I've always been Pro-Bowl. (Not as in the watered down NFL All-Star game, but as in the Papajohns.com Bowl). College Football is nothing without the traditions that go with it, so I've generally shrugged off the same, endless BCS debates that happen year after year. I'm just tired of listening to it all, and can't believe people don't have anything better to talk about around the holidays. It's a system with flaws no doubt, but there is still something cool about all the games at traditional sites after New Years', and having those games be the final game, and a crowning achievement to a winning season.
Though I prefer the bowls in the FBS, I've never been anti-playoff. A playoff would certainly lead to an amazing ending to the season. If you missed the Appalachian State-Eastern Washington game last Saturday, you need to broaden your horizons to how good college football is beyond the spoiled rich kids.
I'm just not sure how you walk the fine line of tradition and progress, and work the traditional bowl sites into the equation. I can't imagine a college football season ending without a meaningful Rose Bowl or Cotton Bowl.
This is a playoff system I devised a few years ago. The BCS rankings are still in effect, but are only used to decide what teams make the bracket, and to seed teams into the bracket accordingly. Here is how I arrive at the NCAA Division 1-A Football Championship:
1. The field is set at 18 teams. The lowest four seeded teams will play two "play-in" games, to narrow the field to 16.
2. There are 11 1-A conferences, therefore 11 automatic bids. You win your conference title, you're in. If you play in a league with a conference championship game, you must win that game to secure the automatic bid.
3. The other seven teams included will be the highest ranked teams in the BCS formula that are not conference champions. These are the at-large qualifiers.
4. The teams are then seeded 1-18 based on the BCS Rankings, with #15 playing #18 (Winner playes #2), and #16 plays #17 (Winner playes #1.) The rest of the bracket sets up just like a regional in the NCAA basketball tournament.
5. Seeds are not adjusted to avoid re-matches. With so fewer teams to work with than the 65 in basketball, it is fruitless to adjust seeding to avoid teams from the same league or teams that played during the season from meeting each other early in the tournament.
Now, let's plug the 2007 season into my system and see what shakes out:
1 Ohio State (Big Ten)
2 LSU (SEC)
3 Virginia Tech (ACC)
4 Oklahoma (Big 12)
5 Georgia (At-Large)
6 Missouri (At-Large)
7 USC (Pac-10)
8 Kansas (At-Large)
9 West Virginia (Big East)
10 Hawaii (WAC)
11 Arizona State (At-Large)
12 Florida (At-Large)
13 Illinois (At-Large)
14 Boston College (At-Large)
15 Brigham Young (Mountain West)
16 Central Florida (Conference USA)
17 Central Michigan (Mid-American)
18 Florida Atlantic (Sun Belt)
And the bracket...
1 Ohio State (11-1)
16 Central Florida (10-3) vs. 17 Central Michigan (8-5)
8 Kansas (11-1)
9 West Virginia (10-2)
5 Georgia (10-2)
12 Florida (9-3)
4 Oklahoma (11-2)
13 Illinois (9-3)
6 Missouri (11-2)
11 Arizona State (10-2)
3 Virginia Tech (11-2)
14 Boston College (10-3)
7 USC (10-2)
10 Hawaii (12-0)
2 LSU (11-2)
15 Brigham Young (10-2) vs. 18 Florida Atlantic (7-5)
FAQ:
Why isn't there a selection committee like in basketball?
Using the BCS rankings to decide at-large bids and seed, the voters in the Harris Poll and the AP Poll are the de-facto selection committee.
Where are the games played?
I've generated about 1,000 different systems for neutral fields in the later rounds, and it makes my head want to explode. I'm thinking at least the first round games are on the campus sites of the higher seed. If you have a suggestion on this, let me know.
Aren't there too many games?
Yes. Keep in mind this is just a prototype. If a system with this many teams was ever implicated, I'd bet the season would have to get cut to 10 or 11 games instead of 12 or 13, ala the FCS. However, with as profitable as regular season games are in the big time division, I think an 8 to 12 team playoff is more likely if it ever happens (which it probably won't) to ensure teams can still at least play 11 regular season games. Bear in mind though, that the FCS champion will play a 14 or 15 game season (it's a 16-team playoff.)
Why 18 teams?
When I originally developed this bracket, the Mountain West hadn't split from the WAC yet, and the Sun Belt didn't exist for football. The orginal bracket several years ago was 16 teams to echo Division 1-AA, but when the MWC and Sun Belt came to fruition I made the same decision NCAA basketball made when the Mountain West gained an automatic bid. Instead of sacrificing an at-large bid, I kept the number at seven and increased the field by the number of new conferences, in this case two, and added the play-in games to balance things out. That's why the NCAA basketball tourney has 65 teams, they added the MWC automatic qualifier without taking out an at-large spot. It's been effective, as you have very average Central Michigan (8-5) and Florida Atlantic (7-5) winning leagues that had down years and weren't very strong. This prevents such pretenders from automatically getting a big money game against a huge opponent with a lot of revenue and TV exposure without earning it.
By all means this isn't perfect, but it's plausible. And yes I realize I have Boston College playing Virginia Tech for a third time, but the rules as explained above were set up ahead of time. If you think you can improve upon it, be sure to let me know. As a bowl fan I'm not married to it, but I can't deny how great it would be to see something like this play out.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Opinion: Nick Saban Takes Asshole To A New Level
An explanation I usually get for football overtaking baseball as America’s most popular sport is mostly along the lines of, “football is a violent game, the players are our modern gladiators and men are drawn to the violence and war-like nature.” Ok, point taken. I’ve never really had a problem with that. What I do have a problem with are when overpaid, overvalued, diaper-wearing college football coaches still haven’t distinguished that football is a game, and war is war.
What the hell is Nick Saban‘s problem. And whether or not he meant to draw a direct comparison to losing last Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe to September 11th is irrelevant. I’m not interested in semantics. What he did do was completely slap a worthy opponent in the face, and basically pout in the sandbox for losing a game he thought he should’ve won. In case you haven’t seen it yet, here is what Saban said after Alabama dropped a 21-14 decision to ULM at home last Saturday:
"Changes in history usually occur after some kind of catastrophic event.”. "It may be 9/11, which sort of changed the spirit of America relative to catastrophic events. Pearl Harbor kind of got us ready for World War II, and that was a catastrophic event."
Where do I even start. Number one, losing a trivial football game is never a catastrophic event. Since Mr. Saban seems comfortable enough to metaphorically discuss the ramifications of 9/11 and Pearl Harbor, show me the innocent civilians that died because Alabama lost a football game. So let me get this straight, Alabama’s football team will now band together closer than ever and strike back against people who attempted to kill them (by scoring one more touchdown)? Alabama is the victim here? If there is a victim, it’s Louisiana-Monroe. Here they have a solid win for their program, yet it will be overshadowed by the ass-backwards American south, where an asshole like Nick Saban could actually make comments like these and walk out of a room without getting his ass kicked. After all, SEC football is so important, so crucial to everyday life that the context in which Saban compared losing a game is acceptable. Forgive me if I sound sarcastic, but apparently the University of Alabama thinks so:
"What Coach Saban said did not correlate losing a football game with tragedy, everyone needs to understand that. He was not equating losing football games to those catastrophic events." The message was that true spirit and unity become evident in the most difficult of times. Those were two tremendous examples that everyone can identify with."
Difficult times huh. I’d like to compare putting together a gameplan for Auburn this week to seeing a loved one leave for work or war and not come back. Not even the biggest back-woods redneck SEC fan could side with the former as more “difficult.” And we’re talking red-state sport here, so I’d assume support for Bush’s war on humanity might still take precedence over almighty Alabama football. What’s tougher, being shipped to the middle-east to get your head blown off in an utterly senseless war, or regrouping to play a football game while being adored by thousands of screaming fans? Oh, but it’s so tough, there’s so much pressure to win in college football. Yeah well, no one ever seems to die during it, so spare me the true spirit and unity in the face of adversity argument. The might be the biggest load of horseshit I’ve ever read.
If all of this isn’t enough, Saban decided to then hoist his left leg onto the table to finish off his other foot:
“They talk about alcoholics and people like that who never ever change until they hit rock bottom Well, they change because when they hit rock bottom they have an awareness, they have an acceptance and a commitment to change. That's what our players need to do right now because in the past two weeks since the LSU game, I haven't seen the same spirit, I haven't seen the same work ethic.”
Ah yes. So now Saban decides to offend not only families torn apart by terrorist attacks and war, but people battling real, physical hardship as well. Once again, alcoholism is a real, tangible adversity. Losing to Louisiana-Monroe is not. And Saban can go to hell on the “rock bottom” bullshit. I’m a Syracuse fan you overrated dickhead, 6-5 is hardly rock bottom, regardless of the unrealistic expectations of your neurotic fans. And I absolutely love the “our players must work harder” line. Classic excuse from a classic douche bag. Apparently, Michigan State, LSU, the Miami Dolphins, Alabama and any other football team that’s dropped to two knees to blow Nick Saban by overpaying him have stroked his ego to a point of no return. Your players? Your fucking players? Oh right, Mr. All-knowing, All-powerful God of a football coach Nick Saban, a loss could never have anything to do with you. You are only responsible for winning games, not losing them. Maybe Nick The Prick Saban should just admit what we all already suspect: He’s under so much pressure to beat Auburn so SEC redneck lunatics won’t put for-sale signs in his yard if he doesn‘t, that he probably overlooked ULM to spend more time on Auburn and it bit him right in his overrated ass. How else could a school with the history and prowess of mighty Alabama drop a game to Louisiana-Monroe?
That brings me to another important point. Alabama’s treasured football history is just that. History. Here’s a memo to Crimson Tide fans that they continually ignore; It’s not the 1980s anymore, and your “storied” program is no longer relevant on the national stage. Blame Mike Shula for no reason if you must, but welcome to new college football. The days of the same 10 teams competing for a national championship are over, and at the current moment, you are nowhere near Florida, Ohio State, USC or anyone else at the top, whether Nick Saban is your coach or not. And paying Nick Saban out the ass for a .500 season to show us how committed you are doesn’t make you a powerhouse again either. Get used to it. Baylor, Northwestern and Stanford welcome your company at the bottom of the BCS. Maybe you’ll be back, but until then, stop polluting another thrilling college football season with the child-like bitching of a team that simply doesn’t matter right now. Once upon a time, Alabama had a really good football team. Now they don’t. Get over it Nick Saban and friends.
