The BCS is nothing more than a cartel

The Thirsty Scholars: The BCS is Nothing More than a Cartel: Now that the official Bowl Championship Series is under way and we all start bowling for the pursuit of the National Championship, I have to give one more yell to this Hancock concoction, that when we get right down to it, is nothing more than a cartel.

We've all talked about "why" the BCS stinks, stank and stunk, and our different solutions for a playoff. But something caught my eye this week. Connecticut is going to the Fiesta Bowl (which we know is a joke and another rabbit trail to go down) to play Oklahoma. The Fiesta Bowl (like MOST Bowls) gave Connecticut 17,000 tickets to sell. There you go Husky fans and now you owe us upward of 2 point something million. Connecticut has sold 4,000 of those 17,000 tickets, and I am sure there won't be that many more ducats flying out the ticket window. But they still have to pay the Fiesta Bowl for those tickets. So right off the bat they are in the hole for a couple million. And we aren't talking about the hotel rooms and other expenses incurred. Doesn't matter, Fiesta Man gets his pay.

Not all bowls do this, but the majority of them do. Is it any wonder each year we get a few more bowls? Now we have 35. 35...are you kidding me? I wanted to name my Bowlmania Team "We have to pick how many bowl games?" but I didn't have enough character spaces. Like there are 70 deserving teams to play in these games? 70 teams better than mediocre? 70 teams we care about watching, let alone know what the frig conference they even play in? And of course they don't want to end the bowl system, they're making too much money. Realistically, it's cheaper for Connecticut to stay home. No joke. But what are they or the athletic department going to do, "Uh, no I'm sorry, we don't want to go to the Fiesta Bowl, we'll just stay home this year in the tropical splendor of Storrs."

I'm sorry but that smacks to me of a cartel. The Bowl Cartel Series.

On the first day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Remeber Frank Solich? Once he coached Nebraska, now he's at Ohio. Remember when Ohio last won a bowl? Trick question, the Bobcats never have. But maybe they can versus Troy!

On the 4th day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Louisville versus SOUTHERN Mississippi in the Beef 'O' Brady's. That's a bowl not an entree.

On the 5th day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Boise State, still wishing that kick at Nevada had been good. Nothing against Utah, but this is what we get. And unless that BS kicker wins the game on a last second 50 yard kick for redemption, we won't even talk about it.

On the 7th day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Hawaii versus Tulsa, averaging 79.6 points between them. Classic football.

On the 9th day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Florida International in it's first bowl, that should be a big deal for the Golden Panthers, even if it is against Toledo.....in Detroit!

On the 10th day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Georgia Tech, Air Force and a lot of hand offs.

On the 11th day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Iowa, hoping to stop a free fall, vs. Missouri. The Hawkeyes lost their last 3 games, suspended their top running back and had a star wide out charged with operating a drug house. Happy Holidays!

On the 12th day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Oklahoma State and their 27 year old quarterback trying to give Arizona it's fifth loss.

On the 13th day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: A bowl game at Yankee Stadium, as Kansas State and Syracuse savor winter in the Bronx. Also Nebraska (which beat Washington 56-21 in September) - playing, uh Washington. The long awaited sequel I guess.

On the 14th day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Notre Dame versus Miami. Those wearing Catholics versus Convicts shirts from the 1980's should get in free.

On the 15th day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Jan. 1 (which used to be the BIG end all day of games) otherwise known as New Years/ Big 10 Day. Five lodge members from a conference that can't count versus three Southeastern conference teams.

On the 17th day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Virginia Tech's 11 game winning streak against Stanford's high SAT scores in the Orange.

On the 20th day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Miami (the one from Ohio) and it's 9-4 record (the one that was 1-11 last year) and it's coach - the one leaving for Pittsburgh, against Middle Tennessee.

On the 22nd day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Kentucky versus Pittsburgh in the BBVA Compass. Pitt was so eager to get there, they fired their coach.

On the 23rd day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Boston College vs. Nevada, and I have no idea why they are waiting so long to play the Fight Hunger Bowl which I assume is being sponsored by Children's Choice.

On the 24th day of Bowl-mas the BCS gives to me: Oh yay, the actual National Championship game. Auburn will be lead by the winner of the most awkward Heisman Trophy presentation ceremony in history. All Oregon wants is a game its new uni's can be proud of.

Why Cam Newton is bad for college football

Dear Auburn Fan,

This college football season has been one hell of a ride for you. Thrilling come from behind victories, huge wins over perennial rivals, a Heisman Trophy winner and a trip to the National Championship game. There's not much more that you can ask for as a fan.

But not everyone is reveling in your success. Cam Newton has polarized the college football community with his on-field performance and his off-field controversy, made all the more intriguing by the fact that the controversy was captained by his FATHER, and not Cam himself. (It should be noted however that he and his father are not estranged and this was not a rogue dad trying to trade in his son for cash. He did thank his father in his Heisman trophy acceptance speech, though his father was not in attendance - good PR move.)

I'm sure it's frustrating to have so many fans of the game and pundits attempting to tarnish your dream season by focusing on Cam Newton's off the field dealings.  You could, of course, just ignore all of the noise and just be thrilled your playing in the BCS Championship.  Or you can get up in arms and engage in the fray, rushing to the defense of your Heisman trophy winner.  But before you decide the latter, there are a few things to consider.

