Aggies: Be Bear Aware

I recently returned from a trip to Yellowstone National Park. It was an amazing experience where I was able to see bison, elk, wolves, and an abundance of other wildlife. Nothing was more interesting than bears in Yellowstone.

Bear Aware

Even if you don't see a bear, you see signs about bears. You are encouraged to be "Bear Aware" and learn how to deal with a bear should you encounter one. As an avid college football fan and Aggie graduate, I realized that what I learned in Yellowstone might be helpful to others who are following the A&M to the SEC saga. As a public service announcement, here are some things that I learned that I believe may help people properly deal with the rash of very public bear appearances recently.





Bears will Growl When Disturbed

First, bears do not react well when surprised. Hikers often wear bear bells to let bears know that there are people in the area. When a mother bear is caught off-guard, it tends to lash out at whatever startled it. Baylor President Kenneth Starr ("Papa Bear") and former Texas Governor Mark White ("Grandpa Bear") have done just that this week. In typical scared bear fashion, both have lashed out when the Aggies flirtations with the SEC became public. Kenneth Starr was apparently caught off guard by A&M's desire to look for a greener pasture. Starr cited the togetherness of the Big XII members last summer:

Of course, we celebrated with all Texans when the agreements were signed last year assuring a vigorous future for the Big 12, including even stronger ties among Texas A&M, the University of Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor University.

Assuring a vigorous future? Stronger ties? It seems that Starr missed the memo circulating among even the most casual college football fans that the Big 12 was poised to explode at any moment. No one knew when, but the ticking sound could be heard across the country. Yet, in spite of the unrest in the conference, Starr paints an unflattering picture of Texas A&M. He states that the Aggies are making a "rush to judgment" and hopes that "cooler heads can prevail."

A threatened bear is really more scared that anything. He growls, but he really doesn’t want a fight. Starr knows that the end of the Big 12 could be the end of Baylor's gravy train, but I’ll comment more on that in a minute.


Starr wasn’t the only bear on the prowl. Mark White is a little more direct in lashing out at the Aggies.
They don’t have to act childlike and run off somewhere … A&M has a responsibility to taxpayers in this state. If you can show me where the state of Texas wins on this deal, I’d like to see it. I thought we’d put this to bed for 10 or 15 years (last summer).
Waco either doesn't get the news on a regular basis or just flat can't interpret what the rest of us see plainly. The Big 12 is ailing and failing, so holding its stock is not a good idea. A&M is looking to sell before the value is dips lower. If the loss of big dog Nebraska and its sidekick Colorado doesn’t signal a downturn, I’m not sure what does.

Bears May Be Aggressive

A surprised bear may run aggressively at a hiker only to turn away at the last minute. A bear will make a loud noise by clamping his jaw down again and again in an effort to intimidate and scare off any threat. Bears don't usually want confrontation, but sometimes they get aggressive in the hopes of being left alone.

Enter Baylor graduate Ray Perryman and his Fantastical Fantasy Economics Impact Report. With the few days he had to prepare the "study" listing the economic impact of Texas A&M departing from the Big 12, the Perryman report managed to blame A&M for the economic collapse of Texas, the current market downturn, and any ill financial side effects of Obamacare. It is a marvelous read and will provide classrooms across America with an example of how to ruin your credibility with a poorly written document. Citing no sources and looking squarely at the costs of an Aggie departure, Perryman was able to provide a completely slanted and unsupported work explaining how A&M will ruin the Texas economy and cost Texans jobs. Never mind that another Texas school could be elevated to the Big 12 to take A&M's place to lessen any negative impact. Don't bother with figuring the economic boom that will result from increased SEC fan travel to College Station for half a dozen weekends out of the year totaling additional revenue in the millions just for football. None of that would help the wounded bear make his point. The Perryman Report is a desperate charge that falls short – way short – of doing any real harm to A&M’s changes of leaving.

Don’t Feed the Bears

The number one thing I learned about bears in Yellowstone was a catch phrase that the park rangers use. A fed bear is a dead bear. If you feed a bear, he will become dependent on a handout and will get into trouble. It is bear for a bear to fend for himself.

A Baylor Bear is a fed bear these days. Baylor wants the status quo because other conference members have gone out and killed the food and brought it back to Baylor for years. Football is the #1 revenue sport in the Big 12 and men's basketball is #2. While both sports are trending upward for Baylor (they went 4-4 in the conference in football and won a men's NCAA tournament basketball game for the first time in 60 years), the high water mark for Baylor is hardly enough to make up for being a bottom dweller in the league for marquee sports since 1996.

