Canespace

You Want To Talk About PLAYOFFS?

This college football season more than any other demonstrated the fact that the whole BCS system used to determine the National Championship may be better defined with only two letters and neither of them being the letter "C".  The 2007 season set a record for upsets and top 5 teams losing to unranked opponents and simply begs, no literally SCREAMS for something to be done about this whole mess.

Many have tried to offer solutions and have even proposed a playoff system like other college sports such as basketball and baseball.  Yet most of these proposals have either been immediately rejected or later proven to be too cumbersum in terms of time frames, locations, class schedules, Holiday schedules and of course the real sticking point behind this entire calamity, the fair and equal distribution of the almighty dollar. 

Well on of our Canespace bloggers (JC) came up with the following solution that attempts to address most of if not all of these issues.  So have a good slow, long read of this proposal and tell us what you think.  The College Football Playoff System according to JC...

On this day, January 1, 2010, be it resolved that:

1. The regular season be reduced to 11-12 games (11 for teams eligible for a conference championship game, 12 for the rest) and the bowl system remains in place more or less as is. The BCS finally evolves into a true Series, meaning a succession of games involving eight teams meant to determine a champion.

2. The BCS bowls (Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose) return to their traditional tie-ins and are played New Years Day. Orange = ACC vs. Big 12, Sugar = SEC Champion vs. At-Large, Fiesta = At-Large vs. At-Large, Rose = Big Ten vs. Pac-10. (The Big 12 Champion could go to the Fiesta Bowl to distribute at-large bids more evenly, although the Big 8 champion traditionally went to the Orange Bowl.) Each BCS bowl game serves as a national quarterfinal.

3. Automatic bid standards are maintained in their current format.  The Big East Champion is guaranteed an at-large bid. All conferences must either create a two-division format with a championship game, or all teams within the conference must play each other to determine a conference champion.

4. The BCS at-large participants are selected based on the same criteria as today. 

5. Following the end of the bowl games, the BCS rankings are released again. The four BCS winners are seeded 1-4 based on their BCS rankings, regardless of whether a team that has lost and ended its
season is ranked ahead of the lower three seeds.

6. The top two seeds are permitted to host a national semifinal at their home stadium. The semifinals match #1 vs. #4, #2 vs. #3.

7. The national semifinals are played on a weekend allowing for a minimum of four full days between the BCS bowls and the semifinal.

8. On a Saturday which MUST precede the AFC and NFC Championship games (calendar permitting), a National Championship Game will be played at a neutral site. This site will rotate between the four BCS
venues.

9. Network coverage be divided such that television issues never interfere with the schedule set and mandated by the NCAA to assure the national champion is determined according to the time table laid out above.

10. Payouts for the additional games be established and an equitable sharing plan be devised to the satisfaction of university presidents.

The Short List To The Superdome: Final Edition

And so it ends, with a whimper, instead of the much anticipated roar as the Shortlist to the Superdome finishes the 2007 season with only three teams worthy of National Title consideration according to The Shortlist rules established prior to this season:

Ohio State, Hawaii, and Kansas (and yes, we know the Bayou Tigers are noticeably conspicuous by their absence). 

What the 2007 college football season ultimately comes down to for me is the fact that there is no one great team in the field. Either it was cupcake feasting by Ohio State and Kansas by choice, or Hawaii by circumstance, that resulted in the teams sporting most impressive regular seasons.  That is as long as you didn't look at the other team's names on the scoreboards. 

But regardless of that fact, 2007 was a year where unprecedented parity ruled the traditional power conferences which begs the question just one year removed from the Boise State miracle, "Why not the Cinderella BCS Championship Game in this season of the upset?" 

It would be naive to think that Hawaii finds itself in the "other" New Orleans bowl simply because of it's schedule, and yes the weakness of the Warrior's competition from week to week is a major contributing factor. 

But the real truth lies in this simple fact, a Hawaii versus anyone BCS title game would have been THE ultimate slap in the face to the college football establishment that no self respecting, blazer wearing, bowl bigwig would be caught dead sabotaging his television ratings by inviting a program with the casual following of any WAC school into is limelight game of the year this year or any year for that matter.  That's just not the way the "system" works.  Did someone say playoffs?  PLAYOFFS?  P L A Y O F F S???

Sure the powers that be in this sport will pay lip service all day to congress about increasing "opportunity" for the non-BCS conference schools, but when it actually comes down to taking the hard measures required to increase opportunities for these schools (placing all on field accomplishments in equal light when it comes to time to vote in the Coaches and Harris polls) that's all that ends up being cashed in: the lip service rather than the BCS checks.

And so we get another anti-climatic exposure of Ohio State's lack of speed at the skill positions by a superior SEC champion rather than the real shocking finale this season of surprise should have produced: a definitely beatable Big 10 champion matched against one of the more TV friendly college football offensive attacks in recent history.  Now wouldn't that have been fun to watch! 

Would a Hawaii versus Ohio State BCS title game be a ratings grabbing clash of titans?  Of course not, it would have been last year's Fiesta Bowl all over again, but which game from January 2007 in Glendale is more remembered from last bowl season?  Instead of the true "upset of the century" that a Hawaii victory would have produced, we will instead get to watch the most unworthy of college football champions in recent history be crowned in an all too familiar manner.

