The SoapBoxers

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The End is Near

The countdown is on! I am still cautiously optimistic as we have had some delays with our construction, but the mortgage interest rate is locked in, we have given notice to the apartment complex where we have been living, and the final choices on interior things have been made.

Final Choices

The final choices included carpet colors, and of course interior wall colors. We also had to pick out the bathroom light fixtures, the hardware for all of the doors and windows, and a couple of exterior lights. It is really hard to imagine all of the different things you have the opportunity to select if you are building a home for the first time.

Some of the other choices are not so obvious. Do you want a wall mount for your television here? Where do you want your outlets and light switches? Do they flow and make sense when you go through the house? Where do you want the tile to stop and the carpet to start around your walk out basement door? So many decisions, many of them are not big decisions, but at the same time, once you make them you are never going back.

Great Ideas From Our Builder

Our builder is a genuinely nice guy and also has a great eye for aesthetics and for things that make sense. “ You might want to add a gas line to your deck for your grill.” I would have never thought about this. Initially I was opposed. After running this by a few other friends it appeared this was the best thing since the invention of OREO cookies.

“How about an extra water spigot near the garage?” Why didn’t I think of that? – This one makes total sense…Yes Please!

“We can stain the cement on your front entry and porch area, it breaks it up and makes it blend into the environment better. We can also do something similar in your unfinished storage area in the basement” – This one I have to see a little more to buy in, but we do have a lot of concrete from the sidewalk to the front porch, so I am thinking this will be a smart move as well.

Starting to Look Like Home

At this point, every trip to check out the house is entertaining. You can see progress being done literally every day. The house looks like a house now, and the inside is starting to look like a place I will be living for a long time. My son has already gone from one playroom (which is essentially one of the spare bedrooms) to now having three playrooms when he gives tours of the house to friends who are in town or want to check out progress. I hope we get moved in soon, or I will be living in the garage as he will claim a couple more playrooms for his LEGO kingdom.

Calling All Cars

The last big thing we need to do- once things are ready – is move in. I have never been a big fan of moving, I don’t know anyone that is. The one positive is you get rid of a lot of things you don’t need anymore. We look to be moving in the last week of March…right up against Easter. I am hoping I find some friends who don’t have the entire weekend filled with church, family meals, and egg hunts and I can get a few willing and able bodies to help us get the majority of stuff to our new domicile.

My wife and I both agree we will take our time un-packing. This might even give us a good start to another garage sale once the weather gets a bit warmer. I am going to need to have some extra money to pay for all of these house warming parties I have promised to so many people!

Regardless it will be a lot of packing, stacking, unpacking, placing and re-arranging.

I sure hope the Easter Bunny brings me some Tylenol!

Last week I was going to write this, but with the Lance Armstrong story breaking, and being a cancer survivor myself, that story took precedence over the big news story that was simply a made up one.

Oh yes…then there is Manti Te’o.

Teo’s story is already added some phraseology to the ever changing slang dictionary we utilize in American culture. We have arguably the largest hoax in the history of college athletics in what I am and others like to refer to as Te’ogate. This is now better known now as a “catfishing” scheme.

For those who have been hiding under a rock (much like an actual catfish would) the term Catfishing is based on the title of the 2010 documentary Catfish — which is also the name of an MTV show that is based on the movie. The purpose of the show is to expose actual hoaxes that take place on line. Although I have never watched the show personally, I have to believe ratings after this past week are now at an all-time high.

So, the story basically goes like this – Star Football player from close knit family rises to success, leads the team that you either love or hate (Notre Dame) and is mentioned in the Heisman trophy talk. He has the perfect on-line relationship with a girl, life is good, then he loses his beloved grandmother and girlfriend almost simultaneously. He manages to overcome this great tragedy and continue to play out the remainder of the season and lead the Fighting Irish to an undefeated record in the regular season, despite all of these off the field events.

What is most amazing to me about the entire Te’o situation is that you would have figured in South Bend, someone would have done some homework on this a little more once the stories came out.

If this would have occurred in my beloved Lincoln, Nebraska, the home of the Huskers, it would have been the biggest news story of the year. Now mind you there is little to no crime in Lincoln, and it is a college community. So if you have the star football player, lose his beloved grandmother, as well as a girlfriend to a disease such as cancer in the span of a mere few to 48 hours (depends on what report you DO believe) one would think that the newspapers, radio personalities, and local news stations would be asking a lot of questions. They would be asking for comments from the family, ask to speak to the mom and dad of the deceased girlfriend, get reactions from friends and acquaintances.

