So I have a few quick thoughts on a few different so here we go in no particular order
1) When a Wiseman is Not
So I don’t know if any of you have heard about Arlington Tennessee Mayor Russell Wiseman who posted on his Facebook that President Barack Obama went on TV last week to address the nation on strategy in Afghanistan and timed the speech to go on the air at 8pm to preempt a showing of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. And that he did this because he is a Muslim and the special has readings from The Bible. Has there ever been a more ironic name for a man than Wiseman? Seriously what an idiot! Of course now he has come out to say that it was “tongue and cheek humor” that was to be “shared between friends”. The city of Arlington has come out denouncing the “joke” and Mayor Wiseman is trying to put out the fire. Here is hoping that the citizens of Arlington do the WISE thing and oust this schmuck as soon as possible.
2) Tiger On the Prowl
So it turns out the most squeaky clean pro athlete we have ever seen is far from it. The man who had one of the greatest public images of all time seems to have more than bad golf clothes in his closet. Tiger Woods will likely still be the greatest golfer ever come January or whenever he decides to hit the links and will still likely break every record there is to be broken. What has been shattered in the last two weeks with the revelations of 9, 10, 11...not sure what the actual count is at the moment…alleged women with who knows how many encounters with any of them, is his public image. This summer a public opinion poll showed Tiger Woods was viewed in a positive light by more than 80% of those sampled. After his recent car crash that number was down around 50% and this week it was down into the 30’s. It saddens me that the greatest single athlete that is likely to ever play any sport as long as I live isn’t what we thought he was. Should it really be a surprise? Michael Jordan was said to be a hound, billionaire CEO’s change wives like underwear, and famous actors seem to date which ever leading lady happens to be across from them. I will still watch Tiger charge on the back 9 on Sunday at Augusta or Pebble or Sawgrass but I will never look at him in the same light. And not because he can’t seem to keep his putter in his bag but because he has allegedly built his family for PR! Got married to a model and had a couple kids to sell a few more Buicks and some razors!! Tiger has the world by the tail but I guess that just isn’t enough and now his empire may be starting to crumble a bit. Nice to see Jack Nicklaus step up and say it is none of our business. A class act as always, that is one more thing Tiger should shoot for; being a better man than Jack, don’t see that one happening.
3) Burrrrrrrrr it’s Cold!!
Gotta just say that although things have been super easy since our move to Oklahoma finding out that our old apartment building got about a foot of snow over a two day period makes it all worth it! It will be hot and stick and we may even see a few big storms here in Oklahoma but not having to shovel out my car or make sure I am parked in the right place so as not to get towed away is very nice!! Now if the 50 degree temps will just return. I might get some Dec/Jan golf in!!
4) At the Movies
In theater movie watching has taken a big hit since the move. A quality theater is a bit of a drive for us and the wife has been working a ton since we have been here. I am looking forward to seeing a few films this holiday season. I have acquired a copy of The Blind Side and will see that as soon as possible. I have heard nothing but good things. I am also looking forward to Sherlock Holmes and Invictus. Both look to be quality with guys like Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon in another Clint Eastwood epic. Can’t wait to get down to Tulsa and check them out. I think we will hit at least one of them on Christmas Day after we drop my Mom off at the airport.
That is all for now….I am off to play some Tiger Woods (hahahaha) 2010 for PS3 with a buddy. 50 inch flat screens and PS3 is pretty bad ass!!! Talk to ya!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
I Have A Plan for a College Football Playoff!!
Well it’s December and that means its time to…debate the College Football BCS!!! I am one of the many who think the process is flawed and needs to be changed. I absolutely think there needs to be a college football playoff and I am going to lay out my plan in this blog. I have been thinking of this system for a couple of years now and think that it is a far better way to settle the championship debate. I just think the way the system is set up now doesn’t give college football fans the maximum amount of quality football. I understand that it is just easier to leave the BCS as it is and keep the status quo. With my plan there would likely be bowl committees that would be upset and schools that would feel slighted but I feel this would be the best way to crown a champion, make more money and set the stage for some really, really good college football. I welcome thoughts, disagreements, praise or hate mail!!