What this whole idiotic display by Saban adds up to is a complete disrespecting of the University of Louisiana-Monroe. How would you feel if you were a part of the ULM football program, and a team you just beat in their house bitched and moaned the week after instead of acting like men, using words like catastrophe, rock bottom, and embarrassment to describe losing to you? ULM is a Division I-A football team. Their coaches are employed full-time, their players on scholarship like anywhere else. Screw Alabama, you’re NOT special. Being in the SEC opposed to the Sun Belt doesn’t make you so. I’ll tell you what Alabama, if you were embarrassed by losing to ULM, you should be twice as humiliated now, for your public display of whining and pants-shitting for everyone to see. For the reasons listed in the above paragraph, Alabama wasn’t supposed to beat ULM. They had to earn it, in no easier terms than they will have to again this week against Auburn, and they failed. Perception may lead you to believe otherwise, but perception isn’t always reality, especially in this new era of parity in college football. Every program has the same 85 scholarships to give, and greedy, money grubbing programs like Alabama can no longer stockpile talent and dupe good football players into sitting the bench for two years in the SEC when they could be contributing elsewhere. So just maybe, just maybe Alabama, ULM has a few players who are better than a few you have. Blasphemy I know, but hardly far-fetched. Who knows if that was the difference, but losing to them certainly isn’t a catastrophe--in any context. The only catastrophe here is Nick Saban and his big mouth.
"We come in trying to win. We don't play to keep it close. We felt we had a chance if we stayed close in the ballgame to win in the fourth quarter,” said ULM head coach Charlie Weatherbie, refusing to buy into the false Saban hype.
Despite Saban making more than 14 times in salary what Weatherbie pulls in for a year, for three and a half hours last Saturday, Louisiana-Monroe not only had a few good players, but a better head coach as well.
Or at the very least, one who is better spoken.
What the hell is Nick Saban‘s problem. And whether or not he meant to draw a direct comparison to losing last Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe to September 11th is irrelevant. I’m not interested in semantics. What he did do was completely slap a worthy opponent in the face, and basically pout in the sandbox for losing a game he thought he should’ve won. In case you haven’t seen it yet, here is what Saban said after Alabama dropped a 21-14 decision to ULM at home last Saturday:
"Changes in history usually occur after some kind of catastrophic event.”. "It may be 9/11, which sort of changed the spirit of America relative to catastrophic events. Pearl Harbor kind of got us ready for World War II, and that was a catastrophic event."
Where do I even start. Number one, losing a trivial football game is never a catastrophic event. Since Mr. Saban seems comfortable enough to metaphorically discuss the ramifications of 9/11 and Pearl Harbor, show me the innocent civilians that died because Alabama lost a football game. So let me get this straight, Alabama’s football team will now band together closer than ever and strike back against people who attempted to kill them (by scoring one more touchdown)? Alabama is the victim here? If there is a victim, it’s Louisiana-Monroe. Here they have a solid win for their program, yet it will be overshadowed by the ass-backwards American south, where an asshole like Nick Saban could actually make comments like these and walk out of a room without getting his ass kicked. After all, SEC football is so important, so crucial to everyday life that the context in which Saban compared losing a game is acceptable. Forgive me if I sound sarcastic, but apparently the University of Alabama thinks so:
"What Coach Saban said did not correlate losing a football game with tragedy, everyone needs to understand that. He was not equating losing football games to those catastrophic events." The message was that true spirit and unity become evident in the most difficult of times. Those were two tremendous examples that everyone can identify with."
Difficult times huh. I’d like to compare putting together a gameplan for Auburn this week to seeing a loved one leave for work or war and not come back. Not even the biggest back-woods redneck SEC fan could side with the former as more “difficult.” And we’re talking red-state sport here, so I’d assume support for Bush’s war on humanity might still take precedence over almighty Alabama football. What’s tougher, being shipped to the middle-east to get your head blown off in an utterly senseless war, or regrouping to play a football game while being adored by thousands of screaming fans? Oh, but it’s so tough, there’s so much pressure to win in college football. Yeah well, no one ever seems to die during it, so spare me the true spirit and unity in the face of adversity argument. The might be the biggest load of horseshit I’ve ever read.
If all of this isn’t enough, Saban decided to then hoist his left leg onto the table to finish off his other foot:
“They talk about alcoholics and people like that who never ever change until they hit rock bottom Well, they change because when they hit rock bottom they have an awareness, they have an acceptance and a commitment to change. That's what our players need to do right now because in the past two weeks since the LSU game, I haven't seen the same spirit, I haven't seen the same work ethic.”
Ah yes. So now Saban decides to offend not only families torn apart by terrorist attacks and war, but people battling real, physical hardship as well. Once again, alcoholism is a real, tangible adversity. Losing to Louisiana-Monroe is not. And Saban can go to hell on the “rock bottom” bullshit. I’m a Syracuse fan you overrated dickhead, 6-5 is hardly rock bottom, regardless of the unrealistic expectations of your neurotic fans. And I absolutely love the “our players must work harder” line. Classic excuse from a classic douche bag. Apparently, Michigan State, LSU, the Miami Dolphins, Alabama and any other football team that’s dropped to two knees to blow Nick Saban by overpaying him have stroked his ego to a point of no return. Your players? Your fucking players? Oh right, Mr. All-knowing, All-powerful God of a football coach Nick Saban, a loss could never have anything to do with you. You are only responsible for winning games, not losing them. Maybe Nick The Prick Saban should just admit what we all already suspect: He’s under so much pressure to beat Auburn so SEC redneck lunatics won’t put for-sale signs in his yard if he doesn‘t, that he probably overlooked ULM to spend more time on Auburn and it bit him right in his overrated ass. How else could a school with the history and prowess of mighty Alabama drop a game to Louisiana-Monroe?
That brings me to another important point. Alabama’s treasured football history is just that. History. Here’s a memo to Crimson Tide fans that they continually ignore; It’s not the 1980s anymore, and your “storied” program is no longer relevant on the national stage. Blame Mike Shula for no reason if you must, but welcome to new college football. The days of the same 10 teams competing for a national championship are over, and at the current moment, you are nowhere near Florida, Ohio State, USC or anyone else at the top, whether Nick Saban is your coach or not. And paying Nick Saban out the ass for a .500 season to show us how committed you are doesn’t make you a powerhouse again either. Get used to it. Baylor, Northwestern and Stanford welcome your company at the bottom of the BCS. Maybe you’ll be back, but until then, stop polluting another thrilling college football season with the child-like bitching of a team that simply doesn’t matter right now. Once upon a time, Alabama had a really good football team. Now they don’t. Get over it Nick Saban and friends.
What this whole idiotic display by Saban adds up to is a complete disrespecting of the University of Louisiana-Monroe. How would you feel if you were a part of the ULM football program, and a team you just beat in their house bitched and moaned the week after instead of acting like men, using words like catastrophe, rock bottom, and embarrassment to describe losing to you? ULM is a Division I-A football team. Their coaches are employed full-time, their players on scholarship like anywhere else. Screw Alabama, you’re NOT special. Being in the SEC opposed to the Sun Belt doesn’t make you so. I’ll tell you what Alabama, if you were embarrassed by losing to ULM, you should be twice as humiliated now, for your public display of whining and pants-shitting for everyone to see. For the reasons listed in the above paragraph, Alabama wasn’t supposed to beat ULM. They had to earn it, in no easier terms than they will have to again this week against Auburn, and they failed. Perception may lead you to believe otherwise, but perception isn’t always reality, especially in this new era of parity in college football. Every program has the same 85 scholarships to give, and greedy, money grubbing programs like Alabama can no longer stockpile talent and dupe good football players into sitting the bench for two years in the SEC when they could be contributing elsewhere. So just maybe, just maybe Alabama, ULM has a few players who are better than a few you have. Blasphemy I know, but hardly far-fetched. Who knows if that was the difference, but losing to them certainly isn’t a catastrophe--in any context. The only catastrophe here is Nick Saban and his big mouth.
"We come in trying to win. We don't play to keep it close. We felt we had a chance if we stayed close in the ballgame to win in the fourth quarter,” said ULM head coach Charlie Weatherbie, refusing to buy into the false Saban hype.
Despite Saban making more than 14 times in salary what Weatherbie pulls in for a year, for three and a half hours last Saturday, Louisiana-Monroe not only had a few good players, but a better head coach as well.
Or at the very least, one who is better spoken.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Aubrey Huff Update- Won't Cheat On His Wife, But He'll Still Hang Out With A Naked Chick
Alright, this is officially out of control. I never intended the Aubrey Huff story posted on Tuesday to get to the point where I'd have to make regular updates, but it appears Huff is on an absolute rampage to reinforce every stereotype possible about baseball players and women. In short, Mr. Huff claimed he stays faithful to Mrs. Huff by playing with himself repeadetly on the road. He actually said this on the radio. Well, here is that same rock of marital fidelity on video in the studio the same day, recreating a dream I think I once had as a boy. Or it could have been last week. What's the difference really.
There's a buck naked chick for three minutes. And she's hot. Really hot. I'm not kidding.
Watch at your own risk:
http://deadspin.com/sports/aubrey-huff-loves-naked-people/aubrey-huff-admires-works-of-art-322596.php
(Though I almost never read your site, thanks Deadspin.)
There's a buck naked chick for three minutes. And she's hot. Really hot. I'm not kidding.
Watch at your own risk:
http://deadspin.com/sports/aubrey-huff-loves-naked-people/aubrey-huff-admires-works-of-art-322596.php
(Though I almost never read your site, thanks Deadspin.)
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Lights, Camera, MACtion!
For how I really feel about ESPN televising MAC Football games mid-week, read the post below. All hostility set aside, I still love college football no matter what lame weekday it's played on. Last night in the mighty MAC, Ball State dealt what is likely a fatal blow to Toledo's already slim bowl hopes, dropping the Rockets to 5-6 following a sudden three-game win streak for a team that looked to be bonafide terrible after a 2-5 start. To avoid their second consecutive 5-7 season, the Glass City Point Shavers will have to win their fourth in a row over BGSU and likely send me to an early grave, the day after Thanksgiving in Bowling Green. It's the annual renewal of the Battle for Northwest Ohio and Peace-Pipe Trophy. Man, college football rivalry games with funny trophies are the greatest thing ever. So much precious and unbridled hate. Another win for Ball State against hapless Northern Illinois the same day would bolster the Cardinals bowl chances, as it would improve them to 7-5. Still undefeated in MAC play, Central Michigan has already clinched the West Division and a berth in the MAC Championship game in Detroit, but with three bowl tie-ins (Motor City, GMAC, International) someone not playing in that game will go bowling, that much is sure. If the Cardinals can get to seven wins against an NIU team they should destroy, they make a strong case. They are likely competing directly with Bowling Green who is 6-4 with two games to go including this Saturday at Buffalo, but needs major help from Ohio U. and Akron to win the MAC East. Tonight I'm watching Akron at Miami with great interest, as by virtue of Miami's 47-14 drubbing of the Falcons earlier this year, the Redhawks must lose at home to Akron this evening and at OU next week, coupled with a BGSU win at Buffalo in three days for my alma mater to pull out the division title. A relative longshot, considering how well Miami plays at home (as you may infer by the margin of victory over BG), and apparently Akron hasn't won in Oxford since the 1930s. Anything is possible in the 2007 crap-shoot version of the MAC however, so I'm still holding my breath. Either way, it should still be an intense day in Western New York this Saturday, as Buffalo needs just one Miami loss and a win over Bowling Green to win the East, and regardless of tonight's result, BGSU still will have legitimate bowl aspirations. So, they would (at least you'd hope) have no reason to come out flat if Akron comes up short tonight. MAC ATTACK!
