Warning: These may get a bit preachy or sappy from time to time. Not my usual self, but then again, that’s the point.
I woke up this morning aching and feeling slightly woozy. Like anyone, I would normally go to my wife and begin pulling the same routine we all used to pull on our parents – namely, acting sicker than we really were so they would believe us. Which brings me to my first couple of things I’m grateful for….
1.That I got to wake up yet another day.
2. That I have a wife who is infinitely patient and always sympathetic. I don’t have to put on shows anymore to convince people I’m sick.
3. That I have the honor of raising a beautiful little boy, who slept well last night
4. That I have a job that allows me to work from home.
What a fat life I have. Even though I felt like garbage, I still worked a full day. It wasn’t hard because I don’t do manual labor, and I was in jeans and a sweatshirt sitting on my recliner all day. It also means I didn’t have anyone to talk to, making the spread of negativity that much harder.
I also received a summons for jury duty. Didn’t even faze me, brah. I consider it an early victory for gratitude.
As much as people whine about the government, or their jobs, and how crappy their lives are, they’re not being honest with themselves. Take the poorest, most destitute American, and they’re living the big life compared to most people elsewhere in the world. The world sees our healthcare debate and tries to laugh while they get chased by some child soldier with an uzi.
So yeah, jury duty is one of the very few duties I’m asked to perform for the privilege of living here (which is #5). I’ll gladly take the inconvenience.
One more thing…I’m keeping tabs on the sister of an old college buddy who is going through a brutally tough time. This lady had what probably started as a routine sickness, and just a couple weeks later they’re taking drastic measures just to keep her alive. It’s amazing how life can change in the blink of an eye.
6. Grateful to be healthy, despite my greatest attempts at self destruction over the years.
I think God hears our hearts more than our actions, so pray for her, send her your thoughts, your good karma, your positive energy, whatever you reach for when someone is in need.
On a related note, I used to join Facebook “Praying for…” groups because I always felt guilty: so many people focused on praying for one person, yet there’s silent sufferers throughout the world that don’t have Facebook groups, or even friends.
Then one day I realized that if something were to happen to me, there would probably be a lot of people praying for me (#7). There were a lot of people praying for my dad when he got hurt. I need to be able to step up for people when they need it, better than I’m used to.
On to the negatives… which were few today, thankfully (#8).
I groaned a lot during the OU/Colorado hoops game. Want to know why I try to stick with the Lent season for my yearly positivity feast? Because it ain’t during football season. Restitution: I’ve seen my teams win a lot of games during my time. Championships even. Blowing one on the road to Colorado sucks, but I’ve seen worse in the sports world.
I ragged on Drew Gooden for getting traded so much and for once having a mullet dot on the back of his neck. Restitution: I pointed out that Drew Gooden was in fact a stellar collegiate player at Kansas. With a fine haircut, I might add.
Those of you who have followed my various blogs and other publishing ventures know that every year I try to do a little something for Lent. I’m not Catholic, but the idea of self-improvement and appreciation for God through self-denial is totally appealing to me.
I’ve altered from the traditional sacrifices – meat is a must in my diet, particularly seeing as how Lent overlaps my birthday, which historically comes with a meat feast at Rodizio here in SLC. I try to give up things that drag me down majorly, but I also take a little different avenue by adding behaviors that I want to become habits.
My biggest hang-up, maybe in life lately, is negativity. I realize I can never give up negative thinking – there’s a line crossed somewhere after adolescence that exposes one to the real stains of the world, like politics, the emptiness of the pursuit of wealth, and the dawn of the work-10-hours-a-day-then-die life. It would frankly be a little dangerous to look at the world through rose colored glasses all the time, so a little realistic, even pessimistic, viewpoint can be helpful.
But I OD. I make Debbie Downer look amateurish. And I spread it around hardcore. Everyone knows that it only takes one person complaining and whining to get the rest of a room started.
First pledge: No verbalized/expressed negativity. Includes whining, cussing, taunting, poking, badgering, teasing, and on and on… Especially zero snarkasm, which we all know it my favorite.
Obviously I will break down. Old habits die hard. In fact, I usually only make it through about two weeks of Lent before I just give up. But for every expressed negative, I vow to remind myself about a positive.
Second pledge: Keep up a positivity journal to remind me of all the good things I have going, plus rectification for my “pledge one” relapses. Most of these will be posted on my blog, some on my Twitter, some written down in a notebook, 1.0 style.
Second pledge (b): I read somewhere that sitting quietly in positive meditation for even 10 minutes a day has great physiological effects on a person. I’ve tried it before, and it totally works. The problem is actually finding 10 minutes of silence. Late and early I fall asleep, and if I try to do it at work then that just raises a whole stink.
Third pledge: Floss nightly. I’m good for two or three nights a week. Not an every night man yet. Workin’ on it.
