Tebow te-blows.

Dear Denver Broncos Fans,

You got what you wanted.

I hope you are enjoying the results.  The Lions are using words like embarrassing to describe the performance of your "annointed one".

Here's the thing... It bugs me with Tebow fans, it bugs me with fans in general. 

You are a FAN.  Period. 

The guys coaching in this league, they've dedicated their lives to it.  They spend, literally, over 60 hours a week preparing for a game.  They spend weeks of time in training camp going over the playbook, the concepts they are trying to teach, they see every drill of every practice.  And still fans think they know more?

It's insane.  Tebow, I'm sure is a great young man.  Everything I've read about the guy says he's a wonderful human being, a hard worker, and he has a great attitude.  I even respect him for how he's handled himself.  Seems like a good guy.  Seems like the kind of guy you want to succeed, I get that too.

However, here's the thing.  He was drafted by Josh McDaniels, (who critically wounded the Denver Franchise with his horrible drafting) who has this year left and turned Sam Bradford into a terrible player.  The Broncos hired John Fox ( no stranger to qb controversies, or poor qb-ing), who after a few weeks of fall clamp actually had Tebow as the third string quarterback.

So the Broncs go out and stink it up for a few weeks with Kyle Orton (who I admit, leaves alot to be desired) and the Bronco fanbase starts frothing at the mouth for Tebow.  He leads a slight comeback against the chargers to fall short in a relief role.  Then he is named the starter.

In his first start of the season, the Broncos miraculously defeat the Dolphins in OT.  I had a Middle school student pass me in the hallway 3 times last week talking about "Tebow Magic".  The funny thing is, the Dolphins have won exactly 0 games this year, and their best chance to win one was actually provided by none other than Tebow.

So, you are facing the Lions.  Losers of 2 in a row, barely won the two before that, and playing on the road, in your "high altitude", without their best running back (Jahvid Best).  Not to mention playing against Tebow.  They humiliated you. 

I'm not a football coach.  Never have been.  I've never even coached Junior High level football, and if I can see from the couch, that this guy is terrible, he's not very good.

People who claim he needs more time, really need to understand something.  Cam Newton is playing at a much higher level, ran the same offense as Tebow in college (and to be honest, he ran 3 seperate offenses his 3 years of "college"), Timmy spent his entire career in one.  Andy Dalton ran a similar style of offense at TCU and he is also outperforming Tebow.  Another thought, neither Dalton or Cam had an offseason of workouts with their teams, like Tebow did before his rookie season.

I'm not against Tebow either.  I know there are "Tebow-haters" just like there are "Tebow-lovers", I don't count myself among either of those groups.  I just don't think he's very good.  I think the fans are much more embarrassing.  What's the old line from Bill Polian, "If you let the fans make your decisions, soon enough you'll be sitting with them."  Makes sense to me.

The point is this, and it's pretty simple.  Stop acting like "know it alls" and embarassing yourselves.  It's ok to have passion.  It's ok to support your team.  It's ok to want them to win.  It's gotten to the point of ridiculousness, though.  People who haven't even played the sport criticize the coaches.  People who have never coached a sport in their life are making "proclamations" about what their teams should do.

Here's what you should do.  Cheer for your team.  Cheer as hard as you want, wear facepaint if you want to.  Hope, Pray, do anything you want to "help the team win".   Enjoy it when the team wins.  Maybe even tease your friends who cheer for the opponent.  Be disappointed when they lose.  But don't act like you know better.  You don't.  You just don't.

Are you hearing me Charger fans?

Bloggity, Bloggity, Blog

What do you do when you have a blog, and opinions on everything, but really have nothing to say?

Like the NBA Lockout...  I'm really unconcerned.  Maybe that should be the message to Mr. Stern and his owners.  WE DON'T CARE.  And this is coming from a recent convert from "NCAA Basketball is the best" to "the NBA is better".  The NBA has too many games anyway.

