Bet against the team from Cleveland.
Dump The BCS
It is time to dump the BCS. Every year, some team does exactly what it is supposed to do, and then gets hosed byt the BCs nitwits. This year’s victim is USC. Despite being #1 in the AP and CNN coaches polls, doing everything they had to, winning every game- by convincing margins, even, LSU and Oklahoma re going to the big dance.
And it makes no damn sense. I am now rooting for USC in the Rose Bowl. This current system just is not fair, and Kevin- your team got screwed. There is no other way to put it.
Best Game of the Year
I Can Support This
Norbizness and I can probably count the number of times we have seen things eye to eye on one hand, and one of those times was probably about music. However, here is a propoal I can get behind completely:
There are definitely too many teams in the three main sports right now (I’m going to avoid talking about hockey, because my proposal for them would to be to go back to the 6-team league that existed until the 1960s). Certain teams add little to nothing for their respective cities, except to make them the repeated butt of jokes. Well, it’s time to separate the really crappy from the temporarily crappy, and institute a reverse playoff system. The “winner” of the playoff will cease to exist, the “runner-up” will cease to exist as a team, but the players could join up with other teams. The process will be repeated for three years, so that 6 teams in each league will cease to exist.
(1) Major League Baseball: So many teams, so little time. The lack of a salary cap makes it so that over 50% of the teams are pretty much guaranteed not to make the playoffs in any given system. The absolute dregs in the 8-team playoff will be the Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates, Milwaukee Brewers, and San Diego Padres in the National League, and Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and the Kansas City Royals in the American League. At this point in time, the Tigers will inevitably win.
(1a) I also propose a one-time single-elimination playoff between the Red Sox and Yankees so that approximately 50% of the insufferable fans in the United States can be instantly team-less.
I am not a Yankee hater. In fact, I like a lot of the Yankee players both past and present. What I am tired of, however, is them always winning.
Another Milestone
This is a great development:
Sylvester Croom became the first black head football coach in the Southeastern Conference yesterday when he accepted an offer to take over at Mississippi State.
Croom, 49, arrives in Starkville, Miss., with 28 years of coaching experience, including the last three as the Green Bay Packers’ running backs coach. He’ll be introduced at a news conference today as the successor to Jackie Sherrill, who is retiring.
The SEC was the only Bowl Championship Series conference never to have had a black head coach. There were four black head football coaches among 117 Division I-A football schools this season.
“We went after the best football coach and he just happened to be a minority,” Mississippi State Athletic Director Larry Templeton said last night.
I wonder how this will impact the recruiting of talent in the SEC.
New Self-Help Group Announcement
As a public service to my readers and the blogospehere community, I am announcing the formation of a new self-help group. The group is called:
“My NFL team sucks and is making me miserable, but I love them anyway.”
Invitations are open to anyone afflicted*, but I would like to officially send invitations to the following people:
Oliver Willis, whose Redskins are 4-8.
Matt Stinson and Tacitus, whose Bucs are 5-6.
Kevin Holtsberry, who, like me, is a fan of the pathetic and puny Steelers (4-8).
Dodd Harris and William Sulik, both long-suffering Raiders fans.
Others may feel free to list their name and team affiliation below in the comments. I can’t promise this will help, but I guess it is nice to know you are not suffering alone.
* Arizona Cardinals fans will be given complete lifetime membership without any questions asked.
*** Update ***
I doubt even this would help my Steelers.
Gator Bound
At least we have this good sports news:
The No. 24 Mountaineers (8-4, 6-1) wrapped up a share of WVU’s first Big East conference championship in a decade with a 45-28 victory over the mistake-prone Owls (1-11, 0-7) and can now turn their full attention to preparing for a New Year’s Day rematch with Maryland in the Gator Bowl.
“Although the BCS will not let us officially invite West Virginia to our bowl,” Gator Bowl selection committee chair Susan Hamilton told the media afterwards, “I’m looking forward to seeing all of the WVU players and their wonderful fans in Jacksonville on New Year’s Day.”
The official invitation can’t be extended until the BCS releases WVU from consideration for the Big East’s BCS bowl spot.
That release could come as soon as today following No. 10 Miami’s win over No. 24 Pitt Saturday night.
While WVU and Miami will be listed as co-champions of the Big East with identical 6-1 league marks, the Hurricanes will get the league’s BCS berth thanks to their regular-season win over the Mountaineers.
Regardless, West Virginia coaches and officials left no doubt they were looking forward to welcoming the New Year in Jacksonville.
“Let me say right now,” said WVU president Dr. David Hardesty with a smile, “that we graciously accept your generous non-invitation and are looking forward to bringing a very good football team and a lot of fans to the Gator Bowl on Jan. 1.”
There is a good chance I might be spending New Years in Jacksonville.