Fourth pledge: Don’t be a topper. I’m not a topper by any stretch, but I’ve become surrounded by them. You should hear the stories. One guy’s visit to McDonalds turns into someone else’s visit with the Ray Croc, which forces someone else to chime in about their visit with the Dalai Lama. Even though I’ve hung out with Shaq, I’m not going to try and top them. If my story doesn’t fit, or if it feels gratuitous, then I’ll hold back. Most toppers don’t listen to anyone else; I like to think I’m a listener.
In the past I’ve tried other pledges, like giving up the F word, or not eating pudding, but I realized that I was cheating myself out of real growth by going for low-hanging fruit. I don’t use the F word very often and I don’t eat pudding unless I’m at a Chinese buffet, which I rarely am. I’ve been lucky to avoid a lot of destructive behavioral traits, but I think the few that I have stem from my cynicism and negativity, so I’m taking aim right at the core.
The goal? I want to be fully aware of just how much I’ve been given in life, to recognize the good above all other things, to the point where I’m oblivious to the small things that just don’t matter. Hopefully then I’ll be one of those folks that is able to make people feel better after a few minutes together, the kind of people can stand to spend more than 10 minutes at a time with.
Sorry to go a little Stuart Smalley there on everyone, but my sentiment is genuine.
So, join me in giving something up, even keep me accountable if you like – bsc @ bscarter.com if you’d like to email me. Got something you’re going after? I can help with yours as well.
So it’s been a while since I’ve posted here. I have VERY LOGICAL reasons why. And they don’t even include the fact that I’m mostly incapable of writing less than 500 words on a given topic.
We’ve been traveling. First we spent the post-holidays in Oklahoma with my family. I got to go to Pete’s Place, which is still awesome.
I was home for about 72 hours, then headed out again, this time to Anaheim to work social media at a trade show for a client. We kicked ass, trending twice on Twitter. That’s a big deal for a craft & hobby company to become such a hot topic in the midst of the Brett Favre/Purple Jesus Vikings meltdown.
On top of the travel, we began a transition to a new email server at my office. Did I mention I’m now the IT guy? You know how hard it is to transition people over, especially when some of them are used to big city-style massive IT departments? We have Macs and PCs, iPhones and Blackberrys, people using Outlook, Entourage, Mail, Thunderbird and Gmail, we have people who are in the office everyday and people who don’t even know what it looks like.
What I’m trying to say is I’ve been working essentially around the clock, and I’m tired of looking at computers.
But it’s my job, and I want to remain employed. Even if I’ve pulled out every one of my hairs and still haven’t solved all the problems.
Okay, so there’s my excuse for not posting for a while. Moving on.
This is the post I had hoped to make at the end of 2009
What a strange ten years.
My initial reaction upon looking back was to say “What a crappy ten years.” I thought about 9/11, wars, the current financial crisis, toiling for two years in the bowels of the Delta Center for basically nothing, struggling to find a job after jumping out of college, the death of my grandfather and on and on…
Then I thought about how good it was. Amazingly good, in all the ways that truly matter. I graduated college, got married and had a son. I’ve advanced in my career as a writer/PR guy/IT director, and have a home plus two vehicles.
I have nothing to whine about.
Now for the part where I stroke my own ego and share what I think was superior from the Aughts
Top Five Albums of the 00s – Not based on some artsy-fartsy trend crap, like Animal Collective, but based simply off of the albums that I listened to over and over again:
5. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
4. Kanye West – The College Dropout
3. Muse – Black Holes and Revelations
2. Radiohead – In Rainbows
1. Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf
Top Five Movies of the 00s – Again, this is what I liked, not what “advanced the art of film making” or “the movie that speaks for a generation”:
5. Pineapple Express
4. All 27 hours of the Lord of the Rings trilogy
3. O Brother Where Art Thou
2. The Kill Bills
1. The Dark Knight
The Best Oklahoma Football Teams of the 00s:
5. 2001 – Ridiculous defense, terrible offense
4. 2008
3. 2003 – Put Quentin Griffin on this team, and they destroy LSU
2. 2004 – Still don’t know what happened in the USC game
1. 2000
Politicians Who Were Corrupt and Will Continue to be:
1. All of them, stop supporting one side or the other. None of them give a damn about you until it’s time to vote. Find ways to work with people for the sake of ousting corruption, not working against people for the sake of standing behind some entitled scumbag “public servant”
Best Food I had:
5. Ganesh Indian here in Utah
4. Jambalaya on Bourbon Street
3. Red Iguana in SLC
2. Crepes in Cancun
1. Ribeyes at Joe Allen’s in Abilene
Things I’m looking forward to in the 2010s:
5. Growing my little business
4. Time Travel and Hovercraft Skateboards
3. The birth of my niece, which will be in May this year
2. By the time the decade is over Nate will be a teenager. Okay, I’m actually not looking forward to that.
1. Another child (not right now, dangit, but eventually)
Favorite screen-cap I snagged in the 00s:
Favorite screen-cap I grabbed yesterday – this kid had just committed to play football at USC and was celebrating on Twitter:
Obviously I looked forward to this game for a long time, seeing as it was finally a chance for these BYU folks to see a real, nationally-competitive team that plays in a tough conference and boasts some of the best talent in the nation. With OU’s personnel losses after last year I didn’t think it would be a massive blowout, but I fully expected something along the lines of 42-21 or thereabouts.