1. He's a mercenary. A hired gun. (And I'm only partially joking on the "hired" part). He's going to swoop in, spend a year at Auburn, and bolt for the NFL. He could have just as easily donned a Miss St uniform or an Alabama uniform, or stayed at Florida. But he chose you. Whether that choice was influenced by a financial transaction, we may never know. But if he wasn't wearing your uniform, you'd be crying foul.
2. He doesn't meet the alleged Heisman criteria.  The first line of the Heisman Trust Mission Statement outlines that the award "recognizes the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity".  Cam Newton deserves it hands down if it wasn't for the last two words.  That caveat should, in effect, disqualify him.  Cam Newton, while dynamic on the field in his single season at Auburn, is a college football player who first was caught stealing a laptop, left Florida before they had the chance to kick him out on allegations of academic fraud, and was surrounded by controversy almost his entire Heisman season around allegations of bidding out his services to the highest bidder.  Cam Newton himself continues to refer to his decision to attend Auburn as "a business decision".  If the award is going to be strictly about performance, then just leave integrity out of the mission statement and don't pay lip service to it.  But to put Newton ahead of Andrew Luck and Kellen Moore and even pretend that the award has the slightest thing to do with integrity is a farce.



This isn't the first time Cam Newton's integrity
has been called into question

3. He's no Tim Tebow. As much as most of us were nauseated by all of the Tim Tebow montages throughout his career, it's hard to deny that this guy was special.  He was everything you want in a college football player - charismatic, passionate, a fierce competitor.  He played four years at the same school, and stayed for his senior year.  He performed on and off the field.  While Cam Newton was stealing laptops, Tim Tebow was probably mentoring disadvantaged orphans in the Philippines.  I mean, c'mon - Tebow wore penned scripture verses in his eye black.  So as much as Verne Lundquist insists that Cam Newton is the second coming of Tebow, Newton is no Tim Tebow.

I have no dog in this fight, and I have no preconceived bias against Auburn.  Quite the contrary - I have always thought highly of Auburn folk.  I attended a national intercollegiate conference in college with Auburn students and found them very pleasant.  I even traded one of them for an Auburn hat.  Prior to that, I had a poster of Bo Jackson on my wall growing up, and "Bo Knows Bo" was the first autobiography I ever read.  I have no reason to dislike Auburn, even though I'm admittedly annoyed by the sports establishment's SEC bias despite the fact that they rarely are able to support their alleged dominance with wins against quality out of conference opponents.  (While they have performed very well in the national championship game in recent years and the top of the conference is always very good, they regular season out of conference schedule and bowl top to bottom bowl performance do not warrant the continual reverence the conference receives.)  My position, and that of many others across the country, has nothing to do with our opinion of Auburn at large.

I would also contend that Cam Newton has gotten off pretty easy in light of the allegations in comparison to Reggie Bush.  I don't view their controversies as being all that different.  But I do believe the fact that Newton's came to light while he is still playing has helped him tremendously.  It was much easier to deny Reggie Bush's dominance once everyone was viewing it in retrospect years latter.  At the time he was defending himself, he was a multi-millionaire NFL star running back who was much easier to villanize after he had already "got his".  To the contrary, Cam Newton is still out there "fighting through the distraction" as a college kid, flashing his winning smile and playing the victim in this whole situation.  The media is by and large treating him as a wounded puppy, and putting on the "hey, just leave the kid alone" face and giving him a substantial benefit of the doubt.

It's got to be tough as a Heisman voter though.  What do you do?  Judge the kid in the court of public opinion and deny him in spite of his recent dominance?  This is a hard sell, though admittedly not that hard given the circumstances surrounding his departure from Florida.  Do you give him a pass because it was supposedly just his dad going after the dollars and not him?  And what about the fact that there really isn't any proof that anything happened at Auburn?  I ask you though, how many of you would get your car or house appraised and begin shopping it on the market, only to then just give it away?  Doesn't seem very plausible, does it.

The real problem here is not whether or not Cam Newton is guilty of the allegations.  The real problem is the precedent that has been created in the sport.  Future college athletes now have a blueprint for how to game the system - have a close family member shop your recruitment, but make sure to maintain plausible deniability throughout.  And just don't be stupid like Reggie Bush and take your payment in hard, traceable assets like a house.  But even if Newton gets caught down the line, there's a blueprint for that too.  Chizik can bolt to the NFL right before the decision comes down.  Kiffin will be out of a job by then, and he's already proven he's perfect SEC material.

The Thirsty Scholars: World Cup 2022

The Thirsty Scholars: World Cup 2022: "It was announced today that Qatar will host the 2022 world cup. Not only will they be the first ever Middle Eastern nation to host the game..."

I'm in Joel. I want to take one of those water taxis like freakin Helen of Troy with several vuzuvelas trumpeting our arrival. The Olympics should take notice. I recently watched "Invictus" and was compelled how small countries can do something huge. Basically Invictus was South Africa's version of our "Miracle on Ice". Loved how Qatar designed these venues. The ribbon of friendship should be called the Easter Basket. Thank you Joel that was awesome and count me in for 2-0-2-2!

World Cup 2022

It was announced today that Qatar will host the 2022 world cup. Not only will they be the first ever Middle Eastern nation to host the games, but the country is the smallest ever to play host. At only 1.7 million people, Qatar's population is less than that of Nebraska, and only 3 times that of the least populated US state , Wyoming. To make this even more shocking, Qatar's national team has never even qualified to play in the history of the World Cup. So, why you ask were they selected to host the 2022 games? See for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcAi3GLQyOI

All I want to know is, who's coming with me?