Affirmative MACtion
Ahhh yes, late Autumn. A sporting season in and of itself really, with college football rivalry games and BCS shuffling, the NFL playoff race kicking into gear, college hoops cranking up and the inevitable bickering about what steroid-freak deserves what MLB award. And when you have five spare minutes in-between all of it, you can flip to Versus to see who the next Philadelphia Flyers thug is to be suspended because of some head hunt. (Still better TV than the NBA.)
However, you can always tell it's mid-November without even looking at the calendar, because that's when ESPN starts whoring out College Football games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to the viewing public via its resident pimp, the Mid-American Conference. The usual explanation from the MAC higher-ups is about as predictable as an O.J. Simpson armed robbery is to the FBI.
"Despite the non-traditional weekday scheduling, we feel the opportunity to be on ESPN due to the exposure it allows our member institutions and their programs is too valuable to pass-up."
That's not from anyone in particular, but that's about the gist of it. It doesn't make much sense to me, as some students at these schools went for an education as well as to watch football games. Classes and studying take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but seem to be conspicuously absent on Saturday. On top of that, when they graduate, they tend to avoid being unemployed thanks to their degree, and Tuesday and Wednesday nights are traditional work days if you haven't heard. A little hard to get out to a football game, especially if you live a ways away. So it all adds up to a crowd of maybe 10,000 in a stadium that seats 25-30,000, which makes for a shitty picture for the television camera. In turn, the rest of the BCS glitterati who already think they are better than the MAC can point to in their minds tangable proof that the MAC is inferior..."just look at the crap crowds they get!" Well, thats not really fair when you alienate your students and alums that aren't diehard enough to skip out on school or work to make a Wednesday night game. And some are diehard enough and would, but simply cant. That's even worse, and I really feel for those fans. Enough with the "exposure" buzz word. That doesn't mean doodily squat. Exposure at what cost? Wouldn't you rather have a large, boisterous and happy crowd of students and alums on a Saturday afternoon for your campus to enjoy, than a half empty stadium for the entire country to see and judge unfairly? I've never been in college athletic administration, but I have a hard time believing any revenue generated by being on ESPN offsets the beating these MAC schools take at the gate. And in college football when you're not in the BCS, perception is everything. We MAC dudes know there are some great players and good football being played in the conference. Beaming an empty stadium to the rest of the country on ESPN makes it difficult for us to show that, but the MAC has victimized themselves.
The MAC is hardly the only guilty party in this problem however. Hey ESPN, is MAC football really inferior enough that there is no way it can be nationally televised on Saturday? Ummm...no. Here's a novel concept, developed by NBC and CBS with their NFL coverage over 30 years ago. REGIONALIZE. No one in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana or Illinois gives a rats ass about an Arkansas-South Carolina game, so why can't that slot be held for Miami against Akron for the midwest instead of playing it tonight? And if someone does care about the titanic Razorbacks-Gamecocks clash that is so crucial in determining that seventh SEC postseason bid and the accompanying dream trip to Nashville for the Music City Bowl, that's what ESPN Gameplan is for. You capitalize two ways, you gain viewers in the midwest and any you would lose that care that much about an irreleveant SEC game will gladly fork over the dollars to see it on Gameplan if it's not on in your area. Seems like a win-win. You can yap about the gap in talent between the BCS and the MAC all you want, but the fact is whether the players are better or not, how is an irreleveant SEC game when both teams will make it to a lower tier bowl, better television than two schools vying for a division title, with the only guaranteed bowl bid going to the conference champ? It's essientially a football edition of a conference tournament in a one-bid league in basketball, and ESPN never seems to have a problem televising those games, one of the great things that network does. And we know how exciting those are, and they get huge ratings, because it's basically an prequal to the actual NCAA tourney. Win or go home. The conference race in MAC Football is very similar.
Further more, ESPN embarrasses the MAC during these telecasts, with resident douchebags like Mark May acting like it's an act of charity for ESPN to visit a MAC stadium in the first place. That's crap, because the MAC is doing ESPN the favor by supplying quality programming over having to watch the same poker circle-jerk again that's been airing since friggin' July, and sacrificing ten grand in attendance to do so. Then the game turns into a three hour public service announcement for the upcoming Ohio State-Michigan game, because after all if you're a real college football fan, you totally care who wins right? Sorry kids, while you're salivating over Jim Tressel's metrosexual sweatervest look and Lloyd Carr's comically droopy face that likens him to Eeorr from Whinnie The Pooh, I'll be at the Bowling Green-Buffalo game not giving a shit. So it would be nice if ESPN would focus on the game they are actually airing with its own excitement and implications. Even if it is just the "lowly" MAC.
The topper this season was two MAC games, Akron at Bowling Green, and Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan getting moved to the last two Friday nights to accomodate ESPNU? Getting bumped off Saturday so the real life equivalent of "ESPN 8 The Ocho" can televise even more meaningless ACC games between teams that won't even make bowl games is the ultimate insult and martyrdom by the MAC. There is zero reason the occasional Saturday afternoon slot on ESPNU can't be reserved for a MAC game, and once again the network could regionalize the action between that and the ACC. Further, Friday night may be even worse for attendence and fan morale than Tuesday and Wednesday. Just to clear up any doubt, college kids party and go to bars on Friday night, and once again only the die-hards will show to the stadium. Bowling Green, a team in contention, barely survived drawing nearly 13,000, though that's still very poor. Eastern Michigan, a 3-7 team after losing to BG, was humiliated more so than usual with the awufl history of their program, announcing 4,304. Certain games in this weekend's Division II and III tournaments will draw better than that. And bear in mind that was a paid attendance figure, the actual attendance may have been half that. Again I must ask, is it worth it? Do people outside of the midwest and the immediate areas of the MAC schools really flock to the TV mid-week to see these games, justifying the "exposure" card?
It seems the only thing that has been exposed is the MAC's poor judgment in pandering to ESPN.
However, you can always tell it's mid-November without even looking at the calendar, because that's when ESPN starts whoring out College Football games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to the viewing public via its resident pimp, the Mid-American Conference. The usual explanation from the MAC higher-ups is about as predictable as an O.J. Simpson armed robbery is to the FBI.
"Despite the non-traditional weekday scheduling, we feel the opportunity to be on ESPN due to the exposure it allows our member institutions and their programs is too valuable to pass-up."
That's not from anyone in particular, but that's about the gist of it. It doesn't make much sense to me, as some students at these schools went for an education as well as to watch football games. Classes and studying take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but seem to be conspicuously absent on Saturday. On top of that, when they graduate, they tend to avoid being unemployed thanks to their degree, and Tuesday and Wednesday nights are traditional work days if you haven't heard. A little hard to get out to a football game, especially if you live a ways away. So it all adds up to a crowd of maybe 10,000 in a stadium that seats 25-30,000, which makes for a shitty picture for the television camera. In turn, the rest of the BCS glitterati who already think they are better than the MAC can point to in their minds tangable proof that the MAC is inferior..."just look at the crap crowds they get!" Well, thats not really fair when you alienate your students and alums that aren't diehard enough to skip out on school or work to make a Wednesday night game. And some are diehard enough and would, but simply cant. That's even worse, and I really feel for those fans. Enough with the "exposure" buzz word. That doesn't mean doodily squat. Exposure at what cost? Wouldn't you rather have a large, boisterous and happy crowd of students and alums on a Saturday afternoon for your campus to enjoy, than a half empty stadium for the entire country to see and judge unfairly? I've never been in college athletic administration, but I have a hard time believing any revenue generated by being on ESPN offsets the beating these MAC schools take at the gate. And in college football when you're not in the BCS, perception is everything. We MAC dudes know there are some great players and good football being played in the conference. Beaming an empty stadium to the rest of the country on ESPN makes it difficult for us to show that, but the MAC has victimized themselves.
The MAC is hardly the only guilty party in this problem however. Hey ESPN, is MAC football really inferior enough that there is no way it can be nationally televised on Saturday? Ummm...no. Here's a novel concept, developed by NBC and CBS with their NFL coverage over 30 years ago. REGIONALIZE. No one in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana or Illinois gives a rats ass about an Arkansas-South Carolina game, so why can't that slot be held for Miami against Akron for the midwest instead of playing it tonight? And if someone does care about the titanic Razorbacks-Gamecocks clash that is so crucial in determining that seventh SEC postseason bid and the accompanying dream trip to Nashville for the Music City Bowl, that's what ESPN Gameplan is for. You capitalize two ways, you gain viewers in the midwest and any you would lose that care that much about an irreleveant SEC game will gladly fork over the dollars to see it on Gameplan if it's not on in your area. Seems like a win-win. You can yap about the gap in talent between the BCS and the MAC all you want, but the fact is whether the players are better or not, how is an irreleveant SEC game when both teams will make it to a lower tier bowl, better television than two schools vying for a division title, with the only guaranteed bowl bid going to the conference champ? It's essientially a football edition of a conference tournament in a one-bid league in basketball, and ESPN never seems to have a problem televising those games, one of the great things that network does. And we know how exciting those are, and they get huge ratings, because it's basically an prequal to the actual NCAA tourney. Win or go home. The conference race in MAC Football is very similar.
Further more, ESPN embarrasses the MAC during these telecasts, with resident douchebags like Mark May acting like it's an act of charity for ESPN to visit a MAC stadium in the first place. That's crap, because the MAC is doing ESPN the favor by supplying quality programming over having to watch the same poker circle-jerk again that's been airing since friggin' July, and sacrificing ten grand in attendance to do so. Then the game turns into a three hour public service announcement for the upcoming Ohio State-Michigan game, because after all if you're a real college football fan, you totally care who wins right? Sorry kids, while you're salivating over Jim Tressel's metrosexual sweatervest look and Lloyd Carr's comically droopy face that likens him to Eeorr from Whinnie The Pooh, I'll be at the Bowling Green-Buffalo game not giving a shit. So it would be nice if ESPN would focus on the game they are actually airing with its own excitement and implications. Even if it is just the "lowly" MAC.