But we all know what happened. OU laid an egg in what may be their most embarrassing performance since the BCS blowout against USC, in which the guys basically quit after the first quarter. BYU walked away with maybe the biggest win in the history of their school, while OU is left to wonder what, if anything, they can correct before more tough teams come through.
Before I say anything else, I want to give credit to BYU. They came in with great schemes and players that wanted it more. They out-everything’d OU and deserved to walk away with the win. BYU had their own issues heading into the game, with a patchwork offensive line and a really good running back on the sidelines, so their performance was fairly remarkable.
Now, on to OU business.
Every game OU has lost in the Stoops Era has been due to one or two poor units or unfortunate plays. This was often simply a secondary that couldn’t cover anything deep. More recently it’s been naps in the fourth quarter of games. (Again, the USC game is the exception here. Nothing worked in that one)
This game showed things I’ve never seen OU do in horrible, Megatron combinations. How many false starts can you have? And how in the world do you let the play clock run out on the GOAL LINE? I’ve never seen an OU team drop more than a couple passes, but there were at least six in this game. I can’t remember the last time we lost two fumbles in one game.
And the scary thing is none of this has to do with our Heisman quarterback getting hurt (except for the goal line flub, but I pin that on the coaches more than anyone else). The hit on Bradford was clean and he just fell on the shoulder the wrong way; this Coleby Clawson requires no death threats or condemnation. Those still go to the Oregon ref until further notice.
OU did more to beat themselves in this game than I’ve ever seen, and it has to be blamed on the coaches. They weren’t prepared to play, at all, and it only got worse after Bradford went down. Landry Jones, despite looking bewildered, played about as well as one could hope for a freshman stepping into a buzzsaw. Too bad the receivers dropped his passes as well.
The god part of the game was our defense turned in a great performance. To hold BYU to 14 is a great effort on anyone’s part, and I for one don’t blame them for giving up the long drive to put BYU ahead – when you play that much, and get that little support from your offense, you get worn down at the end of a game. Gerald McCoy may be the best defensive tackle in the nation, and I’ve never seen someone at that position do more to take control of the situation than he did.
The safeties were often out of position and Ryan Reynolds is a step slow, but as a unit they still did their jobs. The special teams were great as well. Hell, Tress Way’s punting may have been the highlight of the game for OU.
In retrospect, we were lucky to only lose by one. BYU will have a great year but they’re probably the fourth or fifth best team on the OU schedule. Next year the Sooners open with Cincinnati and Florida State in 2011. If we had been playing either of those teams, or Miami in Florida, it could’ve been a much wider loss.
The problem boils down to this: the U coaches took the same scheme from last year and applied to a mostly-new group of players. Nice thought, but now we know that having Sam and the running back’s back doesn’t make this last year’s team. Maybe by the end of the season they’ll get it and be running on all cylinders (a la the Bomar year) but I think we may see two or three more losses before then.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens for OU this year. Bradford will eventually come back, but his top target (Jermain Gresham) won’t, which means that someone, anyone has to step up as a consistent, trustworthy playmaker. The offensive line needs to come together and settle down; I think Stoops’ decision to abandon the no-huddle will help a great deal.
Two side notes: After the game I immediately received several messages from Mormon friends who saw it as an opportunity to promote their religion. Sorry folks, but I think that’s a low-class move. It’s a football game, not the freakin Crusades, and if God were really behind a team, wouldn’t they win by more than a point?
The only thing I can think to compare it to is this: When Texas Christian beat BYU fairly soundly last year, would it have pissed off LDS folks if people were posting to Twitter about the game with the good ole #christian hashtag, talking about what a great win for Protestants it was? Of course it would.
It’s a football game, folks. A bunch of Mormons beat a bunch of Christians/Muslims/Hindus/Whatever OU players worship on a football field, and outside of a few PR opportunities for the LDS, it means NOTHING to religion. If it does mean something to you, then you might want to rethink your confidence in whatever faith you have.
Irregardless, I pass their zealotry off to simple excitement, and my crankiness due to seeing my team play like crap, and we all moved on.
Again, it’s a football game.
Which brings me to the point number two, and it’s the most important one of all: I heard earlier in the day about a plane crash in Tulsa, and didn’t think much more about it until late at night after the game. As it turns out, I knew the five people who died in the crash, and one of them fairly well.
Suddenly the football, and the idiot religious zealots, and the hurt quarterback, all meant very little. I hate that it takes something like this for me to remember how fragile life is and how little something like a football game can be.
The Lesters are a family I was familiar with and had been around a couple of their kids a few times. They were just one of those special families that emanated love and were good to everyone that came around them.
