It of course is that time of year again where everyone wants to complain about the College Football Championship system. should LSU be in the Championship game? Is THE Ohio State University really worthy after playing such a creampuff schedule? Wouldn't either USC or Oklahoma kick both teams collective asses with their starting Quarterbacks healthy? These are all valid questions. But the question everyone seems to ask and no one seems to answer honestly is; why can't we settle this with a tournament? You'll the ADs and Head Coaches give the same horse shit answers, they'll claim that the season would be too long and that we're dealing with student athletes who actually need to go to class. Well let's be honest, they don't really NEED to go to class, in fact I doubt very highly that more than 5% of the "student-athletes" make it to all their spring classes when the season is over. If a tournament can't happen, then how do Division I-AA, Division II, and Division III all figure out how to make it work? The reason that the bowl system is still in tact and that we can't figure out who the real national champion is every year is the same reason that the United States is so reliant on oil. Money! More specifically it's because the people in power don't want to redistribute the wealth. It's not that there wouldn't be more money involved with a tournament which determined the national title. The television revenue would be through the roof, they could have a huge bidding war with multi-billion dollar contracts. The problem is that the money would have to be given to the schools in the MAC and the WAC, not just the six power conferences. Sure, Boise St. and Hawaii have gotten their hands on a small share of the big prize in the last couple years, but that is still a rarity. The truth is that if the eliminated the traditional bowl system, even the teams in power would probably make more money with a tournament, they could figure out ways to include the bowls by letting them host certain tournament games. Of course the people from the Big Ten or The Pac Ten would never vote against their old cronies at the Rose Bowl. So what's best for the game, and what's best for the NCAA as a whole has to take a back seat to what's best for the people who already have the money and the power. Maybe that's why College Football is the most popular game in the red states.
Okay, enough for my heavy handed diatribe. It was heart-breaking for me to see Boston College lose in the ACC Championship against Virginia Tech. Boston College outplayed VaTech in the the first half, but somehow managed to go into half-time tied at 16. This was a very bad sign and the bad vibes came to fruition when Virginia Tech scored two late touchdowns to run away with it in the end. Maybe it was just good kharma for VT who suffered that tragedy last April, or maybe it was bad kharma for Boston College who for all intents and purposes chased away a succesful coach who ran far and away the most academically sound program in the country. Who knows what forces made things go the way they did, but it was a crushing defeat for any BC fan because the Eagles probably won't be getting back there anytime soon. They have only one more game in the Matt Ryan era, who in terms of college performance is probably the second best player to call Chestnut Hill home. It's not very often that the Eagles have the best anything in college football, let alone the best Quarterback. I've enjoyed the way BC played this year, and Jeff Jagodzinski seems like a good guy, more suited for the college game than the pros, but the jury is still out on how well Coach Jags will do at building a program by recruiting top talents and coaching them up. He had a great year with Tom O'Brien's old troops, I just hope he can keep it going and build on this year's success.
One other thing in the news, Johan. I have to admit that trading for Santana is the smart move. I'd rather not trade Ellsbury, Lester, and Buchholz, but even if it took all three to make the deal, it would probably be the right move. Deep down I'm hoping for one of two scenarios. First scenario involves santana being traded to some team that the sox barely ever play, i.e. Los Angeles or Seattle. The Dodgers would be my first choice, that way the only time Santana could hurt the sox would be the very unlikely world series showdown. Supposedly both of these teams are in the hunt, and even if Seattle got him, I don't think they'd have enough to be a force in the AL. The next acceptable scenario would involve the Yankees having to give up all of their young players for Santana. If they had to give up Hughes, Chamberlain, Kennedy and Melky, I'd have faith in the Sox to be able to beat them in the playoffs even if not in the regular season. (Maybe throw in Cano as well.) Granted this would give the Yanks the ace they've lacked for years and it becomes scarier with today's news that andy Pettite will be back; but the Sox could still beat them. A-Rod is still the guy who chokes every year, Jeter is still the most overrated "star" in baseball and it's not like Sanatana was unhittable last year. The most fun part of this scenario would be watching the Yankees deplete their farm system all over again and keep grabbing up all the veterans with high price tags whose careers are headed for a nosedive soon. I enjoy watching the Yankees with the four highest paid players in baseball come up short, so next year could be fun if they trade for Johan, maybe just for my kicks he could blow out his arm or something. I guess my greater point is that I'll enjoy the Red Sox more next season if they're being helped by a bunch of younger homegrown talent than if they bring in the latest great mercenary.
That's all I've got for today other than to say that no matter what anybody says, Jennifer Love Hewitt is fine as hell. I also wanted to throw out the link to Funny or die. It's a constant source of enjoyment fo me. Also, for anyone who is really bored out there yuo can play these great games, Raft wars, or Age of War. They are both a phenomenal waste of time.
Til next time...
-Bender Out