The topper this season was two MAC games, Akron at Bowling Green, and Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan getting moved to the last two Friday nights to accomodate ESPNU? Getting bumped off Saturday so the real life equivalent of "ESPN 8 The Ocho" can televise even more meaningless ACC games between teams that won't even make bowl games is the ultimate insult and martyrdom by the MAC. There is zero reason the occasional Saturday afternoon slot on ESPNU can't be reserved for a MAC game, and once again the network could regionalize the action between that and the ACC. Further, Friday night may be even worse for attendence and fan morale than Tuesday and Wednesday. Just to clear up any doubt, college kids party and go to bars on Friday night, and once again only the die-hards will show to the stadium. Bowling Green, a team in contention, barely survived drawing nearly 13,000, though that's still very poor. Eastern Michigan, a 3-7 team after losing to BG, was humiliated more so than usual with the awufl history of their program, announcing 4,304. Certain games in this weekend's Division II and III tournaments will draw better than that. And bear in mind that was a paid attendance figure, the actual attendance may have been half that. Again I must ask, is it worth it? Do people outside of the midwest and the immediate areas of the MAC schools really flock to the TV mid-week to see these games, justifying the "exposure" card?
It seems the only thing that has been exposed is the MAC's poor judgment in pandering to ESPN.
Zinger Of The Day
I've been thinking a little more about yesterday's post below, you know, the one about how Orioles utility man Aubrey Huff repeadetly chokes the chicken on the road to ward off the temptation to cheat on his wife. (I'm sure Mrs. Huff is ecstatic about this recent public display of affection by the way.) I think this humorous exchange could be worked into the Orioles game-day presentation, so I got to thinking about what Huff's walk-up music should be at Camden Yards in 2008. The runaway winner? Without a doubt Avril Lavigne's "My Happy Ending." Bada Bing!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
If You Are A Hotel Chambermaid In An American League City, Have A Co-Worker Clean Aubrey Huff's Room When The Orioles Are In Town
When I woke up this morning, I seriously did not plan on making two Baltimore Oriole posts in one day. In fact, the Quadruple-A brand of baseball being played in Carmelo Anthony's hometown the last couple of years I thought wouldn't warrant two posts before my 30th birthday. Big ups to the guys at Fanhouse for confirming what I had already suspected for a few years...some baseball players are womanizers and stay out and drink late into the night during the season. Gasp! And I don't know what caught me more off-guard, the fact that Aubrey Huff is supposedly faithful to his wife, or how he copes with being so. A must read from another gem in the world of sports:
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/11/12/aubrey-huff-probably-wont-be-doing-radio-again-anytime-soon/
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/11/12/aubrey-huff-probably-wont-be-doing-radio-again-anytime-soon/
Earl Weaver....Earmuffs
On the heels of the Mike Gundy post, let's keep with the theme of coaches going ape-shit. Former volitile Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver let's fly for this radio intervew several years back, which was taped to be aired but obviously never did. This puts anything Jim Mora ever said after a game to shame. (And as funny as "Playoffs?" was, him saying "we couldn't do didily poo" as coach of the Saints was even better, but for whatever reason not as heralded.) This interview without a doubt is the funniest coach blow-up ever, but perhaps because Weaver was a public figure before the ESPN big media age and retired prior to it, it's flown largely under the radar. If you listen closely, and I've listened about 1,000 times, it may be that Earl was having a little fun with the host knowing the interview was not live. Not that that possibility takes away from it's cache. Enjoy.
Warning: NSFW
Earl Weaver Tirade: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YKxf3OkpJc
Warning: NSFW
Earl Weaver Tirade: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YKxf3OkpJc
Monday, November 12, 2007
I'M A MAN, I'M 23!
After watching the well publicized Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy tirade over and over again, you knew it would only be a matter of time before the YouTubers gave him his own Coors Light press conference commercial. The only sad thing is, beacuse he's a college coach they'll never actually be able to do one for real. Surfing around, I've found a few different ones, all similar, but with suttle differences that make each of them funny. Most of the similarities lie in the "I'M A MAN" line, which never gets old anyway. The third one below is by far the best of the list.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyTQUWEKx0o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3vkCwdO8AI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omM8xEnAFcE
And something else that is quite hilarious:
A car dealership in Norman, Oklahoma, home of the rival Sooners spoofed the Gundy press conference for an add, obviously poking fun at their bitter rivals in Stillwater. I first saw this on ESPN, here it is if you missed it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QMGPnTNtyA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyTQUWEKx0o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3vkCwdO8AI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omM8xEnAFcE
And something else that is quite hilarious:
A car dealership in Norman, Oklahoma, home of the rival Sooners spoofed the Gundy press conference for an add, obviously poking fun at their bitter rivals in Stillwater. I first saw this on ESPN, here it is if you missed it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QMGPnTNtyA
52 Reasons ESPN Sucks
A couple years back, the college football website Every Day Should Be Saturday (everydayshouldbesaturday.com) developed this humorous, yet tragically true loathsome list of ESPN's bad habits. What was once a proud and ground-breaking network has become nearly unwatchable for yours truly, unless one of my favorite teams is playing on it, or if it is carrying a big game. The list, linked below, is a pretty exhaustive roster of the reasons why, and I have to say I disagree with maybe three of them. The other 49 are spot on. While we're on the subject, I'd like to point out that making worthless top ten lists about overpayed diaper wearing athletes isn't satisfying sports coverage for anyone with a pulse. The early returns on an actual stab at serious journalism with the "E-60," newsmagazine show (real original by the way, couldn't CBS sue them?) are not good. The show is empty and makes a pathetic attempt to be dramatic with the stupid black and white filmed "pitch meetings," because there sure as hell isn't much substance in most of the stories they've attempted to far. I guess ESPN should just stick to ranking the best dunks from the NBA last night, and leave the real journalism to the grown-ups over at HBO Real Sports. Great, ESPN can tell us what athlete is the most "Now" based on what celebrity tail he's banged since becoming rich, but can't seem to squeeze in the score of last night's Blackhawks-Blues game. I am enjoying ESPNU though. If you're too busy to sift through the entire list, I've extracted a few of my favorites below. I'm not sure why the number is 52, but why stop at a nice round number like 25 when you have so much more material to work with.
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2005/11/29/50-reasons-espnabcdisney-sucks/
1. Synergy. Promo the games you have the rights to while barely mentioning the big games on in other places, no matter how important they might be. Push your product over THE GAME. Vile corporate entertainment thinking that yields little but viewer disgust.
6. Sportstainment! The next few are attached to this umbrella concept of the idea that sports isn’t entertainment all by itself. Consider them pieces of evidence in one long indictment of Disney’s attempt to force ESPN into becoming the story, not the medium.
9. “The Hot Seat” segment. Nothing more excruciating than watching former partial qualifiers attempting to think against the clock.
11. Stephen A. Smith. Mark Shapiro, the prime mover behind Sportstainment! and former head of ESPN, said he just HAD to hire Smith after every focus group detested his ass. Well, there you go. Would love to kick the ass of the editor of Highlights magazine for bewitching him with those devilish puzzles all these years. Makes a sport we already don’t care about (NBA) all the more ignoreable–and isn’t that what a great spokesman for the sport is supposed to do?
17. I…love…highlights without shtick…songs that don’t suck dick…and twins!!!
18. Speaking of songs that suck…Big and Rich have made their way onto our Orbital Death Ray list, along with Mark Shapiro. For a long time college football existed as a fiefdom apart from the Sportstainmenttastic! world of ESPN–pleasantly stodgy, frills-free coverage of a sport that allowed you to soak in the atmosphere of each game through the screen. Now we have Nick Lachey interviewing people and Big and Rich suggesting that we need more Ying with our Ying Yang. Two old pieces of redneck jerky–including one who one of our readers pointed out, bears a striking resemblance to Phyllis Diller–who were pulled out of a hat at random by marketing schmucks in New York who were like, “Okay, people. Red state sport—we need us some edgy country!” Total, horrid, absolute fecality soiling the last show we watch on the network.
We’re coming…and we’re shit-tayyy!!!
20. High school kids committing live on the network. Recruiting’s creepy enough with Tom Lemming involved. Upping the ante to national coverage only adds to the ick factor.
24. The Outdoor Games. In a typical move, ESPN takes our insomniac treats–including the World’s Strongest Man competitions–and packages them into Sportstainment!. What they fail to understand is that we liked them because they were on when we got home from the bar drunk enough to find them entertaining.
26. Mike Gottfried. America’s most dyspeptic college football announcer. Frowns at babies and accuses them of lack of discipline for shitting their diapers. Misses calls frequently. The opposite of fun.
30. Woody Paige. In our hometown, this guy cleaned your septic tank. On ESPN, he’s an “expert.”
35. Lou Holtz. You have a speech defect, and should not make a living talking on television. Oh, and you’re a cheater. Would be entertaining only if they made him speak from behind his own salad bar shield; we’re guessing it would look like those shots of cobras striking at people behind plexiglass in zoos, with spit flying in gobs all over the surface.
41. Chris Berman referring to himself as “The Schwam.” Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck you. Appropriate death strike: cruise missile while singing onstage with Huey Lewis.
48. Rush Limbaugh, football analyst. Yes, it’s ancient history–but the shame remains.
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2005/11/29/50-reasons-espnabcdisney-sucks/
1. Synergy. Promo the games you have the rights to while barely mentioning the big games on in other places, no matter how important they might be. Push your product over THE GAME. Vile corporate entertainment thinking that yields little but viewer disgust.
6. Sportstainment! The next few are attached to this umbrella concept of the idea that sports isn’t entertainment all by itself. Consider them pieces of evidence in one long indictment of Disney’s attempt to force ESPN into becoming the story, not the medium.
9. “The Hot Seat” segment. Nothing more excruciating than watching former partial qualifiers attempting to think against the clock.
11. Stephen A. Smith. Mark Shapiro, the prime mover behind Sportstainment! and former head of ESPN, said he just HAD to hire Smith after every focus group detested his ass. Well, there you go. Would love to kick the ass of the editor of Highlights magazine for bewitching him with those devilish puzzles all these years. Makes a sport we already don’t care about (NBA) all the more ignoreable–and isn’t that what a great spokesman for the sport is supposed to do?
