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Monday, December 28, 2009

The BCS

It is college bowl season once again and that means it is time to talk about the BCS. It works this way, 90% of sports writers and commentators talk about how the system is broken and how the fix is easy. The other 10% think that the system is just fine. I am in neither of those camps. I am in the camp that says that the system is broken and the fix is not easy.

The problem with the current college championship is that the field is not fair. There are so many teams, and so few games that can be played, and that is what keeps the from a real championship from being played. Most people say that there needs to be a "Plus One" Four team playoff or an eight team tournament.

Right now there are two official NCAA Division one subdivisions, The Championship Subdivision, Also known as the old division I-AA, and the Bowl Subdivision also known as old division I-A. The big schools like Florida, Penn State, Ohio State, USC, Cal and Stanford are all Division One Bowl Subdivision schools.

On top of that there is a second sub grouping within the Bowl Subdivision, The BCS conferences and the non BCS conferences. There are three different groups of teams for two different championships. That is kind of screwed up. The non-BCS have no reliable way to win the championship. Even if they are the only team that goes undefeated there is no guarantee they will get to play in a Championship. The problem is that even if a playoff is started, there is still no guarantee a non-BCS school will get the chance to play for the title.

I think that many of these issues can be handled. The question is how do you want to handle them and what your goals are. Is the point to find the best college football team in the land? Is the point to find the the team who had the best season? Is the point to be fair to all the teams who compete? It seems like the point of the current BCS is to keep the big schools happy.

If I was the king of College Football here is what I do would do.

Make 8 BCS conferences. I would keep the six that are already there and add the WAC and the Mountain West. All off the rest of the conferences would go down to the Championship Subdivision.

I would make all conferences have 14 teams. They would all have two divisions. This would reduce the number of teams that would be demoted to to the Championship Subdivision.

BCS teams could only play other BCS teams. No more playing the Smaller Schools for extra home games. I think using games to play teams like Troy, Western Michigan or Florida International. I would add challenge series where the teams of the same level in other conferences. Like the third place team in the Big East will play the third place team of the PAC 10

All conferences would have a conference title game. If a team does not win their title game, they cannot get into the playoffs. Even if every other team has two losses and you have only one loss that is your conference title game, you lost the wrong game. You will not have a title.

At the end of the year have an eight team tournament and bowl games.

I know all of this is crazy, but it would really fix what is wrong with college football. I think it would make for better college football in the long run. There would still be more things to fix, but it is a good start.

Labels: bcs, college, college football

- Rich, 6:48 PM

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

the twelfth of the big 10

The question is, should the Big Ten add another team. I think the Big Ten has to add another team. I think if they want to be a top football conference in the BCS. Right now the Big Ten is in the second tear of the football conference. I think they need a twelfth to keep up with the SEC and Big 12.

Yes I am a Big Ten fan. I have been a Big Ten fan since Penn State Joined the Big Ten. I was a Penn State fan because my mom went to Penn State. So that frames everything I want to say about a twelfth school joining the Big Ten. I think that Penn State lacks a natural rival in the Big Ten. I thinking Penn State having a natural rival would be great for the Big Ten.

Of course everyone thinks Noter Dame, but it will not happen. Noter Dame does not realize it will never be a power again without a conference. They will not join a conference until they realize that.

Here are my top five schools to join.

5. Syracuse

This is an easy choice. Yes moving from the Big East to the Big 10 would be an upgrade. It would also make it easier on their basketball team.

4. Rutgers

Also the easy choice. It moves the big 10 into the New York City Media market.

3. Pitt

This is the once everyone thinks is Oblivious. I think it would be good for the Big 10, but might hurt Penn State.

2. West Virgina

This would hurt the Big East as a football conference and help the Big Ten. It could make the Mountaineers a national power.

1. Maryland

I think this would help the Big Ten the most. It would give it a bigger spotlight in the south and move Maryland back into better football competition.

Labels: college, college basketball, college football, list, tag overload

- Rich, 8:35 PM

Friday, May 25, 2007

Breaking Into Stanford

Both the local ABC and Fox station did stories about the Sanford Student Impostor, Azia Kim. It was big news that a girl pretended to be a Stanford student for almost a year. My first reaction to this story was, good for her. At 18 years old someone can make a mistake like this without it ruining her whole life. I think that she has to be admired at least a little for trying this.