The BCS mess.  I used to have a solution for this.  Before all the conferences went crazy.  Now, I don't have any idea what to think until all this conference swapping stuff settles down.  I do think the fact that they don't have a playoff is asinine.  Dear NCAA Conferences... figure it out.  Get yourselves together in a room, and come up with a plan.  Then, come up with a playoff system.

The World Series.  I hope the Rangers win. For the following reasons:
1.  I'm a Cubs fan, and the Cardinals are the Cub's main rival.
-although it's not much of a Rivalry, the Cardinals OWN the Cubs.
-I'm not that dedicated a Cubs fan, or baseball fan for that matter.  I lost interest about mid-June the past two seasons.
2.  For Ron Washington and Josh Hamilton.  Not because I am or was an addict.  But because that's simply an uplifting story.  I tip my cap to anyone who has overcome addiction and take their place on the highest level of their profession.
Otherwise, I really don't care.  In fact, the Cards could win the whole thing, and I'd probably be over it by the time I shrugged and said... "Hmm".

Maybe I should get upset and rage against something, like the lunatics on fan message boards, but I really don't have the emotion.  There are some very messed up people out there whose priorities are completely out of whack.  Personally, I think if you're that upset because a coach/player/gm/referee did something you didn't like....  You should really get a grip.

The Republican Presidential Nomination?  I'm not impressed with any of them.  I did like Jon Huntsman, but he's about in dead last place.  I do think Rick Perry comes across as not very smart.  Notice I didn't say he wasn't smart...just he appears that way.  He's probably smarter than me, OK?

Occupy Wall Street?  I guess it's kinda cool.  I like the idea of "taking it to the streets".  But why are they doing it?  Because big, mean, businesses do big, mean, things?  Ok.  I get it.

I like Google+ better than "the facebook".  But no one is switching.

I'm sort of excited to see Beavis and Butthead return.  But then again, I won't be too upset if I miss an episode or two. 

Did you see this year's ESPY's Arthur Ashe Award Winner - Dewey Bozella?  You should watch it.

What is wrong with Rivers?

OK, as a "blogger" I don't want to spend too much time talking about my favorite team, because most people don't care.  However, I think this week I'm going to break from that line of thinking to address something that's on a lot of people's mind.

"What is wrong with Philip Rivers?"

Let's look at this historically.  Rivers took over as the Chargers starting quarterback in 2006, his 3rd year in the league.  That was the 14-2 season, and Marty Schottenheimer's final season as a head coach.  Also was the season that LaDanian Tomlinson won the NFL MVP and broke the record for touchdowns in a season.  Rivers in his first season as a starter, threw 22 TD's and 9 interceptions.  He wasn't a world beater, but he took care of the ball and didn't make many mistakes.

The next season, Norv Turner took over as the Head Coach, and Rivers had a different play caller.  He played like it, with 21 TD's and 15 interceptions.  People forget that LaDanian still led the league in rushing this season, and the Chargers finished the season 11-5.

In 2008, his third season as the starting QB, the Chargers fell to 8-8.  You would think that Rivers passing stats would reflect that, but they don't.  He actually improved greatly as a passer, setting a career high in touchdowns (34, leading the league) and only 11 interceptions.  The Chargers had begun the transition to a passing team.  It was becoming evident that LaDanian Tomlinson was not the player he once was, and Rivers basically carried the team to the playoffs that season.  He also led the league in passer rating, yards per attempt, and TD%.  He was NOT voted to the pro bowl.  (Fans are idiots)

In 2009, the Chargers finally turned the team over to Rivers and he responded well.  Throwing for 28 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.  Once again leading the league in yards per attempt, and scoring a qb rating of over 100.  2008 wasn't a fluke, it looked like.