Same thing with Dr. Ken Veteto. He was one of those guys who spent a lot of time at church and even if he didn’t know you that well, would do whatever he could to lend you a hand. It’s people like him that I strive to be like, and I can’t imagine what it’ll be like to have Park Plaza without him.
God rest their souls, and thanks for letting us share your lives.
Join this Facebook group to share your memories and remember our lost friends.
I write prep football stories for the Deseret News. It’s a cool gig that doesn’t pay very well but allows me to sit around and watch a football game for a couple hours then throw together a 500′ish word recap. I do it because I love the sport and enjoy the high school version of it, but I also do it because it’s good writing practice. My day job rarely requires me to throw together 500 coherent words in 30 minutes. I like the challenge.
I used to be one of those guys that whined about sports media, how they’d get a stat wrong or misspell an athlete’s name. The popular mob for sports fans to be a part of these days is to be convinced that the media have a bias against their team. Yes, I was on the message boards, holding my virtual pitchfork, ready to take down any and all media.
Anonymously, of course.
Then I tried it. I tried being one of “them.”
Needless to say, my tune changed. It’s tough, and I just write game stories. It’s not like I have to follow the team around every day and try to find news for the fans as a beat writer.
One thing that particularly stuck with me is comments. This is the difference between my job and the job of a sportswriter, or any other media member. We live in a world that has shifted to the point where if you’re putting youer real name on something and sticking by it, people are going to HAMMER you. I wasn’t prepared for this. As a PR guy, I deal with my clients and the media, but the criticism aired toward me is almost never public.
I try desperately not to look at the comments on my stories because I know what’s coming. But the site shows the first couple of comments, and of course, I can’t help but peek. That’s enough for me; I never click through.
You’d think the people reading a prep football story would be there to talk about football, but instead they’re actually editors.
“You got the kid’s name wrong!” and “You left out (kid’s name)! He played a HUGE game!” or “You’re an awful writer. This paper used to be so good.” “Whoever wrote this clearly never played football,” is always my favorite.
Here’s the truth that hit me hard a couple years back when I started doing this.
In football there are 22 kids on the field plus referees. Every one of them matters on every play.
There will be well over 100 plays in a typical game. For anyone to encapsulate the entire game and catch every important aspect in 500 words is impossible. Try sitting down and writing out a 500-word story that touches on every key play, every key call and every mess-up. Seriously, make a run at it.
Many prep games don’t have rosters. If your kid’s name is misspelled,I’m sorry. Just take it up with your athletic director or coach. I’m stuck going by the photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy that hangs around the press box and has all the numbers wrong because it was created before two-a-days even started.
And parents, I feel your pain. I really want to include Bobby in my story, but it’s just a game story. Even if he is a .400 hitter in baseball and a straight-A student, if he’s not making a key play or dominating the game then I just don’t have room for him. I’m sorry, but thanks for introducing yourself before the game.
It took me a bit when I started, but I can take the pressure now and sort of thrive on it. My night job is a BLAST. In fact, I take a great deal of pride in putting something out there with my real name on it and knowing that “AwesomeFan1066″ and most folks would never have the guts to do that. It pushes me to become better and have a deeper appreciation for the guys who do this every day, for little pay and heaps of criticism.
Now, sports columnists are a different entity. Rip on them all you want; they’re sadists…
The next time you’re signed in to your local newspaper site under your acronym of “KillerKool69″ and ready to unload on that writer who credited the wrong DB with an interception…well, have at it.You have every right to do it, and no one is going to make you stop.
But one day, you ought to try being on the other side.
Happy Friday to one and all. Prep football starts tonight, which means I’ll be writing pieces for the local paper again. And that Lori and Nate will have to find their own Friday entertainment for the next three months or so.
Also, college football kicks off in less than two weeks. If I were the type to use exclamation points wantonly, this would be the spot I would do it. Alas, you’ll have to just imagine the excitement I feel through simple periods.
Brett Favre Returns
And more people seem pissed off about that than the other big quarterback news of the past week, Mike Vick signing with the Eagles.
I listened to a Tulsa sports talk station the day Favre announced his return with the Vikings, and you’d think he had toured the town, slapping babies and pushing over old ladies as he went. People were pissed he was going to play again. This was in Oklahoma, where I doubt Favre has even been.
I just don’t get it.
If you’re a die hard Green Bay fan, then MAYBE you have a gripe. Things seem to have definitely gone sour between him and the organization, and if you’re loyal to the organization then you dislike Favre. That doesn’t have anything to do with him signing with the Vikings, or the Jets last year.
I just don’t think Favre has done anything wrong, other than a few public relations missteps. But the fact he retires and unretires (and sometimes retires/unretires again) every summer doesn’t do anything to you outside of annoyance. Favre isn’t giving your kid the flu or spreading rumors around the office about you.
Same thing with Vick, I suppose. Unless you’re a rottweiler with family in the south or the relative of a shanked prisoner in Leavenworth, nothing he’s done is harming your life. The guy did some sick stuff and got punished for it. If he messes up again, he’ll get punished again.
