Sports is greater than Christ
Shocking statement, yes?
Now, before anybody starts to think that I am a fool, let me establish first that I am a Christian, which might make my title even more controversial. But I didn’t state that as how I felt, I stated that in how American Sports feels.
Sometimes I believe that we as a nation (US) feel that every holiday is for marketing and seeing how much money we can squeeze out of the American consumer. Now I understand the nature and necessity of business to some degree, but when does it become a spiritual problem that we as a nation have apparently ignored?
When I was younger, I remember in the past on major holidays that many businesses and stores were closed, and on some stations there were lots of reruns of old shows. Even some radio stations played special programs instead of their regular format. Why was this? Because those people were home with their families.
HOME!
Not working!
A day or rest, and in the case of Christmas, some respect for what the holiday, or HOLY day is about. It is about Christ. Now I understand the childhood aspects of Christmas, with Santa Claus and stuff like that, hey, I was young too not too long ago. I get that. But today’s society, especially the business aspect, has apparently completely forgotten who Jesus was…
And apparently does not care.
Need proof? Thinks about this:
Last night I was watching NBA on ESPN, and they were bragging about how they were going to “give” us FIVE NBA games over the course of the day, either on ABC or ESPN. Now to be honest, to a person that does not put Christ first, that sounds exciting… I mean, a whole day of NBA Basketball sounds soo cool.
But spiritually speaking, this is a terrible idea and a direct rejection of the day we are supposed to devote to the birth of Christ. And again, to the common person, who in many cases does not have Christ first anyway, this does not seem to be a problem. I mean, what can it hurt to have some great matchups on tv? There is no harm in giving great programming to people over the holidays, right?
I used to agree, but I beg to differ.
Let’s use one team as an example. The Cleveland Cavaliers.
Last night (Dec. 18th) they played the Milwaukee Bucks. Now they go on a four game road trip. Consider where they are going. Monday the 20th AT Dallas. Tuesday the 21st AT Phoenix. Wednesday the 23rd AT Sacramento. Friday the 25th AT Los Angeles Lakers.
Now, I am not going to argue the first three, but the fourth one I do have a problem with. Folks, that is Christmas Day!
CHRISTMAS DAY!
And again I believe a lot of folks are sitting there saying, “so what, they are professionals, and a big time matchup like that is good for television” But in that reasoning, you have personally rejected the true value of Christmas. ESPN isn’t GIVING us anything that important…in fact they are taking money because of the ratings they expect to get.
Come on folks, think about this just for a second on a human level and on a family level, if not on a spiritual level. Those guys on the Cavs will be on the road, away from their family and friends the entire week. It is likely that no Cavalier will come back to their home until after Christmas…how can we possibly see anything good in that?
I don’t care how much money they make, no amount of money ought to make a person or business think that they can prosper over the name of Christ…which of course is the foundation of Christmas. I know that sounds a little fanatical, but I think the NBA and ESPN have overstepped their boundaries by having other men lose their holiday for the sake or money. Understand folks, it isn’t for YOU. They can say all they want about how they are giving YOU some great matchups, but at the cost of ignoring Christ?
Those guys will be away from home for Christmas, some of those guys have children, some have wives, some have moms or dads or friends they want to be close to, especially on a day like Christmas. Heck, I bet there are even a few Christians in the NBA. Would any of YOU want to be away from the people you loved most?
And right away I know some smart aleck is gonna say, “yeah, for the money they get I would”…and in that very thought you have betrayed your soul…remember that.
Look, I am all for the NBA and I love sports, and I know it is a business, but when the business thinks it is greater than Christ…because that IS what sports believes, then we have ignored the true meaning of sports and how small it is when compared to life itself, and even greater, to God and Christ. It is funny, but in a sad way, how sports only realizes how small it is after a terrible tragedy in American lives or life. After 911, or just recently after Bengals player Chris Henry died, only then did people talk about how small sports is compared to life.
But you never hear ESPN or FOX or NBC or any station talk about how small it is compared to God. It’s like they have completely refused God, except when holidays like Christmas comes around. Oh sure, they might slip in a discreet message like, “and remember the reason for the season” but that is kinda cowardly when you think about it. It is almost like television is afraid to say CHRIST, although they say Christmas 55 times a minute.
To me, IF you are going to have sports on Christmas, at least make it so the teams are close enough to play and get back home. Sure people would grumble if the Lakers played the Clippers on Christmas, or the Warriors, but if that means the players can get back home and enjoy Christmas like the rest of us, fine. If that means Orlando playing Miami, fine. But to have these guys so far away seems to show that the NBA does not care about their employees….and remember, that is EXACTLY what they are. No different if Wal-Mart told their customers, “for your convenience, we will be open all day Christmas Day”.
Oh that sounds nice to YOU…but did you think about who has to work on Christmas Day? Do you even care? If not, you just betrayed your own soul, and showed that Christmas has no meaning to you at all.
So there will be sports on television on Christmas, not because it is good for us the sports fans, and not because it is Christmas. It is because there is money to be made, and sports is, in many people’s minds, greater than Christ…even on Christmas. I guarantee you in all 5 games on ESPN, the word “Christmas” will be said over 100 times…
But Christ won’t be mentioned once.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
New Orleans Bowl 2009
R & L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Southern Miss vs. Middle Tennessee State
So we have a showdown with the Sun Belt Conference and the Conference USA. Interesting.
This is actually pretty interesting because the record of these two teams is 16-6, for an average of an 8-3 mark…not bad for a bowl that is lowly ranked. But let’s look at the tales of the tape of these teams and see what is real, and what is not.
Southern Miss comes out of the CUSA with a 7-5 record, while Middle Tennessee State has an impressive 9-3 mark. But let’s explore those numbers and see what’s what.
Southern Miss is still trying to get back into the national spotlight after running out their head coach a few years ago, because they weren’t winning like they wanted to… somebody remind me how many National Championships Southern Miss has won…none? I thought so. Southern Miss alumni reminds me a lot of Nebraska and Notre Dame alumni where they feel like if they can’t get their way right now, they want heads to roll. Nebraska has paid for their impatience with years in the cellar, Notre Dame is there now and Southern Miss has been forgotten like old newspaper.
Southern Miss has two decent wins from the start, with wins over Central Florida and Virginia. But Virginia has been in the dumps and UCF has not been a national threat. And beating the basement teams of Conference USA hardly qualifies as a powerhouse. It might be safe to say that perhaps all of their 7 wins, minus UCF was based on a weak schedule.
Everything looked fine when they went 3-0, but all those games were at home, the next three games, vs. then #20 Kansas, UAB and Louisville, quickly evened the record. Beating Memphis and Tulane got them to the 5 win mark, which is about how many wins those teams had combined this year. A loss at then #18 Houston and then a win over average Marshall gave them a 6-4 record. Beating a 5-win Tulsa team and losing to ECU gives them the record they have now. So what have we learned?
Southern Miss is an average team in an average conference. Outside of beating Marshall, all their losses come on the road, and their wins against less than average teams. Simply put, they beat the lesser foes, and struggle against the good ones…especially on the road. So is Middle Tennessee a good team, an average or less than average?
Sadly, many right off the bat put the Sun Belt Conference as the weakest in the division. While the WAC and Mountain West sport the “BCS Buster” phrases, the Sun Belt is far from such grand claims. But let’s look at MTSU and see what we have.
Only two teams in the Sun Belt had winning seasons, so you can assume that MTSU was able to sop up with the bottom feeders, especially with Western Kentucky winning no games, and North Texas winning two all year. But it’s the first 6 games of the season that is interesting. Middle Tennessee loses the first game to Clemson, which is not bad at all, after all, Clemson played in the ACC Championship game vs. Georgia Tech. This is not a bad loss.
Afterwards they beat Memphis…a Conference USA team, before beating ACC team Maryland. Folks, for a Sun Belt team, this is very good, and shows a strong team in this conference. A win over hapless North Texas gave way to two losses back to back, against Sun Belt Conference Champs Troy, and SEC foe Mississippi State. Think about that folks, this team played to ACC teams, one SEC team and a Conference USA team. Not bad at all.
The rest of the schedule isn’t too important, because outside of LA-Monroe, all the other teams had a losing record. Even LA-Mon was 6-6. But you have to give credit to this team for bulking up their schedule.
How will this translate against a tougher CUSA foe in Southern Miss? I think this game means more to MTSU by a long shot than to Southern Miss, and we may have missed the boat on this team. Nobody seemed to care that they were 9-3, because nobody from the Sun Belt has threatened the BCS. But this team has beaten some quality names like Maryland and Memphis. They CAN beat you. Southern Miss has wins over Central Florida and Virginia, so they can beat names too.
I think at first glance you will favor Southern Miss, simply because most Sun Belt teams don’t get much respect, but I would not be surprised if there was an upset here. My head says Southern Miss will win by a touchdown, maybe even 10 points… but I gotta wonder, can Middle Tennessee State steal one…they have played tough enough talent to do so. We shall see…..
Southern Miss vs. Middle Tennessee State
So we have a showdown with the Sun Belt Conference and the Conference USA. Interesting.
This is actually pretty interesting because the record of these two teams is 16-6, for an average of an 8-3 mark…not bad for a bowl that is lowly ranked. But let’s look at the tales of the tape of these teams and see what is real, and what is not.
Southern Miss comes out of the CUSA with a 7-5 record, while Middle Tennessee State has an impressive 9-3 mark. But let’s explore those numbers and see what’s what.
Southern Miss is still trying to get back into the national spotlight after running out their head coach a few years ago, because they weren’t winning like they wanted to… somebody remind me how many National Championships Southern Miss has won…none? I thought so. Southern Miss alumni reminds me a lot of Nebraska and Notre Dame alumni where they feel like if they can’t get their way right now, they want heads to roll. Nebraska has paid for their impatience with years in the cellar, Notre Dame is there now and Southern Miss has been forgotten like old newspaper.
Southern Miss has two decent wins from the start, with wins over Central Florida and Virginia. But Virginia has been in the dumps and UCF has not been a national threat. And beating the basement teams of Conference USA hardly qualifies as a powerhouse. It might be safe to say that perhaps all of their 7 wins, minus UCF was based on a weak schedule.
Everything looked fine when they went 3-0, but all those games were at home, the next three games, vs. then #20 Kansas, UAB and Louisville, quickly evened the record. Beating Memphis and Tulane got them to the 5 win mark, which is about how many wins those teams had combined this year. A loss at then #18 Houston and then a win over average Marshall gave them a 6-4 record. Beating a 5-win Tulsa team and losing to ECU gives them the record they have now. So what have we learned?
Southern Miss is an average team in an average conference. Outside of beating Marshall, all their losses come on the road, and their wins against less than average teams. Simply put, they beat the lesser foes, and struggle against the good ones…especially on the road. So is Middle Tennessee a good team, an average or less than average?
Sadly, many right off the bat put the Sun Belt Conference as the weakest in the division. While the WAC and Mountain West sport the “BCS Buster” phrases, the Sun Belt is far from such grand claims. But let’s look at MTSU and see what we have.