2010 Rivers became a man.  With star WR Vincent Jackson holding out almost the entire season (he played 6 quarters), TE Antonio Gates missing multiple games, #2 WR Malcom Floyd missing several games, and a brand new running back(Ryan Mathews) who struggled in pass blocking and pass receiving, Rivers led the league in passing yardage with 4, 710.  He completed 30 TD passes with 13 interceptions, while throwing to guys from the practice squad (Seyi Ajirotutu) and signed off the street (Kelley Washington). 

As the current season approached, Charger fans and NFL analysts alike were anticipating great things.  "If Rivers can do that throwing to practice squad players and unsigned free agents, what's he going to do when his gets his full cast of receivers back?" was the common thinking. 

So here we are, 6 games played into this 2011 season, and Mr. Rivers has thrown only 7 TD's and 9 interceptions.  His QB rating is the lowest it has been since he became the starter.  So what gives?  Why is someone who has consistently been one of the top performers in the league struggling all of a sudden?  Most of his receivers have been healthy, and the running game has been more effective than last year.

Some common thoughts are the following:
1.  Norv Turner is at fault.  He calls the plays.
2.  Antonio Gates has been injured again, and only played in 2.5 games.
3.  Rivers is pressing.  He's trying to do too much.
4.  He MUST be injured.

Here's what I think...  it's probably a little bit of each of these things.
1.  Norv's playcalling is always worse earlier in the season than it is later in the season.  I don't know why, I'm just calling it like I see it.  I also think some of it is how defenses play the chargers and they see what worked last year, and copy it.  Norv seems to take a while to figure out how to "combat" those issues.  Once he does, lookout, but until then, they are a very frustrating team to watch.  What I have seen teams doing this year, is alot of what the Raiders did last year...blitz up the middle, and man up tight on the WR's.  (This also works much better when Gates isn't in there dominating people in the middle of the field)
2.  Gates injury has had a tremendous effect on the Chargers Red Zone efficiency in particular.  He's the most reliable target down there, and they've played the majority of the games without him down there.
3.  I think Rivers has the idea that, well if I can throw multiple TD games throwing to Kory Sperry, Randy McMichael, Kelley Washington, and Seyi Ajirotutu, I'm gonna be able to KILL it, with Vincent Jackson, Malcolm Floyd, and Antonio Gates.  He's simply taking more chances than he used to.  I think Rivers led the league in "no one's open and I'm gonna get sacked so I'm chucking this out of bounds" passes for several years.  He needs to go back to that.
4.  I've heard a few rumors that he got "dinged up" in the Patriots game (week 2).  That is very likely.  He took a couple good shots to the ribs in that game.  And it's not like the team hasn't been dishonest about his physical condition before.  Shoot, in 2007 he played the AFC Championship Game WITHOUT his ACL.  No one knew that beforehand.  It's very possible he was hurting up until the bye week (weeks 3,4, and 5).  This past weekend...two picks, sure, but one of them was deflected.

I think we'll see an improvement as the season goes on.  For all the picks he's thrown this year, and he's on pace to throw more than he ever has (as many already as he threw in ALL of 2009), he's still never thrown 3 in a game.  Also, and I don't know why this is, but ever since Norv Turner has been the coach, it seems like the team waits until "crisis point" to "turn it on".  Rivers and the Chargers although they haven't played great on offense, are still 4-2 on the season.  I'm not sure they've hit the "turn it on" button yet.

 Tune into Monday Night Football, on Halloween night and see if the "revival" starts then.

My Top TV ... Bromances?

Urban Dictionary defines a "Bromance" as  "Describes the complicated love and affection shared by two straight males."


This is a fairly new term, as I can never remember hearing it back when I was a teenager and the ladies wore their hair BIG.  You know, that "Aqua Net Hair" from the 80's?  We didn't have "Bromances" back then.  I mean I guess we had them, but they weren't called that.  


I have no idea of when the term "bromance" started, but I felt relieved in seeing that it was the "Urban Word of the Day" on Urban Dictionary in 2006 and 2009.  It's relatively new term, but one that has become pretty quickly absorbed into the popular culture.  