17. I…love…highlights without shtick…songs that don’t suck dick…and twins!!!
18. Speaking of songs that suck…Big and Rich have made their way onto our Orbital Death Ray list, along with Mark Shapiro. For a long time college football existed as a fiefdom apart from the Sportstainmenttastic! world of ESPN–pleasantly stodgy, frills-free coverage of a sport that allowed you to soak in the atmosphere of each game through the screen. Now we have Nick Lachey interviewing people and Big and Rich suggesting that we need more Ying with our Ying Yang. Two old pieces of redneck jerky–including one who one of our readers pointed out, bears a striking resemblance to Phyllis Diller–who were pulled out of a hat at random by marketing schmucks in New York who were like, “Okay, people. Red state sport—we need us some edgy country!” Total, horrid, absolute fecality soiling the last show we watch on the network.
We’re coming…and we’re shit-tayyy!!!
20. High school kids committing live on the network. Recruiting’s creepy enough with Tom Lemming involved. Upping the ante to national coverage only adds to the ick factor.
24. The Outdoor Games. In a typical move, ESPN takes our insomniac treats–including the World’s Strongest Man competitions–and packages them into Sportstainment!. What they fail to understand is that we liked them because they were on when we got home from the bar drunk enough to find them entertaining.
26. Mike Gottfried. America’s most dyspeptic college football announcer. Frowns at babies and accuses them of lack of discipline for shitting their diapers. Misses calls frequently. The opposite of fun.
30. Woody Paige. In our hometown, this guy cleaned your septic tank. On ESPN, he’s an “expert.”
35. Lou Holtz. You have a speech defect, and should not make a living talking on television. Oh, and you’re a cheater. Would be entertaining only if they made him speak from behind his own salad bar shield; we’re guessing it would look like those shots of cobras striking at people behind plexiglass in zoos, with spit flying in gobs all over the surface.
41. Chris Berman referring to himself as “The Schwam.” Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck you. Appropriate death strike: cruise missile while singing onstage with Huey Lewis.
48. Rush Limbaugh, football analyst. Yes, it’s ancient history–but the shame remains.
Some Off-Color Hockey Humor
This has been floating around the internet for a few years now, but is still as funny as ever. Each time I read it, I still laugh my ass off. Just be warned, it does get a little graphic.
So our day begins at the golf course where I have been battling in the Lindy Ruff (GO SABRES!)all day. We call it quits and head into the club house for some Bob Beers and Some Kelly Buchburgers. After crushing many drinks we decided to hit the local night club to check out some Carl Dykhaus and some Joe Nieuwendykes. So I noticed that I was getting eyeballed by some Neil Shehe and she had a bit of a Doug Weight problem. I thought to myself "I can't stoop this Patrick Marleau". She wanted to take off, and I wasn't sticking around for the ugly lights to come on, so I paid the Rick Tabaracci and we hopped in a Tomas Kaberle.I took her back to my Phil Housley (SABRES!) where things got a little hot and steamy. She geared down and not to my surprise her Keri Takko was a bit Joe Reekie and Jason Wooley. I decided she needed a Bill Barber, pulled out my Donald Brashears and shaved her hair diaper down to the Randy Wood. She then proceeded to trim my Harry Snepts and the bush around my Pekka Rautakeileo. I then reacted quickly and popped her Don Cherry but she was too Ken Dryden, so I flipped her over, grabbed my Haken Loob and threw it in her Curtis Brown with no Tie Domi. After a few pumps she started to complain that she was too Marty McSorley to go on. So I snapped and quickly showed her to the Daryl Sydor and told her that maybe I would call her Ken Morrow (BOWLING GREEN!). Needless to say, she was Grant Fuhrious. The next morning I had the worst Darren Puppa and I was Valeri Zelepukin all day. Anyways 2 weeks later I noticed a Travis Green drip oozing from my Mike Babcock. So I booked an appointment with Dr. Randy Greg and got a Corey Schwab. But that isn't the end of the story! A month later I woke up and saw Garth Snow outside. The weather man said that there was going to be a 30% chance of a Theo Fleury. My car wouldn't start so I had to borrow my roommate's car. It's not as Chris Osgood as mine and it takes a Robert Luongo time to start, but I was stuck. When I went in his room to get the keys, there was that same Rick Brodsky with my roommate! She was sucking on his Mike Peca while Esa Tikkinen his temperature with her finger. I said "buddy, don't do it! That Butch Goring has the fans clapping! I think she picked it up in Paul Kariya!" But he wouldn't listen to Marty Reasoner. Finally I just said "keep up the Manny Legace", and ran out.
So our day begins at the golf course where I have been battling in the Lindy Ruff (GO SABRES!)all day. We call it quits and head into the club house for some Bob Beers and Some Kelly Buchburgers. After crushing many drinks we decided to hit the local night club to check out some Carl Dykhaus and some Joe Nieuwendykes. So I noticed that I was getting eyeballed by some Neil Shehe and she had a bit of a Doug Weight problem. I thought to myself "I can't stoop this Patrick Marleau". She wanted to take off, and I wasn't sticking around for the ugly lights to come on, so I paid the Rick Tabaracci and we hopped in a Tomas Kaberle.I took her back to my Phil Housley (SABRES!) where things got a little hot and steamy. She geared down and not to my surprise her Keri Takko was a bit Joe Reekie and Jason Wooley. I decided she needed a Bill Barber, pulled out my Donald Brashears and shaved her hair diaper down to the Randy Wood. She then proceeded to trim my Harry Snepts and the bush around my Pekka Rautakeileo. I then reacted quickly and popped her Don Cherry but she was too Ken Dryden, so I flipped her over, grabbed my Haken Loob and threw it in her Curtis Brown with no Tie Domi. After a few pumps she started to complain that she was too Marty McSorley to go on. So I snapped and quickly showed her to the Daryl Sydor and told her that maybe I would call her Ken Morrow (BOWLING GREEN!). Needless to say, she was Grant Fuhrious. The next morning I had the worst Darren Puppa and I was Valeri Zelepukin all day. Anyways 2 weeks later I noticed a Travis Green drip oozing from my Mike Babcock. So I booked an appointment with Dr. Randy Greg and got a Corey Schwab. But that isn't the end of the story! A month later I woke up and saw Garth Snow outside. The weather man said that there was going to be a 30% chance of a Theo Fleury. My car wouldn't start so I had to borrow my roommate's car. It's not as Chris Osgood as mine and it takes a Robert Luongo time to start, but I was stuck. When I went in his room to get the keys, there was that same Rick Brodsky with my roommate! She was sucking on his Mike Peca while Esa Tikkinen his temperature with her finger. I said "buddy, don't do it! That Butch Goring has the fans clapping! I think she picked it up in Paul Kariya!" But he wouldn't listen to Marty Reasoner. Finally I just said "keep up the Manny Legace", and ran out.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
I'm Busting!
Whew, what a busy but great weekend for Bowling Green athletics. The football team had a sloppy, but hard fought and well earned 39-32 win on the road at Eastern Michigan on Friday night, setting the stage for a huge showdown at Buffalo on Saturday, perhaps with the MAC East Division in the balance. Hoplessly trapped seven hours away from Doyt L. Perry Memorial Stadium and BGSU, needless to say I will be making the hour and a half drive to Buffalo on Saturday. I've been looking forward to it for a while, so I'm just hoping the boys can find a way to pull out a win--we've tended to struggle in big conference road games in recent years. We're 6-4, and 3-2 in the MAC East. Even if we don't get the help of Miami losing their last two games to win the division and go to the MAC Championship game, our final two games against UB and Toledo could go a long way in getting us a bowl birth, as the MAC has three bowl tie-ins. Someone not playing in the MAC Championship is going to a bowl game, and at the very least I'd like that to be BG.
Meanwhile, the BG hockey team swept two games from Western Michigan and Ferris State the last two weekends, which adds up to a 5-2-0 record on the season. (I think we won only 7 or 8 games all of last year.) That's a four game conference win streak, losing only to Notre Dame in a close one. Right now we're 4th in the CCHA. After finishing dead last in 12th the last two years, hopefully these winning ways continue. With Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame and defending national champion Michigan State to compete against, finishing 4th may be asking too much, but the way this team has played so far makes me cautiously optimistic that a top 6 finish may not be out of the question. Top 8 at least, I hope. I was able to attend our first win at RIT in Rochester, and we've won five of six since the drop of the puck that night! This team has a ton of talent though despite their recent struggles, and I think head coach Scott Paluch has finally put it all together to demonstrate that. Remember, the Falcons were the last team to defeat Michigan State last year before they began their run to the national title, and we also knocked off Michigan during the season, for the second year in a row. College Hockey is a little different than basketball and football, as the money grubbing Ohio States of the world have been unable to put a glass ceiling on the BGSU's as they have in the other sports. Bowling Green has a National Championship in hockey, fittingly coming in the year of my birth, 1984. (Perhaps a sign?) It's our only official national title in any sport to date. (Technically the 1959 football team that went undefeated was awarded the "College Division" national championship, whatever that means. I think it would be like a 1-AA championship in modern day terms, but I'm not enough of a historian to be absolute on that. And there was no playoff involved, they just won all nine of their games. My other favorite team, Syracuse, also went undefeated in 1959 and won the "real" national championship after knocking off Texas in the Cotton Bowl, their only title in football. In other words, it would've been sweet for me to be alive in '59. BG and 'Cuse undefeated in the same season? Holy crap.) Oh yeah, hockey. Well, if we won a national championship once, even if it was 23 years ago, we could again. Let's hope this season is the first step in that long journey.
And wow what a weekend for BGSU Basketball.
The Women's team, (read more about them below in the "About Exit 181" post) despite graduating six seniors that went 104-25 in their career, with three MAC Championships and NCAA Tournament appearences, totally blew away a Valparaiso program that won 20 games last season 81-56 in the home opener. Several of last year's players were on hand to recieve their championship rings and unveil another championship banner. With SEVEN freshman on the squad, a repeat of making the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament and 31-4 seems remote, but it seems like any inexperience factors will be neutralized by the unbelieveable talent head coach Curt Miller has brought in to replace his former stars. Picked to finish second in the MAC East behind Ohio U., the only conference team to knock off the Falcons last season, I think they will still be a force to be reckoned with in the league.