Only two teams in the Sun Belt had winning seasons, so you can assume that MTSU was able to sop up with the bottom feeders, especially with Western Kentucky winning no games, and North Texas winning two all year. But it’s the first 6 games of the season that is interesting. Middle Tennessee loses the first game to Clemson, which is not bad at all, after all, Clemson played in the ACC Championship game vs. Georgia Tech. This is not a bad loss.
Afterwards they beat Memphis…a Conference USA team, before beating ACC team Maryland. Folks, for a Sun Belt team, this is very good, and shows a strong team in this conference. A win over hapless North Texas gave way to two losses back to back, against Sun Belt Conference Champs Troy, and SEC foe Mississippi State. Think about that folks, this team played to ACC teams, one SEC team and a Conference USA team. Not bad at all.
The rest of the schedule isn’t too important, because outside of LA-Monroe, all the other teams had a losing record. Even LA-Mon was 6-6. But you have to give credit to this team for bulking up their schedule.
How will this translate against a tougher CUSA foe in Southern Miss? I think this game means more to MTSU by a long shot than to Southern Miss, and we may have missed the boat on this team. Nobody seemed to care that they were 9-3, because nobody from the Sun Belt has threatened the BCS. But this team has beaten some quality names like Maryland and Memphis. They CAN beat you. Southern Miss has wins over Central Florida and Virginia, so they can beat names too.
I think at first glance you will favor Southern Miss, simply because most Sun Belt teams don’t get much respect, but I would not be surprised if there was an upset here. My head says Southern Miss will win by a touchdown, maybe even 10 points… but I gotta wonder, can Middle Tennessee State steal one…they have played tough enough talent to do so. We shall see…..
St. Petersburg Bowl 2009
St. Petersburg Bowl
UCF vs. Rutgers
This might be a nice game to watch, if you have been following the Big East and Conference USA, a pretty nice matchup of two good schools and two good coaches.
I really like what UCF has done since they have come into the big leagues. Granted they are not one of the BCS conferences, but when you have a school in Florida, you have an excellent chance to get strong recruits. But I also like the way Rutgers has turned things around, I found myself really enjoying this team when I had a chance to see them. So I am split on who I want to win, but I have to defer to my stats as who SHOULD win.
Now I am sure few will argue which is the stronger conference, the Big East is better than Conference USA. This is NOT to say that CUSA is a half a step off the 4A high school conferences, because we have seen some good teams this year out of this non bcs conference.
But we still have to credit Rutgers for surviving in a tough league, right? Let’s see:
Central Florida comes into this game with an 8-4 record, which seems pretty strong. But such a record should have them as one of the top 25 in the nation, right? Their four losses were to Southern Miss, East Carolina, Miami and Texas… consider for a sec that three of those 4 losses were away….hmmm.
Consider also that all four of these teams are winning teams. So you have to ask, did Central Florida beat any quality teams? Marshall ends up with a 6-6 record, but Houston was a big win for Central Florida. It was a home game though, which makes one raise their eyebrows on the true strength of UCF. To be great, you have to win big games on the road. Three of their four losses were on the road, granted to some good teams, but beating Houston at home was in their favor. Still this is a quality team, I cannot take too much away from that.
Rutgers comes in with an identical 8-4 record, with a few raised eyebrows too. Three of their losses were AT home…ugh. And playing FIU, Howard AND Texas Southern is highly questionable. Come on guys, you are a BCS conference, man up!
Beating Maryland isn’t saying too much, but beating UCONN and West Virginia does mean something, especially since West Virginia was ranked when Rutgers beat them. Still, these two teams ended up 7-5, barely above average.
So you wonder, who is better? Both teams lost several games to high quality teams, but Rutgers seems to freeze up when they play at home in a big game. They are 4-1 away from home, although that lone loss on the road was to Syracuse…how close is that to Rutgers…
But Central Florida will be playing in their home state, which evens out the game a bit. But if you ask me who had the tougher schedule, I might say Rutgers, by the slightest of margins. Central Florida fed a lot on the bottom of CUSA, and has very few quality wins. Rutgers has tasted some hot success, and the trip will do them good. I think Rutgers wins this one, but very close…
Very close.
UCF vs. Rutgers
This might be a nice game to watch, if you have been following the Big East and Conference USA, a pretty nice matchup of two good schools and two good coaches.
I really like what UCF has done since they have come into the big leagues. Granted they are not one of the BCS conferences, but when you have a school in Florida, you have an excellent chance to get strong recruits. But I also like the way Rutgers has turned things around, I found myself really enjoying this team when I had a chance to see them. So I am split on who I want to win, but I have to defer to my stats as who SHOULD win.
Now I am sure few will argue which is the stronger conference, the Big East is better than Conference USA. This is NOT to say that CUSA is a half a step off the 4A high school conferences, because we have seen some good teams this year out of this non bcs conference.
But we still have to credit Rutgers for surviving in a tough league, right? Let’s see:
Central Florida comes into this game with an 8-4 record, which seems pretty strong. But such a record should have them as one of the top 25 in the nation, right? Their four losses were to Southern Miss, East Carolina, Miami and Texas… consider for a sec that three of those 4 losses were away….hmmm.
Consider also that all four of these teams are winning teams. So you have to ask, did Central Florida beat any quality teams? Marshall ends up with a 6-6 record, but Houston was a big win for Central Florida. It was a home game though, which makes one raise their eyebrows on the true strength of UCF. To be great, you have to win big games on the road. Three of their four losses were on the road, granted to some good teams, but beating Houston at home was in their favor. Still this is a quality team, I cannot take too much away from that.
Rutgers comes in with an identical 8-4 record, with a few raised eyebrows too. Three of their losses were AT home…ugh. And playing FIU, Howard AND Texas Southern is highly questionable. Come on guys, you are a BCS conference, man up!
Beating Maryland isn’t saying too much, but beating UCONN and West Virginia does mean something, especially since West Virginia was ranked when Rutgers beat them. Still, these two teams ended up 7-5, barely above average.
So you wonder, who is better? Both teams lost several games to high quality teams, but Rutgers seems to freeze up when they play at home in a big game. They are 4-1 away from home, although that lone loss on the road was to Syracuse…how close is that to Rutgers…
But Central Florida will be playing in their home state, which evens out the game a bit. But if you ask me who had the tougher schedule, I might say Rutgers, by the slightest of margins. Central Florida fed a lot on the bottom of CUSA, and has very few quality wins. Rutgers has tasted some hot success, and the trip will do them good. I think Rutgers wins this one, but very close…
Very close.
New Mexico Bowl 2009
New Mexico Bowl 2009
Fresno State vs. Wyoming
So now we can get ready for bowl season, where teams are rewarded for a season of tough battles, cuts and scrapes and can enjoy one last game of the year. One of the first bowls, if not the first, is the New Mexico Bowl, held in….Florida!
(just joking…it’s in New Orleans…..)
(………..)
Anyway, we have Fresno State vs. Wyoming in an interesting matchup but something that has a strong west coast flavor, which many in the east might not really be into, but for sake of college football, they will watch it.
Fresno State comes in 8-4, out of the WAC, and is one of those teams you have to pull for because they aren’t afraid to play anybody. This team will travel to the opposite side of the nation to play a team if that is what needs to be done, but it is that same resolve that might have exhausted this team.
Consider that they were 1-3 after the first four games, and things looked bleak. But those losses came after their win over UC Davis, and then the Bulldogs lost at Wisconsin in overtime, lost to Boise State, and lost by 8 to Cincinnati….folks, that is not bad at all. To say that two of your losses came to currently undefeated teams is incredible.
Their final loss came to Nevada, but in between those were a lot of lesser foe wins. Could one argue that Fresno State lost to the good teams, and beat the bad ones? That would make them kinda par for the course. But this is a good team.
Wyoming, to me is a little different. A 6-6 team, they seemed to have benefited from a poor schedule. Sure they lost 6 game, to Texas and all they superior teams in the Mountain West…and a loss to Colorado.
Their wins have not been too impressive, every team they have beaten has a losing record. But they qualify for the bowl, so here they are. That is not to put Wyoming down, because to be sure, they are battle tested, but sometimes when you are beaten too much by the big boys, you don’t have the strength to fight the average ones. Fresno State is not one of those “big boys”, but they are big enough.
So I see Fresno State capping off a good season with a win over Wyoming, likely by 10 points. We shall see!
Fresno State vs. Wyoming
So now we can get ready for bowl season, where teams are rewarded for a season of tough battles, cuts and scrapes and can enjoy one last game of the year. One of the first bowls, if not the first, is the New Mexico Bowl, held in….Florida!
(just joking…it’s in New Orleans…..)
(………..)
Anyway, we have Fresno State vs. Wyoming in an interesting matchup but something that has a strong west coast flavor, which many in the east might not really be into, but for sake of college football, they will watch it.
Fresno State comes in 8-4, out of the WAC, and is one of those teams you have to pull for because they aren’t afraid to play anybody. This team will travel to the opposite side of the nation to play a team if that is what needs to be done, but it is that same resolve that might have exhausted this team.
Consider that they were 1-3 after the first four games, and things looked bleak. But those losses came after their win over UC Davis, and then the Bulldogs lost at Wisconsin in overtime, lost to Boise State, and lost by 8 to Cincinnati….folks, that is not bad at all. To say that two of your losses came to currently undefeated teams is incredible.
Their final loss came to Nevada, but in between those were a lot of lesser foe wins. Could one argue that Fresno State lost to the good teams, and beat the bad ones? That would make them kinda par for the course. But this is a good team.
Wyoming, to me is a little different. A 6-6 team, they seemed to have benefited from a poor schedule. Sure they lost 6 game, to Texas and all they superior teams in the Mountain West…and a loss to Colorado.
Their wins have not been too impressive, every team they have beaten has a losing record. But they qualify for the bowl, so here they are. That is not to put Wyoming down, because to be sure, they are battle tested, but sometimes when you are beaten too much by the big boys, you don’t have the strength to fight the average ones. Fresno State is not one of those “big boys”, but they are big enough.
So I see Fresno State capping off a good season with a win over Wyoming, likely by 10 points. We shall see!
Friday, December 11, 2009
College playoffs?
College Football Playoffs?
We all have our ideas of what the BCS should do… or should NOT do, and I suppose mine is no different. As I blog this, there are five undefeated teams in the national spotlight, stirring up controversy on whether there ought to be a college playoff system.
I am not really FOR the playoffs, but not really against it. Let me explain why.
To me, I think the arguments for playoffs are for those who think that the little guy ought to be held in the same esteem as the big guy. Ok, I see a reason for that, but I go back to something an old school wrestler named Ric Flair once said…
“In order to BE the man, you have to BEAT the man”
If you want to be considered up there with the big boys, then play a schedule like them. This is my biggest argument against teams like Boise State, because they had numerous opportunities to make a more challenging schedule, but opted not to do so because they seemed to want sympathy from those sitting on the fence.
I mean, their schedule was weak as water, after you take out Oregon. And granted, that was a great win…in your house… against a first time head coach… in his first game with the Ducks…nice.