Every time I read about a new show, or movie, or anything involving two males that get along, I see the relationship as being described as a "bromance".  And "Bros", to our credit really don't seem to mind.  It's become an accepted description of male relationships.


What is the appeal?  I think for most, the idea of having a close male friend that you can rely on is kind of a fantasy.  Not a fantasy as in impossible, but rather a fantasy as between work, marriage, children, children's activities, family stuff (inlaws, weddings, funerals, etc)  and perhaps some "workout time".. we really don't have much "guy time".  Thankfully, the wonderful television people in the world have provided us with a great group of "bros" that we could hang with from our living room.

So I thought it would be "fun" to make a "Top Ten List of TV Bromances".  I was wrong.  It was tough.  I had to develop a set of criteria to eliminate certain elements, and then I also had to decide how to rank the group I settled on.

MY Criteria -

•  no relatives ( sorry to Frasier and Niles and any other set of brothers), 
• Comedic duos only ( apologies to Crockett and Tubbs or Starsky and Hutch),  
• no kid shows (sorry Drake and Josh and anything else from Nick or their ilk)

Honorable Mentions:

• Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski (South Park) - I really wanted to put these guys in the top ten.  However, I'm not really comfortable describing 3rd/4th graders as a "bromance".  Cartoon characters or not.
•  Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement (The Flight of the Conchords) - probably the funniest duo that I left out of the top ten.  Just not enough "material" to include them.
• Seth Cohen and Ryan Atwood (The OC) - A teenage bromance from probably my favorite of the "teen dramas".  And technically, not comedic, although they were funny.
• Boss Hogg and Roscoe P. Coltrane (The Dukes of Hazzard) - True they weren't equals, but they were bros before they were called "bros".
• Kirk and Spock (Star Trek) - really wanted to put them in the top ten as well.  But, Spock is an alien.  Can an alien and a human have a bromance?  And yes, I know Kirk had sex with aliens.
• Brian the dog and Stewie Griffen (Family Guy) - Again, they are a great on screen couple, but can a dog and a human baby qualify as bros?  I think not.
• Tim Taylor and Al Borland (Home Improvement) I think if Tim would have been more accepting of Al, they might have made it.
• Vince, Eric, Drama, Turtle, and Ari (Entourage) - These guys should probably make the list, but I can't have a Five Way Bromance going on, that's just wrong.

10.  Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang Theory)
I wasn't going to put these guys in the top 10, because they spend about 90% of their time in disagreement.  However, Leonard puts up with Sheldon's rules, regulations, etc, etc.. when I don't think anyone else could.  Plus they go comic book shopping together, they have "HALO night", they are I'm sure, what every nerd wished he had in a bro.  And as bad as Sheldon is as a roommate, he is a pretty good bro.  He not only learned to accept Leonard's relationship with Penny, he continued his friendship and actually strengthened it with her, after her and Leonard split.  Some would say that's not true "Bro" behavior, but everyone knows that Penny and Leonard are still in love with each other.

9.  Marshall Eriksen and Ted Mosby (How I Met Your Mother)
Marshall and Ted were roomates under the following circumstances:
a.  College Roomates
b.  College Roomates with a steady girlfriend (Marshall and Lilly)
c.  Adult Roomates with a steady girlfriend
d.  Adult Roomates with the steady girlfriend/fiance (again Lilly)
e.  Adult Roomates with a wife!
f.  Adult Roomates with a wife, and the other guy is engaged.

  I'm not sure there's anything that can break up this Bromance.  Including Barney, who continues to "make a move" on Ted to be his "best friend."  Ted and Marshall will always have each other, and have made some tremendous "Bro Moments", who can forget their occasional "Pizza Runs" to Chicago?

