RunninUte81

Boo hoo hoo.  Someone doesn't agree with me.  I'm so sad and offended.  How dare someone disagree with my ideas, morals and viewpoints.  Somethings just shouldn't be questioned.  Independent thought has no place here.  I'll force my ideas upon you, but how dare you force yours on me.


Grow up.

On my way to work this morning I was listening to Mike and Mike and they got into the topic of who the most powerful/influential members of the sports media world are and Greenburg decided it was the crew from the ESPN college gameday.  I got thinking about this and thought he's probably right (although guys like John Madden, Bob Costas and Shannon Spake are other possibilities).  This is quite disheartening.  The fact that 3 blatant, outright BCS c*ck-suc . . . um . . . homers could essentially be determining college football championships is scary in the ramifications.  When you look at the SEC homerisms, the Pimp/Whore relationship with USC and the pandering to the fans that this group weekly display, it's no wonder that if you're not an already established dynasty or one of Herbstreet's or Corso's flavors of the month, you'll never get any respect from them.  I may be in the minority here, but when a supposedly objective sports analyst goes on worldwide broadcast and says: "I don't care how good you are, if you're not BCS you don't deserve to play for a title", that sounds pretty biased, and honestly, outright crooked to me.  Think about that for a second.  No matter how good you are, hypothetically you could have a team made up entirely of NFL pro-bowlers and if you were in the MWC, WAC, C-USA, etc. you couldn't play for a national title in these guys' eyes.  That is a shocking thought.  Now, I know many people will think that the above quote was simply hype or overstatement, but there is truth in all statements, especially ones hastily made like the one above.  Why should a conference hold a team back from national championships,  isn't the best really the best no matter where they are or who they are.  Isn't that the definition of best?  Shouldn't the best, the actual best be considered and a determination made on who is in fact the best.  Why the subjectivity?  Subjective standards and stats and information are used by those that have something to hide.  Objective stats, standards and information are used by those that have nothing to hide and honestly seek the truth.  Without a playoff incorporating all division 1 conferences college football is fooling itself, it's lying to itself and the fans.  It is cheating all those who work hard and believe in equality and a meritocratic system.  The current BCS system is just another version of crony-ism, a disgusting tool used by those in power to oppress those they don't like while rewarding themselves and their close friends.  If you want a true champion, play it out on the field.  The only problem is, that many BCS conferences don't want to play it out on the field, they don't want truth, they are happy with the way things are.  Why, you ask, well look at the current state of the ACC, Big East and Pac10 as examples, these conferences are terrible and with teams like BYU, Utah, Boise State, TCU, Tulsa, etc. playing very good football in conferences that are having strong years, having equality and an open system would hurt those 3 previously mentioned BCS conferences.  They would lose money, in their eyes, because these other teams would be stealing their payoff nut.  The BCS is an old fashioned monopoly.  Monopolies used to broken up in the best interest of the American public, however the BCS is allowed to continue to the detriment of the people, the sport and those that have been taught that through hard work and determination you will be rewarded.  Under the current system the best a non-BCS school can hope for is the crumbs.  The BCS supporters point to the Consolation Bowl, I mean the Fiesta Bowl like it was some grand honor bestowed on a worthy little brother, when in fact it is really just a pacifier shoved in the mouth of non-BCS schools in the attempt to shut them up.  The BCS is just another manifestation of how those with power seek to consolidate it, without providing access and benefits to those without it, no matter how deserving they are.  And this attitude of crony-ism is reflected in governments around the world.  How can you expect the best without demanding the best?