This is what happens when a non-major news event happens in this sound-byte hungry town, at least when a football player is involved.

The biggest irony in this entire situation is that the media is asking all of the questions now. What did Te’o really know? Was he victim or willing participant? They produce various copies of interviews, stories that we now know were made up including his parents indicating they met the young lady. The timelines seem to crisscross all over the place – which in turn just creates more questions.

So how did this go so unnoticed for so long? Why were NONE of these questions asked earlier, how could so many media faces miss the easy questions that needed to be asked or at least investigated.

Now the journalists pile on and raise all of their questions because this story has turned bizarre, and makes for just as good if not better news than if the original story would have in fact all been true.

Lest we forget it was these same major news and sports broadcasting stations – national journalists that all added and put this tragic tale of woe on a pedestal for all to hear and read.

Shame on all of you…..

Next time check your basic facts. Last time I checked that is something they taught you in Journalism 101…

At the end of the day we were not duped by Manti Te’o or the ‘catfishing scheme. No, instead the American public believes what they were told to believe.

And as a parting shot – – fellow lemmings, remember to do your homework. After all, it is what you tell your kids every night when they come home from school.

The big news of Monday was Lance Armstrong sitting down, meeting with Oprah, and once and for all admitting that he did in fact use performance enhancing drugs.

Journalists from a variety of types and outlets of media, be it sports talk – writers- columnists – bloggers or reporters all seem to have their opinion. I personally cannot think of another situation where there are so many angles to the story, and so many arguments to make. Depending on your point of view and your opinion of Lance Armstrong, you have a bunch of facts that can support your argument and that can justify your thoughts and feelings.

That is what makes this story so very unique.

Many people will forget that Armstrong was once a relatively unknown cyclist. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 25 – being a world-class athlete he ignored the early signs and by the time it was “diagnosed” his cancer had spread to his abdomen his lungs and even his brain.

The extremes of the good and bad of the rise and fall of Lance Armstrong also make this a matchless story.

Everyone is very familiar with the Livestrong Foundation. Armstrong took his fame and popularity and worked to turn it into a juggernaut of fund-raising for cancer research. To date over 470 million dollars have been raised via the Livestrong Foundation.

Aside from the money aspect of the foundation – – There is also the emotional aspect. People purchase bracelets, form prayer chains, do other local activities to raise cancer awareness. Think of how many of the yellow wristbands you have owned or how many you have seen in your daily activities in the last decade.

There is no doubt that what is has done in the field of cancer awareness is truly remarkable.

On the other hand, he had denied all cries of cheating outrage against him. His has defended it vehemently with the very fabric of his being. He has gone on countless talk shows over the years, written books, been deposed numerous times and had no less than 10 lawsuits in various European countries against his naysayers.

But there are two incidents that in particular that stand out to me.

First – Betsy and Frank Andreus. Frank was a former teammate of Lance Armstrong, and he and his wife testified under oath that they had witnessed Armstrong tell medical staff in 1996 that he as using various performance enhancing substances.

Shortly after this testimony Armstrong proclaimed in a television interview that they were simply just “vindictive, bitter, vengeful and jealous.”

Shortly thereafter the Andreus’s received an “anonymous” voicemail from “someone” that is assumed to be associated with Armstrong.

“I hope somebody breaks a baseball bat over your head. I also hope that one day you have adversity in your life and you have some type of tragedy that will … definitely make an impact on you.”

The second incident that makes me cringe involves Emma O’Reily. She was employed by the USPS cycling team to give massages…and apparently smuggle drugs across country boarders to supply the various riders on the team. Roughly 10 years ago she made various statements and told repeated stories of doping and her role in PED drug smuggling.

Armstrong responds by taking her to court in England, suing her for libel and slander for way more money than is even remotely close to her total net worth, and defends himself by saying you can’t trust the statements of a drunken prostitute

Wow.

But these are the stories that are usually forgotten. These are the little people who have been squished along the way in the wake of Armstrong Immortality.

Thursday night he goes in front of the most popular talk show person of our time, Oprah Winfrey, for an “exclusive interview”. I am curious to see how pointed some the questions might be, but I have a suspicion that this will be a lay-up of an interview. Pretty bubble gum…Oprah is Oprah, we aren’t talking about Dan Rather here.