Baylor contributes little to the success of the conference’s flagship sport of football. The Bears have compiled a 18-101 conference record since the inception of Big 12 football in 1996. For this performance (just over a 15% winning percentage) Baylor pulled in $14.4 million to post a football operations profit of $1.89 million according to The Business of College Sports. That profit is used to run the successful tennis and women’s basketball programs at Baylor along with all other sports. Baylor failed to perform well, but yet it feasted on the fat of a successful conference.

But that is what conferences do, they share. If one school is down one year, it still gets to have a payday that it can try to convert into success the next year. Honestly, that success disparity in the Big 12 is the likely cause of the financial disparity. When only half of the teams have ever won a Big 12 football title and only two teams have won the crown in the past 7 years, the successful teams get a little tired of feeding the runts. Baylor’s outright last conference title was more than a generation ago in 1980. Before that, Baylor’s only other titles were in 1974, 1924, and 1922. Throw in a 5-way tie for the Southwest Conference title in 1994 and you have 5 titles in over 111 years of football.

While pulling the plug on the Bear’s money supply may seem unfair, as legal sports expert Kristi Dosh tweeted, “Texas A&M is not responsible for the local economy in Waco or Lubbock.” In fact, if an annual visit from either Texas A&M or Texas is the basis for funding the Baylor athletic department, it is time to diversify. Baylor was living in a financial happy place in the Big 12 bubble, but that when that bubble pops, Baylor will be sent scrambling. Every bubble pops. That is the nature of bubbles. Instead of trying to exist in a bubble forever, Baylor leadership would be much better off trying to build a solid foundation to weather the coming storm. Where will they live when the bubble bursts?

They have enjoyed eating because of the stronger conference members, but now one of those members is ready to move on to a conference where the revenue and the work are shared more equally.

Bears are Creatures of Habit

On my trip I learned that bears don’t like change. They roam the same areas, so if a bear was spotted in an area one night, there is a good chance it will be there again the next. Politics enabled Baylor to be part of the formation of the Big 12 in 1996 and they went to that well again this summer. What the Waco school does not realize is that the landscape of college athletics has changed while their leaders hibernated. Instead of looking for a good home when the conference explodes – or more accurately, implodes -- Baylor is content to keep their head in the sand and let other schools line their pockets. Baylor has been a punching bag for pay for the larger schools, but now one of those schools is tired of the fuss, tired of dealing with Texas, and is looking for a better deal.

Shame on Baylor for not charting their own course. They went back to a tried and true trick – appeal to "Baylor Nation" to involve the government in the process – but this time, it looks like it will have no impact. Silly ole Bear.

There have been many appeals to nostalgia to keep rivalries going for the common good. For Texas. For college football. For America. For goodness sake! TV money has changed the equation, so while the feel good notion of Baylor playing all of the regional teams for bragging rights is great, the TV powers want great match ups. A&M wants to leave for the best conference on the planet where every week brings a marquee game. The Bears may want the good old days to come back – personally, I love the old rivalries and even liked when everyone waited eagerly for a dozen bowl invitations to be extended in December to a handful of schools – but time marches on and Baylor needs to understand the new dynamic. Bears are creatures of habit, but they also need to adapt as the world around them changes or they risk becoming extinct.

If Baylor really wants to return to their nostalgic roots, now is the time to take action. Baylor can go start a conference of their own. Grab the University of Houston and talk to SMU. Try to get the band back together, if that is what you really want, Bears. What you’ll have is an incomplete band that look as pathetic as a second rate band touring well past their prime. And you will be missing a few key members. Some of the more successful members have parlayed that early success into something greater. They have moved on and won’t be coming back. Don’t expect Arkansas to jump at an invitation to your reunion tour. The SEC has worked out well for them financially, thank you very much.

So Aggies, be Bear Aware. Know the signs of a hurt bear. Know that a few bears will growl at you. You may even have a bear charge you only to turn away at the last minute. It is a bluff. Encourage the bear to find its own food and go on to do what you need to do.

Can't We Have a Civil Conversation?

Chris Wallace recently asked newly declared Republican Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann the hard-hitting question "Are you a flake?" Three Emmys and a Peabody award to his credit Chris Wallace stooped to that question? If he interviews our current President, will he ask an equally valid question "Are you a nut?"