But it still is a very quality win. So why did you schedule Miami of Ohio and UC Davis…what’s that about?
To me, before you start whining about playoffs, make sure that we are talking about legit teams. Now, I know TCU is not in the Championship game, and I actually do feel that they deserve strong consideration, and I am not too happy about them playing Boise State in a repeat bowl…that game proves nothing.
Before we start whining about playoffs, we have to define those parameters. First off, how many should be in it. Right off the bat, I don’t believe in a 16 team system, too many teams that have no business fighting for a National title. When you only play 12 or so games, you don’t need 16 teams claiming rights to the throne.
How about 8 teams? I wonder about that too. Go back in your NCAA history books of college football and see how many teams ranked #8 or 7 had a legit shot at a NCAA title…not very many.
To me, the arguments about who should play in the National Championship usually fall on 2-4 teams. Of course, you may argue with me that maybe Boise State, or maybe Florida has a case, but with Florida losing, I would doubt that, and Boise State just has not played a tough enough schedule to prove that they are an elite team. They are just a great team in a soft conference.
So I think IF you have a playoff, it should be the FOUR best teams in the nation. Think about it, Pittsburgh, LSU, Georgia Tech, USC, Ohio State and teams of that ilk have no real claim to the throne.
Second, if you really want to figure on who is the best, force EVERY conference to determine a true champion. Either by playing every team in their conference or having a conference championship. This eliminates the probability of two undefeated teams out of one conference that may not even play each other….BIG 10 for example.
It is conceivable that the Big 10 could have two undefeated teams in their conference, since they don’t play every opponent, and don’t have a conference championship. I think that needs to be fixed, if that means adding one more team to make it an even 12, fine, either that or find some way to have one true champion.
The Pac-10 does not have a championship game, but they do play everybody, so in essence you still get a true champion. We know the ACC, Big 12 and SEC does have a true championship game, and the Big East has a small conference to in theory they can have a true champion, since they would play everybody in their conference.
But the big question comes with non BCS conferences…mainly the Mountain West and WAC. Remember folks, years ago they used to be one super conference, with 16 teams, before they split up…would have been better if they did not. Had they not, then you would have the Boise States, TCUs, Utahs, and other teams would face each other and we would have a TRUE champion, which also would make a much stronger case for the BCS.
But even then, there are so many stipulations that nobody has thought of. The results of this year dictate what people want to see, what if next year is different? What if next year there is only 2 undefeated teams, why then would there need to be a playoff if we have the two best teams in the nation?
If Alabama and Texas were the only undefeated teams in the nation, we would not be having this conversation about playoffs would we? So the temperature of playoffs is based only on what we last saw. What if each of the BCS teams produces an undefeated team, along with the Mountain West and WAC…what if the Mid American Conference puts out an undefeated team…they did last year with Ball State.
So in theory, you could have 9 undefeated teams, what do you do then? What if Notre Dame (ugh) goes undefeated? What if Conference USA produces an undefeated team. Where does this end?
Now these are extremes, but you see my point.
Do I think there needs to be a better way to decide the national champs, maybe, but the smaller teams can help their case by taking out their cupcakes and putting in real meat. TCU to their credit did this, so I can see their argument, but not quite for Boise State.
So, with Congress getting involved (although I don’t see why), things may change sooner than later…but unfortunately, it all comes down to money…ironic since we are talking about sports and college students…that never changes…
Greed, that is…playoffs…maybe.
We all have our ideas of what the BCS should do… or should NOT do, and I suppose mine is no different. As I blog this, there are five undefeated teams in the national spotlight, stirring up controversy on whether there ought to be a college playoff system.
I am not really FOR the playoffs, but not really against it. Let me explain why.
To me, I think the arguments for playoffs are for those who think that the little guy ought to be held in the same esteem as the big guy. Ok, I see a reason for that, but I go back to something an old school wrestler named Ric Flair once said…
“In order to BE the man, you have to BEAT the man”
If you want to be considered up there with the big boys, then play a schedule like them. This is my biggest argument against teams like Boise State, because they had numerous opportunities to make a more challenging schedule, but opted not to do so because they seemed to want sympathy from those sitting on the fence.
I mean, their schedule was weak as water, after you take out Oregon. And granted, that was a great win…in your house… against a first time head coach… in his first game with the Ducks…nice.
But it still is a very quality win. So why did you schedule Miami of Ohio and UC Davis…what’s that about?
To me, before you start whining about playoffs, make sure that we are talking about legit teams. Now, I know TCU is not in the Championship game, and I actually do feel that they deserve strong consideration, and I am not too happy about them playing Boise State in a repeat bowl…that game proves nothing.
Before we start whining about playoffs, we have to define those parameters. First off, how many should be in it. Right off the bat, I don’t believe in a 16 team system, too many teams that have no business fighting for a National title. When you only play 12 or so games, you don’t need 16 teams claiming rights to the throne.
How about 8 teams? I wonder about that too. Go back in your NCAA history books of college football and see how many teams ranked #8 or 7 had a legit shot at a NCAA title…not very many.
To me, the arguments about who should play in the National Championship usually fall on 2-4 teams. Of course, you may argue with me that maybe Boise State, or maybe Florida has a case, but with Florida losing, I would doubt that, and Boise State just has not played a tough enough schedule to prove that they are an elite team. They are just a great team in a soft conference.
So I think IF you have a playoff, it should be the FOUR best teams in the nation. Think about it, Pittsburgh, LSU, Georgia Tech, USC, Ohio State and teams of that ilk have no real claim to the throne.
Second, if you really want to figure on who is the best, force EVERY conference to determine a true champion. Either by playing every team in their conference or having a conference championship. This eliminates the probability of two undefeated teams out of one conference that may not even play each other….BIG 10 for example.
It is conceivable that the Big 10 could have two undefeated teams in their conference, since they don’t play every opponent, and don’t have a conference championship. I think that needs to be fixed, if that means adding one more team to make it an even 12, fine, either that or find some way to have one true champion.
The Pac-10 does not have a championship game, but they do play everybody, so in essence you still get a true champion. We know the ACC, Big 12 and SEC does have a true championship game, and the Big East has a small conference to in theory they can have a true champion, since they would play everybody in their conference.
But the big question comes with non BCS conferences…mainly the Mountain West and WAC. Remember folks, years ago they used to be one super conference, with 16 teams, before they split up…would have been better if they did not. Had they not, then you would have the Boise States, TCUs, Utahs, and other teams would face each other and we would have a TRUE champion, which also would make a much stronger case for the BCS.
But even then, there are so many stipulations that nobody has thought of. The results of this year dictate what people want to see, what if next year is different? What if next year there is only 2 undefeated teams, why then would there need to be a playoff if we have the two best teams in the nation?
If Alabama and Texas were the only undefeated teams in the nation, we would not be having this conversation about playoffs would we? So the temperature of playoffs is based only on what we last saw. What if each of the BCS teams produces an undefeated team, along with the Mountain West and WAC…what if the Mid American Conference puts out an undefeated team…they did last year with Ball State.
So in theory, you could have 9 undefeated teams, what do you do then? What if Notre Dame (ugh) goes undefeated? What if Conference USA produces an undefeated team. Where does this end?
Now these are extremes, but you see my point.
Do I think there needs to be a better way to decide the national champs, maybe, but the smaller teams can help their case by taking out their cupcakes and putting in real meat. TCU to their credit did this, so I can see their argument, but not quite for Boise State.
So, with Congress getting involved (although I don’t see why), things may change sooner than later…but unfortunately, it all comes down to money…ironic since we are talking about sports and college students…that never changes…
Greed, that is…playoffs…maybe.
Brian Kelly new head coach at Notre Dame
Kelly to Coach Irish: Money talks
How much hypocrisy is there in the world, and in college football?
So today Notre Dame will announce this afternoon that Brian Kelly, the FORMER head coach of Cincinnati, will be the new head coach of Notre Dame.
Now let’s start spewing moronic statements…starting with Lou Holtz.
In an interview on ESPN today, he was asked how they might do next year, with the 2010 schedule halfway done. I saw that list and saw teams like Stanford, USC, Navy, Utah and a few others. Lou Holtz said, “I think they can go undefeated if they have a great defense”
Again with the stupid remarks! This is the same idiot that said the last two years that Notre Dame would go undefeated and win the National Championship…both times he was woefully wrong!
How in the name that is good can ESPN let this idiot keep spewing forth such wicked lies! I can understand being a fan or supporter of a team, but ESPN pays him to be HONEST…not lying and wicked! This man consistently fails to give a honest and sincere opinion about the team he used to coach, but has no problem complaining about everything else…what a moron!
They also asked this “expert” of how soon it can take to turn this team around… he said it can be done in ONE YEAR.
Liar
Let’s understand, Notre Dame loses their coach, a key quarterback and receiver, has likely lost recruits due to this fiasco, with a new coach on the way that has burned his bridges along the way, to coach a new team whose former coach burned bridges himself. You really think that will turn around in ONE YEAR?
It really is a discredit to ESPN to allow somebody like Lou Holtz sit there and make lies about this team. If you can’t be realistic then you don’t need to be running your mouth. I bet Mark May and Reese Davis are vomiting over the crap Holtz is spewing.
But the damage is done, and yet in the name of vanity more damage was done than necessary. Just today I was viewing the reactions of some of those Cincinnati players, and many of them were not very positive in how Brian Kelly bailed out on them just before the biggest came the university ever had.
What I don’t understand is how the media is so blind to the clear disruption Notre Dame caused by talking to a head coach before his BCS bowl game. Why enter like a thief in the night to steal a coach from his team, when you could have waited a few weeks longer? Notre Dame has declined a bowl game, which to me was foolish, because you now forsake the extra 2-3 weeks of practice, which every team can use. Don’t tell me that there would not have been a decent list of coaches willing to take that job after January, I am not buying that, even for a screwed up university like Notre Dame.
The entire practice just seemed…unholy…from a so called religious school. I forgot, isn’t Notre Dame a Catholic university…and under such so called ideals should there also be some moral and spiritual way of going about hiring a coach? Is it righteous to sneak in a college and plop money in front of another university’s coach to lure him out? Would they not have been more righteous to simply wait until Cincinnati finished their bowl game before they made the hire official?
But it goes both ways too, Brian Kelly now looks like a sneaky rat too. Now, I don’t blame a man for wanting to coach in bigger places, and no one will argue that Cincinnati is smaller than Notre Dame as far as football history, but the way he went about it was just as sleazy as Notre Dame’s offer.
In his wake he leaves a team now torn, forced to play without their head coach. But you know, this is hypocritical because the media always likes to talk about “distractions”. When Spikes from Florida was gouging the eyes of a player and got a half of a game for suspension, that was a “distraction” to the team. When Blount from Oregon punched a guy early this season, and was suspended for a full year (to be changed later), that was a “distraction” to the team. But when a head coach bails out on his team to take the money, nobody is talking about how huge a distraction that can be.