I am sure the TV ratings will be high.

Wonder if somewhere Greg LeMond will be tuning in.

Until next time, Stay Classy Plano Texas.

 

College football is done and until Spring football season give fans something to go watch again.

So all attention has turned to the NFL Playoffs, where just four teams remain…unless of course you are into Hockey…oh wait…

We hit the Divisional Round this week with some interesting match ups.

Denver vs. Baltimore – Everyone seems to be picking the Broncos in this one. The extra week to rest and prepare, the Sheriff at the helm, we are playing at altitude. Peyton Manning is not exactly known as an “outside the dome” quarterback in his career, and the Ravens are riding on the wave of emotion fueled by the assumed pending retirement of Ray Lewis at the conclusion of the season.

I picked against the Ravens last week, and I will again this week, although I think it will be close. Broncos 28 – Ravens 27

Houston vs New England. – Remember when the Texans looked like the juggernaut of the NFL, and then the last few weeks happened, moving from an insurmountable #1 seed with guaranteed home field advantage to now being on the road in ever tough New England.

You look at the Patriots and you just keep wondering how the heck they do it. Billy B has two weeks to get ready for this one, which means dire consequences for the Texans. New England – 31- Houston – 20

Seattle vs. Atlanta. The Seahawks are arguably the hottest team in the entire league. While they have been considered an iffy road team at best, they went into RFK last week and pulled off a win against the Redskins, mainly thanks to a gimpy-now blown out- knee by Robert Griffin III.

This will make two long plane rides in two weeks for Seattle, and Atlanta is way overdue to win a playoff game under Matt Ryan. Plus the dome will be rockin’ after having the extra bye week. In a battle of the birds, I will take Atlanta mainly because of my huge dislike for Seattle Head Coach Cheater Pete Carroll. Falcons – 24- Seahawks – 20

Green Bay vs. San Francisco – I think this is the best overall match-up this week with two teams that have been at the top of the NFC for the last couple of years. This one is purely strength against strength with the volatile Packer offense against the stout 49er defense.

Both teams feature mobile quarterbacks and this IS a quarterback league. That is the difference in this one. Kaepernick is more mobile, is good throwing on the run, but this is his first time at a rodeo featuring this big of a stage. Rodgers, on the other hand, has been there, done that. The Packers offense is the most potent in the league if it is clicking on all cylinders, but Kaepernick will give them problems. Go Pack Go – 35 – Niners – 27

Until Next Time – Stay Classy Wheat Ridge, Colorado!

January is Football Euphoria

The Bowl Season is nearly complete. The office confidence pools are wrapping up, and more of us are looking forward to the BCS Title Game between Alabama and Notre Dame. The NFL playoffs start this weekend and there are a bunch of intriguing match-ups as well.

Hopefully Santa dropped off that new large flat screen LED TV for you to take in all the action from the warm and friendly confines of your home.

Wildcard Weekend!

The NFL games start off with a rematch of last week’s battle of Minnesota and Green Bay. This match up puts arguably the best two players at their position, Aaron Rodgers and Adrian Peterson, against one another yet again. How many weeks can Peterson carry the Vikings? I would have thought they would have slipped out of the race a long time ago, but the fact they are here at all speaks volumes to their coaching staff and well…Adrian Peterson. Weather forecast for the Frozen Tundra…not exactly frozen, but upper 20’s with a chance of snow.. Will that hurt the Pack’s passing attack?

Pack get revenge as it is too tough to beat a team in back to back weeks. Packer  27, Vikings 17

Houston and Cincinnati. It seems like just a few weeks ago (and actually was) that Houston was in the driver’s seat for home field advantage for the entire playoffs. Now they have to play a first round game against red hot Cincinnati. The Texans are better but you never know…Who Dey? Dey are going home early. Texans 21 – Bengals 20

Indianapolis Colts play the Baltimore Ravens – this one to me is a toss-up, the Colts have played well, and Baltimore is the model of inconsistency. This is the Last Hurrah for Ray Lewis. Will Flacco find some magic? Ravens in a close one. Baltimore 23 – Indianapolis 21.