Is Fox starved for ratings? Is Mr. Wallace starved for attention? Maybe he was just hungry thinking about a bowl of cereal and the flake question snuck out of his subconscious. Perhaps he was protecting his fellow Harvard attendee President Obama by trying to discredit any opposing party challengers.

Whatever the tactic, Mr. Wallace was clearly out of line. Or was he?

In 2008, Katie Couric interviewed Sarah Palin and the reporter seemed to want to be the story herself as the interview took on more of the feel of a sparring match. Ms. Couric can barely let Mrs. Palin complete an answer before jumping in with retorts like "Why do you say that?" and "But..." Should a reporter start a question with "but?" Between condescending glances, Ms. Couric reloads to take aim at her agenda which Mrs. Palin is standing in the way of, or so it seems. Ms. Couric has a point to make and the VP candidate is merely a vehicle for making that happen.

Reporters and politicians have gotten more bold and less civil. Matt Lauer had an aggressive interview with then candidate Barak Obama that is well beyond the line of what was once permissible in an interview. Watergate changed many things, but "the line" of decorum has seemingly moved radically over the past decade or two. Perhaps Bill Clinton's not-so-presidential answers fueled the desire for the media to lay into public figures more. "It depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is" and boldface lies about his Monica Lewinsky affair may have emboldened the media to dig a little deeper, question a little harder, and press a little more to get public figures to crack. In the meantime, they have visibly moved the line of civility, and there is little hope that the line will ever move back.

Padora's box cannot be unopenned. Once open, the world changes and it cannot be unchanged. Civility is being trampled underfoot of reporters eager to make a mark, prove a point, and get the story (nay, be the story).

As our civil rights grow, our civility wanes. How exactly does one wage a war on lack of civility? A war on the uncivil is an oxymoron, so it appears the spiral will continue. Our children may not understand what an interview actually is in politics. There are two people who either talk enjoyably in a conversation or two people with opposing views, one who wants to prove a point by any means, and the other who is only "allowed" by the social norms of politics to say so much. Perhaps that political restraint only serves to fuel the reporter who knows that the politician has to tap dance, but cannot stomp his foot or respond with anything more harshly than a composed smile. Otherwise the politician appears to be out of control, terse, and unfriendly and in a soundbite world, one slip is all it takes to do in a politician.

Maybe if we could trust politicians to tell us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, reporters wouldn't feel justified in being animals in interviews. Hmm. A little golden rule sure goes a long way, even in politics.

"Unions, HOAs, Rotary Phones"

Let's play a little Carnac. For those under 30 years old, Carnac is a character created by the late Tonight Show host Johnny Carson who would hold a sealed envelope to his head, devine the answer for the crowd, and then open the envelope to reveal the punchline question. So let's play Carnac.



"Unions, HOAs, and Rotary Phones" is the answer. The question is...rip..."Name three things that have outlived their usefulness." In a world of employee abuse by big business, people needed protection and formed unions to protect themselves, first physically and then to protect their interests. Now unions have unwarranted amounts of political clout, protect employees often to the detriment of the working base and the long term health of the company (which means it may not be around to employ anyone).



HOAs - Homeowner Associations (shouldn't that be a HA! not an HOA?) were formed to make sure that your neighbor didn't leave his dilapidated Jeep up on blocks in front his his yard because it might make your prize rose bushes look bad. Now, they do silly things like this:






http://beta.news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/homeowners-association-tells-veteran-remove-flagpole-154326848.html



Silly, American, trying to fly the US flag in front of his house on - of all things - a flag pole.



And rotary phones, well, at least they are fun for "when I was a kid" stories.

Lesser of Two Government Evils

Which is better the man who carefully spends his money, and only provides the basics for his family or the man who wants to hand his family everything even if he has to take money that is not his to do it?

Why are a fiscal conservative view and social awareness mutually exclusive in American politics? George W. Bush looked to be the best of both worlds to some, but he spent at record levels and made no progress on many important matters of the day (immigration law enforcement, medical insurance reform).