So here we go with The Jones Plan:
1) 8 team playoff
The 8 teams are determined by a similar ranking system to the BCS rating system. I do not feel the rankings of the teams is flawed, I think that only the top two teams playing for the title is the problem. The teams will be seeded 1 thru 8 based on ranking and the teams will play each other similar to a NBA/NHL system. 1 plays 8 and so on. This year looks like this
1 Alabama 13-0
2 Texas 13-0
3 Cincinnati 13-0
4 TCU 13-0
5 Florida 12-1
6 Boise State 12-0
7 Oregon 10-2
8 Ohio State 10-2
So we get match ups that look like this:
1 Alabama vs. 8 Ohio St.
2 Texas vs. 7 Oregon
3 Cincinnati vs. 6 Boise State
4 TCU vs. 5 Florida
2) Roll of the Bowls
I actually believe you can have a true playoff and utilize the bowl system. Instead of having 4 bowl venues that hold the 5 big games, you elevate 2 or 3 new bowl sights and make those games matter as well. Then the games rotate over the years giving them a chance to all be important. I have a feeling the folks at The Rose Bowl wouldn’t like this at all but one can only hope a time will come when the Rose Bowl looks past themselves and realizes that a plan like this is better for college football as a whole. This is not just a shot at the Rose Bowl committee, the other so called “Power Conferences” need to start looking at the big picture as well. So we have Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl. I would add The Holiday Bowl, The Capital One Bowl, and The Cotton Bowl. My reasons for picking these Bowls are first and foremost the cities they are in. It’s not a tough sell getting folks to travel to Orlando, San Diego, and Dallas to cheer on their squads. Having the new Cowboys stadium on the list of places to play a big game is never going to be a bad idea. This leaves plenty of games for 6-6 teams, 7-5 teams and the 5th and 6th place teams in the Big Ten to go play for winter vacation.
So we start with a schedule that looks like this:
‘Bama vs. Ohio St. @ Capital One Bowl
Texas vs. Oregon @ Cotton Bowl
Cincinnati vs. Boise State @ Fiesta Bowl
TCU vs. Florida @ Holiday Bowl
(Now it may be necessary to do two games a day…pretty tough to get four football games in one day with out some overlapping. I would think there is a way to fix that without much issue.)
Winning Teams:
1/8 vs. 4/5 @ Sugar Bowl
2/7 vs. 3/6 @ Orange Bowl
Championship Game @ Rose Bowl
3) Rules for Qualification
While being in the Top 8 of the ranking system will almost always get you a place in the playoff there will be, and I feel there have to be, exceptions. No more than 2 teams from a conference can be in the tournament if a conference champion with a better record is not voted in to the top 8. However a conference championship doesn’t promise you a place in the playoffs either. We will look at a couple of examples. Let’s go to 2007…your BCS standings look like this:
1 Ohio State 11-1
2 LSU 11-2
3 Virginia Tech 11-2
4 Oklahoma 11-2
5 Georgia 10-2
6 Missouri 11-2
7 USC 10-2
8 Kansas 11-1
9 West Virginia 10-2
10 Hawaii 12-0
You will notice I have included the Top 10. This is because Hawaii goes undefeated, wins the WAC and is 10th. While Kansas finishes 3rd in the Big 12 and is in 8th. With my plan Kansas is out and Hawaii moves up to 8th. This gives us standings that look like this:
1 Ohio State 11-1
2 LSU 11-2
3 Virginia Tech 11-2
4 Oklahoma 11-2
5 Georgia 10-2
6 Missouri 11-2
7 USC 10-2
8 Hawaii 12-0
If you can’t sell this slate of games, you aren’t trying very hard and I don’t think you can argue against any of these teams. Now lets look at 2006 where you had conference champion from the ACC, Wake Forrest, play in a BCS game even though they were ranked #14 and Notre Dame is granted an At Large birth at #11 in standing, and #10 Oklahoma gets a BCS game being the Big 12 Champion.
1 Ohio State 12-0
2 Florida 12-1
3 Michigan 11-1
4 LSU 10-2
5 USC 10-2
6 Louisville 11-1
7 Wisconsin 11-1
8 Boise State 12-0
9 Auburn 10-2
10 Oklahoma 11-2
11 Notre Dame 10-2
12 Arkansas 10-3
13 West Virginia 10-2
14 Wake Forrest 11-2
This is a situation where a strong debate could come up. You have Oklahoma (11-2) as the #10 team and big 12 Champion. Wisconsin (11-1) is 3rd in the Big Ten. Oklahoma lost out of conference to Oregon in September that season and also lost the Red River Shootout to Texas. Wisconsin lost just one game to Michigan who is ranked 3rd in this poll and lost the game earlier in the season as well. Thus, I think for the purpose of this argument, Oklahoma is on the outside looking in and the Big Ten gets 3 teams. So we have a playoff that looks like this:
1 Ohio State 12-0
2 Florida 12-1
3 Michigan 11-1
4 LSU 10-2
5 USC 10-2
6 Louisville 11-1
7 Wisconsin 11-1
8 Boise State 12-0
Again plenty to sell here, some great match ups. First round match-ups of Ohio State vs Boise State…two undefeated teams going at it! It seems pretty simple to me. Of course when you are talking about sports, big business and the NCAA, the simple thing rarely gets done.