Both are guys with rare talents, just like you, fair readers, have for PR/Web Design/SEO. Favre just wants to keep playing while he still can, and so what if he wrecks his “legacy?” That’s his problem, not yours. The guy had a chance to make an extra $20 million or so while playing for a Super Bowl contender. I think he’d be crazy not to come back.
Same thing with Vick. He could work construction for $8 an hour, but if there’s a market for his football abilities, then of course he’s going to play. If someone wanted me to come play QB in the NFL, I’d be there in a heartbeat. When Vick screws up again, hell he might just get a third chance. It’s not his right to play football, but it is his right to take advantage of second, third, fourth, fifth chances and so on.
We’re all given second chances. I’d say most of us are given twenty, thirty chances. Playing in the NFL isn’t a right, but if there’s someone there willing to pay you handsomely to do it, and you WANT to do it, then there’s nothing anyone else can do. Don’t throw your outrage toward the players for wanting to play – save it for when they screw up and throw three picks on Monday Night Football.
I consider myself a college football savant. Those of you who have started reading this blog for the PR posts will discover very soon that in the fall I am a different person.I have very few obsessions in life, and football is probably the biggest one. College football is damn near a religion to me, so expect many posts about it once September rolls around.
The good news for everyone else is I’m a reasonable, level-headed fan with an appreciation for the history of the game. I do go insane for the Oklahoma Sooners and Tulsa Golden Hurricane, but I find myself quite reasonable when it comes to objectively analyzing these teams (pats self on back).
I’m NOT this guy
So I can appreciate your teams while acknowledging my own teams’ weaknesses. Isn’t that nice?
With that in mind, I’ve decided to draw up my 2009 Top 25. Unlike other services you see, this is NOT based on who I think is going to win the national championship, but I think are the top 25 teams TODAY.
Point of contention here – I listen to a lot of experts talk about “strength of schedule” or the “strength of the conference” when explaining their rankings and quite frankly that has NOTHING to do with an opening top 25. In fact, I think those things factor in on late-season rankings and maybe only the final ranking. How good the SEC is this year has nothing to do with Florida’s Day One Top 25 ranking. The fact that OU has the toughest non-conference sked in the Big XII has nothing to do with how good the Sooners will be on day 1.
“But my top 25 is a prediction of what I think the top 25 teams will be at the end of the year!”
Then maybe you shouldn’t have a top 25, holmes. There is no caveat on the ballot (as far as I’m aware) instructing voters on what the criteria is, so I won’t go any further on this…but my interpretation is the top 25 is a week-to-week assessment of the top 25 teams in the nation at that point in time.
Thinking of how teams will look on day one of the season, these are who I think the top 25 in the nation are…
1. Florida Gators – there is no argument here. Saint Tebow and Co. are loaded again this year on both sides of the ball. While his Tebowness gets all the pub, (and statues, and panties) it’s the defense that wins games. No further evidence is needed beyond last year’s title game against…
2. Oklahoma Sooners – Yes, I’m a little biased, but the components are there for greatness: Bradford, two returning 1,000-yard rushers in Murray and Brown, the nation’s best TE in Gresham, maybe the best DL in the nation, two experienced CBs and good prospects filling holes. The OL is going to be raw, but like the QB position, OU coaches have proved they can recruit and train players at this position every year. Plus, God loves OU.
3. Texas Longhorns – They suck in the overall sense but will be very good in the football sense. Mack Brown’s clapping, spitting and doing interviews during other people’s games have not hampered Colt McCoy, who is a tough little booger. They’ve got a lot of question marks, particularly the DL, but they’ll be a force just like every year. And yes me having them at #3 means I like OU in the Cotton Bowl this year.
4. USC Trojans – Normally I’m very hard on teams that are breaking in a new QB, particularly a freshman QB like Aaron Corp, but this team is so loaded at every other position thanks to USC’s open-door policy toward agents. Taylor Mays is like Troy Palomalu without all the cheap shots.
5. Alabama Crimson Tide – Running game is good, defense is great, line will be good enough, legendary head coach who looks like Huey Lewis. They were a quarter away from playing for the national title, with a pedestrian at QB. They’ll be there again this year so long as McElroy doesn’t turn the ball over hyperactively.
The Saban-Huey Lewis Connection
Also: Saban as Bill Lumbergh.
6. Virginia Tech – This is the same team we’ve seen every year from Va Tech, sans the Vick years. Tough defense, great special teams, average offense. They won’t win a championship, but they’re be a tough out every year. Look for them to start out around here, fall way down after an inexplicable loss, then somehow end up here again after beating some Big East patsy in a BCS game.
7. LSU Tigers – This is one school where I just assume the talent will win them a lot of games, despite the fact they have an untrained wildabeest acting as the head coach.
Arrrghhh gabberbabbin nergen tarko doogaber!
