m glad that he’s here. It’s been pretty cool having my family here.”

Again, it was a very touching move on the part of David, and it provides an obvious moral to this story.

Use your vacation days wisely.

2

Then again, if David Roth does need money, he might soon be able to call upon Gerry McIlroy, the father of recent U.S. Open winner Rory McIlroy.

Seven years ago, when Rory was 15, Gerry and three friends each bet 100 pounds that Rory would win the British Open by the age of 25. The odds at the time? 500 to 1.

Which means if McIlroy is able to achieve the feat, his father and friends will earn 50,000 pounds apiece.

“But this is just unbelievable. … After The Masters and after winning this, I think he’ll go on leaps and bounds. He should do well, and he’s keen to do well,” Gerry McIlroy said.

Perhaps another reason why a dad may quit his job because of his son.