8.  Danny Tanner  and Joey Gladstone  (Full House)
Imagine you wife dies and leaves you with some children to raise.  Who do they decide to have move into the house and "help out"?  Well, "Uncle Joey" of course!  Seriously.  That's some pretty strong Bromance going on.  I don't know a single dude who would actually do this (He wasn't really their Uncle).  And yes, they did bring along John Stamos as "Uncle Jesse" as well.  (Jesse was supposedly his former wife's brother).  Let's put it this way... if there wasn't such a strong connection, why did Bob Saget write a song entitled, "Danny Tanner was not Gay"?

(Video Not Safe For Work)

I rest my case.

7.  Norm Peterson  and Cliff Clavin (Cheers)
Norm and Cliff hung out next to each other, at the same bar, nearly every night for 11 years.  Despite their obvious differences, they make this friendship work.
a.  Norm is married, Cliff is not
b. Cliff is gainfully employed (United States Postal Service) and Norm usually isn't.
c.  Norm is generally loved by everyone, Cliff is not.
d.  Cliff is amazed with "little known facts", Norm not so much

Basically what held them together was a love of Beer, and living vicariously through their hero, Sam Malone.  Can two such simple things keep a "Bromance" going?
Yes, yes it can.

6.  Benjamin Franklin Pierce and John McIntyre (M*A*S*H)
Some may argue that BJ Honeycutt would make a better bro than Trapper John, after all they spent more episodes together (187 for BJ, only 74 for Trapper).  However, in the world of "Bro-hood" there is a certain chemistry that must occur.  Although Hawkeye and BJ were close, I don't think they became as close as he was with Trapper John.  In fact, BJ's first episode on M*A*S*H when Hawkeye drove halfway across Korea to say goodbye to Trapper, who was being sent home.

5.  Dwight Schrute and Michael Scott (the office)
What would the office be without the Bromance of Michael and Dwight?  Well, judging by this year's episodes, pretty boring.  No matter what was happening in the office, no matter what crazy scheme Michael came up with, Dwight always had his back.  And although it seemed that Michael was always looking for something better than Dwight, he never found it.  Not amoungst his male coworkers, not with his female coworkers, not anywhere.  As far as "Bromance Capers" go, there are probably too many to mention, but who can forget these two scarfing down fetticini alfredo before the "Cure for Rabies" 5K.

4.  Balki Bartokomous  and Larry Appleton  (Perfect Strangers)
The story of Balki, an immigrant from the imaginary island of Mypos, who moves to the big city(Chicago) to live with his "Cousin Larry".  Larry, of course had no idea he was coming, who he was, or why he was on his doorstep.  Whether Larry and Balki were actually related is under some debate.  Wikipedia says that they are "distant cousins", but I seem to remember an episode whether Larry actually had Balki's heritage researched and found out that they actually weren't.  Regardless the two engage in tons of mayhem and hilarity, and they would be lost without each other.

Balki is so happy to be in the top 5, he wishes to do the "Dance of Joy".

You know how they keep re-making old tv shows into movies?  Charlie's Angels?  Starsky and Hutch?  etc, etc..  Sombody out there needs to make "Perfect Strangers" the movie.

Why hasn't anyone in Hollywood thought of this?  As Balki would say, "Don't be ridiculous".

3.  George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld)
Friends since Junior High, George and Jerry served as the bedrock for the greatest television comedy of all time.  For whatever reason, these two guys stuck together, through thick and thin.  Mostly thin.  It was George who coined the terms "Relationship George" and "Independant George" and how men have two sides to their personalities.  It's funny because it's true.  To list the various events of George and Jerry would probably take an entire website.  However, we can be assured of the level of "bromance" here, because an entire episode "The Outing" was devoted to a story of Jerry and George being a gay couple.
Not That There's Anything Wrong With That

2.  Joey Tribbiani and Chandler Bing  (Friends)
Here's how we know that Joey and Chandler had a lasting "bromance".  When Chandler and Monica go house shopping, because they want to move to the suburbs and raise a family, they make sure the house has a dedicated "Joey room".  These guys were so close, they kind of take turn being Ross's best friend.  Chandler helps Joey through his early years as a struggling actor.  And it's never more clear how much these two need each other than these two scenarios:
a.  When Joey becomes "successful" and moves out to his own place, and they are both miserable.
b.  When they tried the spin-off TV show, Joey.  What WAS that, NBC?  I mean, they didn't even show 8 of the Joey episodes.  It was that bad.

