To all who have been following this blog, I urge you to check out this one (if indeed you love sports as much as I do.)
http://cbacsmack.blogspot.com/
November 17, 2008
November 6, 2008
Ode to the 18th row
So last night, Melanie had Young Women's and they were at the Conference Center downtown so I took Leah out and we went shopping for Christmas stuff . . . stocking stuffers, candy, etc. While perusing the aisles at Wal-Mart in Taylorsville, my phone starts to ring and my buddy Drew is on the other line. He's calling to offer me a ticket to last night's Jazz game against Portland.
Andrew: "Its lower bowl, wanna come?"
Matt: "Can I put Leah on my lap without paying for her?"
(Muffled voices in the background while he asks) "Yes."
"Then I'm in."
He and his two brother's-in-law met me and Wal-Mart where we transferred Leah's carseat and headed to the game.
I will tell you this much: I love going to Jazz games. I've never enjoyed them as much as I've enjoyed going to football games (on any level where it matters) but last night rocketed up my list in a hurry.
Sorry, its a little blurry, but this is what you get from a cell phone:
(Picture of the Jazz bench during a timeout)
The tickets were on the 18th row! The game was close all night, the fans are more attentive in the lower bowl, and I think with all the extra noise from above you poring down from the rafters just adds to the environment. What a fantastic surprise to end the day.
Thanks to Andrew and his brother's-in-law.
Andrew: "Its lower bowl, wanna come?"
Matt: "Can I put Leah on my lap without paying for her?"
(Muffled voices in the background while he asks) "Yes."
"Then I'm in."
He and his two brother's-in-law met me and Wal-Mart where we transferred Leah's carseat and headed to the game.
I will tell you this much: I love going to Jazz games. I've never enjoyed them as much as I've enjoyed going to football games (on any level where it matters) but last night rocketed up my list in a hurry.
Sorry, its a little blurry, but this is what you get from a cell phone:
(Picture of the Jazz bench during a timeout)
The tickets were on the 18th row! The game was close all night, the fans are more attentive in the lower bowl, and I think with all the extra noise from above you poring down from the rafters just adds to the environment. What a fantastic surprise to end the day.
Thanks to Andrew and his brother's-in-law.
More BCS Mockery
I'm not the only one complaining. Of course, the Pac-10 isn't what's keeping USC out of the NC game; its that loss to OSU. But all it takes are a few coaches from BCS teams to really get the ball rolling to get this subject into the mainstream. You go Pete!
USC's Pete Carroll finds humor in BCS
Carroll injects some levity after the Trojans drop from No. 5 to No. 7 in the aftermath of their third shutout victory in four weeks.
By Gary Klein
November 3, 2008
Coach Pete Carroll typically avoids commenting about the Bowl Championship Series standings, let alone inviting questions about them.
But even Carroll could not help injecting some gallows humor Sunday after the Trojans dropped from No. 5 to No. 7 in the aftermath of their third shutout victory in four weeks.
"The more we win the worse we get," he joked.
USC, a 56-0 winner Saturday over winless Washington, maintained its ranking in the coaches' and Harris Interactive polls.
But the Trojans' weak Pacific 10 Conference opponents, coupled with the strength of the Big 12 and Southeastern conferences, hurt them in the computer component of the BCS formula.
USC dropped from sixth to 10th in the computers, as Texas Tech and Florida jumped the Trojans in the BCS standings to Nos. 2 and 5, respectively.
Carroll dismissed concern about the standings -- "I don't even know how to figure that out," he said -- but he acknowledged that this week's game against No. 21 California offers the Trojans an opportunity to prove themselves against a respectable opponent.
USC's defense remains the top-ranked unit in the nation, but the Trojans' three shutouts have come against Arizona State, Washington State and Washington, which are a combined 3-22.
"The real tests are the teams like the Oregons, Arizona, those kinds of teams that are putting up a lot of yards and points," Carroll said. "Cal's one of those teams."
The Golden Bears improved to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-10 with a 26-16 victory over Oregon.
The win moved the Golden Bears back into the top 25 -- they are 21st in the Associated Press media poll, 21st in the Harris Interactive poll and 22nd in the coaches' poll.
Carroll did express concern about the Trojans' continuing penalty problems. USC was flagged 10 times against Washington, the third time this season that the Trojans were in double figures for penalties.
Penalties cost the Trojans in their loss at Oregon State and could cost them again if they continue unabated.
"The wrong one at the wrong time . . . can be devastating," Carroll said.
Here's the link: http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/football/la-sp-uscfyi3-2008nov03,0,1371850.story
USC's Pete Carroll finds humor in BCS
Carroll injects some levity after the Trojans drop from No. 5 to No. 7 in the aftermath of their third shutout victory in four weeks.
By Gary Klein
November 3, 2008
Coach Pete Carroll typically avoids commenting about the Bowl Championship Series standings, let alone inviting questions about them.
But even Carroll could not help injecting some gallows humor Sunday after the Trojans dropped from No. 5 to No. 7 in the aftermath of their third shutout victory in four weeks.