4) Placement of Teams and When Games Are Played
Now generally speaking, the second week of December is when most schools start going into finals. I have heard plenty of arguments against a playoff because it takes the kids away from too much school work. Let’s just pretend that argument has merit for a moment. So after finals the kids are on break until after the first of the year correct? Okay so we have championship week that finishes up the first Saturday in December. The following week would be a bye for all teams to prepare for 1st round match-ups and complete finals during that week. So the schedule looks something like this
Dec 5th (Saturday): Championship Week concludes
Dec 6th (Sunday): Playoff Poll is finalized and teams and match ups announced
Dec 7th (MON) thru Dec 11th: College finals for students, normal game prep and practice
Dec 12th: Bowl Prep Starts
Dec 19th: First Round Playoffs @ Bowl sights 5, 6, 7, and 8
Dec 26th: Semi final Round Playoffs @ Bowl sights 3 and 4
Jan 2nd: College Football Championship Game
So, if college student being in class as much as possible is your primary concern then this plan is better. Students would be back on the 3rd instead of the 8th. Also the playoffs coincide with the end of the regular season in the NFL. There are plenty of times when the last couple NFL weeks don’t matter that much. Now we have more important games on TV and more people to watch them!
Conclusion
So that is my plan. We need a playoff. It is that simple. The NCAA needs to just get over itself and listen to the people. The BCS has been a fine system but people used to think that just a vote was good enough and that the best teams didn’t always have to play each other. That isn’t the world we live in anymore. I am sure there are logistical things that I am not thinking about that make this plan tougher than it may seem to me. I would love to hear what other people think. What can we do to make this an even better idea? This is just what I would like to see as a fan of college football!
So here we go with The Jones Plan:
1) 8 team playoff
The 8 teams are determined by a similar ranking system to the BCS rating system. I do not feel the rankings of the teams is flawed, I think that only the top two teams playing for the title is the problem. The teams will be seeded 1 thru 8 based on ranking and the teams will play each other similar to a NBA/NHL system. 1 plays 8 and so on. This year looks like this
1 Alabama 13-0
2 Texas 13-0
3 Cincinnati 13-0
4 TCU 13-0
5 Florida 12-1
6 Boise State 12-0
7 Oregon 10-2
8 Ohio State 10-2
So we get match ups that look like this:
1 Alabama vs. 8 Ohio St.
2 Texas vs. 7 Oregon
3 Cincinnati vs. 6 Boise State
4 TCU vs. 5 Florida
2) Roll of the Bowls
I actually believe you can have a true playoff and utilize the bowl system. Instead of having 4 bowl venues that hold the 5 big games, you elevate 2 or 3 new bowl sights and make those games matter as well. Then the games rotate over the years giving them a chance to all be important. I have a feeling the folks at The Rose Bowl wouldn’t like this at all but one can only hope a time will come when the Rose Bowl looks past themselves and realizes that a plan like this is better for college football as a whole. This is not just a shot at the Rose Bowl committee, the other so called “Power Conferences” need to start looking at the big picture as well. So we have Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl. I would add The Holiday Bowl, The Capital One Bowl, and The Cotton Bowl. My reasons for picking these Bowls are first and foremost the cities they are in. It’s not a tough sell getting folks to travel to Orlando, San Diego, and Dallas to cheer on their squads. Having the new Cowboys stadium on the list of places to play a big game is never going to be a bad idea. This leaves plenty of games for 6-6 teams, 7-5 teams and the 5th and 6th place teams in the Big Ten to go play for winter vacation.
So we start with a schedule that looks like this:
‘Bama vs. Ohio St. @ Capital One Bowl
Texas vs. Oregon @ Cotton Bowl
Cincinnati vs. Boise State @ Fiesta Bowl
TCU vs. Florida @ Holiday Bowl
(Now it may be necessary to do two games a day…pretty tough to get four football games in one day with out some overlapping. I would think there is a way to fix that without much issue.)