>> A couple of quick tangents here that deserve a good rant. The immediate issue on immigration is not amnesty, guest worker programs, or any other policy change. The fat issue that no one wants to tackle is that illegal immigrants are here (wait for it) ILLEGALLY. Against the law. They have broken the laws of the United States long before they are employed, receive medical attention, etc. The crux of the issue is that we need to enforce existing laws (come on, Executive Branch, that is your job!). Then, if we find them lacking, unwieldy, or in some other way flawed, we can set about the standard process of changing them. But we shouldn't change that we don't enforce, or who is to say that we will enforce any changes to that law? We need to respect and enforce our own laws and take it from there.

Health care? Everyone is up in arms about "health care reform?" No, they are not. Again, the topic is miscast. Health care is the maintenance of body and mind. This includes the more narrow medical care. A trip to the doctor, a hospital visit, surgery all fall under medical care. At this moment, I don't know that people being denied medical care is a problem in the United States. Walk into the regional hospital ER or the designated medical center that provides medical care to those without any insurance and you will find people who cannot afford to pay for medical procedures receiving them. So let's not frame the problem as "access to medical care" or "access to health care" as the politicians do. People can get medical care. Rich people, poor people, all races and creeds, and even illegal immigrants are receiving medical care. "Access" is not the issue.

No, politicians are not discussing 'health care reform" at all. They are discussing medical insurance. More to the point affordability of medical insurance. What started as a risk-reducing financial tool to hedge your bet against some big medical problem wiping out the family fortune (not matter how small) has some how turned into a Constitutional right for every red-blooded person who steps on US soil. Absurd, right? I can opt out of my medical insurance at work, if that is my choice. This is not a right, but a benefit. I am grateful that my employer sees fit to be competitive and offer a medical insurance plan to its employees, but I understand that they shouldn't HAVE TO just like I shouldn't HAVE TO participate. I don't buy any extended life insurance through my employer, but they offer it. Should all Americans be able to buy life insurance through their employer? No, not any more than my employer should be forced to adopt the benefit plans of any other companies that offer on site day care, country club memberships, or flight vouchers to their employees. Somewhere along the road, the federal government has taken the freedom of a "good idea" and forced it on everyone turning it rapidly into a bad idea. I would use the example of how it is wise to save money, but it would be absurd for the government to force people to save money, but then two thoughts crossed my mind. First, Social Security already exists, such as it is. And second, I read yesterday that our federal government is considering starting a $500 saving account for every newborn in America (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Coming-Soon-500-for-Every-usnews-3217986354.html?x=0&.v=1). Once again, a good idea individually acted upon can lose much of its value when it is institutionalized. <<

This leads nicely back to the main point. If the government believes that everyone should save (a good idea), why must it turn a blind eye to the fiscal ripple effect of giving ever child born in the US $500. Aside from the cash outlay -- the less non-essential money in the hands of the federal government the better if you want the money handled well -- what about the social ramifications of this? Will some parents continue to produce children for $500 accounts? Will illegals stream across the border in even greater numbers at the prospect of their child being born in an American hospital for free and qualifying for $500 when they are here illegally when other legal immigrants and American citizens have to go into debt to pay for their own child's birth and a portion of the illegal immigrant's birth?

Our freedoms are being sapped away almost as quickly as our dollars and I don't see America getting any better as a result of either one. The current trend is to bite off so much more than we can pay for with social programs run amok. So again I ask, must social awareness be blind to the cost of "helping?" Must those who manage money well ignore those in need? I don't think these have to be two camps on two different ends of the see-saw, but I have yet to see a leader emerge who seems to get this balance right. As a whole, the federal government badly misses the mark. We need to vote the politicians out of office and vote in fiscally responsible leaders who care, genuinely care, about the people who put them in office. That is change we could all use.

Let's face it, there are a lot of games on the web. There are Bejeweled, Bedazzled, be frazzled. Games can take from a few minutes to a few hours to days and even months to play. With all of the games out there, I wanted to take the time to review two of my favorite game sites. I have wasted my time looking for the good ones so you don't have to waste yours. Stick to these and you'll be on the right track.

My two favorites are (drumroll please)...........

Short Game Category: http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/
Long Game Category: http://www.evony.com/index.do

Orisinal.com
First, the short games. These Orisinal (not OriGinal, mind you, but Orisinal) games are amazing original. The site has a collection of sixty different games, each one distinct from the others. The games are all artistically rendered with a variety of music that is taseful and often even soothing. The games are each creatively inspiring. One game called "Pocketful of Stars" has a young girl who jumps to collect stars. Simple enough, right? Well it is very simple, yet elegant. Everything from younf girl's reflection, to the sound of the twinkling stars, to the hypnotic piano music in the background make this a real delight to play.