A lot of sports radio and writing personalities have been very critical of fantasy sports and the people that play fantasy sports.  Guys like Scott Van Pelt and Colin Cowherd in particular, but not limited to them have gone on record and made @ss fun of f people that play fantasy football.  Here's the problem, they are making fun of people that enjoy playing a game.  It's the equivalent of making fun of someone because they enjoy playing softball or basketball on the weekends or making fun of someone who puts a lot of time and effort into his car or his yard.  One of the major points that these talking heads frequently bring up when they want to bash fantasy players is the following: "if you could run or GM a team, you'd already be doing it, not playing fantasy football"  This statement is patently false.  Many fantasy players are very intelligent, successful people who have chosen different life paths than going into sports management, this has no bearing on whether or not they could actually do it successfully.  Honestly could the average fantasy football player do any worse than Matt Millen, Al Davis, Scot McCloughan or Jay Zygmunt?  Also bear in mind just how smart fantasy sports players can be and the impact they can have on the sport.  I'm thinking specifically of Bill James and the effect he's had on baseball, and he was a guy that started out doing stats analysis for his roto baseball team.  I also thinking that many in the sports media world feel some threat from so called "fantasy geeks".  These fantasy players that take the game seriously tend to be quite bright and very, very well informed and many times seem to know more about the current situation in football better than the average sports radio host.  Besides, how valuable are these "personalities" when really all they do is spend a 3 hour radio show talking about how Brett Favre is still adjusting to the Jets offense or that Tom Brady's injury will affect the Patriots season.  Here's a news flash for these guys, we know all that crap already.  While Tirico and Van Pelt are droning on about what color tie Tony Kornheiser was wearing most fantasy players are looking at the effect that Samari Rolle's sore shoulder could have next week against the Steelers.  I'm getting the impression that more valuable and insightful sports analysis is happening on blogs and fantasy sites by fans and fantasy players than on ESPN, fox sports, CBS or the NFL network.  Hopefully these sports providers will wake up and figure out who's buttering their bread and give credit where credit is due.

It seems to me sports radio keeps getting worse and worse.  Most national and many local (at least here in Utah) are spending less time talking about teams and players and coaches and leagues and more time talking about who's dating whom, what they ate last nigh, what party they are going to tonight and other gibberish like that.  I DON'T CARE.  I don't care that you ate sushi at Nobu last night Derek Jeter.  I don't care that you met Jeremy Piven last week.  I don't care who Tony Romo is dating or who A-Rod is h*mping.  I do care how Rashard Mendenhall looks in the OTAs,  I do care that the Athletics have pick up a stud minor league triple-A second baseman, I do care about the up coming season predictions for the Big10 football season.  If you sports radio guys can't or won't do that, why should I listen to you?  Here's a news flash for you, I listen to sports radio FOR SPORTS NEWS AND INFORMATION not updates on your bowel movements.

Well, if you haven't heard the news, the Athletics are rebuilding.  Trading away Nick Swisher, Marco Scutaro, Dan Haren among others in order to load up on young, unproven players who are expected to develop into solid guys over the next few years.  As an A's fan this is mildly depressing, but not totally unexpected.  As a small (SMALL) market team the A's have to keep a serious eye on the ole bottom line, at the least until the new stadium is done.  However, being a team that has some serious success behind them (#3 in World Series wins) the A's are expected to compete year in, year out.  Obviously rebuilding and winning the series rarely (if ever) go hand in hand.  So what is an A's fan to do?  Well, if you are the kind of fan that is really into the team and not just the win/loss results, then now is the primetime for watching the genius that is Billy Beane.  If he really is the innovator that 'Moneyball' claims he is, then the future for the A's is about as bright as its ever been.  Beane has made many moves before, most of which have been very beneficial.  But this round of trades is different, this is a big, huge, massive amount of movement by the A's, if this group of new guys is as successful as past trades were, then Billy Beane has set a huge benchmark for what other teams need to be looking for and at.  However, if Beane has set the ship sailing in the wrong direction, then will Moneyball come under increased scrutiny?  This is a big fork in the road for the Athletics organization: new guys, a new stadium outside of Oakland proper, Moneyball madness.  Will the A's push the small market teams to the forefront, or will they be just another Kansas City?

Playoff, its the only answer.  You want a real national champion, get a 16 team playoff with all conferences represented.  If this was the NFL and no team from the AFC and NFC west could ever play in the SuperBowl, no matter what their record is, would the NFL still be valid?  NO!  If this was baseball and no team from the NL west or NL east could ever play in the World Series would the MLB still be valid? NO!  If this was the NCAA basketball tournament and no team from the Mountain West, WAC, C-USA, Missouri Valley, etc. ever play in the tournament or the final four no matter how good their record was, would March Madness still be valid? NO.  So then why is that BCS conference schools are the only valid participants for the national title despite the fact that they (in theory) are competing against teams from non-BCS conferences?  If you are really so confident in you conference's supremacy, put up or shut up, play it out, let a real champion be crowned, stop hiding behind you Bull Crap System and let your play do the talking for you.  And don't give me any of this crap about this student athlete stuff.  Those football players (especially at top programs) spend about as much time on classwork as Snoop Dogg does sober.