Winning Teams:
1/8 vs. 4/5 @ Sugar Bowl
2/7 vs. 3/6 @ Orange Bowl
Championship Game @ Rose Bowl
3) Rules for Qualification
While being in the Top 8 of the ranking system will almost always get you a place in the playoff there will be, and I feel there have to be, exceptions. No more than 2 teams from a conference can be in the tournament if a conference champion with a better record is not voted in to the top 8. However a conference championship doesn’t promise you a place in the playoffs either. We will look at a couple of examples. Let’s go to 2007…your BCS standings look like this:
1 Ohio State 11-1
2 LSU 11-2
3 Virginia Tech 11-2
4 Oklahoma 11-2
5 Georgia 10-2
6 Missouri 11-2
7 USC 10-2
8 Kansas 11-1
9 West Virginia 10-2
10 Hawaii 12-0
You will notice I have included the Top 10. This is because Hawaii goes undefeated, wins the WAC and is 10th. While Kansas finishes 3rd in the Big 12 and is in 8th. With my plan Kansas is out and Hawaii moves up to 8th. This gives us standings that look like this:
1 Ohio State 11-1
2 LSU 11-2
3 Virginia Tech 11-2
4 Oklahoma 11-2
5 Georgia 10-2
6 Missouri 11-2
7 USC 10-2
8 Hawaii 12-0
If you can’t sell this slate of games, you aren’t trying very hard and I don’t think you can argue against any of these teams. Now lets look at 2006 where you had conference champion from the ACC, Wake Forrest, play in a BCS game even though they were ranked #14 and Notre Dame is granted an At Large birth at #11 in standing, and #10 Oklahoma gets a BCS game being the Big 12 Champion.
1 Ohio State 12-0
2 Florida 12-1
3 Michigan 11-1
4 LSU 10-2
5 USC 10-2
6 Louisville 11-1
7 Wisconsin 11-1
8 Boise State 12-0
9 Auburn 10-2
10 Oklahoma 11-2
11 Notre Dame 10-2
12 Arkansas 10-3
13 West Virginia 10-2
14 Wake Forrest 11-2
This is a situation where a strong debate could come up. You have Oklahoma (11-2) as the #10 team and big 12 Champion. Wisconsin (11-1) is 3rd in the Big Ten. Oklahoma lost out of conference to Oregon in September that season and also lost the Red River Shootout to Texas. Wisconsin lost just one game to Michigan who is ranked 3rd in this poll and lost the game earlier in the season as well. Thus, I think for the purpose of this argument, Oklahoma is on the outside looking in and the Big Ten gets 3 teams. So we have a playoff that looks like this:
1 Ohio State 12-0
2 Florida 12-1
3 Michigan 11-1
4 LSU 10-2
5 USC 10-2
6 Louisville 11-1
7 Wisconsin 11-1
8 Boise State 12-0
Again plenty to sell here, some great match ups. First round match-ups of Ohio State vs Boise State…two undefeated teams going at it! It seems pretty simple to me. Of course when you are talking about sports, big business and the NCAA, the simple thing rarely gets done.
4) Placement of Teams and When Games Are Played
Now generally speaking, the second week of December is when most schools start going into finals. I have heard plenty of arguments against a playoff because it takes the kids away from too much school work. Let’s just pretend that argument has merit for a moment. So after finals the kids are on break until after the first of the year correct? Okay so we have championship week that finishes up the first Saturday in December. The following week would be a bye for all teams to prepare for 1st round match-ups and complete finals during that week. So the schedule looks something like this
Dec 5th (Saturday): Championship Week concludes
Dec 6th (Sunday): Playoff Poll is finalized and teams and match ups announced
Dec 7th (MON) thru Dec 11th: College finals for students, normal game prep and practice
Dec 12th: Bowl Prep Starts
Dec 19th: First Round Playoffs @ Bowl sights 5, 6, 7, and 8
Dec 26th: Semi final Round Playoffs @ Bowl sights 3 and 4
Jan 2nd: College Football Championship Game
So, if college student being in class as much as possible is your primary concern then this plan is better. Students would be back on the 3rd instead of the 8th. Also the playoffs coincide with the end of the regular season in the NFL. There are plenty of times when the last couple NFL weeks don’t matter that much. Now we have more important games on TV and more people to watch them!
Conclusion
So that is my plan. We need a playoff. It is that simple. The NCAA needs to just get over itself and listen to the people. The BCS has been a fine system but people used to think that just a vote was good enough and that the best teams didn’t always have to play each other. That isn’t the world we live in anymore. I am sure there are logistical things that I am not thinking about that make this plan tougher than it may seem to me. I would love to hear what other people think. What can we do to make this an even better idea? This is just what I would like to see as a fan of college football!
Welcome!
Welcome to my Blogtastic Wonderland!!! I have been told time and again that I should start a blog but I have never really believed I had anything interesting to say. In speaking with a friend today I decided I had something I wanted to get down on paper and out on the web. My plan is to throw blogs up here anytime I have the need to say things. My blogs are going to be about things that I care about. I have a wide range of interests and I am hoping that you will find my thoughts to be interesting and worth your time to read. The most likely topics you will find me talking about will be sports, movies, TV shows, music, politics, and maybe just random life. Stay tuned and I hope you enjoy!!
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