The final game on the slate is maybe the most exciting. Two rookie quarterbacks face off as the Seahawks face the Redskins. To me, this game is three factors, 1) it is at Washington, 2) Shanahan is a way better coach than old cheatie Petey C. and 3) RG III ! Gimmie the Skins 28- Seahawks 17

Back to School

I said earlier this year in more than one article that Alabama was clearly the superior college football team. I mean they have the deity of all college coaches, Nick Saban, at the helm. Alabama is so great in the eyes of all of the television announcers, ESPN, ABC, FOX, CBS, and all of the sportswriters in North American that 2 of the last 3 quarterbacks to pull off the Herculean task of beating Alabama have won the Heisman Trophy (our condolences to the LSU Quarterback tandem, but the voters couldn’t find reason to vote you for Heisman in 2011 as you only scored 9 points in a win).

Alabama has superior defense, the Tide has the more experience quarterback, and is clearly the superior team.

Notre Dame on the other hand was the recipient of a quick whistle against Stanford on a 4th and goal play, and used the voodoo doll to ensure that Pittsburgh’s kicker Kevin Harper kept shanking short field goal attempts.

Yep no way Alabama loses this game.

Go Irish!!!!

Until next time, stay classy Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

 

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Staying Patient

It has been awhile since I wrote about our building our first new home. Most of you likely expect that it is completed.

Truth is, our contractor is quite a bit delayed, and we were originally supposed to move into our new home around Thanksgiving. Now our new completion date is likely closer to March of 2013.

They Call Them Apartments, But They Are All Together.

You might recall my last article when I wrote about the neighbor below, with a tolerance for noise that borders on that of a 97 year old librarian. Actually no incidents since then for my family, but he did go off one night on the neighbors next door to him – his wall banging reminiscent of a Sasquatch trying to tear down a campsite.

The biggest complaint of living in the small space with the entire family is that it is hard enough being cooped up inside during the winter months, but even harder when you are six years old…just ask my son.

The advantage is that living in the apartment has allowed for my wife and I to pay for a new bedroom set and a sound system for the house – – – just based on the money we have saved in making a house payment vs. the lower rent payment. So while we have still spent money, we have instead spent it on some items we really wanted for the new abode.

Earning For Our New Keep

Speaking of money, the best thing we did is have a performance clause built into our contract. What this means is that if the house is not completed by a certain date, then we, the purchaser of the new home, get the final price reduced by a stipulated sum of money for each week, or month, the house is delayed.

I am sure there are a bunch of possible ways that a couple building a home could set this up with their contractor, and each situation is different. I would strongly recommend doing this if you are looking to build a home. This offers some guarantee that your construction will be done during the allotted time, and if not…at least you are being financially compensated for having to wait. Our builder had this built into our contract, and since things are delayed, it is now a benefit in terms of final value we will pay when we close on our new home.

What Are Hardest Decisions to Make?

I have had a few people ask me this one. I have heard horror stories from many people, and have had other people tell me there is no way they would ever build a house as they aren’t sure they could make all of the decisions.

I have never looked at this as a chore…instead I would tell you that it has actually been very fun and exciting choosing things for the new house.

But, what item has been the hardest thing to pick out?

We have brick on the exterior of our home, and let’s face it…you are never going to replace brick. So to me choosing a brick we liked was the hardest choice. I had NO idea there were THAT many types and colors of brick to choose from.

Next toughest for me is choosing the exterior color of the home. Actually this is not even decided yet, but we need to figure it out soon. The problem is I like about 25 different combinations, so it is more a problem on just deciding and sticking to one I like. Everything else has been pretty smooth – carpet, tile, countertops, lighting fixtures etc. It likely helps that my wife and I are on the same page on most every item, and I am sure it is a lot different for some couples. But for us, it has been pretty easy.

The only other thing other than exterior colors to still choose is ceiling fans, and interior colors. Well and the landscaping plan. Fortunately I have a relative that has a background in that field of expertise. He took some pictures and some site drawings from us at the holidays and will get back to us with some ideas on how to dress up the yard once the house is complete.

Just like everything else with the house, I can’t wait to see how that turns out!

Have a great 2013!

Until Next Time, stay classy Orlando, Florida.

 

Quarterback U???

In my childhood days, the University of Miami (the one in Florida, not the one in Ohio) was known as producing a number of great Quarterbacks who had outstanding careers in college and then went on to have fantastic professional careers as well.

Not every one of them turned out to be good in the NFL, but the hits were much better than the misses.

There are some great ones on the list to be sure. Bernie Kosar, Vinnie Testeverde, Jim Kelly. These guys all had fantastic and LONG NFL careers. Of course for each of these guys there is also a Brock Berlin, Frank Costa and Gino Torretta.