It seems pretty simple to me.  Joey needed Chandler.  and likewise.

1.  Christopher Turk and John 'J.D.' Dorian (Scrubs)
Where to begin with these two?  Their shared love of "Sandford and Son"?  How they play "World's Most Giant Doctor"?  How about "Find the Saltine"?  Maybe... how they share a dead stuffed dog together (Rowdy)? 

Much like Marshall and Ted above they started living together while in college AND, Turk and JD continued to live together AFTER Turk got married.  When JD moved out, Turk and Carla started having marraige problems.

And for the following other reasons:
a.  Carla openly wonders, more than once, if her husband loves her as much as he loves JD.
b.  JD openly calls Turk "chocolate bear", Turk - doesn't mind. 
c.  If you google "chocolate bear" the first answer is Christopher Turk.
c.  When Turk and Carla get engage, JD runs around them in the park with sparklers.
d. There is a Drinking Game - where you have to drink every time Turk and JD have a "gay" moment.
e.  They rode a tandem bike - the first day of med school
f.  A facebook page called:  I have always wanted a friendship like Turk and JD had.
g.  The following scene:
J.D.: [JD and Turk are lying on the ground] Why are we lying in the parking lot?
Turk: Your hook shot knocked you unconscious and I lied down next to you so everybody would think we were chillin'.
J.D.: Oh. Thanks S.C.B. By the way I should tell you something. I found an apartment and I'm moving out the day after tomorrow.
Turk: Wow. What does S.C.B. mean?
J.D.: Super. Chocolate. Bear.
Turk: I love it.

For all these reasons and more...  they brought us.. the one... the only.... the video "Guy Love"

In addition if you follow them on twitter, Zach Braff and Donald Faison, still act and talk that way about each other.  It's quite hilarious.  Or possibly disturbing.  Whatever.

Congratulations to our #1 Bromance, and thanks to you for reading this entire thing!

Top 5 of the last 5.

No this isn't the "post" I aluded to yesterday.

It's just taking me a very long time to write, so I thought I throw something really short out there for consumption.

So, without further ado, these are my "Top 5 Bands from the last 5 years".

Note:  This doesn't mean these bands didn't exist five years ago, just that I hadn't heard of them or listened to them.

Top 5 of the last 5:

#1  Silversun Pickups - I have never, not once, heard a Silversun Pickups song, and thought "I want to listen to something else".  To me, that's #1 status.

#2 Vampire Weekend - Snobby, preppy, etc, etc... call them whatever you want.  Their first album was great, and their second album was even better.  I'm excited for them to release some more tunes.

#3  The Gaslight Anthem - just straight ahead rock and roll.  What I like about these guys, is that their music sounds kind of timeless like, it wouldn't sound out of place in a movie set in the 70's, 80's or today.

#4  Foster the People - these guys came up with the catchiest song for this year.  And maybe the decade.  Very strong debut performance.

#5  Mumford and Sons - these guys were on my Amazon.com "reccomendations" list for about a year.  I never listened to them.  Then I saw them perform on the Grammy's last spring, bought their album and been listening to it ever since.

I realize that many people will disagree with my list.  I'm going to try really hard to give a darn.  I love these bands, and hopefully someone out there will hear or listen to someone they haven't heard before.

Patience...

is a virtue.

I have a great blog post coming up.  OK, well good.

Well, let's not get carried away.

Anyway, I like it.  But I haven't been able to finish it yet.  Been too busy.