Without re-hashing the struggles of BGSU men's basketball during my time as a student, former Syracuse legend Louis Orr certainly has the program off on the right rebuilding foot. Orr, who you may remember as one of Jim Boeheim's first recruits at Syracuse, an NBA player for Indiana and New York (First NBA reference!) as well as a head coach at Siena and Seton Hall, was hired as head coach this spring after a year out of coaching. Seton Hall fired him following the '05-'06 season, after he went 80-69 in five seasons, including two NCAA Tourney appearances and one in the NIT. Firing a coach following a season in which he makes the NCAA Tournament seems laughable, as if Orr averages 16 wins and takes the Falcons to two NCAA Tourneys and an NIT his first five years in BG, we may name the arena after him. (With all due respect to former coach and hall of famer Harold Anderson.) We haven't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1968, there wasn't even 64 teams in it back then. In fact, thanks to the stupid play-in game, we never made the "field of 64." Orr made his BG coaching debut this weekend, a tough test of three games in three days in Cincinnati's season opening tournament. After dropping a tough 63-60 decision to Western Carolina in the opener on Friday, I was discouraged as Western Carolina at 11-20 a year ago was even worse than the Falcons 13-19 mark. But what a difference a year makes. Bouncing back in a major way in game two, the Falcons pummeled a very sold Belmont team that won 23 games last season and was in the NCAA Tourney by a 78-67 score. After Cincinnati lost to Belmont and narrowly squeaked by WCU, a BG win over the Bearcats in their own building on Sunday would give the Falcons the tournament title, after Belmont beat WCU to drop them to 1-2 on the weekend. Well, Cincinnati is not the same marquee program since Bob Huggins drunkenly stumbled out of his office after being canned two seasons ago, but any time you knock off a Big East team in their own gym, it's reason to celebrate. The Falcons 69-67 victory over Cinci gave them the tournament title, and a teriffic resume building win. To beat an in-state team like Cincinnati that is perceived to be a "bigger deal" means quite a bit on several levels. In our eighth try, this was our first victory against the Bearcats. Sure, knocking off a Cincinnati makes you scratch your head on how we let one against Western Carolina get away, but this tournament proved to have four pretty evenly matched teams, at least at this point in the season. The way I see it, we should be thrilled to be 2-1 with great wins over Cincinnati and a very solid Belmont team, as we could easily be 0-3. Certainly spending the last few years in the doldrums of the MAC basement hurts your optimism, and about six months ago a win over a Big East school was probably thought to be impossible. I'll take it. Growing up in central NY as a Syracuse basketball fanatic, and adopting BGSU as my new favorite team during college, talk about the best of both worlds. A guy I already idolized, annoited to resurrect the once proud program of my alma mater. To watch him turn things around would be for me to live a dream, nothin' beats college hoops and as a Falcon and an Orangeman Louis Orr is the perfect hire, and I can't wait to see the end result. March 2008 will be the 30th anniversary of our last NCAA Tournament appearence, let's raise our glasses and toast to not having to wait much longer.
It was certianly a weekend to celebrate all things Bowling Green Falcon.
Meanwhile, the BG hockey team swept two games from Western Michigan and Ferris State the last two weekends, which adds up to a 5-2-0 record on the season. (I think we won only 7 or 8 games all of last year.) That's a four game conference win streak, losing only to Notre Dame in a close one. Right now we're 4th in the CCHA. After finishing dead last in 12th the last two years, hopefully these winning ways continue. With Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame and defending national champion Michigan State to compete against, finishing 4th may be asking too much, but the way this team has played so far makes me cautiously optimistic that a top 6 finish may not be out of the question. Top 8 at least, I hope. I was able to attend our first win at RIT in Rochester, and we've won five of six since the drop of the puck that night! This team has a ton of talent though despite their recent struggles, and I think head coach Scott Paluch has finally put it all together to demonstrate that. Remember, the Falcons were the last team to defeat Michigan State last year before they began their run to the national title, and we also knocked off Michigan during the season, for the second year in a row. College Hockey is a little different than basketball and football, as the money grubbing Ohio States of the world have been unable to put a glass ceiling on the BGSU's as they have in the other sports. Bowling Green has a National Championship in hockey, fittingly coming in the year of my birth, 1984. (Perhaps a sign?) It's our only official national title in any sport to date. (Technically the 1959 football team that went undefeated was awarded the "College Division" national championship, whatever that means. I think it would be like a 1-AA championship in modern day terms, but I'm not enough of a historian to be absolute on that. And there was no playoff involved, they just won all nine of their games. My other favorite team, Syracuse, also went undefeated in 1959 and won the "real" national championship after knocking off Texas in the Cotton Bowl, their only title in football. In other words, it would've been sweet for me to be alive in '59. BG and 'Cuse undefeated in the same season? Holy crap.) Oh yeah, hockey. Well, if we won a national championship once, even if it was 23 years ago, we could again. Let's hope this season is the first step in that long journey.
And wow what a weekend for BGSU Basketball.
The Women's team, (read more about them below in the "About Exit 181" post) despite graduating six seniors that went 104-25 in their career, with three MAC Championships and NCAA Tournament appearences, totally blew away a Valparaiso program that won 20 games last season 81-56 in the home opener. Several of last year's players were on hand to recieve their championship rings and unveil another championship banner. With SEVEN freshman on the squad, a repeat of making the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament and 31-4 seems remote, but it seems like any inexperience factors will be neutralized by the unbelieveable talent head coach Curt Miller has brought in to replace his former stars. Picked to finish second in the MAC East behind Ohio U., the only conference team to knock off the Falcons last season, I think they will still be a force to be reckoned with in the league.
Without re-hashing the struggles of BGSU men's basketball during my time as a student, former Syracuse legend Louis Orr certainly has the program off on the right rebuilding foot. Orr, who you may remember as one of Jim Boeheim's first recruits at Syracuse, an NBA player for Indiana and New York (First NBA reference!) as well as a head coach at Siena and Seton Hall, was hired as head coach this spring after a year out of coaching. Seton Hall fired him following the '05-'06 season, after he went 80-69 in five seasons, including two NCAA Tourney appearances and one in the NIT. Firing a coach following a season in which he makes the NCAA Tournament seems laughable, as if Orr averages 16 wins and takes the Falcons to two NCAA Tourneys and an NIT his first five years in BG, we may name the arena after him. (With all due respect to former coach and hall of famer Harold Anderson.) We haven't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1968, there wasn't even 64 teams in it back then. In fact, thanks to the stupid play-in game, we never made the "field of 64." Orr made his BG coaching debut this weekend, a tough test of three games in three days in Cincinnati's season opening tournament. After dropping a tough 63-60 decision to Western Carolina in the opener on Friday, I was discouraged as Western Carolina at 11-20 a year ago was even worse than the Falcons 13-19 mark. But what a difference a year makes. Bouncing back in a major way in game two, the Falcons pummeled a very sold Belmont team that won 23 games last season and was in the NCAA Tourney by a 78-67 score. After Cincinnati lost to Belmont and narrowly squeaked by WCU, a BG win over the Bearcats in their own building on Sunday would give the Falcons the tournament title, after Belmont beat WCU to drop them to 1-2 on the weekend. Well, Cincinnati is not the same marquee program since Bob Huggins drunkenly stumbled out of his office after being canned two seasons ago, but any time you knock off a Big East team in their own gym, it's reason to celebrate. The Falcons 69-67 victory over Cinci gave them the tournament title, and a teriffic resume building win. To beat an in-state team like Cincinnati that is perceived to be a "bigger deal" means quite a bit on several levels. In our eighth try, this was our first victory against the Bearcats. Sure, knocking off a Cincinnati makes you scratch your head on how we let one against Western Carolina get away, but this tournament proved to have four pretty evenly matched teams, at least at this point in the season. The way I see it, we should be thrilled to be 2-1 with great wins over Cincinnati and a very solid Belmont team, as we could easily be 0-3. Certainly spending the last few years in the doldrums of the MAC basement hurts your optimism, and about six months ago a win over a Big East school was probably thought to be impossible. I'll take it. Growing up in central NY as a Syracuse basketball fanatic, and adopting BGSU as my new favorite team during college, talk about the best of both worlds. A guy I already idolized, annoited to resurrect the once proud program of my alma mater. To watch him turn things around would be for me to live a dream, nothin' beats college hoops and as a Falcon and an Orangeman Louis Orr is the perfect hire, and I can't wait to see the end result. March 2008 will be the 30th anniversary of our last NCAA Tournament appearence, let's raise our glasses and toast to not having to wait much longer.
It was certianly a weekend to celebrate all things Bowling Green Falcon.
College Football Three Times As Nice
If you ever want to stop complaining that there isn't a playoff in the Bowl Subdivision, which of course will never happen, check out the purity of college sports in Division III. It's a 32 team playoff, meaning it actually takes five games to win a national championship. Division III teams only play a nine or ten game season as it is, so this time of year its quite a grind. And remember, these are all non-scholarship athletes who don't get breaks on academics like the BCS glitterati, and the tournament runs through the heart of finals prep. The teams moving deep into the tournament will actually play more games than Division I teams, and there aren't exactly alot of tropical locales or indoor stadiums in the Northeast and Midwest, where the majority of Division III lives. Thanks to the Hobart College Statesmen, with an enrollment around just 1,500 right down the street in my native Geneva, NY, I've always followed Division III football. I anxiously watched the selection show this morning on ESPNU, as after finishing runner up in the Liberty League, a conference with an automatic bid, Hobart would need an at-large selection after starting 1-2 but reeling off seven consecutive wins to end the season. All games are played at the home site of the higher seed, until Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl XXXV, which takes place in Salem, Virignia on December 15 (4 p.m., ESPN). The bracket and analysis:
MOUNT UNION BRACKET
1 Mount Union (10-0)
8 Ithaca (8-2)
-Mount Union has won eight of the last 11 national championships, and should be considered the easy favorite to win their third in a row. Ithaca barely sneaks in as the 3rd team out of the Empire 8 conference. Mount Union will roll, and will play every game at home until the the Stagg Bowl if they continue to win. Thus far, Mount has pitched shutouts in six consecutive games, and seven of their last eight. They've allowed a grand total of 24 points on the season, 21 of which came in the first two weeks, and none since their fourth game September 29th. It's to the point where Mount Union should probably move into Division II, as this year they would definitely be capable of winning games in that tournament. If they were to just skip the DIII tourney this year for the DII one, at least it would be alot more fun for DIII losers such as myself. They should blow through this field easily and win it all without much drama. Mount's smallest margin of victory this season? Try a 35-0 drubbing of conference rival Baldwin-Wallace October 20, before narrowly escaping tournament team Capital (8-2) by the score of 37-0 the following week. Ithaca made it to the quarterfinals in 2003, narrowly losing to RPI.
6 New Jersey (8-2)
4 RPI (8-1)
-RPI broke through a four-way tie on the final weekend with Union, Hobart and Rochester at the top of the Liberty League, securing the conference's automatic bid by beating rival Union on Satruday and besting Hobart earlier in the year. RPI made it to the semi-finals in 2003, before falling short of the Stagg Bowl at the hands of eventual champion St. Johns of Minnesota.