I am hoping that she does not have too much legal problems from this. I hope it does not hurt the rest of her life. From reading and watching stories about her the school wants to come down hard on her. I guess they think they look bad and do not want other kids to try this. I can see why Stanford does not want to be seen as an easy mark.

If Azia Kim's life was a movie, it would end with Stanford admitting her after her impressing a dean or students holding a rally for her. This is not a movie and I doubt she will set fort on Stanford's campus for long. If I was a college looking for a little publicity I would offer to admit her to my college. I doubt that will happen either. I hope things work out for her. I know that ethics are important, but You can see her as someone who is willing to think outside the box to get what she wants. there are lots of people who see that as a good thing.

Labels: college, Stanford

- Rich, 5:21 PM

Friday, August 18, 2006

What ever happened to Izzy Benzick

I went to college with a women named Izzy Benzick. Izzy was her nickname, but it is how I always think about her in my mind. I think her first name was really Isabella, but I cannot be sure. I cannot find her when I search on the web for her. I post this entry so that one day she will find it and get in touch with me.

If you happen to know Izzy let her know that I am wondering how she is doing.

Labels: college, Izzy Benzick, self

- Rich, 6:03 PM

Saturday, July 15, 2006

The Oddest Thing

Old Friend
Originally uploaded by earthdog.

The oddest thing happened to me last night. A woman walked up to me and said she knew me. I looked at her and drew a total blank. She said that we went to Millersville University. together. At that point I totally remembered her. Ok, not totally, I drank way too much beer in college.

I never run into people I went to college with. Milliersville has about 7000 undergrad students, putting on the small side of medium. It is a state college and the type of place where you go to and come back to your hometown. You might end up in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, or Baltimore. It is news when someone ends up in NYC. The last time I saw an alumni map there were 50,000 alumni in Pennsylvania and Maryland combined, 47 in California.

We talked for a little while. She said that she grew up in the Bay Area and she knew she was going to live here again someday. She is working for atom films. When she sends me an e-mail I will update this entry. I can remember her name, but I cannot spell it.

Since I have moved out to San Jose she is only the fifth person I have seen from Millersville. I think I have only seen twice that number people from Millersville since I left school. I have never seen it as a place in my life that I need to keep connecting to. Being on the west coast makes that easy.

This week I will be seeing my first college roommate. I had three that lasted any length of time. We are still good friends. We will talk about college and the people he still keeps in touch with. I have a really bad memory about college. There are lots of stories that I do not remember at all. It will be good to see Jimmy, but I do not care all that much about reliving the past.

Labels: California, college, flickrpost, Millersville, past, self

- Rich, 11:18 PM

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Women and Men in college

New York Times: At Colleges, Women Are Leaving Men in the Dust

Every year or so I see a story like this updating the state of men and women in college. The jist of the story is that women are doing better in college. It is getting to the point where women are doing much better.

Professors interviewed on several campuses say that in their experience men seem to cluster in a disproportionate share at both ends of the spectrum — students who are the most brilliantly creative, and students who cannot keep up.

'My best male students are every bit as good as my best female students,' said Wendy Moffat, a longtime English professor at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. 'But the range among the guys is wider.'

From the time they are young, boys are far more likely than girls to be suspended or expelled, or have a learning disability or emotional problem diagnosed. As teenagers, they are more likely to drop out of high school, commit suicide or be incarcerated. Such difficulties can have echoes even in college men."

This does not surprise me. My experience in college and high school was like this. Men were at the top of the class, but women made better grades on average.

There is also an economic rationale for men to take education less seriously. In the early years of a career, Laura Perna of the University of Pennsylvania has found, college increases women's earnings far more than men's.

"That's the trap," Dr. Kleinfeld said. "In the early years, young men don't see the wage benefit. They can sell their strength and make money."

I am not sure what to make from this? I think it is good for America that grades to not equal income. School might help you get ready for work, but it is not the same thing. I am not sure what this will say for the future.

I wonder if I am going to hear NPR shows about this topic? What do feminist think about women doing better in college? What does the average liberal think of this? Will I see this story in the next week on the 24 hour news network? How will they treat the story?

Tell me what you think.