I don’t blame Cincinnati for being upset, and it seems that the NCAA is cool with coaches not finishing their job and making that example to these kids. We get all on athletes when they want to try to go to the NFL too early or when it comes to correcting their students, but when grown men make such choices, nobody says anything. It’s becoming hypocritical for coaches to bail out on their players for “greener grass”, leaving the team, the university and fans in confusion.
Is this a good hire…how is this any different from the last 3 coaches? Lou Holtz can say all he wants about how good Notre Dame will be, the current history shows that it won’t be any different. If Notre Dame dumbs down the schedule, and put a few high school teams on the schedule, and if they make all the game at home, then I can see Notre Dame making a BCS run in the next couple of years. But with the shot they took in recruiting, the impatience of the rich alumni and the perverted tactics of this religious school…I am not holding my breath.
So Brian Kelly is the new head coach of Notre Dame…good luck Kelly, you’re gonna need a heck of a lot of that where you are going…because you won’t get much else.
How much hypocrisy is there in the world, and in college football?
So today Notre Dame will announce this afternoon that Brian Kelly, the FORMER head coach of Cincinnati, will be the new head coach of Notre Dame.
Now let’s start spewing moronic statements…starting with Lou Holtz.
In an interview on ESPN today, he was asked how they might do next year, with the 2010 schedule halfway done. I saw that list and saw teams like Stanford, USC, Navy, Utah and a few others. Lou Holtz said, “I think they can go undefeated if they have a great defense”
Again with the stupid remarks! This is the same idiot that said the last two years that Notre Dame would go undefeated and win the National Championship…both times he was woefully wrong!
How in the name that is good can ESPN let this idiot keep spewing forth such wicked lies! I can understand being a fan or supporter of a team, but ESPN pays him to be HONEST…not lying and wicked! This man consistently fails to give a honest and sincere opinion about the team he used to coach, but has no problem complaining about everything else…what a moron!
They also asked this “expert” of how soon it can take to turn this team around… he said it can be done in ONE YEAR.
Liar
Let’s understand, Notre Dame loses their coach, a key quarterback and receiver, has likely lost recruits due to this fiasco, with a new coach on the way that has burned his bridges along the way, to coach a new team whose former coach burned bridges himself. You really think that will turn around in ONE YEAR?
It really is a discredit to ESPN to allow somebody like Lou Holtz sit there and make lies about this team. If you can’t be realistic then you don’t need to be running your mouth. I bet Mark May and Reese Davis are vomiting over the crap Holtz is spewing.
But the damage is done, and yet in the name of vanity more damage was done than necessary. Just today I was viewing the reactions of some of those Cincinnati players, and many of them were not very positive in how Brian Kelly bailed out on them just before the biggest came the university ever had.
What I don’t understand is how the media is so blind to the clear disruption Notre Dame caused by talking to a head coach before his BCS bowl game. Why enter like a thief in the night to steal a coach from his team, when you could have waited a few weeks longer? Notre Dame has declined a bowl game, which to me was foolish, because you now forsake the extra 2-3 weeks of practice, which every team can use. Don’t tell me that there would not have been a decent list of coaches willing to take that job after January, I am not buying that, even for a screwed up university like Notre Dame.
The entire practice just seemed…unholy…from a so called religious school. I forgot, isn’t Notre Dame a Catholic university…and under such so called ideals should there also be some moral and spiritual way of going about hiring a coach? Is it righteous to sneak in a college and plop money in front of another university’s coach to lure him out? Would they not have been more righteous to simply wait until Cincinnati finished their bowl game before they made the hire official?
But it goes both ways too, Brian Kelly now looks like a sneaky rat too. Now, I don’t blame a man for wanting to coach in bigger places, and no one will argue that Cincinnati is smaller than Notre Dame as far as football history, but the way he went about it was just as sleazy as Notre Dame’s offer.
In his wake he leaves a team now torn, forced to play without their head coach. But you know, this is hypocritical because the media always likes to talk about “distractions”. When Spikes from Florida was gouging the eyes of a player and got a half of a game for suspension, that was a “distraction” to the team. When Blount from Oregon punched a guy early this season, and was suspended for a full year (to be changed later), that was a “distraction” to the team. But when a head coach bails out on his team to take the money, nobody is talking about how huge a distraction that can be.
I don’t blame Cincinnati for being upset, and it seems that the NCAA is cool with coaches not finishing their job and making that example to these kids. We get all on athletes when they want to try to go to the NFL too early or when it comes to correcting their students, but when grown men make such choices, nobody says anything. It’s becoming hypocritical for coaches to bail out on their players for “greener grass”, leaving the team, the university and fans in confusion.
Is this a good hire…how is this any different from the last 3 coaches? Lou Holtz can say all he wants about how good Notre Dame will be, the current history shows that it won’t be any different. If Notre Dame dumbs down the schedule, and put a few high school teams on the schedule, and if they make all the game at home, then I can see Notre Dame making a BCS run in the next couple of years. But with the shot they took in recruiting, the impatience of the rich alumni and the perverted tactics of this religious school…I am not holding my breath.
So Brian Kelly is the new head coach of Notre Dame…good luck Kelly, you’re gonna need a heck of a lot of that where you are going…because you won’t get much else.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Why TCU and Boise State again?
Why TCU and Boise State again?
You know, I don’t really get this bowl, why would the Fiesta Bowl take TCU and Boise State when they played last year. To me this does not make a lot of sense, but after some thought I did think about why they would do that.
Since the Fiesta Bowl is in Arizona, it makes sense to get the closest teams to ensure good ticket sales. TCU is of course in Texas, and Boise State is in Idaho, not too far from Arizona, so it makes sense to make this matchup.
A second idea is that these two teams are undefeated, and that alone ought to make for a good game, no doubt if you put these two undefeated teams together, it will draw a lot of attention. But outside of that, the rest of the logic makes no sense at all.
Folks, the BCS needed to make some attempt to show that they were willing to let the non BCS teams have some shot at an argument, but they completely dropped the ball on this one. Why would you put these two teams, who already played each other LAST YEAR, in the same bowl?
I personally felt that TCU got the shaft, because they deserve a better team than Boise State. Not spitting on BSU, because an undefeated team is a good one, but TCU has more of an argument than Boise State. I felt that TCU should play Florida, or maybe Cincinnati. For the Fiesta Bowl to put two non BCS teams together just did not make sense at all.
But again, it does make sense because of locale. Of the top 8 teams, these were the two closest to each other to get to Arizona. Many people seem to forget that after the National Championship is determined, the rest of the bowls have certain protocol and business goals they must meet…which of course means making money.
There are a lot of people split on how this should have been done, some think a playoff would have solved this but I am not really sure about this. I think there ought to be a Mountain West vs. WAC championship game anyway, and the winner ought to get strong consideration for a BCS Championship if they are undefeated. Does TCU deserve consideration… I think so. Does Boise State…I am not too sure. There is no question that of the undefeated left in the nation, that including Alabama, Texas, TCU, Cincinnati and Boist State, that BSU was the least of them….don’t tell me that warrants a playoffs.
And while we are on this, I saw some person talking about having a 16 team playoff…that is insane. Folks, when was the LAST TIME you saw a #16 ranked team that had a legit shot for a National Championship? That is foolish. I am not a big fan for playoffs, because nobody is considering the guidelines of such. Even now, we see that the playoff format isn’t satisfactory, since the NCAA is considering broadening the 65 teams in Basketball to 96...proving that a playoff format still does not solve the problem.
To me, IF you had to have a playoff, I think it should be of 4 teams… very rarely in the history of the NCAA was there in issue of some team ranked #8, #10 or #12 that had a legit shot at the National Title…so don’t start making that in issue.
So TCU and Boise State is in the top 6, to me if you want to determine the National Champs, round the corners of the conferences. ACC, Big 12, SEC all have conference championships, so do other conferences like Conference USA. Pac 10 does not have one, but they play everybody in the conference. Why not force all the other conferences to guarantee that they either have a conference championship, or if too small, to play every team in their own conference. This is not a problem for the Big East, but the Big 10 needs to conform.
And for non BCS conferences, we are really only talking about the Mountain West and the WAC…why not make them play a MWC/WAC championship for a shot for a National Championship, if both teams are undefeated? I mean, they were all in the same conference ANYWAY up until a few years ago when they broke apart.
So does this make sense for TCU to be playing Boise State…to me it does not answer the question about who the best teams are, and I think it is an injustice for two non BCS teams to have to play each other. I would have loved to see TCU vs. Florida or Cincinnati, and Boise State vs. the other. That would have pitted two non BCS teams against two BCS teams, to either prove of disprove the argument of playoffs.
I think the BCS dropped the ball here, but in reality, with business in mind, I think it was the best bowl they could give, considering location. Could Florida come across country to play in Arizona…I think so. Could Cincinnati…not really sure. But Idaho and Texas are closer, which explains why TCU and Boise State got the nod. This is something they need to fix before congress steps in…and it seems they have already done so.
As for me, I MIGHT watch the game, but I saw that last year, not really impressed to watch it unless I am just curious.
You know, I don’t really get this bowl, why would the Fiesta Bowl take TCU and Boise State when they played last year. To me this does not make a lot of sense, but after some thought I did think about why they would do that.
Since the Fiesta Bowl is in Arizona, it makes sense to get the closest teams to ensure good ticket sales. TCU is of course in Texas, and Boise State is in Idaho, not too far from Arizona, so it makes sense to make this matchup.
A second idea is that these two teams are undefeated, and that alone ought to make for a good game, no doubt if you put these two undefeated teams together, it will draw a lot of attention. But outside of that, the rest of the logic makes no sense at all.
Folks, the BCS needed to make some attempt to show that they were willing to let the non BCS teams have some shot at an argument, but they completely dropped the ball on this one. Why would you put these two teams, who already played each other LAST YEAR, in the same bowl?
I personally felt that TCU got the shaft, because they deserve a better team than Boise State. Not spitting on BSU, because an undefeated team is a good one, but TCU has more of an argument than Boise State. I felt that TCU should play Florida, or maybe Cincinnati. For the Fiesta Bowl to put two non BCS teams together just did not make sense at all.
But again, it does make sense because of locale. Of the top 8 teams, these were the two closest to each other to get to Arizona. Many people seem to forget that after the National Championship is determined, the rest of the bowls have certain protocol and business goals they must meet…which of course means making money.
There are a lot of people split on how this should have been done, some think a playoff would have solved this but I am not really sure about this. I think there ought to be a Mountain West vs. WAC championship game anyway, and the winner ought to get strong consideration for a BCS Championship if they are undefeated. Does TCU deserve consideration… I think so. Does Boise State…I am not too sure. There is no question that of the undefeated left in the nation, that including Alabama, Texas, TCU, Cincinnati and Boist State, that BSU was the least of them….don’t tell me that warrants a playoffs.
And while we are on this, I saw some person talking about having a 16 team playoff…that is insane. Folks, when was the LAST TIME you saw a #16 ranked team that had a legit shot for a National Championship? That is foolish. I am not a big fan for playoffs, because nobody is considering the guidelines of such. Even now, we see that the playoff format isn’t satisfactory, since the NCAA is considering broadening the 65 teams in Basketball to 96...proving that a playoff format still does not solve the problem.