Another fun romp on the site is CATS. Try to get all of the cats to either walk or stay put at the same time to earn points. Conceptually easy, this is game can get frentic as ill-behaved cats are added as you go. Once again, the jazzy little tune that accompanies the game is offers the perfect balance of peppy jazz while not pushing you over the edge as it loops like so many other games sites might do. It is great balance, and it makes for a delightlful mental break when working on the computer all day. There are 58 other games on the site that I didn't even mention, each with its own personality, so find a few that suit you. You'll be glad you did. These games are from age 5 to 105, so the whole family can play them.

Evony.com
Evony is my pick for the long game category, and by long I mean empire building. This is the opposite of the cute little 2-5 minute games above. To get the most out of Evony, buckle up and settle in for the long haul. Evony is an empire building war game with thousands of players.

Evony is a spectacular balance of so many factors it is hard to know where to start. The makers of the game know that it is complex, so they gently guide you through building your first city by providing quests for you. Each quest is not only beneficial to you as you build your town, but it is instructive as well. It teaches you very direct lessons, like build cottages to give your townspeople a place to live. It also teaches more subtle lessons, like balance between the production of the four kinds of resources. There is a real science to some parts of the game, and a real art to others. You can come up with your own strategies (Should I start a second town now? Should I dedicate my second town to producing only food?)

There are so many ways to play the game, it will keep you coming back for the strategy, the drama (we are going to war against a powerful alliance, but our friends are jumping into the fray with us, and the quest to grow your empire. One of the best features of the game is the Alliance. If you find a good alliance of active players, it can really open up the world of Evony to you unlike anything else you can do in the game. A good alliance will share information, resources, even troop reinforcements when necessary. They will teach you diplomacy, the art of war, and how to balance your production. They may even give you tips for keeping resources safe during an attack or how to raise a lot of money quickly without stirring your townspeople into a revolt.

After playing Evony for over 3 months now, I'm not sure if it is the strategy or the sheer will to increase my empire that keeps me coming back each day. As appealing as both are, I honetly think it is the people. Evony is populated by some incredibly friendly people. In my alliance, I have met some find folks from Australia, Canada, and Texas. We chat about the game in the Alliance Chat Channel, but also stray onto questions about each others' lives. One player is a wonderful Italian chef, another works in a bookstore halfway around the world from me, and still another is within a few hours of me and works at a nuclear power plant. Talk about diverse! We learn from each other increasing our game skills and our life experiences as we play. We have debated the finer points of hot topics in the world all while building our towns up together. There are highs and lows as you conguer and are attacked, but it is the wisdom of your alliance that helps see you through it all.

Even the small touches in Evony are nice. There are translucent clouds that float past the fields of your city. There is a multi-tabbed area that shows you your resouce levels, hero roll, troops, and fortifications all at a glance. Your population, gold, and loyalty are alway shown rather than having to dig for them in other games. The interface is clean, the quests make sense, and the amount of help available from the gamemakers, the forums, and from other players is outstanding. Evony even shows wisdom by protecting beginning players from attack until they have a chance to get a feel for the game and check off a good number of the quests.

If you have the fortitude to build and empire somewhere on the web, build it in Evony.

Bold Predictions for College Football

Rarely does the team that is the favorite for that national title go wire to wire. The target is too large and, in the case of Florida, the competition is too good. Running the SEC guantlet is tough without getting some bumps and bruises. Last year, Florida's downfall was an Ole Miss team on the rise. I'll beat the Gators didn't have that one circled on the calendar, but the Rebels did.

This year, the competition doesn't look as tough for the Gators with a road game at LSU being the toughest weekend on the schedule, but all it takes is one stumble sometimes. I think this may be one of those years. I am going to go against the considerable tide and I'll leave Florida out of the title game. Foolish? Probably, but I am doing it anyway. Much stranger things have happened. I hope that one of LSU, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, the SEC West Champ, or a rebounding Florida State will be able to tame that Gator. I have nothing against Florida, I just want some new blood in the title game.