Labels: college, education, Feminism, gender, men, New York Times, NPR, women

- Rich, 4:54 PM

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Paint A Vulgar Picture

Courtney sent me the link about The Passion of the Morrissey. I told her not too long ago that I used to be a Morrissey fan. Along with my friend Andrew Nock, I was the guy who in college did a radio show during spring finals playing four hours of just Morrissey and the Smiths. I was the guy that would drive two hours to find an our of print single. My guess is that I am not going to surprise anyone by writing this.

It is funny. That was a long time ago. I had one of those moments where I could stop being a fan. A had been such a big fan for a long time, but it seemed to all wash away in a single moment. I still have some old Smiths and Morrissey albums. I still tell people that How Soon Is Now is my favorite song of all time. I just do not conceder myself to be a fan anymore.

Sometime I will write about the time I met Morrissey and why I am no longer a fan. I will save that for some other time. What I do know is that Morrissey is all Aura. It was a little heartbreaking when I found out he was not the person on his albums.

Labels: Andrew Nock, college, Morrissey, music

- Rich, 11:41 PM

Tuesday, July 09, 2002

Old Friends

I just sent an e-mail message to a person that I have not been in contact with for years. He was one of my old college friends. I had totally fallen out of contact with everyone I knew while I was in college. I actually feel like I have been excommunicated from that crowd of people. Maybe I am taking it a little hard. I currently speak to no one from Millersville. I wonder what that says about my college days.

Labels: college, Millersville, self

- Rich, 12:12 AM

Saturday, December 08, 2001

Cover Songs

One of the guys in my office has recently tipped me off to his cover song website. I was really happy when I saw this site. I used to be the king of cover songs when I was in college. I would end every fall semester with a four hour radio show of nothing buy covers. By my senior year I could only play about 10% of the covers I had found.

I have nowhere near the record collection I used to have in college. A lot of those cover songs are never to be seen again. I am going to make a CD of songs for this web site. I might have enough songs to get my own section on the site. That is one of my projects for this weekend.

Labels: broken link, college, cover song, music, self

- Rich, 8:55 AM

Friday, October 26, 2001

They Call Me Mr. Pathos

Taken from the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
Pathos-
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek, suffering, experience, emotion, from paschein (aorist pathein) to experience, suffer; perhaps akin to Lithuanian kesti to suffer
Date: 1591
1 : an element in experience or in artistic representation evoking pity or compassion
2 : an emotion of sympathetic pity

When I was in college a guy gave me the nickname Mr. Pathos. The nickname says something about the way I view art and how I feel about creating art. It was my sophomore year in college. Most of the people in the broadcasting department knew me by this time. They had seen most of the broadcasting projects that I had done. I was starting to build a reputation as a reliable person to have on a video shoot. I had technical skills and I knew how to solve problems. These were important skills at a University where the equipment was out of date and never seemed to work.

I was also starting to build a different reputation also. I was taking Advanced Television production. My first two projects were very emotional. They were not like the projects being made by the rest of the class. the first project was one minutes about having an ear infection. The second was a poem that I had written. Most of the people in my class where playing with comedy. I was making one minute art films.

At the time I did not feel that I was good at being funny. I did not feel that I could make a good project that was light-hearted. I felt the best project I could make was too turn the emotion way up. I felt that I could make a really good project if I tried to get to peoples' hearts. It applied to my artist sensibility.

I received the nickname Mr. Pathos for an editing project. Everyone in the class was given the same footage of our professor kicking a 50 yard field goal. I took the score from Born On The Forth of July. I read a script of the kicker reliving past glory. It was best described as sappy. This guy Chris called me Mr. Pathos after that. I found that nickname both to be a but of an insult and a badge of honor at the same time.

I tell this story because I feel that I still have many of those same artist sensibilities It might be a little worse now because I am mostly writing about myself. I am not hiding the way I feel about things behind the veils or fiction. Everyone who reads Sad Salvation knows it is about me. There is no other persona for me to hide behind.

I feel good when I write something really emotional. It excites me to spill my worst emotions out on a page. Maybe I am using this web log when I should be going to therapy. It still feels good to get all these things out. I am not going to write about the times I feel happy. I do not understand those moments as well as I understand the things that make me upset.

With a title like Sad Salvation, how can I be anything but Mr. Pathos. I am going to keep writing things where my emotions spill out all over the page.

Labels: art, college, pathos, self, story

- Rich, 9:50 PM

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