8. Ohio State Buckeyes – Conventional wisdom has this team way up top due to the weakness of the Big Ten and the likelihood they’ll breeze through the conference unscathed. See my comments above. They’re good and will win the conference, but Terrelle Pryor needs another year (though he’ll improve a TON this year) of growth and the defense has to be more consistent before I move them up (I’m sure they’re desperate to impress me). I also predict they lose to USC at home in week two. Look for Jim Tressell to get busted for meth at some point too. Dude has to have some cracks in the sweatervest.
9. Oregon Ducks – This is probably higher than most folks will rank them, but I think they’ll be damned good, especially after solidifying the QB spot with Masoli at the end of the season. Blount will be a good RB and the defense is beyond serviceable. The defense, as always, will be big when it needs to and disappear at times too. After writing that, I’m not sure why I have them so high. They’ll be very good though. Also: Masoli continues the Chase Daniel legacy of dorky white dude with a chin beard.
CHIN STRAP BEARD
10. Mississippi Rebels – I’m not as ready as everyone else is to buy into the Rebels hype, mainly because I think it builds off of two impressive wins from last season – at Florida, Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl
11. Georgia Tech – I love the old school option and while some people think it won’t be as good this year after opponents have had a year to see it, I think it’ll be even better. Two reasons – 1. Another year of seasoning for the guys running it and 2. The difference between Nebraska and Air Force running the option is talent. GT has way more talent than Navy did, and that’ll be pretty evident this year for Paul Johnson’s crew.
12. Nebraksa Cornhuskers – Another team I’ll have higher than most folks will. Why? There’s nothing to do in Nebraska except college football, and Bo Pelini gets that. Bill Callahan tried to change that – Beau Bridges lookalike contests, interpretive dance, homeless strangling were some of his community initiatives – but failed miserably. They’re a year or two away from contending nationally, and they’ll take a whupping from OU at home this year, but they’ll also surprise you with how good they are.
13. Notre Dame – Yeah, I’m a jerk for having them this far up here. My reasoning: they get a boatload of talent, and Charlie Weis wastes it. This is me hedging my bets on a slight resurgence to maybe 9 or 10 wins. Which would be enough to get them into a BCS bowl, where a rabid SEC runner-up will be waiting to tear apart their innards.
14. Oregon State Beavers – Jacquizz Rogers and his brother (whose name I’m too lazy to Google) are both dangerous and as long as Moivaio can keep the ball in the stadium I think this OSU will be dangerous. Few others have them in the top 25, I’m putting them in my top 15, lawya.
15. Penn State Nittany Lions – They’ll be good, but not great due to inexperience at a lot of positions. That being said Penn St is one of those schools that replaces talent with more talent. They’re perfect for this 15 slot, because it says “I like you a lot, and maybe even enough to take you home. But I wouldn’t want you to stay for longer than a couple hours.”
16. Oklahoma State Cowboys – They’ve got a lot of offensive firepower, but still no defense to match it. The opening game against Georgia in Stillwater will be a huge test that, if passed, earns them a ton more credibility. What loses them credibility is the molester nightmare fuel mascot, Pistol Pete.
17. Texas Tech – the dread pirate Leach keeps improving the situation down in Lubbock. Out goes Graham Harell, in comes another robo-QB, ready to throw for 50 touchdowns and 10,000 yards. Tech now competes against UT and OU for top talent in the state of Texas, and these kids will be moving into key roles on both sides of the ball. They’re not sailing away any time soon.
18. Cal Golden Bears – Jahvid Best is one of the better running backs in the nation. Ha! See what I did there? Oh, and Nate Longshore is gone, and so is the whipping boy of Cal fans.
19. Cincinnati Bearcats – Another team with a great offense and puny defense. Still, that offense is damned good. How good, you ask? I just told you: Damned good.
20. Georgia Bulldogs – They have to replace way too much from a team that wasn’t even that great to begin with. Richt is a good coach, but might be Frank Beamer – very good each year, but probably never a championship. Which isn’t awful. He’s ready and waiting for Mark Harmon to retire from that awful NCIS show, which could hurt recruits who have ever ventured outside and away from their television.
21. North Carolina Tar Heels – Butch Davis is getting his John Calipari on, spending big bucks to get the big players to a school not traditionally known for winning. Soon he’ll take his golden spaceship to a bigger gig (hello, Notre Dame!), but in the meantime he’s put together a good unit at UNC. I bet Jordan shares his collection of co-ed booty with Davis when Charles Oakley is out of town.
Welcome to Mid-Major Row (this wasn’t intentional, I swear)
22. Texas Christian Horny Toads – These guys are tough, as BYU and others learned last year. They’ve got Texas talent, thanks to A&M taking the decade off, and a coach who is vaguely aware of what he’s doing in Gary Patterson. They took Utah to the wire and shut down OU’s run game in losses last year. I think they win the MWC this year, and earn their trip to a BCS game.
23. Boise State Broncos – I always find this a tough team to read. They beat OU in what was the game of the century for them a couple years back, but it was really the only big, national stage game they’ve ever had. You can’t get up like that for every game, especially in the WAC, which is the conference of the Sisters of the Poor, and Utah State, who even has the pity of the sisters of the poor. That being said, put them up against any of these teams with a few weeks to prepare, and they’ll compete.