How the Heck did Torretta win the Heisman anyway?

Smoke and Mirrors

Gino won the Heisman the way many college quarterbacks win the Heisman. They end up playing on the best team in college, often times a team playing for a national championship, they have a dominating defense, and a superior offensive line that is loaded with future NFL players.

So…an “average” quarterback ends up putting up stellar numbers in college because 1) He is on a good team 2) his offensive line is like a Berlin Wall and he never gets touched and 3) ESPN hypes him to the hilt ultimately leading to the Heisman trophy discussions and vaulting him up the draft projection charts come draft day.

Fast Forward to 2000…

Miami won their last National Title in 2001 – although they were good for a few years after that. At that point there was a resurgence of the University of Southern California football team.

Of course we know now that much of what led to their success (and ultimately Pete Carroll leaving town) was “questionable” benefits made to players such as Reggie Bush – who then had to “vacate” his Heisman Trophy.

Carson Palmer was the signal caller in 2000. Palmer lead to a definite improvement for the Trojans. Pete Carroll had just been hired – and the Trojans went 6-6 in his first year. But that is the last time that he would lose that many games for the Trojans.

Palmer was followed by Matt Leinart (Heisman winner) then by John David Booty, next by Mark Sanchez…and finally that brings us to current day Matt Barkley.

The Trojans during this time were loaded with NFL talent (some brought or should I say “bought” to campus) and were great teams. Awesome NFL players abounded on both defense and offense.

So as mentioned earlier, criteria #1 and criteria #2 have been met.

Over-rated….

In 2009, USC was named “Team of the Decade” by both CBSSports.com and Football.com, as well as the Program of the Decade by SI.com, and was ranked No. 2 in ESPN.com’s Prestige Rankings among all schools since 1936 (behind Oklahoma). Additionally, in 2009, ESPN.com ranked USC the second-best program in college football history.

Really….WOW – looking back now that seems like that might have been some caught up in the moment rankings by the so called “experts”.

If you have watched ESPN in the last 10 years it is safe to say the only thing the college day game crew loves more than USC is Nick Saban and Alabama…)or maybe Dukie Vitale and his love of the Duke Blue Devils)

The hype has overtaken the reality.

Barkley was annoited the Heisman front runner before the year even began. I even wrote about it some months ago. Truth is..he really is not very good.

The list of Quarterbacks from USC in the last 12 years all had very impressive NFL careers. Only Palmer could be argued as being remotely decent in the NFL. The rest…..in order – Horrible, vanished, mentioned as the 2nd coming by the New York media and now maybe the most hated man in town….and that brings us to Barkley – …future NFL bust.

We will see what comes draft day in 2013. This class is loaded with lineman, and short on skill position players and big name – over-hyped quarterback prospects.

Some owner will roll the dice on Barkley and get burned to tell about it later.

I just hope for my friends in the desert..that the Cardinals do not make the same mistake in short order and chase down another USC quarterback

Until next time…stay classy Monroe, Louisiana

How in the hell does Western Kentucky have the chance to hire Bobby Petrino? More importantly why is this guy allowed to coach anywhere?

Right after getting inked to a 10 year contract with Louisville, Petrino left for the friendly confines of the National Football League to head up the Atlanta Falcons.

Things went badly with the Falcons. Michael Vick was in prison, the team was trying to break in a new quarterback and a bunch of young players – the team found themselves at 3-10 and losing 34-14 to the New Orleans Saints. How did Bobby respond? He left notes in the locker room explaining to his players that he was leaving to go back to college football. That is right, he left players notes…did not even have the decency to talk to them…man to man.

Less than 24 hours after leaving the goodbye notes in the lockers….off to Arkansas went good ol’ Bobby P. There he was singed to another large contract. He was going to take Hog Soooooeyy to the next level of the SEC. They had achieved success under Houston Nutt – they even had talented running backs like Darrin McFadden – but the boosters ran Nutt outta town.

Petrino did not last real long at Arkansas either. If you remember it was discovered that he was sleeping with a tall blonde who coincidentally was riding on the back of his Harley when he wrecked in in April of 2012…which in and of itself seems like no big deal. Except Petrino’s was married, the tall blonde was not his wife but instead was a person that he personally selected for a job in the except that he had also awarded her a job in the Arkansas football department over 158 other applicants — and then kicked in an extra $20,000 as a gift to her.