3 Curry (11-0)
7 Hartwick (8-2)
-Curry ran the table and secured the automatic bid in the New England Football Conference, a league that is 0-8 in the playoffs since being awarded that automatic bid. Methinks they may not have it much longer if that trend continues. They play a Hartwick team that miraculously won the Empire 8. It took them four OT's to beat a 3-7 Utica team on the last weekend to secure the bid---by a 72-70 score! After fourth place Alfred (who started 7-0 and was ranked as high as 11th in the nation but stumbled to a 7-3 finish) couldn't take care of St. John Fisher on the road, Hartwick found themselves as the automatic qualifier. Hartwick lost to Alfred this season, who was left out of the field.
5 Hobart (8-2)
2 St. John Fisher (9-1)
-Hobart was sweating a little this morning, as they took care of business at Rochester but did not get the help they needed at home from Union against RPI to win the Liberty League. Nevertheless, the Statesmen are in safely as an at-large with a short road-trip back to Rochester again this week to battle the Cardinals. St. John Fisher, who missed out on the Empire 8 title by losing only to Hartwick, is a great team and a semi-finalist from last year, but beatable for a surging Hobart squad on a seven game win streak. And Hobart plays with sense of urgency, knowing for the last seven games in a row a third loss would've meant being left out of the posteason. As Union and Rochester watch from home, Hobart knows a win here against Fisher could potentially mean a second round home game, as they hold a higher seed than Hartwick, who remember, is playing the conference champion of league 0 for their last 8 in the playoffs. Do I hear Mount Union and Hobart on a collision course? Could my Statesmen be in a position to pull one of the all time greatest upsets in Division III history on December 1? The answers are maybe, and hell no. Likewise, if Curry actually beats Hartwick, they will root for Hobart to avoid playing at Fisher.
CENTRAL BRACKET
1 Central (10-0)
8 Olivet (6-4)
5 Redlands (8-1)
4 St. John's MN. (9-1)
-Again, Mount Union is probably going to blow through this bracket with ease, but St. John's is a bonafide sleeper. The 2003 National Champions, they destroyed a heavily favored Mount Union team 24-6 in that year's Stagg Bowl, so they relish the underdog role. Don't think they couldn't take down Central on the road in a potential second round match.
3 St. Norbert (10-0)
6 UW-Eau Claire (8-2)
7 Concordia (7-3)
2 Bethel (9-1)
WASHINGTON AND JEFFERSON BRACKET
1 Washington and Jefferson (10-0)
8 North Carolina Wesleyan (8-2)
6 Trinity TX (9-1)
4 Mary Hardin-Baylor (9-1)
-Remember the crazy 15 lateral play to end the game that's all over YouTube? Yep, here they are, the Trinity Tigers. They beat Millsaps with that miracle on October 27, which was actually the difference in Trinity securing the automatic bid out of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Millsaps finished with the same 6-1 league record as Trinity, so the 15 lateral play actually decided a championship. How big was it? Well, at 8-2 overall Millsaps is missing from this field, so it's pretty easy to assume that had Trinity not scored a touchdown there, they don't go to the postseason. Mary Hardin-Baylor is the last team to defeat Mount Union in the playoffs, solving the Purple Raiders in the 2004 semi-finals before losing to Linfield in the Stagg Bowl. Despite the similar records, take MHB in this one.
3 Muhlenberg (10-0)
5 Salisbury (9-1)
7 Hampden-Sydney (8-2)
2 Wesley (9-1)
UW-WHITEWATER BRACKET
1 UW-Whitewater (9-1)
7 Capital (8-2)
-UW-Whitewater definitely has a chip on their shoulder. Coming off their third consecutive 7-0 season in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Whitewater has participated in the last two Stagg Bowls, only to lose both to Mount Union. It was a mere 35-28 defeat in '05, and 35-16 a season ago. On both occasions, UWW entered the championship a perfect 14-0. This season their lone loss came to Division II St. Cloud State. Seeded at the top of a region they should win with little resistance, don't think Whitewater isn't already thinking about a potential third Stagg Bowl rematch with Mount. The biggest challenge will not be overlooking teams to ensure that happens. In this tournament, UWW is probably the only team that has a chance to beat Mount Union, so it's what I'm rooting for. Like the Purple Raiders, they will play every game at home until they reach Salem should they keep winning, as the second overall seed in the playoff.
5 North Central (8-2)
4 Franklin (9-1)
3 Wabash (9-1)
6 Mt. St. Joseph (9-1)
8 Widener (8-2)
2 Case Western (10-0)
A few more notes:
-You may notice a few of the seeds are a little wacky. In Division III, you can only travel so far during the opening of the tournament, which is why in some cases a 6 plays a 4 or an 8 plays a 2 and so on. The bracket is seeded according to region as best as possible, but a different kind of wrinkle exists this year, with Mount Union heading up the would be "east" bracket. But since Mount won't have to leave Ohio until the Stagg Bowl, it matters little that they will be matched up against teams outside of the midwest, as the distance is still close enough for the rest of the teams to stay intact with the above requirement.
-Even more on Mount Union: They've won their last 33 games, last losing to Ohio Athletic Conference rival Ohio Northern October 22, 2005, and 38 of their last 39 since the semi-final loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor in 2004. Since 1999, Mount is 118-4, and 80-1 in the OAC.
-The Division II tournament has 24 teams, but I've never been to a Division II game and don't claim to know anything about it. What I do know, is that Grand Valley State (Michigan) is the Mount Union of DII, as they are 95-5 in their last 100 contests. The Lakers have won four of the last five National Championships, and have participated in five of the last six championship games. So, I'd go with GVSU in that one. GVSU's former coach, Brian Kelly, left to rebuild Division I-A Central Michigan in the MAC, which culminated in a conference title and Motor City Bowl win over Middle Tennessee last season. Kelly jumped again in 2006 for the even greener pastures of Cincinnati, where he has suddenly made the Bearcats releveant in football again, currently vying for a Big East title. DII gives athletic scholarships, so boo that, I'll take the truest overachievers in DIII any day.
MOUNT UNION BRACKET
1 Mount Union (10-0)
8 Ithaca (8-2)
-Mount Union has won eight of the last 11 national championships, and should be considered the easy favorite to win their third in a row. Ithaca barely sneaks in as the 3rd team out of the Empire 8 conference. Mount Union will roll, and will play every game at home until the the Stagg Bowl if they continue to win. Thus far, Mount has pitched shutouts in six consecutive games, and seven of their last eight. They've allowed a grand total of 24 points on the season, 21 of which came in the first two weeks, and none since their fourth game September 29th. It's to the point where Mount Union should probably move into Division II, as this year they would definitely be capable of winning games in that tournament. If they were to just skip the DIII tourney this year for the DII one, at least it would be alot more fun for DIII losers such as myself. They should blow through this field easily and win it all without much drama. Mount's smallest margin of victory this season? Try a 35-0 drubbing of conference rival Baldwin-Wallace October 20, before narrowly escaping tournament team Capital (8-2) by the score of 37-0 the following week. Ithaca made it to the quarterfinals in 2003, narrowly losing to RPI.
6 New Jersey (8-2)
4 RPI (8-1)
-RPI broke through a four-way tie on the final weekend with Union, Hobart and Rochester at the top of the Liberty League, securing the conference's automatic bid by beating rival Union on Satruday and besting Hobart earlier in the year. RPI made it to the semi-finals in 2003, before falling short of the Stagg Bowl at the hands of eventual champion St. Johns of Minnesota.
3 Curry (11-0)
7 Hartwick (8-2)
-Curry ran the table and secured the automatic bid in the New England Football Conference, a league that is 0-8 in the playoffs since being awarded that automatic bid. Methinks they may not have it much longer if that trend continues. They play a Hartwick team that miraculously won the Empire 8. It took them four OT's to beat a 3-7 Utica team on the last weekend to secure the bid---by a 72-70 score! After fourth place Alfred (who started 7-0 and was ranked as high as 11th in the nation but stumbled to a 7-3 finish) couldn't take care of St. John Fisher on the road, Hartwick found themselves as the automatic qualifier. Hartwick lost to Alfred this season, who was left out of the field.
5 Hobart (8-2)
2 St. John Fisher (9-1)
-Hobart was sweating a little this morning, as they took care of business at Rochester but did not get the help they needed at home from Union against RPI to win the Liberty League. Nevertheless, the Statesmen are in safely as an at-large with a short road-trip back to Rochester again this week to battle the Cardinals. St. John Fisher, who missed out on the Empire 8 title by losing only to Hartwick, is a great team and a semi-finalist from last year, but beatable for a surging Hobart squad on a seven game win streak. And Hobart plays with sense of urgency, knowing for the last seven games in a row a third loss would've meant being left out of the posteason. As Union and Rochester watch from home, Hobart knows a win here against Fisher could potentially mean a second round home game, as they hold a higher seed than Hartwick, who remember, is playing the conference champion of league 0 for their last 8 in the playoffs. Do I hear Mount Union and Hobart on a collision course? Could my Statesmen be in a position to pull one of the all time greatest upsets in Division III history on December 1? The answers are maybe, and hell no. Likewise, if Curry actually beats Hartwick, they will root for Hobart to avoid playing at Fisher.
CENTRAL BRACKET
1 Central (10-0)
8 Olivet (6-4)
5 Redlands (8-1)
4 St. John's MN. (9-1)
-Again, Mount Union is probably going to blow through this bracket with ease, but St. John's is a bonafide sleeper. The 2003 National Champions, they destroyed a heavily favored Mount Union team 24-6 in that year's Stagg Bowl, so they relish the underdog role. Don't think they couldn't take down Central on the road in a potential second round match.
3 St. Norbert (10-0)
6 UW-Eau Claire (8-2)
7 Concordia (7-3)
2 Bethel (9-1)
WASHINGTON AND JEFFERSON BRACKET
1 Washington and Jefferson (10-0)
8 North Carolina Wesleyan (8-2)
6 Trinity TX (9-1)
4 Mary Hardin-Baylor (9-1)
-Remember the crazy 15 lateral play to end the game that's all over YouTube? Yep, here they are, the Trinity Tigers. They beat Millsaps with that miracle on October 27, which was actually the difference in Trinity securing the automatic bid out of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Millsaps finished with the same 6-1 league record as Trinity, so the 15 lateral play actually decided a championship. How big was it? Well, at 8-2 overall Millsaps is missing from this field, so it's pretty easy to assume that had Trinity not scored a touchdown there, they don't go to the postseason. Mary Hardin-Baylor is the last team to defeat Mount Union in the playoffs, solving the Purple Raiders in the 2004 semi-finals before losing to Linfield in the Stagg Bowl. Despite the similar records, take MHB in this one.