So, who does that leave? Don't stray outside of the SEC. Alabama? They have a steady Virginia Tech and a fiesty Ole Miss on the road, a home date with LSU, and a trip to Auburn. That's a lot of chances to stumble, and I think they will stumble somewhere along the way. The Crimson Tide can play down to their opponents as evidenced by a few squeakers last year (home wins by 3 and 4 points against Kentucky and Ole Miss, an OT win over LSU and an embarassingly close 2 TD win over Tulane (!?) at home). They went undefeated until the SEC title game loss to Florida. Teams don't go undefeated in back to back seasons, they just don't. It is a tremendous feat to do it once, but to do it again with a rebuilding offensive line, it's just too much to ask.

Georgia then? They have a full slate in the SEC East plus LSU and an opener at Oklahoma State. Their tangle with Florida is in the Swamp. They won't run that table, not with a new QB at the helm. He is a talent ready to pop, but that is the weight of the college football world he would be feeling as he takes the field on Halloween against the big orange and blue machine of Urban Meyer. Boo!

So....LSU? They have the skins on the wall, they will be rebounding from an off season. They seemed to lose their spirit after an emotional loss to Alabama as they stumbled and bumbled their way through the fog at the end of their schedule. Expectations have been lowered by some, but they are still a Les Miles team and they are only two years removed from hoisting the national championship trophy, so schools like Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi know better to take them lightly. The Tigers will win the lion's share of games on their schedule, but this will not be another chance to prowl into the National Championship game on January 7th.

Give up? How about an up and coming program with a few skins last year slaying big boys Florida and Texas Tech. They kicked it into gear in the second half in a close loss to Alambama, but after that they steamrolled their way through the schedule and a Cotton Bowl win in convincing fashion. They have a couple of key ingredients from last year (confidence, a teeth-rattling defense that can pressure the ball, and the ability to look the best in the country in the eye without blinking) that, if they can continue to hit on all cylinders this season, they could find themselves in an SEC title game for the first time since winning the conference in 1963. If they can pull of a win there, it could be on to Pasadena for a shot at a national title for the first time in almost half a century. Before you scoffers scoff, check out their schedule. It sets up nicely for an SEC school. They have 4 early tune-ups before the Crimson Tide comes to town, and you better believe that the Rebels have revenge on their minds. If they can clear that considerable hurdle, they have Arkansas, Auburn, and Tennessee before squaring off against LSU in what could be the last hurdle for them before the SEC title game. Remember, Ole Miss beat LSU in Baton Rogue and pushed the Tide to the limit in Tuscaloosa last year, so two wins or a split is not out of the question.

Yes, they would likely have to play out of their minds to beat Florida, but last year they did it. They would be mighty big underdogs, but I think that is exactly where they would want to be going into the game. Ole Miss starts the year as #10 in the USA Today poll, so if they take care of business, they won't have many teams to leapfrog to get to the top.

So who is a worthy foe for the Rebels in the national title game? Texas, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State will all spoil the party for each other. I'm not convinced that any of them will emerge from the Big XII race unscathed, but Texas has the best chance of the three. They have the weakest non-conference schedule of the three teams by far, but I'm not sure they can take care of business against Oklahoma, Missouri, and Oklahoma State in Stillwater on three consecutive Saturdays. USC? They play in an improving Pac 10 with Oregon and Oregon State gunning for the Trojans. Add to that an early road date for a new QB at Ohio State and a mid-season visit to South Bend against a Fighting Irish team fighting for their coach's job, and this may not be the best USC season we have seen this decade. I look for Ohio State to spoil the party early which will give Southern Cal plenty of time to cliumb back up the rankings, but there will be one hurdle they can't overcome.

What about the Buckeyes? They have been there before and they bring a boatload of talent to the table. If they can beat USC, Ohio State can likely walk through the math-challenged Big 10 until Novemeber 7 when they travel to Happy Valley for what may be their only loss for the year. The Nittany Lions of Penn State have only two ranked teams on their slate and they play both Iowa and Ohio State in Pennsylvannia. Compared to the other teams discussed, that is a cake walk. Starting from the #8 spot in the USA Today poll, they can watch the teams ahead of

them fall by the wayside as they hold server week after week. When the dust clears and most other top teams are prepping for a conference title game, Penn State can kick their feet up, polish their Big 10 crown, and wait to see who they will face in the Rose Bowl (the stadium, not the game) on January 7th. Penn State has the best shot at an undefeated season of any of the major teams this year, inlcuding Florida.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Virginia Tech. Somehow, they get left out of the discussion time and time again. Virginia Tech deserves better. They have been the steady Eddie of the Division I schools. People forget that Frank Beamer has lead the Hokies to 4 BCS bowls since 2000. They have the misfortune of playing slightly better teams as they escape with narrow losses in most of those games. They lost the national championship to undefeated Florida State in the Sugar Bowl in 2000 after leading through three quarters. The Hokies' furious 4th quarter comeback against an undefeated Auburn team who felt burned by the BCS system fell just short as they lost the 2005 Sugar Bowl 16-13. In 2008, they fell 3 points shy of Kansas (11-1) in the Orange Bowl, before beating Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl last year. With as much respect as I have for the defensive-minded Hokie squad, Alabama, Nebraska, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and even Boston College provide too many potholes on the way to a national title.