Now Petrino is getting yet another chance. Western Kentucky is hiring him to take over their football program as head coach.

Pretty obviously to me that they are beyond desperation to hire someone who has such an interesting past as this guy. He has shown the propensity to be non-loyal, abuse his position of authority and step out on his family.

Not it appears he is just following the money.

And Western Kentucky apparently has closed their eyes and ears to all of these past problems and just cares about one thing….

Trying to get a winning football team.

A couple of years ago the Hilltoppers made the jump to Division 1. They had a successful 1-AA program. They made the move to the higher class, spent almost $50 million in improvements to their stadium and facilities, and then tanked…..losing 26 straight games over the course of three seasons.

They rebuilt the program, even made a trip to Lincoln to play my beloved Huskers, and with former quarterback Willie Taggart at the helm, the Hilltoppers went 7-5 the last two years.

Taggert headed to Florida to greener pastures and more money, which left the Hilltoppers looking for a new man to run out behind the Orange Blob mascot (what the heck is that thing anyway?)

It is too bad that schools overlook morals, cheating, recruiting violations and other character faults when hiring coaches. I am sure Petrino is just going to use this as a stepping stone after his long fall from grace just a year ago…the question will be…will there be an even bigger school waiting to give him yet ANOTHER chance?

Until next time….Stay classy Carlsbad, New York

It should be an interesting Heisman match up as only three people are invited to the festivities this year. In many ways it is the unlikeliest three you could have ever tried to pick out before the season started.

Optimus Klein

Collin Klein had been a good – maybe even great quarterback for the Kansas State Wildcats. He had matured nicely over a couple of years and the club was seeing some success after the lean Ron Prince Era in Manhattan. No one saw the Wildcats going undefeated – until a late season loss at Baylor- which dropped them from the eventual #1 BCS ranking. K-State is headed to the Fiesta Bowl to represent the Big XII conference against the vaunted Quack Attack from the Pac Northwest. Klein is not flashy, doesn’t look real fast, but he is smart and he makes plays, and has been as consistent as any guy talked about in the Heisman voting all year with 22 touchdown runs and another 15 through the air.

As much as it pains a Nebraska guy to say this…I would be happy for Kansas State if Colin took home the Heisman.

Baby Seau

Manti Te’o is the unquestioned leader of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He has led the team to an undefeated record and a trip to the BCS title game in Miami against the Crimson Tide. The Golden Domers were thought to be better this year, but much like in the case of Kansas State…I don’t think anyone saw an undefeated season coming. A few lucky breaks ( a quick referees whistle against Stanford, and a couple of “noonans” out of the Pittsburgh kicker) kept the undefeated season alive. Teo leads his team with 103 tackles and is 2nd Nationally with 7 picks on the year. Oh yeah…he won the Butkus on Monday.

I can’t vote for Manti because – A….he is from Notre Dame and B…what a horrible nickname…..

Go Johnny GO!

The media darling and apparent leader in the clubhouse is Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M. Manziel is the favorite to win the award and would be the first freshman EVER to win if the voters agree. He would also be the only other Aggie to win the award since John David Crow clear back in 1957. Johnny Football does not have history on his side. Other greats have come close in their freshman years but to no avail. Adrian Peterson finished 2nd as a freshman, Michael Vick and Herschel Walker both finished third their initial year in college. That is a pretty strong list of company. Manziel racked up an SEC record 4600 yards of total offense (yep, that beats Tim Tebow and Cam Newton folks) and ran for an impressive 1181 yards – also to lead the conference

I don’t know if the voters will have the guts to take a defensive player (this just does not happen) or a Freshman (this just does not happen either) or will vote for the safe play in Klein.

Vote for Johnny!

Melt Down in Indianapolis.

The Big 10 Woodshed Beating known as the title game saw the Wisconsin Badgers run up the score – both literally and figuratively- on their way to 70 points and almost 600 yards of rushing. This has Nebraska fans searching for answers and screaming about yet another large embarrassing national televised beat down while Wisconsin fans are making travel arrangements to Pasadena.

Of course my allegiances lie with the Big Red. So take my comments here with a grain of salt. Many Husker faithful will are calling for coaching changes. Nebraska won 10 games so far this year, and have a brutally tough match up in the Capital One Bowl with Florida. (another likely loss as UGA is a huge early favorite) Truth is the overall talent on the defensive side of the ball in particular and much of what was done this year was probably as much smoke, mirrors and duct tape – mixed in with a little luck….but I think coaching was the reason the team actually won 10 games this year and have a chance to make it to the Big 10 Title game.