24. BYU Cougars – Similar to Okie State, BYU has a lot of talent, but lacking in defense. I think last year proved that against the Wyomings, Utah States and other slow, plodding teams, they can dominate. When matched up with speed, BYU looks lost (see: TCU, Utah). Having tough, hard-working walk-ons makes for great stories and gritty players, but it makes for a very, very vulnerable defense. Still, their white guys are generally better than your white guys, so there’s that.
25. Utah – Yeah they were awesome last year but Brian Johnson was a special player that will be hard to replace – particularly if the answer is Corbin Louks, more of a running QB than the thrower that Johnson was. They do however have a salty defense that returns one of the better secondaries. And their unis are made by Under Armour, who despite having European tendencies in their spelling preferences, tend to have cannibalistic American themes in their advertising:
Those are my thoughts. I could be wrong, but you’re probably wrong too. Please share your venom and blessings in the comments, if you could.
In case you haven’t been paying attention or just don’t care about sports, there is a massively important lawsuit beginning soon that could affect college sports on several levels.
In short: Sam Keller was a QB at Arizona State and then Nebraska. A pretty good player, but not a guy with much hope of playing in the NFL and making the millions associated with that league.
EA Sports is a video game producer known for it’s outstanding sports titles, most notably the Madden and NCAA Football series.
The NCAA of course is the main governing body over collegiate athletics and is known for their brutal enforcement of rules designed to keep their athletes “amateurs” and not paid pros, at least while they’re in college.
Keller has filed a class action lawsuit against EA and the NCAA recently seeking compensation for the fact both profited greatly using his and other players’ likenesses in NCAA Football games.
Why? Because of coincidences like this:
NOT TIM TEBOW
It’s just a coincidence that Florida has a white, left-handed QB wearing number 15 that is 6-2, 238. After all, private entities can’t make profits off current players, right? (Unless they’re the NCAA, of course)
I’ll admit I’m conflicted about this case. On one hand, I love the video game and like the fact that I’m playing with the actual players. If there were no similarities to real players, and OU had 5-10, 180 weenie Harold Haroldson at QB then yeah, the game would lose some of it’s luster.
But the rule is the rule – athletes can’t profit from their likenesses during school and no one outside their school and the NCAA is supposed to be able to as well.
If the NCAA wants to keep this rule, they’d better win this case. Because if Keller and co. win, there’s going to be a lot of fallout.
Consider this: What if the courts rule in the players’ favor and suddenly the NCAA is obligated to reimburse current and future players? I guarantee you not only would anything resembling the actual players would pop up in the games, but there will also be a domino effect on other licensed products.
I mean, is it any coincidence that stores that sell team apparel are suddenly moving a lot of Florida #15 jerseys? Is there some kind of renaissance for Brian Haugabrook unis? Or #14 from Oklahoma, #12 from Texas?
Gone from your local Foot Locker. If those are still around. Are they?
How about the ESPN commercial for their iPhone app that has a glimpse of Tebow?
The truth is, there’s no shortage of people making money off these kids, and the kids get nothing in return. Yes, they do receive a free education and all the chicks a man could stand, but does that compare to the millions of dollars that private companies have made off their likenesses?
The truth is, I don’t know where to stand on this one. On one hand, I think Sam Bradford should receive some of the money Reebok made selling items clearly intended to portray him.
But I also know the intentions of the NCAA in protecting the “amateur” status of student-athletes. If Tim Tebow is making millions (which he could be, although he isn’t at USC) then there’s nothing amateur about him.
I want to be able to play as Bradford in the game. But I also want Bradford to be able to enjoy his share of the booty. I can’t decide what side to be on, but it will be fascinating to watch it play out. Let’s just hope it doesn’t wreck the best sport in the universe.
What a couple of weeks we’ve had in terms of famous deaths. It seems like every year there are a couple dozen celebrities that pass away, but I can’t really recall such a continuous string over the course of 14 days.
The unfortunate side product of all this is Joe Blow grandstanding. Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for the power of the individual, the noteworthiness of the Average Joe. I think the regular guy who works 10 hours a day in a steel mill and takes care of his family is more important to the universe than the guy who gets paid $12 million for 30 days of work on a film set.
But when someone, anyone dies, plenty of people feel it’s within their rights to declare judgment on the deceased. Usually this might have been your septuagenarian grandmother whispering to her bingo club that ole Shirley was a bit of a tramp, but in these days of social media and instant punditry, the rhetoric has taken a venomous and public turn.
(I was going to insert a screen cap of some really sad stuff being posted on Twitter, but I don’t want the person gaining any more than their existing 5 followers)
Does it matter that Steve McNair was cheating on his wife with a 20 year-old when she (or her boyfriend) shot him? Sure it does. It’s sad and those details will only make it harder on the family he left behind.