So there you have it. I am boldly going where no man or woman outside of State College, PA or Oxford, MS dares to go. My bold prediction is an Ole Miss / Penn State natioanl title game on January 7, 2010. It would be great to see two schools about 1000 miles apart make the trek to California to duke it out for the top spot in the country. That would really stoke the BCS reform fires, but both teams have a veray reasonable path to get there. Check back in about 4 months and we'll see who is still standing.

Director's Cup

There is an all-sports award in college athletics that is given to the school with the most combined points from all NCAA championship sports at the end of the school year. It sounds great and I am a big fan of having an all-sports champion. That is a great measure of the success of a school's athletic program success (we'll ignore graduation rates for the moment because that, while it should be more important in the life of a student athlete, is on the academic side). I only have one beef with the Director's Cup, but it is a big one.

If your favorite college has an ski team, raise you hand. How about men's gymnastics? Anyone for a rifle team? In a room filled with graduates from across the America, few hands would go up for any of these sports. This is the problem I have with the Director's Cup. A minor sport like women's bowling carries the same weight as a sport with much higher participation like basketball. I'm not here to convince you that basketball carries more weight than bowling because you already know that, but I do think it offers a tremendous advantage to merely participate in as many sports as possible.

This is why Stanford wins the Director's Cup every year. Are they truly the best athletic program in the country? No. They are good, but they just field a team in almost every sport known to the NCAA and in the Director's Cup, participation is more than half the battle. Here is an example of where Stanford's winter points came from in 2008-09. They lead all schools with 631.25 points in the winter sports. That total includes 100 points from men's gymnastics for winning the national championship. While that is an impressive accomplishment, it is important to know that 16 teams in the country field a men's gymnastics team. That is about the same as winning your conference in football, basketball, or any number of other large participation sports. Do we really equate being valedictorian of a 16 person class with being the top graduate of a school of 345?

My answer is "no" so I am setting out to find who is truly the best college athletic program in the country by offering up a revised Director's Cup. My award will be given to the school that has the best overall showing in major college sports. I want to name it after major figures in college sports over the years. The first names that came to mind are legendary college coaches Paul "Bear" Bryant and John Wooden, so I'm calling the award the Wooden Bear Award.

Okay we have a name, now let's define some parameters. According to the NCAA website (http://web1.ncaa.org/onlineDir/exec/divisionListing), there are 348 Division I schools as of this writing. If you have fewer than 30% of schools participating in (or "sponsoring" in NCAA speak) a sport, I think you have to call that a minor sport and there is no room for any minor sports when competing for the Wooden Bear Award. I am eliminating any sport with fewer than 100 schools fielding teams which puts us a little under the 30% mark, but we all like round numbers so let's go with 100. For simplicity, I am keeping the same scoring model as the Director's Cup. That model awards 100 points for a national championship and goes down from there based on how far into the playoffs a team got, where or not they won a conference title, etc. At the end of the school year, after all of the Director's Cup points have been tallied, I will be able to determine who wins the Wooden Bear Award as the best major sport college athletic program in the country.

I will post the results here when I calculate them. All I need now is corporate sponsorship and this could really take off! All kidding aside, I do think this is a better indicator of which college athletic programs are returning the best results when facing the best competition. While I don't know that this happens, a college could cherry pick a few sports with lower participation rates and try to load up on point that way. Let's say women's bowling (32 schools), women's rifle (8), women's water polo (33), men's water polo (22), men's volleyball (23), and men's gymnastics (16) would be my sports. While teams from my school would still have to win to produce points, I think winning those would be a far cry easier than winning in men's and women's basketball, football, soccer, track & field, and tennis where sponsorship rates are very high. Do you stand a better chance being the valedictorian in a school of 8 or a school of 340?