To me, IF you had to have a playoff, I think it should be of 4 teams… very rarely in the history of the NCAA was there in issue of some team ranked #8, #10 or #12 that had a legit shot at the National Title…so don’t start making that in issue.
So TCU and Boise State is in the top 6, to me if you want to determine the National Champs, round the corners of the conferences. ACC, Big 12, SEC all have conference championships, so do other conferences like Conference USA. Pac 10 does not have one, but they play everybody in the conference. Why not force all the other conferences to guarantee that they either have a conference championship, or if too small, to play every team in their own conference. This is not a problem for the Big East, but the Big 10 needs to conform.
And for non BCS conferences, we are really only talking about the Mountain West and the WAC…why not make them play a MWC/WAC championship for a shot for a National Championship, if both teams are undefeated? I mean, they were all in the same conference ANYWAY up until a few years ago when they broke apart.
So does this make sense for TCU to be playing Boise State…to me it does not answer the question about who the best teams are, and I think it is an injustice for two non BCS teams to have to play each other. I would have loved to see TCU vs. Florida or Cincinnati, and Boise State vs. the other. That would have pitted two non BCS teams against two BCS teams, to either prove of disprove the argument of playoffs.
I think the BCS dropped the ball here, but in reality, with business in mind, I think it was the best bowl they could give, considering location. Could Florida come across country to play in Arizona…I think so. Could Cincinnati…not really sure. But Idaho and Texas are closer, which explains why TCU and Boise State got the nod. This is something they need to fix before congress steps in…and it seems they have already done so.
As for me, I MIGHT watch the game, but I saw that last year, not really impressed to watch it unless I am just curious.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
No bowl for Notre Dame?
Notre Dame: No Bowl?
So Notre Dame wins only 6 games, fires their coach and now they have decided that they don’t want to go to a bowl. Is this a good thing?
Absolutely not.
I blogged a few days ago about the foolish pride of Notre Dame, and to me this further proves it. If you are too prideful to take a bowl game, and bring the revenue it adds to your school, that is foolish.
Notre Dame acts like the spoiled brat that can’t get what he wants, so he looks at the world as sour grapes. But who really is the blame for that? It is the rich alumni that pump money and control in the school…which ironically is supposed to be a Catholic school, but I am starting to doubt that now.
To me, if Notre Dame refuses a bowl, that is a terrible shame and a disgrace to the players of the team. Some of those players have stuck with this university for four years, it is only fair to at least send them out with one more win, a bowl win. I don’t care who you play, at least PLAY one more game and end your season on a high note.
Second, you also have guys hoping to make the NFL draft, you owe it to those players to give them a game to get some exposure. Every college likes to brag about how many NFL players they put in the draft, well, cowboy up and do that Notre Dame!
Third, the REGULAR fans of Notre Dame deserve to see their team in a bowl, not as a bunch of quitters and whiney babies. While it might be true that I am not a ND fan, I do realize that there are many, many fans that want to pull for this team, and going to a bowl will at least do that.
Sometimes I think people in these colleges and universities are so full of themselves that there becomes a “holier than thou” attitude, which ironically only shows their ignorance. For some reason the Irish believe that they have some birthright to the BCS and National Championships every year, but have allowed money and pride knock them off the true path of Notre Dame. Until they really take time to look at themselves, I don’t see them competing for a National Title for YEARS. They can always soften up their schedule, throw in some high schools and get a record good enough to go to a BCS bowl…but then again, that was what they tried to do this year, and it backfired.
About 50 teams will not go to a bowl this year, and every one of them would GLADLY trade places with Notre Dame and go to a bowl. Bowl games are a celebration of success and a reward for players, fans and the schools for having a successful year. If Notre Dame can’t understand that, and at least take a bowl for the fans and players, then they truly are as misguided and spoiled as we think.
So Notre Dame wins only 6 games, fires their coach and now they have decided that they don’t want to go to a bowl. Is this a good thing?
Absolutely not.
I blogged a few days ago about the foolish pride of Notre Dame, and to me this further proves it. If you are too prideful to take a bowl game, and bring the revenue it adds to your school, that is foolish.
Notre Dame acts like the spoiled brat that can’t get what he wants, so he looks at the world as sour grapes. But who really is the blame for that? It is the rich alumni that pump money and control in the school…which ironically is supposed to be a Catholic school, but I am starting to doubt that now.
To me, if Notre Dame refuses a bowl, that is a terrible shame and a disgrace to the players of the team. Some of those players have stuck with this university for four years, it is only fair to at least send them out with one more win, a bowl win. I don’t care who you play, at least PLAY one more game and end your season on a high note.
Second, you also have guys hoping to make the NFL draft, you owe it to those players to give them a game to get some exposure. Every college likes to brag about how many NFL players they put in the draft, well, cowboy up and do that Notre Dame!
Third, the REGULAR fans of Notre Dame deserve to see their team in a bowl, not as a bunch of quitters and whiney babies. While it might be true that I am not a ND fan, I do realize that there are many, many fans that want to pull for this team, and going to a bowl will at least do that.
Sometimes I think people in these colleges and universities are so full of themselves that there becomes a “holier than thou” attitude, which ironically only shows their ignorance. For some reason the Irish believe that they have some birthright to the BCS and National Championships every year, but have allowed money and pride knock them off the true path of Notre Dame. Until they really take time to look at themselves, I don’t see them competing for a National Title for YEARS. They can always soften up their schedule, throw in some high schools and get a record good enough to go to a BCS bowl…but then again, that was what they tried to do this year, and it backfired.
About 50 teams will not go to a bowl this year, and every one of them would GLADLY trade places with Notre Dame and go to a bowl. Bowl games are a celebration of success and a reward for players, fans and the schools for having a successful year. If Notre Dame can’t understand that, and at least take a bowl for the fans and players, then they truly are as misguided and spoiled as we think.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
2010 BCS Bowls
2010 BCS Bowls projections
I know I wrote on this earlier, but that was based on what was happening then… and oddly, after a week or so, not too much has changed, but that will DEFINIATELY change this weekend. So let’s talk on this for a bit.
Now, for those that don’t quite understand all about the BCS, I am right there with ya, but we can at least talk on some theories. I am not saying I know it all, but I am a big fan of college football, so we are in the same boat.
Now, to begin, let’s remember that there are FIVE bowls in the BCS. One is the National Championship, which takes the top two teams in the nation by BCS scores, and leaves the other four to at large teams, with some exceptions. We will get to that in a moment.
What is important to also know is the ORDER of the bowls for 2010, because the order determines who picks first. The first order is always the National Championship, but after that it differs. This year, 2010, the order is Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl.
Notice something missing? Rose Bowl? That’s because the Rose Bowl isn’t interested in the BCS to mix their “tradition” with the others, they want to keep their Pac-10 and Big 10 rival cemented. So they are not “in the mix”, although they really are.
So, if we were to look at who was going to the BCS, and the other major bowls, lets first determine, at this very moment, who the top 12 teams are…because that is important:
In order, they are: Florida, Alabama, Texas, TCU, Cincinnati, Boise State and Georgia Tech. Following them are LSU, USC, Iowa, Ohio State and Pittsburgh. And for good measure, we throw in the next three, being Oregon, Miami and Houston.
From this list we can put together our theory about who will be going where. Now, even though we are using theory, we still have to make a slight assumption, one I will get to in a sec.
So let’s start first with the National Championship…who is going to the BCS Championship?
The natural assumption is to take the #1 and #2 teams, in this case being Florida and Alabama…but right off the bat this isn’t accurate. The problem is that both teams are from the SEC, and we all know that they must play each other in the SEC Championship… one team will lose, and fall out.
For the sake of argument let us assume that Florida wins, just the assumption that #1 beats #2. IF we go with that, then we can project Florida in the National Championship against the #3 team, Texas. Now, I know Texas still has to play in their Big 12 Championship just as Florida and Alabama must play in their conference championship but we are just going with the idea that those two SEC teams must eliminate one from the conversation. So the BCS Championship in theory would be Florida and Texas.
Now, after that, things get a little hairy.
Once the National Championship has been determined, a lot of clauses kick in, one being the Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl gets to select their teams, and because they stick with their tradition, they will take the Pac-10 and Big 10 champions. But this can be misleading.
On the BCS rankings, they have Iowa as the best Big 10 team…but it is Ohio State that will be going to the Rose Bowl, which in theory knocks out the #10 team for the #11 team. This already creates some chaos because the idea in the BCS bowls was to get the top 10 teams in, and this has already been disrupted.
So Ohio State is in, bumping out Iowa. What about the Pac-10? Oregon finishes as the best team in the Pac-10, but USC is ranked at #9, while Oregon is ranked #13... Oh my.
So the Rose Bowl has, in theory, already screwed up the system, because two of the top 10 teams in the nation are snubbed initially for a BCS bowl. So let’s recap a bit:
BCS Championship #1 Florida vs. #3 Texas
Rose Bowl #11 Ohio State vs. #13 Oregon.
Hmm, sounds odd already.
Now, after those two bowls, we can get into the order of selections. Remember, this year the order is Orange, Fiesta and Sugar. So the Orange Bowl gets to select who they want in their bowl in Florida.
Now, just as the Rose Bowl must take the champions of the Pac-10 and Big-10, there are other contracts that must be upheld. The Orange Bowl has a contract with the ACC, meaning they MUST take the ACC Champion unless they are in the National Championship. Since neither Florida or Texas is an ACC team, that means they must take whoever wins the ACC Championship…which at this moment would be either Georgia Tech or Clemson.
Now this is interesting because even though Georgia Tech is ranked #7, Clemson is not on that top 15 list. It would be very embarrassing if a team NOT in the top 15 goes to a BCS bowl. For sake of argument, let us assume that the higher ranked team would win, in this case, Georgia Tech (just like we did the SEC Championship with Florida and Alabama). If this was the case, then Georgia Tech would go to the Orange Bowl because that is the contract with the ACC. It would then leave the Orange Bowl to have the first selection of the remaining teams.
To me, that gives them one of four realistic choices: Alabama, TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State. Once we get into any bowl outside of the National Championship, I think it comes do contracts and ticket sales. With that being the case, we also know that you stand a better chance most times in selling tickets if the teams are closer to the bowl. For that reason, I don’t think Boise State would go to the Orange Bowl…just too far to travel. The same could also be said for TCU to some degree. Would the Orange Bowl take Cincinnati…absolutely. How about Alabama? Absolutely! Either would be a great pick, but the charm of being undefeated might mean more dollars than a nearby SEC school. So I think the Orange Bowl might take a Georgia Tech/ Cincinnati matchup. That means you have a #5 vs. a #7...which isn’t that bad.
That leaves two bowls left, and the Fiesta Bowl has next shot.
With the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona, and with the next two picks, there are a few things this bowl has to keep in mind. One, they have a contractual obligation to the Big 12 conference, and they have to look at location, just like the Orange Bowl. But one of the clauses kicks in here, in that IF a Big 12 team is in the National Championship, then the Fiesta Bowl is free to select any other team. And since Texas, a Big 12 team, is in the championship (as per our theory) that leaves the Fiesta Bowl to take two teams.