Does it give you the right to parade around calling out what a horrible person you think he was, while at the same time playing up your own morality? No, it doesn’t.
Well, you have the right, legally. It does make you kind of douchey.
Was he an awful family man? I don’t know. I do know that he probably wasn’t any worse than a lot of us are – from the workaholic that puts in 60 hours a week at the expense of family time to the guy who plops his kid down in front of the TV as a substitute for real time with the child.
I’m guilty of both of these. At least McNair will leave his kids several generations worth of wealth. Nathan probably won’t get that from me and I surely didn’t get it from my mother, who killed herself when she was my age.
Want to make some judgments on me and my family? It may not get you Twitter followers, but if it makes you feel better about yourself…maybe just wait until I’m dead?
While people are alive and there is change that can be affected, then let’s talk intelligently about these flaws in public figures and demand better behavior from them. Michael Jackson probably did some weird stuff with kids, based on his payoffs in court, but the justice system did what it’s supposed to do and somehow he got off. He’s dead and screaming “pedophile” at the top of our lungs does no one any good. What happened is between him and his victims, and God.
Same with McNair. Let’s celebrate what these people did in life – both of these figures did things that gave me great joy, personally.
If you’re so concerned about McNair’s family, drive up to Nashville and offer to cook them dinner or help with chores. It’ll do everyone a lot more good than preaching a hateful sermon to a wall.
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A quick note about Robert McNamara, the former Sec. of Defense and President of Ford Motor Company – the book it told a story about how he chastised his wife for doing something a lot of us do: opening a letter, reading the contents, then placing the letter back in the envelope. McNamara saw this as a total waste of time and energy. Dude was raw like that.
LeBron James caused a bit of a fuss this week when, after losing to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals, he stormed off the court and refused to shake hands with the Magic players. Later, he sat on the team bus and skipped the post-game press conference.
On the surface, I’m tempted to say “Who gives a damn?” I didn’t know they shook hands in the NBA anyway, and I spent two years working for a team in the league.
And the press conference…what’s he going to do? Show up and deliver all the cliches the losing side throws out there?
“Better team.”
“Work hard and come back next year.”
“Proud of our guys.”
The quotes have value some of the time, but mostly they’re just necessary to fill voids in a reporter’s text.
They’re trite rituals. I get that.
Buuuuuuttttt…
They have meaning. They mean facing what’s happened.
The handshake is an acknowledgment of the opponent’s superiority and the fact they beat you fair and square. It’s telling someone who was better than you that they were, in fact, better than you. If you win, it’s a chance to smile or smirk while your opponent holds back tears.
Same with the press conference. The winners get to go in and talk about how excited they are, how well the team played, how the fans helped out, etc. The losers get to go out and make excuses.
Say what you want about the media and their role in sports, and how you don’t think players are obligated to address these fat slackers (I can say this, I’m a sportswriter) who never stepped foot on a competitive playing field. You may be right. But the media, and therefore these press conferences, exist because sportswriters give every fan out there access that the players would never give individually.Sports media talk to the fans about the team because players could never be bothered to actually deal with the puny fans.
Let me be more clear: In my time working in the NBA, I met maybe 10 players throughout the league that really, truly gave a damn what fans thought. Ask them to do anything – meet fans at a local event, walk around a hospital visiting sick kids, even to just sign a simple autograph after practice – and you get 20 minutes of whining and 15 minutes of trying to find a way out. It doesn’t make the players jerks (though plenty are), it’s just the nature of young, brash millionaires who have only been asked to do one thing their entire lives: hoop it up.
All any of them ever REALLY wanted to do was go home, play playstation and smoke weed. The ones in bigger cities maybe have more to do with their time, but by and large a players life consists of a couple hours of practice, a few minutes of team appearances or media responsibilities, Scarface on Blu-Ray and whatever weed the five cousins they live with can acquire.
It’s hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them,” James said Sunday after the team returned to Cleveland. “I’m a winner. It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them. That doesn’t make sense to me. I’m a competitor.
Fine, if you get jumped by the Westside Hoovers of Little Rock, and actually get physically assaulted, don’t get up and shake their hands. But when you lose a damned basketball game to a better team, suck it up. There’s always tomorrow to play Halo and smoke your cousins’ weed.
Contrast LeBron to tennis star Rafael Nadal, who lost at the French Open for the first time ever:
“It’s not a tragedy,” Nadal said. “I had to lose one day. I must accept my defeats with the same level of calm that I accept my victories.”
Nadal is turning 23 today; that’s a year younger than LeBron.
Like I said in my last post, this isn’t about the kids. My kids isn’t going to learn about being a man and facing what you’ve done from LeBron.
My problem with it? It’s easy to be Billy Badass when you’re winning. It’s not easy to face the music when you’ve lost. No one goes through life without adversity. Husbands come home after being fired. Wives fight on after losing their babies. Criminals step in front of the judge when they get arrested. All of these are things people face each day, and the little stoner can’t shake someone’s hand after losing a basketball game?