And it's taking me way too long to write.

Books, Books, and more Books.

For those of you out there who are literary fans, here are some books that I have read lately.

I am currently reading "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand.  Absolutely fantastic book.  The book chronicles the life of Louis Zamperini, who was a famous schoolboy distance runner, made the Olympic team in 1936, and served in WWII and was captured as a POW by the Japanese.  I'm only halfway through this book, and I can guarantee that it will be one of the top two books I've read all year.

Secondly, "Drive" by Daniel Pink.  Really interesting look at motivation.  As a teacher and former coach, I'm always fascinated by what makes one person more "driven" than another.  The book is great and I highly recommend it to anyone in athletics or education.

My wife bought me, "Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely.  It is not a book that I would have purchased for myself, but she bought if for me, since I had enjoyed "Freakonomics".  Ariely is an economist at Duke University (which gave me some pause, just kidding Dukies) and basically studied why people act and do things the way they do.  It was kind of like Freakonomics meets Drive, to be honest.  A lot of stuff on motivation in there.  If you enjoy that kind of thing, it's a good book.

The "classic" that I read this year was "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas.  Each year I try to read a book that is considered a "classic" and although this one took me FOREVER (almost 2 months to finish) it was a really good book.  Actually one of the more enjoyable "classics" that I've read.  I've still got "War and Peace" sitting there on my Kindle, but I think my next classic will be "Don Quixote" by Cervantes.  I've actually started reading this book twice, but I never got very far.  Both times I tried to read it at school for reading time, and I think I just need to download it to the Kindle and read it at home.

Sports Book:  "Born to Run" by Christopher Mcdougal is just an amazing read.  If you are a runner, want to be a runner, or aspire to improve your running, this book is a Must Read.  Very informational, inspiring, and interesting book.  I tore through this book in about 4 days over Christmas Break last year.  I'm thinking I'm going to read it again at the start of the "New Year" so I can hit the ground running.

Lastly, if you are a reader and you don't have a Kindle or an e-reader yet, you really need to get one.  Kindles are now selling for $79.  And no, I'm not paid by Amazon.  The price is great, and the device works awesome.  I love mine.  I'm also intrigued by the Kindle Fire which is basically Amazon's version of the iPad.  But much cheaper.  Although if I was to buy a Kindle Fire it would be primarily used as a web browser, I'll keep my Kindle for reading, thank you very much.

(PS.  Amazon.com... if you guys want to send me some money for all the links... I'd happily accept)

:)

Musings on pop culture Friday and FB Weekend

Watched the last four episodes of season 2 of Louie last night.  What an amazing show.  The season actually ended like a month ago, but I had them saved up on the dvr for a night when I could control the television.  What a great program in television for adult men.  Gentlemen, if you're married or were married and have kids, you should really give Louie a shot.  Funny, intelligent, and yet it's serious at the same time.  The Afghanistan episode alone should be "Must See".

I was going to find a clip to post on here, but there are too many too pick from.  Just click on the website above.  There are some full episodes available at the site too.  Great show.

New Band To Me:  the Joy Formidable

After I got done watching Louie, I was flipping around and saw these guys on Letterman.  They really put on an excellent performance.  So, I got out the laptop and looked them up.  Really enjoyed what I heard from them.

Here is there video for "Whirring" which is the song they performed on Letterman.

College Football thoughts for this week:
The Red River Rivalry game is this weekend.  Texas vs Oklahoma.  I know Texas is much improved this year, but I'm taking Oklahoma big time in this one. 

Nebraska gets to play Ohio State this weekend, to try and get over the beatdown that Wisconsin threw on them last week.  Earlier in the season I thought this was a sure Nebraska win, but yikes, they need to fix that defense.

My South Dakota State Jackrabbits will try to end a four game losing streak at Youngstown State this weekend.  While I'm hopeful that this will happen, I'm not very optimistic.  It's been a rough season in Jackrabbit land, and Youngstown is much improved this year.