So in theory, they could take the two highest ranked teams left, which would be TCU, a one loss Alabama, or Boise State. Now immediately you might think that pitting TCU and Boise State would be simplicity, but I beg to differ. Granted this would be a good game, but we saw that game last year. To sell tickets, the bowl may need to give the fans a unique game, not one just held a year ago. Heck, some people got tired of the USC/Ohio State games, so it makes some sense.
I think TCU has the inside track for the Fiesta Bowl, and it would be against either Boise State or Alabama. For sake of not getting a repeat, I think that the Fiesta Bowl would entertain the TCU/Alabama game because it puts a non BCS against a top ranked BCS school…but the temptation to have two undefeated teams could sway them to go with TCU/Boise State. Personally, I think they will drop Boise State for Alabama.
So let’s recap again:
BCS National Championship #1 Florida vs. #3 Texas…
(theory being if Alabama loses and Texas wins, Texas will be #2)
Orange Bowl ACC Champion Georgia Tech (7) vs. #5 Cincinnati (Big East Champs)
(theory being if GA Tech beats Clemson and Cincinnati beats Pittsburgh)
Rose Bowl #11 Ohio State (Big 10 Champs) vs. #13 Oregon (Pac 10 Champs)
Fiesta Bowl #4 TCU (Mountain West Champs) vs. Alabama (SEC Runner up)
That brings us to the final BCS Bowl, the Sugar Bowl. They get the last two picks, but they have a clause too. They must, by contract, take the SEC Champion, but since Florida is the SEC Champs and in the BCS Championships, they are free to take two teams, just like the Fiesta Bowl.
If things go like we discussed, then the highest ranked team still available would be Boise State. For sake of having an undefeated team, the Sugar Bowl will take them… but there may be a question to how well Boise State travels. I mean, New Orleans isn’t a hop, skip and jump away. But still, it is a logical choice of the remaining teams.
So who will the Boise State Broncos play?
There are still several choices based on the remaining teams on that top 15 ranking, but right off the bat, we can eliminate Houston. Just not strong enough to make a good matchup with Boise State. This leaves LSU, USC, Iowa, Pittsburgh and Miami.
The logical choice is by far LSU, but this brings in another clause…one that prevents LSU from playing in New Orleans. By rule, no conference can put in more than two teams out of their own conference in the BCS Bowls. Remember that LSU is a SEC school…so are Florida and Alabama. This means that in theory, LSU would not, COULD NOT, play in the Sugar Bowl.
That leaves USC, which is probably too far to travel. Then you may have to look at Iowa, Pittsburgh and Miami. If we can assume that Cincinnati is undefeated, then it also means they beat Pittsburgh, which knocks them out of the picture. So this leaves Boise State to play either Iowa or Miami…which would sell more tickets?
Iowa is ranked #10, and Miami currently #14, so that might be the choice, but who travels better? Better traveling means more ticket sales. I think the Big 10 does well in traveling, after all, if they can get to Pasadena, they can surely get to New Orleans. I think Iowa plays Boise State in the Sugar Bowl.
So there you have it, the 10 teams selected in the BCS bowls. Of the top 10 teams, LSU and USC will miss out, and will play in lesser bowls. We shall see. Remember, all this is theory at the moment, just to give you an idea of how this might work out. The truth comes this weekend when many of these teams play their conference championships and final regular season games…
I know I wrote on this earlier, but that was based on what was happening then… and oddly, after a week or so, not too much has changed, but that will DEFINIATELY change this weekend. So let’s talk on this for a bit.
Now, for those that don’t quite understand all about the BCS, I am right there with ya, but we can at least talk on some theories. I am not saying I know it all, but I am a big fan of college football, so we are in the same boat.
Now, to begin, let’s remember that there are FIVE bowls in the BCS. One is the National Championship, which takes the top two teams in the nation by BCS scores, and leaves the other four to at large teams, with some exceptions. We will get to that in a moment.
What is important to also know is the ORDER of the bowls for 2010, because the order determines who picks first. The first order is always the National Championship, but after that it differs. This year, 2010, the order is Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl.
Notice something missing? Rose Bowl? That’s because the Rose Bowl isn’t interested in the BCS to mix their “tradition” with the others, they want to keep their Pac-10 and Big 10 rival cemented. So they are not “in the mix”, although they really are.
So, if we were to look at who was going to the BCS, and the other major bowls, lets first determine, at this very moment, who the top 12 teams are…because that is important:
In order, they are: Florida, Alabama, Texas, TCU, Cincinnati, Boise State and Georgia Tech. Following them are LSU, USC, Iowa, Ohio State and Pittsburgh. And for good measure, we throw in the next three, being Oregon, Miami and Houston.
From this list we can put together our theory about who will be going where. Now, even though we are using theory, we still have to make a slight assumption, one I will get to in a sec.
So let’s start first with the National Championship…who is going to the BCS Championship?
The natural assumption is to take the #1 and #2 teams, in this case being Florida and Alabama…but right off the bat this isn’t accurate. The problem is that both teams are from the SEC, and we all know that they must play each other in the SEC Championship… one team will lose, and fall out.
For the sake of argument let us assume that Florida wins, just the assumption that #1 beats #2. IF we go with that, then we can project Florida in the National Championship against the #3 team, Texas. Now, I know Texas still has to play in their Big 12 Championship just as Florida and Alabama must play in their conference championship but we are just going with the idea that those two SEC teams must eliminate one from the conversation. So the BCS Championship in theory would be Florida and Texas.
Now, after that, things get a little hairy.
Once the National Championship has been determined, a lot of clauses kick in, one being the Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl gets to select their teams, and because they stick with their tradition, they will take the Pac-10 and Big 10 champions. But this can be misleading.
On the BCS rankings, they have Iowa as the best Big 10 team…but it is Ohio State that will be going to the Rose Bowl, which in theory knocks out the #10 team for the #11 team. This already creates some chaos because the idea in the BCS bowls was to get the top 10 teams in, and this has already been disrupted.
So Ohio State is in, bumping out Iowa. What about the Pac-10? Oregon finishes as the best team in the Pac-10, but USC is ranked at #9, while Oregon is ranked #13... Oh my.
So the Rose Bowl has, in theory, already screwed up the system, because two of the top 10 teams in the nation are snubbed initially for a BCS bowl. So let’s recap a bit:
BCS Championship #1 Florida vs. #3 Texas
Rose Bowl #11 Ohio State vs. #13 Oregon.
Hmm, sounds odd already.
Now, after those two bowls, we can get into the order of selections. Remember, this year the order is Orange, Fiesta and Sugar. So the Orange Bowl gets to select who they want in their bowl in Florida.
Now, just as the Rose Bowl must take the champions of the Pac-10 and Big-10, there are other contracts that must be upheld. The Orange Bowl has a contract with the ACC, meaning they MUST take the ACC Champion unless they are in the National Championship. Since neither Florida or Texas is an ACC team, that means they must take whoever wins the ACC Championship…which at this moment would be either Georgia Tech or Clemson.
Now this is interesting because even though Georgia Tech is ranked #7, Clemson is not on that top 15 list. It would be very embarrassing if a team NOT in the top 15 goes to a BCS bowl. For sake of argument, let us assume that the higher ranked team would win, in this case, Georgia Tech (just like we did the SEC Championship with Florida and Alabama). If this was the case, then Georgia Tech would go to the Orange Bowl because that is the contract with the ACC. It would then leave the Orange Bowl to have the first selection of the remaining teams.
To me, that gives them one of four realistic choices: Alabama, TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State. Once we get into any bowl outside of the National Championship, I think it comes do contracts and ticket sales. With that being the case, we also know that you stand a better chance most times in selling tickets if the teams are closer to the bowl. For that reason, I don’t think Boise State would go to the Orange Bowl…just too far to travel. The same could also be said for TCU to some degree. Would the Orange Bowl take Cincinnati…absolutely. How about Alabama? Absolutely! Either would be a great pick, but the charm of being undefeated might mean more dollars than a nearby SEC school. So I think the Orange Bowl might take a Georgia Tech/ Cincinnati matchup. That means you have a #5 vs. a #7...which isn’t that bad.
That leaves two bowls left, and the Fiesta Bowl has next shot.
With the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona, and with the next two picks, there are a few things this bowl has to keep in mind. One, they have a contractual obligation to the Big 12 conference, and they have to look at location, just like the Orange Bowl. But one of the clauses kicks in here, in that IF a Big 12 team is in the National Championship, then the Fiesta Bowl is free to select any other team. And since Texas, a Big 12 team, is in the championship (as per our theory) that leaves the Fiesta Bowl to take two teams.
So in theory, they could take the two highest ranked teams left, which would be TCU, a one loss Alabama, or Boise State. Now immediately you might think that pitting TCU and Boise State would be simplicity, but I beg to differ. Granted this would be a good game, but we saw that game last year. To sell tickets, the bowl may need to give the fans a unique game, not one just held a year ago. Heck, some people got tired of the USC/Ohio State games, so it makes some sense.
I think TCU has the inside track for the Fiesta Bowl, and it would be against either Boise State or Alabama. For sake of not getting a repeat, I think that the Fiesta Bowl would entertain the TCU/Alabama game because it puts a non BCS against a top ranked BCS school…but the temptation to have two undefeated teams could sway them to go with TCU/Boise State. Personally, I think they will drop Boise State for Alabama.
So let’s recap again:
BCS National Championship #1 Florida vs. #3 Texas…
(theory being if Alabama loses and Texas wins, Texas will be #2)
Orange Bowl ACC Champion Georgia Tech (7) vs. #5 Cincinnati (Big East Champs)
(theory being if GA Tech beats Clemson and Cincinnati beats Pittsburgh)
Rose Bowl #11 Ohio State (Big 10 Champs) vs. #13 Oregon (Pac 10 Champs)
Fiesta Bowl #4 TCU (Mountain West Champs) vs. Alabama (SEC Runner up)
That brings us to the final BCS Bowl, the Sugar Bowl. They get the last two picks, but they have a clause too. They must, by contract, take the SEC Champion, but since Florida is the SEC Champs and in the BCS Championships, they are free to take two teams, just like the Fiesta Bowl.
If things go like we discussed, then the highest ranked team still available would be Boise State. For sake of having an undefeated team, the Sugar Bowl will take them… but there may be a question to how well Boise State travels. I mean, New Orleans isn’t a hop, skip and jump away. But still, it is a logical choice of the remaining teams.
So who will the Boise State Broncos play?
There are still several choices based on the remaining teams on that top 15 ranking, but right off the bat, we can eliminate Houston. Just not strong enough to make a good matchup with Boise State. This leaves LSU, USC, Iowa, Pittsburgh and Miami.
The logical choice is by far LSU, but this brings in another clause…one that prevents LSU from playing in New Orleans. By rule, no conference can put in more than two teams out of their own conference in the BCS Bowls. Remember that LSU is a SEC school…so are Florida and Alabama. This means that in theory, LSU would not, COULD NOT, play in the Sugar Bowl.
