Saturday, November 04, 2006

Hippogriffs Deserve To Die

and other fun songs by Draco and The Malfoys. For all you Harry Potter fans, check out titles such as My Dad Is Rich, I Couldn't Kill Albus Dumbledore, or 99 Death Eaters. What a hoot!

Friday, November 03, 2006

(Late) Friday Random Ten

I didn't get to do one last week - I was too busy at work.
I didn't get to do one this morning - we were taking inventory at work.
So it is Friday Night and I am doing a Random Ten from the music I have at home.
What are you listening to these days?
10 Peter Gabriel - That Voice Again
9 Lauryn Hill - I Used To Love Him
8 Jerry Garcia Band - Dear Prudence
7 Nanci Griffith - I Would Bring You Ireland
6 Sixpence None The Richer - The Lines Of My Earth
5 Mest - Hotel Room
4 Jimmy Lafave - This Glorious Day
3 Neil Young - Long May You Run
2 Lifehouse - Breathing
1 Third Day - 40 Days

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Big East: Least or Beast

I'm not one of the rabid college football fans like you find throughout the South and Midwest, but I do enjoy the games when I watch them. And as a hard core sports nut I of course have an opinion on everything sports related, including the BCS.

After the Big East conference lost 3 of its top teams to the ACC, folks starting suggesting that the Big East should lose its BCS standing and be considered a "second tier" conference like C-USA and the Mountain West. The conference began to be called the Big Least. And many still consider it an inferior brand of football to that played in the "real" major conferences. For those holding such opinions let me throw some stats at you:

1. The top 3 schools in the Big East this season are undefeated as of today. That means HALF of all the 1-A schools still sporting spotless records play in the Big East.

2. Those 3 schools are unbeaten in play against schools from other BCS conferences.

3. It's not only the top 3 Big East teams that have been successful against other BCS schools, but the conference as a whole has a winning record (10-7) in games with teams from other BCS conferences.

4. Only ONE Big East school has lost more games than it has won against teams from other BCS conferences.

5. In the last round of BCS bowl games the Big East champion demolished the SEC runner-up (WVA over GA in a rout). The SEC was said to be the toughest conference in the nation at the time, and the Big East was said to be on a par with the bottom rung schools from the SEC.

So, maybe it's time for the CFA to do what it originally was thought to be doing when it broke free from the NCAA and created the 1-A classification. The idea then was to set up a conference of major conferences that would play in the major bowls and decide the national champion amongst themselves.

Maybe it's time to create that super conference. Let any of the so-called second tier schools that can meet the criteria for institutional support step up and be part of the BCS, and send the other small schools down to 1-AA or some other classification. The result should be no more than 6-8 conferences making up the super conference. (It'd be kind of like the champions league in Europe for soccer.) Let the conference champions face off in a round of bowl games. Don't even try to set up a playoff system since it'll never happen under the present reality. But by pitting the conference champions against each other every year in a rotating system where every conference eventually faces the other conference you would generate some real excitement, and the opportunity for bragging rights across the country.

It would be comparable to the pre-BCS Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl games where the Big Ten faced off against the Pac-10 and the Big Eight matched up with the SEC champion each year. That system matched West Coast against Heartland and Midwest against the South, but always left the question of whether the conference that won the Orange was stronger than the one that won the Rose. By pitting the eight conferences against each other over an eight year rotation every conference would get a shot at bragging rights over another major conference.

And of course, for the benefit of the boys in the penthouse offices at the television networks, we'd retain that last bowl game matching up the number one and two ranked teams (after the first round of bowl games). Have that game 2 weeks after the New Year's games so that teams would have some time to prepare.

Oh, yeah, I can already hear those Texans whining after the first bowl game in which the Big East champ knocks off the Big IX champ.