Also it sounds like TCU is now going to join the Big 12.  I think this is a good move for both TCU and the Big 12 Conference.  However, this probably isn't the best new for the Big East, who are reportedly prepared to go on without TCU.  This would bring them back up to 10 schools, but then word got out that Missouri would really like to join the SEC...  stay tuned to that soap opera... as the Big 12 turns...

Tebowmania
This weekend my San Diego Chargers will travel to Denver to play the Bucking Tebows.  I'm actually hoping he gets to play this weekend.  Mostly because that means the game is a blowout.  But also because he really isn't that good, and all the people that are clamoring for him to play need to get to watch it.  The Chargers defense has been surprisingly good so far this year, except in the New England game.

Speaking of New England, they get to play Mark Sanchez and the Jets this weekend.  Be interesting to see how the Jets respond after the pounding Baltimore put on them last weekend.  If the Jets lose this one, they are 2-3 and on a 3 game losing streak and falling far behind in the playoff race.

NCAA FB say what?

OK, I'm just going to come out and say it, NCAA FB makes no sense whatsoever.

The Big 10 has 12 Teams.

The Big 12 has 10 teams.

The ACC has 12 teams, but soon to be 14 as Pitt and Syracuse are leaving the Big East.

The SEC has 12 teams, but soon to be 13 because Texas A & M are leaving the Big 12.
So the Big 12 is down to 9 teams?

The Big East has 8 football schools, but two are leaving, so 6.  But TCU is joining, so 7.
(Because when you think big East, you think Forth Worth, Texas.)

The Pac 12 is looking to expand.

The SEC is looking to expand.

The ACC is looking to expand.

The Big 12(9) are looking to expand.

The Big East is looking to expand.

The Big 10(12) is not looking to expand (at this moment).

Notre Dame is an Independent.

I've heard talk, that it would end up something like 4 conferences of 16 teams, and that they would leave the NCAA and then have their "national playoff".

But that doesn't make any sense.  Don't the presidents of the Universities have to vote to change conferences?  And isn't it the presidents of the Universities who want to keep the Bowl system because of the money they make?  So why would they leave a system that makes them money?

How could you have a "FB Tournament" without Notre Dame?  I'm no Irish lover, but I do have an appreciation for that University's tradition in football.  And I think college football is better when Notre Dame is good. 

Also, what would the four conferences be?

ACC, Pac 12(??), SEC, Big 10(12), and Big 12(9) all make sense, but that's Five conferences. 

Some say the Big 12(9) should just die out, and then the other conferences (Pac12, SEC, etc) can raid the remaining schools to fill out their rosters.  And while I admit that having Kansas and K State in the Pac 16 sounds kind of dumb, so does Colorado.

Plus Texas and Oklahoma want to make the Big 12 work.  And let's be honest, those are the real jewels of the Big 12. 

 

According to an espn article today, the Big 12(9) have agreed to share tv revenues.  So, they then want to expand.  Who do they want to join?  Well let's have a look at the contenders:
BYU (Independent)
Louisville(Big East)
West Virginia(Big East)
Cincinatti (Big East)
South Florida (Big East)
Boise State (Mountain West)
Air Force (Mountain West)
TCU (Mountain West but soon to be Big East)

I did not mention Connecticut because they are already being linked to the ACC.  And to be honest if you look at the basketball part of it, UConn belongs in the ACC if Syracuse and Pitt are going.

So, what's going to happen to the schools in the Mountain West?  The WAC?  The MAC?  Conference USA?  The Southland?

I mean if these so called "Super Conferences" form, what will "the rest" do?  Will they be forced to move down a class and join the FCS?  Will they form another, seperate league or division between the "Haves" and the current FCS schools?

It's all a giant confusing mess.

No wonder you can't figure out a playoff, you can't even figure out who is going to be playing who.