That leaves USC, which is probably too far to travel. Then you may have to look at Iowa, Pittsburgh and Miami. If we can assume that Cincinnati is undefeated, then it also means they beat Pittsburgh, which knocks them out of the picture. So this leaves Boise State to play either Iowa or Miami…which would sell more tickets?
Iowa is ranked #10, and Miami currently #14, so that might be the choice, but who travels better? Better traveling means more ticket sales. I think the Big 10 does well in traveling, after all, if they can get to Pasadena, they can surely get to New Orleans. I think Iowa plays Boise State in the Sugar Bowl.
So there you have it, the 10 teams selected in the BCS bowls. Of the top 10 teams, LSU and USC will miss out, and will play in lesser bowls. We shall see. Remember, all this is theory at the moment, just to give you an idea of how this might work out. The truth comes this weekend when many of these teams play their conference championships and final regular season games…
Who Judges Tiger Woods?
Who Judges Tiger Woods?
You know, sometimes we show ourselves to be some of the most wicked people on the planet when we gossip about other people. I say “we” because I am human too, and last I checked, I was not perfect.
But we seem to live in a time where idiots look for the flaws in a human, just to make a dollar or to destroy credibility. This was seen perfectly in the Tiger Woods incident just a few days ago.
When I first heard of the story, my immediate concern was, “is he ok?” To me that was far, far more important than anything else. I don’t watch golf nearly as much as I do football or basketball, but everybody knows of Tiger. So when I heard on ESPN that he was in serious condition, my heart sank a bit.
I turned to CNN where they had helicopters flying around his house and talking about what they knew, and I was worried. So I did something maybe a lot of self righteous people don’t do… I took a moment to pray for him.
Sounds corny? Be careful what you believe, there will likely be a time you need somebody to pray for you…
So after I prayed for a minute or so, I thought more about it. They said Tiger was in “serious condition”. Not “Critical”. There is a HUGE difference, and once I thought about it, I took comfort that he should be ok. Hours later I heard that he had been treated and was released. And I want you to notice something…
When I heard that he had been released, I stop watching anything more about it. I heard what I wanted to hear, and I was satisfied. He was alive, and that to me was good enough.
But for many, it wasn’t enough. There then came all kinds of rumors and gossip about why he was even out that early in the morning (or late at night as one might say), and I remember my mom mentioning it to me. I told her, “I don’t pay attention to any of that stuff, once I learned he was ok, I stopped following the story”.
But the world of entertainment and gossip respects no man or woman, only the glory of a dollar bill, and the pride of “being the first to break the story”. So today I am watching two of my fav shows, “Around the Horn” and “Pardon the Interruption”, both on ESPN, and it was the lead story.
It bothered me because we as a nation are looking for gossip, vain imaginations and faults from everybody in the world. It is funny because some of those guys on those ESPN shows keep saying that we are a forgiving country…
Here is news for you…no we are not. We SHOULD be a forgiving nation, but many people like to rehash your past sins…meaning we do not forgive.
Quick example…today the were talking about Ron Artest, and while they were talking about him, they showed the clips from the big fight in Indiana several years ago… known to many as the “Malice in the Palace”. If we are such a forgiving nation, why do we keep showing that?
So I wondered, who has the right to judge Tiger Woods? Ironically, many people feel that they deserve to know what happened? Why? So you can hang him? This is absolutely foolish how we are so nosy in everybody elses affairs just to find a sin. Tiger admitted in his own words that he has some issues to take care of… to me, that is more than fine. In fact, I say again, once I found out he was ok, that was all I needed to know.
But it really shows the mentality and morality of our nation when we are digging in other people’s affairs as if we have a personal right to do it. We all live in glass houses and last I checked, nobody walking the earth right now is perfect. But in the same way, that was how many saw Tiger Woods…as almost a perfect individual in every way.
Well…who’s stupid fault is that? It’s not Tiger’s fault, it’s those people who hold him in such high regard. But I counter also by saying this, those who truly loved Tiger Woods are probably smart enough to know that nobody is perfect, and love him just as much as they did before. It is the idiots who prostitute gossip and sleazy stories who create a venue to put Tiger on trial for his sins, as if they never did anything wrong.
I remember how I felt when Magic Johnson contracted the HIV virus, and the rumors and gossip that came with that. To me, none of that other crap mattered, I wanted Magic to get better, and even then I prayed for him. This does NOT make me a saint by no means, but to me, that was important, far more than a man’s sin. I am sure Magic had thousands of fans that felt the same way.
A REAL fan loves the man, not the image…some would do well to remember that.
So Tiger isn’t perfect…if you didn’t know that before, that makes you an idiot, because nobody is perfect. But knowing that, I am not going to go on some witch hunt to find out the “juicy” details of his problems. To me, he is ok, and I am glad for that.
Get well soon Tiger Woods.
You know, sometimes we show ourselves to be some of the most wicked people on the planet when we gossip about other people. I say “we” because I am human too, and last I checked, I was not perfect.
But we seem to live in a time where idiots look for the flaws in a human, just to make a dollar or to destroy credibility. This was seen perfectly in the Tiger Woods incident just a few days ago.
When I first heard of the story, my immediate concern was, “is he ok?” To me that was far, far more important than anything else. I don’t watch golf nearly as much as I do football or basketball, but everybody knows of Tiger. So when I heard on ESPN that he was in serious condition, my heart sank a bit.
I turned to CNN where they had helicopters flying around his house and talking about what they knew, and I was worried. So I did something maybe a lot of self righteous people don’t do… I took a moment to pray for him.
Sounds corny? Be careful what you believe, there will likely be a time you need somebody to pray for you…
So after I prayed for a minute or so, I thought more about it. They said Tiger was in “serious condition”. Not “Critical”. There is a HUGE difference, and once I thought about it, I took comfort that he should be ok. Hours later I heard that he had been treated and was released. And I want you to notice something…
When I heard that he had been released, I stop watching anything more about it. I heard what I wanted to hear, and I was satisfied. He was alive, and that to me was good enough.
But for many, it wasn’t enough. There then came all kinds of rumors and gossip about why he was even out that early in the morning (or late at night as one might say), and I remember my mom mentioning it to me. I told her, “I don’t pay attention to any of that stuff, once I learned he was ok, I stopped following the story”.
But the world of entertainment and gossip respects no man or woman, only the glory of a dollar bill, and the pride of “being the first to break the story”. So today I am watching two of my fav shows, “Around the Horn” and “Pardon the Interruption”, both on ESPN, and it was the lead story.
It bothered me because we as a nation are looking for gossip, vain imaginations and faults from everybody in the world. It is funny because some of those guys on those ESPN shows keep saying that we are a forgiving country…
Here is news for you…no we are not. We SHOULD be a forgiving nation, but many people like to rehash your past sins…meaning we do not forgive.
Quick example…today the were talking about Ron Artest, and while they were talking about him, they showed the clips from the big fight in Indiana several years ago… known to many as the “Malice in the Palace”. If we are such a forgiving nation, why do we keep showing that?
So I wondered, who has the right to judge Tiger Woods? Ironically, many people feel that they deserve to know what happened? Why? So you can hang him? This is absolutely foolish how we are so nosy in everybody elses affairs just to find a sin. Tiger admitted in his own words that he has some issues to take care of… to me, that is more than fine. In fact, I say again, once I found out he was ok, that was all I needed to know.
But it really shows the mentality and morality of our nation when we are digging in other people’s affairs as if we have a personal right to do it. We all live in glass houses and last I checked, nobody walking the earth right now is perfect. But in the same way, that was how many saw Tiger Woods…as almost a perfect individual in every way.
Well…who’s stupid fault is that? It’s not Tiger’s fault, it’s those people who hold him in such high regard. But I counter also by saying this, those who truly loved Tiger Woods are probably smart enough to know that nobody is perfect, and love him just as much as they did before. It is the idiots who prostitute gossip and sleazy stories who create a venue to put Tiger on trial for his sins, as if they never did anything wrong.
I remember how I felt when Magic Johnson contracted the HIV virus, and the rumors and gossip that came with that. To me, none of that other crap mattered, I wanted Magic to get better, and even then I prayed for him. This does NOT make me a saint by no means, but to me, that was important, far more than a man’s sin. I am sure Magic had thousands of fans that felt the same way.
A REAL fan loves the man, not the image…some would do well to remember that.
So Tiger isn’t perfect…if you didn’t know that before, that makes you an idiot, because nobody is perfect. But knowing that, I am not going to go on some witch hunt to find out the “juicy” details of his problems. To me, he is ok, and I am glad for that.
Get well soon Tiger Woods.
The Fate of Notre Dame, part 2
The Fate of Notre Dame, pt2
I think I blogged on this before, and the answer is still up in the air.
Ok, so Charlie Weis was fired from Notre Dame, and now they are looking at a new head coach…to me if you want to ever see the foolishness of man’s wisdom, which comes to naught, here it is…Notre Dame.
Sometimes we are so smart we outsmart ourselves, to the humiliation of the rest of the nation. I think we all knew this was going to happen, but the foolishness in all this is how this “school of higher learning” and “religious” school has gone about this.
Let’s recap the last 20 years of Notre Dame football, starting with the last time the won the National Championship… 1988.
The coach of that team was (ugh) Lou Holtz. Only a couple of years after he got the Notre Dame job, he led the Irish to a National Championship, but it would appear that the rich alumni wasn’t too happy with that. Even haven gone to a bowl on New Years Day 9 straight times, there was some problems with the team. He “resigned” in 1996, but get this… he was only about FIVE games away from tying or breaking the great Knute Rockne as the most victories by a Notre Dame head coach. It was rumored at that time that a lot of these alumni didn’t want such a “holy” record broken by Lou Holtz, so there was pressure for Lou to resign. Lou Holtz had 100 victories, with 95 of those being during the regular season.
Yet this wasn’t good enough for Notre Dame, and there was heavy criticism to get rid of him…understand the foolishness of this folks…Lou Holts won them a National Championship, and outside of 1986, they had a winning season every year…it was quite obvious that he would have broken Knute Rockne’s record, no doubt about it, but the Notre Dame alumni didn’t want him to do it, so they ran him out. Sure, Lou said he resigned…but he also jumped right back into coaching shortly afterwards, at South Carolina…it implies he was never finished coaching, just forced out.
So then Notre Dame gets Bob Davie in 1997, trying to find a way to get back into the National Championship. The Irish struggled as it was ranked as high as #15 during Davie’s tenure, but failed to get the National Championship the blind Irish wanted. Strange though, because the 2001 squad received praise from the American Football Coaches Association for a 100% graduation rate…
Folks…isn’t THAT what is should be about? Graduating your players?