"The more we win the worse we get," he joked.
USC, a 56-0 winner Saturday over winless Washington, maintained its ranking in the coaches' and Harris Interactive polls.
But the Trojans' weak Pacific 10 Conference opponents, coupled with the strength of the Big 12 and Southeastern conferences, hurt them in the computer component of the BCS formula.
USC dropped from sixth to 10th in the computers, as Texas Tech and Florida jumped the Trojans in the BCS standings to Nos. 2 and 5, respectively.
Carroll dismissed concern about the standings -- "I don't even know how to figure that out," he said -- but he acknowledged that this week's game against No. 21 California offers the Trojans an opportunity to prove themselves against a respectable opponent.
USC's defense remains the top-ranked unit in the nation, but the Trojans' three shutouts have come against Arizona State, Washington State and Washington, which are a combined 3-22.
"The real tests are the teams like the Oregons, Arizona, those kinds of teams that are putting up a lot of yards and points," Carroll said. "Cal's one of those teams."
The Golden Bears improved to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-10 with a 26-16 victory over Oregon.
The win moved the Golden Bears back into the top 25 -- they are 21st in the Associated Press media poll, 21st in the Harris Interactive poll and 22nd in the coaches' poll.
Carroll did express concern about the Trojans' continuing penalty problems. USC was flagged 10 times against Washington, the third time this season that the Trojans were in double figures for penalties.
Penalties cost the Trojans in their loss at Oregon State and could cost them again if they continue unabated.
"The wrong one at the wrong time . . . can be devastating," Carroll said.
Here's the link: http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/football/la-sp-uscfyi3-2008nov03,0,1371850.story
October 28, 2008
Oh, the irony!
Everywhere you turn, you hear, "Cougar fans are so arrogant" or some other shtick like that. And sometimes, I really can't blame the complaining fan; Cougar fans like to hang their hats on their team and their successes. I can't count how many times I've heard someone bring up the NC season, though admittedly, it has tapered off with the recent Fiesta Bowl visit from the Utes. But nothing is ever made of the Ute fans as they love to sit back and play the victim card. To be certain, it reminds me of PK on the DJ and PK show on 1320 KFAN every morning. No matter what happens, they are always the victim of some rude BYU fan. The problem is, PK is playing; most Ute fans believe their innocence.
The following link shows the hypocrisy of the typical Ute fan. They sat back and talked about how arrogant BYU fans were with the "Quest" and the "BCS talk" and all the attention while their team quietly went about winning games. Nevermind that they were winning; they all focused on how BYU was arrogant. This link just reiterates the irony of the Ute fan that believes he has been put upon because the "team down south" is perennially in the spotlight and their team is not.
October 21, 2008
What's with the polling system anyway?
(No, I'm not a FSU fan.)
Why the heck do we let the polls dictate who is the best college football team in the nation? If we let polls dictate everything in life, we may as well just inaugurate Obama to president now. I mean c'mon!
My little rant this week goes out to the outlandish slide from potential BCS buster to has been status of our beloved BYU football team by the BCS powers that be this past week. As a fan of the team, I certainly enjoyed the 7 and 8 rankings the team was receiving week after week, but as a realist, I knew we weren't that good. We were unproven, untested, and consequently, over valued in the polling. Again, why do polls mean anything? BYU didn't deserve a 7 ranking (even before getting wiped out by a superiorly better prepared TCU team) but they also aren't so bad they are only good enough to be ranked 21.
We don't have rankings for the NFL, the NBA, or any other major sport. What do we have? A playoff system. Tell me how its fair that unfair competition in the NCAA rewards a team for beating a bunch of pancakes just to have a chance to dance with the big boys. The original BCS Buster University of Utah team would have likely steamrolled any team in the nation that year. The next to bust the door was that Boise State team that shocked the world and beat Oklahoma. But all that did was open the door for a team from Hawaii to score an unimaginable amount of points last season only to get rolled in their "reward" game. And then this year, BYU was rolling through their own pancakes (despite a nailbiter in Washington) and were thusly rewarded with an over-inflated ranking. (We'll leave the discussion of the UW penalty as well as "playing the teams on your schedule" for another day because I could go one forever with those.)
Tell me how its fair that TCU beats BYU, could likely go to Rice-Eccles next month and lose, then watch BYU roll into Rice-Eccles and beat the Utes while we all sit back and watch Boise State roll through a miserable conference once again and get rewarded with a BCS game they will get destroyed in? Can you honestly tell me you think BSU is better than any of those three teams in the MWC?
(FCS already has a playoff system, so it seems to me that it works.)
Its high time the NCAA did away with polls and instituted a playoff system. In the major league sports, the top team from each division (and sometimes the next best team as well) regardless of strength of the division get to head to the playoffs. That is when the weak teams are exposed for who they are. I'm sorry, but if you are only the 5th best team in your division, you don't deserve to play in the post season. Yes, I think the MWC gets a perennial slap in the face each time we have to match up against Oregon or UCLA in the Vegas Bowl.
Play a playoff system and let the teams land where they may.
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