3 Muhlenberg (10-0)
5 Salisbury (9-1)
7 Hampden-Sydney (8-2)
2 Wesley (9-1)
UW-WHITEWATER BRACKET
1 UW-Whitewater (9-1)
7 Capital (8-2)
-UW-Whitewater definitely has a chip on their shoulder. Coming off their third consecutive 7-0 season in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Whitewater has participated in the last two Stagg Bowls, only to lose both to Mount Union. It was a mere 35-28 defeat in '05, and 35-16 a season ago. On both occasions, UWW entered the championship a perfect 14-0. This season their lone loss came to Division II St. Cloud State. Seeded at the top of a region they should win with little resistance, don't think Whitewater isn't already thinking about a potential third Stagg Bowl rematch with Mount. The biggest challenge will not be overlooking teams to ensure that happens. In this tournament, UWW is probably the only team that has a chance to beat Mount Union, so it's what I'm rooting for. Like the Purple Raiders, they will play every game at home until they reach Salem should they keep winning, as the second overall seed in the playoff.
5 North Central (8-2)
4 Franklin (9-1)
3 Wabash (9-1)
6 Mt. St. Joseph (9-1)
8 Widener (8-2)
2 Case Western (10-0)
A few more notes:
-You may notice a few of the seeds are a little wacky. In Division III, you can only travel so far during the opening of the tournament, which is why in some cases a 6 plays a 4 or an 8 plays a 2 and so on. The bracket is seeded according to region as best as possible, but a different kind of wrinkle exists this year, with Mount Union heading up the would be "east" bracket. But since Mount won't have to leave Ohio until the Stagg Bowl, it matters little that they will be matched up against teams outside of the midwest, as the distance is still close enough for the rest of the teams to stay intact with the above requirement.
-Even more on Mount Union: They've won their last 33 games, last losing to Ohio Athletic Conference rival Ohio Northern October 22, 2005, and 38 of their last 39 since the semi-final loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor in 2004. Since 1999, Mount is 118-4, and 80-1 in the OAC.
-The Division II tournament has 24 teams, but I've never been to a Division II game and don't claim to know anything about it. What I do know, is that Grand Valley State (Michigan) is the Mount Union of DII, as they are 95-5 in their last 100 contests. The Lakers have won four of the last five National Championships, and have participated in five of the last six championship games. So, I'd go with GVSU in that one. GVSU's former coach, Brian Kelly, left to rebuild Division I-A Central Michigan in the MAC, which culminated in a conference title and Motor City Bowl win over Middle Tennessee last season. Kelly jumped again in 2006 for the even greener pastures of Cincinnati, where he has suddenly made the Bearcats releveant in football again, currently vying for a Big East title. DII gives athletic scholarships, so boo that, I'll take the truest overachievers in DIII any day.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
About Exit 181
In this life, there are leaders, and there are followers. Count me in to the latter group. After a growing affinity for a few different sports blogs on the web, and my idle Journalism degree from Bowling Green State University, I thought hey, I can do this too. (Although the frame I put the diploma in is pretyyy good.) The vast majority of my sports media experience lies in the broadcast end, but I've always enjoyed writing despite my desire to not make it a career. In the end, looking for a job in the competitive world of play-by-play announcing, and actually having a job in said industry (I have actually spent time employed behind the mic!) is so time consuming that the non-binding nature of blogging is ideal to satisfy my writing bug as hobby.
A few caveats. #1. I love college sports, and by that, I don't just mean the BCS conferences. Graduating from a MAC School, you learn that the sacrifices made by college athletes are the same at every level, whether you're in DI or DIII. Big money conference athletics are a very small part of a scene that at its core, is still a very pure entity. I hope to help people to realize that as my life in sports goes on. I understand the hierarchy of the NCAA, and even defend the Bowl Championship Series. But if you're looking for yet another sports media type to suck off the Ohio States of the world, and say the Bowling Greens of the world don't belong near the top, Exit 181 probably isn't for you. #2. I love hockey. At the end of day, It seems like I'm always left defending the NHL as a major sport in America. Sure, maybe all 12 Florida Panthers season ticket holders may not make a compelling case, but if you don't think hockey is a major sport in the U.S., check out downtown Buffalo or Detroit the night of a game. #3. I HATE the NBA. That product has really fallen off since the Magic-Bird-Jordan days. I can't see myself writing about it very much, unless a player gets arrested. The me-first attitude of the players and the non-chalant nature with which the games are played have really turned me off. And enough with this "they are the best athletes in the world" crap. I think the guys who play the same amount of games during the season, yet do it on a sheet of ice with several pounds of equipment on them are better athletes. For as much as I despise the NBA, I am probably the biggest college basketball fan you will ever meet, men's or women's. While I love a good Duke-UNC game, I've had no problem driving through the snow to make sure I get to the Toledo-Buffalo game on time. #4. Like any fan, I have my favorite teams, and there are teams I absolutly hate. I'm sure that will all come out in time. Between all the groundbreaking objectivity I have planned, you'll see a little bias. Sure I don't get paid for this while Joe Newspaper does, but that's the beauty of the blogosphere. If I wanna talk a little Bowling Green Hockey, I can. I'll find a real job one of these days, so I'll take the trade-off.
Without making this a PSA for my fledgling career, I've been announcing sports on the radio since the fall of 2000, when I landed my first high school football gig for my alma mater, the Geneva (NY) High Panthers. I was actually a sophomore in high school at the time, and when perennial whipping boy Geneva beat league bully Newark 20-14 in overtime to clinch a playoff birth during my first broadcast as a color guy, I knew how I wanted to put food on my table. Even if that food continues to be frozen pizza rolls, as in the excitement following our upset win no one bothered to mention the harsh realities of the sportscasting business. I always like to stroke my ego by casually mentioning that I called my first football game before I could legally drive a car. I went on to college at Bowling Green State University in the fall of 2003, and graduated in May 2007 with a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism and a Minor focusing in Interpersonal Communication. I constantly wax poetic about how much I love BGSU and how much I absolutly love the athletics, and I'm sure that will all come out in time as well. There, I worked for WBGU-FM, the University owned and student run radio station, broadcasting BGSU Falcon Sports. That opportunity culminated with me being one of two lead broadcasters for the 2006-07 BGSU Women's Basketball team, who ended the season 31-4, (15-1 as MAC Champions) ranked 15th in the nation and were the Mid-American Conference's first ever "Sweet 16" participant in the NCAA Tournament. Calling our win over Vanderbilt in the second round, the SEC Tournament Champion, was an unbelieveable cap to an unforgettable college career. Hardly a one-year wonder, that program's sustained success totally squashes the "Mid-Major" stigma of college sports that so many elite athletes have been unfairly labeled with.
Finally, I am not computer savvy, and am learning as I go along. And as you can tell if you're still reading, I tend to be a little long-winded. But if you are still reading, and if you ever come back, thanks. I do have a vision, but I'm not sure how Exit 181 will evolve. It won't be totally about me, but I love to funnel my opinions and knowledge through my personal experiences and travels in sports. Oh, and about the name. If you ever find yourself traveling I-75 in Ohio, just remember my blog and you'll have the directions to the inspiration of a lifetime. Welcome, and thank you for reading.
A few caveats. #1. I love college sports, and by that, I don't just mean the BCS conferences. Graduating from a MAC School, you learn that the sacrifices made by college athletes are the same at every level, whether you're in DI or DIII. Big money conference athletics are a very small part of a scene that at its core, is still a very pure entity. I hope to help people to realize that as my life in sports goes on. I understand the hierarchy of the NCAA, and even defend the Bowl Championship Series. But if you're looking for yet another sports media type to suck off the Ohio States of the world, and say the Bowling Greens of the world don't belong near the top, Exit 181 probably isn't for you. #2. I love hockey. At the end of day, It seems like I'm always left defending the NHL as a major sport in America. Sure, maybe all 12 Florida Panthers season ticket holders may not make a compelling case, but if you don't think hockey is a major sport in the U.S., check out downtown Buffalo or Detroit the night of a game. #3. I HATE the NBA. That product has really fallen off since the Magic-Bird-Jordan days. I can't see myself writing about it very much, unless a player gets arrested. The me-first attitude of the players and the non-chalant nature with which the games are played have really turned me off. And enough with this "they are the best athletes in the world" crap. I think the guys who play the same amount of games during the season, yet do it on a sheet of ice with several pounds of equipment on them are better athletes. For as much as I despise the NBA, I am probably the biggest college basketball fan you will ever meet, men's or women's. While I love a good Duke-UNC game, I've had no problem driving through the snow to make sure I get to the Toledo-Buffalo game on time. #4. Like any fan, I have my favorite teams, and there are teams I absolutly hate. I'm sure that will all come out in time. Between all the groundbreaking objectivity I have planned, you'll see a little bias. Sure I don't get paid for this while Joe Newspaper does, but that's the beauty of the blogosphere. If I wanna talk a little Bowling Green Hockey, I can. I'll find a real job one of these days, so I'll take the trade-off.
Without making this a PSA for my fledgling career, I've been announcing sports on the radio since the fall of 2000, when I landed my first high school football gig for my alma mater, the Geneva (NY) High Panthers. I was actually a sophomore in high school at the time, and when perennial whipping boy Geneva beat league bully Newark 20-14 in overtime to clinch a playoff birth during my first broadcast as a color guy, I knew how I wanted to put food on my table. Even if that food continues to be frozen pizza rolls, as in the excitement following our upset win no one bothered to mention the harsh realities of the sportscasting business. I always like to stroke my ego by casually mentioning that I called my first football game before I could legally drive a car. I went on to college at Bowling Green State University in the fall of 2003, and graduated in May 2007 with a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism and a Minor focusing in Interpersonal Communication. I constantly wax poetic about how much I love BGSU and how much I absolutly love the athletics, and I'm sure that will all come out in time as well. There, I worked for WBGU-FM, the University owned and student run radio station, broadcasting BGSU Falcon Sports. That opportunity culminated with me being one of two lead broadcasters for the 2006-07 BGSU Women's Basketball team, who ended the season 31-4, (15-1 as MAC Champions) ranked 15th in the nation and were the Mid-American Conference's first ever "Sweet 16" participant in the NCAA Tournament. Calling our win over Vanderbilt in the second round, the SEC Tournament Champion, was an unbelieveable cap to an unforgettable college career. Hardly a one-year wonder, that program's sustained success totally squashes the "Mid-Major" stigma of college sports that so many elite athletes have been unfairly labeled with.
Finally, I am not computer savvy, and am learning as I go along. And as you can tell if you're still reading, I tend to be a little long-winded. But if you are still reading, and if you ever come back, thanks. I do have a vision, but I'm not sure how Exit 181 will evolve. It won't be totally about me, but I love to funnel my opinions and knowledge through my personal experiences and travels in sports. Oh, and about the name. If you ever find yourself traveling I-75 in Ohio, just remember my blog and you'll have the directions to the inspiration of a lifetime. Welcome, and thank you for reading.
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