But no, that wasn’t good enough for Notre Dame, and with a few other problems in the university, they got rid of Bob Davie, after a 35-25 record. It was then they tried to hire George O’Leary from Georgia Tech, but some inconsistent facts in his resume forced Notre Dame to think twice, being humiliated by the scandal of getting a coach that wasn’t really on the level. In their embarrassment, they turned to hire Tyrone Willingham in 2002, and was immediately rewarded with a 10-2 season, one they had not seen in years. But problems stemmed from rich alumni for several reasons, some racist, some foolish pride. With Willingham not winning the way they wanted, and with the demand to have a National Championship, there was pressure to get rid of Willingham, especially since he was not their first choice anyway. Notre Dame would soon fire Willingham, and fearing a backlash of African American recruits not going to the school, was quick to get former Notre Dame player Tim Brown (and Heisman Trophy winner) to work in recruitment.
In 2005 Notre Dame hired Charlie Weis, a Notre Dame graduate and Offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots. In an effort to spark offense and get the NFL flavor for recruiting, the rich alumn of Notre Dame felt that this would get them to the “promised land”. Like Willingham, Weis started out great, so great that in his first year the rich alumni gave him a 10 year extension…something they never offered Willingham after similar performances. They were even ranked as high as #2 in 2006, but it was shortly afterwards when Notre Dame would suffer numerous defeats. With soft schedules and weak performances, it seemed apparent that the mystique of Notre Dame had left, and exactly 5 years after firing Tyrone Willingham, Notre Dame fired Charlie Weis.
Yet in the midst of these times, we have seen the foolishness of Notre Dame extremists, with former coach Lou Holtz now working for ESPN who, with a lying mouth and heart, sits there and proclaims that Notre Dame will win the National Championship and go undefeated…he said this TWO YEARS straight…and was gravely wrong both times.
This is the same university, in some sad attempt to create glory for itself and their greatness, erected a statue of Lou Holtz during a Michigan/Notre Dame football game, perhaps hoping to appease the football gods to help them…remember folks, Notre Dame is a RELIGIOUS school…where are the standards…oh I forgot, it’s in the money.
So here we stand, just over 20 years since Notre Dame won their last National Championship. Notre Dame has had over 30 head coaches. Notre Dame, in their own selfish pride, has pushed off Lou Holtz for fear of him catching Knute Rockne, fired Bob Davie who seemed to emphasize education, forced out Tyrone Willingham amidst pressure from rich Caucasian alumni who obviously were about 50 years behind the rest of the known world as far as racial relationships and equality, and today are STILL looking for somebody to coach this radioactive university.
So what is the fate of this school? Times have changed since the late 80’s, and with ESPN, Fox, and other sports channels, the regular list of college football teams like Notre Dame, Michigan, UCLA, Nebraska and Oklahoma no longer apply. Back then, in the late 80s, you might be able to watch as many as 5 football games per Saturday, if you were lucky. This year, when Saturday comes around, and with even basic cable, I can watch as many as 15 games a day…and we are not including the Thursday or Wednesday or even Friday games that are on ESPN from time to time. Exposure is far, far greater now than it has ever been.
To Notre Dame, this means you are not the marquee team anymore. With more visibility teams like TCU, Miami, Florida, Boise State, Virginia Tech and many others get just as much time as Notre Dame does, even if NBC does carry them virtually every week. With scholarships down to 85 and such exposure, these old school teams no longer are the great teams they used to be. This is not to say that they cannot be any longer, it just means it is much harder to get those recruits than they used to.
Remember, it has been 20 years, and that was early in Lou Holtz’s tenure, so with it being over 20 years, the times have truly changed. But sadly, the rich alumni of Notre Dame are too dead set to those “good ole days”. I can dig that, because we always value the good times once time has passed. Notre Dame didn’t realize when they forced Lou Holtz out that they would relive those glory days 20 years later…if they had, they might not have gotten rid of Lou Holtz. But that’s man’s wisdom for ya, we always think we know what we are doing…only to make a fool of ourselves.
But to me, it is worse than that for Notre Dame. To me, the idea of being a Catholic school is almost a joke, because money speaks far greater than God to them. When rich alumni can make the call on who they want for such a job as a football coach, how can you truly say you are religious? Seems to me that money is the god of Notre Dame, or at least those with a lot of it.
Perhaps…just perhaps, this is their problem. If the school would operate more like a religious school, concentrating on human values and faith in God, maybe they would get in a better position to win a National Championship. I mean, after all, they won a ton of them right? They won 11 National Championships, and two in the last 32 years…it can happen. But who am I to say such things, I am no rich Notre Dame alumni, I don’t make decisions of a religious school with my money…
I let the foolish do that, the fruit of such efforts, and the fate of Notre Dame, seems to be clearly established in what they have sown….
I think I blogged on this before, and the answer is still up in the air.
Ok, so Charlie Weis was fired from Notre Dame, and now they are looking at a new head coach…to me if you want to ever see the foolishness of man’s wisdom, which comes to naught, here it is…Notre Dame.
Sometimes we are so smart we outsmart ourselves, to the humiliation of the rest of the nation. I think we all knew this was going to happen, but the foolishness in all this is how this “school of higher learning” and “religious” school has gone about this.
Let’s recap the last 20 years of Notre Dame football, starting with the last time the won the National Championship… 1988.
The coach of that team was (ugh) Lou Holtz. Only a couple of years after he got the Notre Dame job, he led the Irish to a National Championship, but it would appear that the rich alumni wasn’t too happy with that. Even haven gone to a bowl on New Years Day 9 straight times, there was some problems with the team. He “resigned” in 1996, but get this… he was only about FIVE games away from tying or breaking the great Knute Rockne as the most victories by a Notre Dame head coach. It was rumored at that time that a lot of these alumni didn’t want such a “holy” record broken by Lou Holtz, so there was pressure for Lou to resign. Lou Holtz had 100 victories, with 95 of those being during the regular season.
Yet this wasn’t good enough for Notre Dame, and there was heavy criticism to get rid of him…understand the foolishness of this folks…Lou Holts won them a National Championship, and outside of 1986, they had a winning season every year…it was quite obvious that he would have broken Knute Rockne’s record, no doubt about it, but the Notre Dame alumni didn’t want him to do it, so they ran him out. Sure, Lou said he resigned…but he also jumped right back into coaching shortly afterwards, at South Carolina…it implies he was never finished coaching, just forced out.
So then Notre Dame gets Bob Davie in 1997, trying to find a way to get back into the National Championship. The Irish struggled as it was ranked as high as #15 during Davie’s tenure, but failed to get the National Championship the blind Irish wanted. Strange though, because the 2001 squad received praise from the American Football Coaches Association for a 100% graduation rate…
Folks…isn’t THAT what is should be about? Graduating your players?
But no, that wasn’t good enough for Notre Dame, and with a few other problems in the university, they got rid of Bob Davie, after a 35-25 record. It was then they tried to hire George O’Leary from Georgia Tech, but some inconsistent facts in his resume forced Notre Dame to think twice, being humiliated by the scandal of getting a coach that wasn’t really on the level. In their embarrassment, they turned to hire Tyrone Willingham in 2002, and was immediately rewarded with a 10-2 season, one they had not seen in years. But problems stemmed from rich alumni for several reasons, some racist, some foolish pride. With Willingham not winning the way they wanted, and with the demand to have a National Championship, there was pressure to get rid of Willingham, especially since he was not their first choice anyway. Notre Dame would soon fire Willingham, and fearing a backlash of African American recruits not going to the school, was quick to get former Notre Dame player Tim Brown (and Heisman Trophy winner) to work in recruitment.
In 2005 Notre Dame hired Charlie Weis, a Notre Dame graduate and Offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots. In an effort to spark offense and get the NFL flavor for recruiting, the rich alumn of Notre Dame felt that this would get them to the “promised land”. Like Willingham, Weis started out great, so great that in his first year the rich alumni gave him a 10 year extension…something they never offered Willingham after similar performances. They were even ranked as high as #2 in 2006, but it was shortly afterwards when Notre Dame would suffer numerous defeats. With soft schedules and weak performances, it seemed apparent that the mystique of Notre Dame had left, and exactly 5 years after firing Tyrone Willingham, Notre Dame fired Charlie Weis.
Yet in the midst of these times, we have seen the foolishness of Notre Dame extremists, with former coach Lou Holtz now working for ESPN who, with a lying mouth and heart, sits there and proclaims that Notre Dame will win the National Championship and go undefeated…he said this TWO YEARS straight…and was gravely wrong both times.
This is the same university, in some sad attempt to create glory for itself and their greatness, erected a statue of Lou Holtz during a Michigan/Notre Dame football game, perhaps hoping to appease the football gods to help them…remember folks, Notre Dame is a RELIGIOUS school…where are the standards…oh I forgot, it’s in the money.
So here we stand, just over 20 years since Notre Dame won their last National Championship. Notre Dame has had over 30 head coaches. Notre Dame, in their own selfish pride, has pushed off Lou Holtz for fear of him catching Knute Rockne, fired Bob Davie who seemed to emphasize education, forced out Tyrone Willingham amidst pressure from rich Caucasian alumni who obviously were about 50 years behind the rest of the known world as far as racial relationships and equality, and today are STILL looking for somebody to coach this radioactive university.
So what is the fate of this school? Times have changed since the late 80’s, and with ESPN, Fox, and other sports channels, the regular list of college football teams like Notre Dame, Michigan, UCLA, Nebraska and Oklahoma no longer apply. Back then, in the late 80s, you might be able to watch as many as 5 football games per Saturday, if you were lucky. This year, when Saturday comes around, and with even basic cable, I can watch as many as 15 games a day…and we are not including the Thursday or Wednesday or even Friday games that are on ESPN from time to time. Exposure is far, far greater now than it has ever been.
To Notre Dame, this means you are not the marquee team anymore. With more visibility teams like TCU, Miami, Florida, Boise State, Virginia Tech and many others get just as much time as Notre Dame does, even if NBC does carry them virtually every week. With scholarships down to 85 and such exposure, these old school teams no longer are the great teams they used to be. This is not to say that they cannot be any longer, it just means it is much harder to get those recruits than they used to.
Remember, it has been 20 years, and that was early in Lou Holtz’s tenure, so with it being over 20 years, the times have truly changed. But sadly, the rich alumni of Notre Dame are too dead set to those “good ole days”. I can dig that, because we always value the good times once time has passed. Notre Dame didn’t realize when they forced Lou Holtz out that they would relive those glory days 20 years later…if they had, they might not have gotten rid of Lou Holtz. But that’s man’s wisdom for ya, we always think we know what we are doing…only to make a fool of ourselves.
But to me, it is worse than that for Notre Dame. To me, the idea of being a Catholic school is almost a joke, because money speaks far greater than God to them. When rich alumni can make the call on who they want for such a job as a football coach, how can you truly say you are religious? Seems to me that money is the god of Notre Dame, or at least those with a lot of it.
Perhaps…just perhaps, this is their problem. If the school would operate more like a religious school, concentrating on human values and faith in God, maybe they would get in a better position to win a National Championship. I mean, after all, they won a ton of them right? They won 11 National Championships, and two in the last 32 years…it can happen. But who am I to say such things, I am no rich Notre Dame alumni, I don’t make decisions of a religious school with my money…
I let the foolish do that, the fruit of such efforts, and the fate of Notre Dame, seems to be clearly established in what they have sown….
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