After getting housed by Ohio State in Columbus, Husker Coach Bo Pelini challenged his team to win 6 in a row. Well the Cornhuskers did just that…winning 6 to make the title game.

Maybe Bo should have told them they needed to win 7. The team looked lackluster and slow…they looked like a tired team that had been through a rough stretch of schedule.

Wisconsin on the other hand looked my buddy Scott running the controls on NCAA Football 2012 for PlayStation III on “easy” mode.

One Highlight during a lowlight evening.

Always a fan of big hits, this one is arguably one of the worst calls I have seen. Nebraska receiver Kenny Bell was flagged for unnecessary roughness after plastering Wisconsin’s Devin Smith. This is the largest smack down since John Ruud de-cleated Kelly Phelps from Oklahoma on a kick return in a colossal match up of the Huskers and OU in 1978 in Lincoln.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA5fJkSRFyk" 
Before any Wisconsin fans whine that it was the correct call, let me remind you…SCOREBOARD…just keep quiet and let Husker fans rejoice on one of the few glimmers of brilliance on this fateful night.

On a more concerning note, this legal hit is exactly what football (NFL more explicitly) is trying to dictate. They are trying to regulate safety in the game. Anytime you have big, strong, fast grown men running around with helmets and body armor on…occasionally violent collisions will happen.

This time a big hit was on a big stage at the college level (albeit in a complete blowout game) Will the NCAA respond and put some rules in place just due to a hit like this in a conference title game.

Greedy Big 10

The news leaked out last week, The Big 10 with 12 teams is going to now have 14 teams.

Am I the only person that thinks someone needs some remedial math…..

Maryland and Rutgers were invited to join the conference. And by invited I mean, umm….tapping into the Northeastern Television Market required the Big 10 to add some teams that were geographically located there.

The Greedy ACC

I am guessing the ACC put this into play since they landed their “Big Fish” in Notre Dame, and wanted to make sure that if the Golden Dome ever left the confines of the ACC they would be leaving some of their pots of gold behind.

Earlier this year Maryland – along with Florida State – voted against raising the exit fee from $20 million to $50 million in September after Notre Dame was added as a member in all sports but football. This is a significant exit penalty and much much more than Nebraska, Colorado, Texas A&M or Missouri had to pay in comparison for leaving the befuddled Big XII a few years ago.

University of Maryland President Wallace Loh went on record earlier this year saying he did not think the $50 million Atlantic Coast Conference exit fee would hold up in court, but now the ACC has filed a lawsuit against the University of Maryland to protect their interest in a buy-out clause that was reconfigured just last year.

“We continue to extend our best wishes to the University of Maryland; however, there is the expectation that Maryland will fulfill its exit fee obligation,” Commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. “On Friday, the ACC Council of Presidents made the unanimous decision to file legal action to ensure the enforcement of this obligation.”

Rutgers, by comparison, had to pay only a $10 million exit fee to leave the Big East. This seems like lunch money at this stage.

It will be interesting to see if Maryland is able to barter down the price tag, but I am guessing that this would have been happening behind the scenes, and well in front of any lawsuit being filed.

Looks like the Commonwealth and the League need to take this one outside and duke it out.

Late Season Craziness

Hold off on your early Christmas parties…. This could shape up to be a crazy bowl season, and a lot hinges on what transpires this week.

UCLA and Stanford play each other for the second straight week to decide who represents the Pac 12 in the Rose Bowl. Nothing like a rematch on back to back weeks.

Nebraska has a rematch with Wisconsin to be the representative of the Big 10 in the Rose Bowl. Nebraska won the first meeting. If Wisconsin wins, they will be 8-5 and representing in Pasadena.

As a side note, Nebraska lost to UCLA earlier this year in September in California.

I think the Rose Bowl Committee is pulling hard for the Huskers and Stanford, as that match up will be much more attractive Nationally and will also benefit the ticket sales much more than any of the other possible combinations of those four teams.

Alabama and Georgia play one another to basically settle who gets to go to the beach and play Notre Dame.

The Big East has three teams still alive depending on who beats who this weekend.

And a freshman Quarterback might actually win the Heisman Trophy.

Good luck to you and your sports teams and remember…Johnny for Heisman!

Until next time, stay classy Tyler, Texas