I suppose I could complain like this until spring ball next year, but I guess it could have been worse, much worse.  The BCS could have selected Notre Dame again.

Copyright 2007 by Christopher Whelpton for Canespace

Heroes

Martin Luther King jr., Robert F. Kennedy, John Lennon, all respected as true heroes.  Does a person have to be struck down in a hail storm of bullets and martyred to be recognized as a hero?  What about the everyday hero that passes you unnoticed everyday? The one you never have time to say thank you to until it’s in a prayer. Aren't they heroes of the same magnitude?

What about the black Scoutmaster in the inner city, trying to teach morals and decency while battling peer pressure from gangs twenty-four hours a day?  The single mother that works all day, cooks, cleans, washes clothes, checks homework and still has enough energy to throw a few passes in the backyard?

Looking for a few more heroes? Watch the eighty year old widow dropping coins in the poor box.  How about the college student that spends spring break building houses for Habitat for Humanity while his friends float around in hotel pools?  Remember that divorced guy that coaches the youth football team by himself, while the parents sit in the stands and criticize everything he does? 

What about the Emergency Room nurse that stayed overtime and stitched you up while her own kids were standing in a parking lot wondering where she was?  Then there is the guy in the expensive suit that gets out of his car in the rainstorm and pushes a beat up jalopy out of a mud hole so the passengers don’t get hit. These are a few examples of everyday heroes.

I remember my music teacher that I despised. Good was never good enough.  Stay home and practice, forget running the streets with your friends, he would say.  Years later the light went on and I realized what he meant about bands are better than gangs.  Seeing him arthritic and stooped over forty years later, still determined to encourage “bad” boys to pick up a guitar or drumstick instead of a gun, brings a gratitude I could never express.

Television and twenty four screen movie theaters seem like the only places we expect to find heroes anymore.  The funny thing is the heroes aren’t the actors on the screen.  The heroes are those parents who care about their kids and the teenage mentors that are sitting with the underprivileged kids in the next row.  Heroes are everywhere really, you just have to look around you.

Don’t wait till it’s too late to tell a hero you admire him, or her.

This feature article was written by SolarCane for Canespace.

Sean Taylor Memorial Tribute

Today, December 3, 2007, Sean Taylor will be honored at his funeral at 11 AM and later laid to rest at Caballero Rivero Funeral Home in Miami.  It is a somber occasion and an emotional day for his family, friends, former teammates and all Canes players and fans everywhere.

Last night, at a tribute to Taylor held on the UM Campus, Sean's father Pete Taylor had this to say (photo and quotes courtesy of the Miami Herald):

''Sean is with God,'' Pete Taylor told several hundred people gathered at a candlelight vigil outside UM's BankUnited Center.

Pete Taylor spoke of walking into the UM locker room with Sean, who warned him against stepping on the big ''U'' on the floor.

''We don't step on the U,'' Taylor recalled his son saying. ``We uplift the U.''

''Sean loved the U,'' Taylor added.

Out of respect for Sean Taylor, his contributions and the lasting memories he created, Canespace will be observing an hour of silence on the blog from 11 AM to 12 Noon today. 

Before 11 AM and after 12 noon we encourage all Canespace fans out there to post their thoughts, prayers and comments here on this blog that will be sent to Sean's family.  Please do not post comments about any other topics on this blog.  We will also be sending the blog written by CanesGirlNC several days ago to include in our tribute to Sean and the Taylor family.

Our most sincere and heartfelt condolensces go out to the Taylor family for their sudden and tragic loss.  May you find peace in your hearts in this time of pain and sorrow.  The entire Hurricane community and The Legion of fans here at Canespace mourn the loss of a true Hurricane hero. 

Sean Taylor #26 may you Rest In Peace...

And Then There Was Chaos

The 2007 college football season has clearly and undeniably proven one thing:  That the absence of order and predictability results in pure, unfiltered, unadulterated chaos.  On the last Saturday of the season, just when you thought it was safe to predict which teams might finally make it into the the BCS Championship game, the conference playoff weekend rolled around and only made things worse, not better, for those trying to decide who should play in the Superdome in New Orleans in January. 

With number one ranked Missouri falling hard to the Sooners in the Big 12 conference championship game and West Virginia inexplicably losing to Dave Wannstedt (The Stache) and his Pitt Panthers, the BCS became chaos defined.  All West Virginia had to do was beat lowly Pitt and the BCS championship game was there for the taking.  Was that too much for Mountaineer fans to ask?  Guess so.

Go ahead, we double dare you; check the dictionary, check wikepedia, google it, check whatever sources you want and there it will be:  Chaos = BCS.   

In a season where nobody really appears to want the thing, the whole BCS Championship is now shrouded in controversy, confusion and that's right, pure chaos.  Tonight, when the teams are choosen LIVE on the Fox Network BCS Selection Show, coaches, players and fans better bring some Miller Lite and some crying towels because almost every team that is laying claim to being worthy for the big game (and there are lots of them), is either going to have to drink heavily or cry themselves to sleep after it is all over. This will be much, much worse then "Tastes Great, Less Filling", trust me. 

Conservatively speaking no fewer than 6 teams have a legitimate case as to why they should be selected for the championship game and of course, only two can actually get in.  It says here that those teams will be Ohio State and LSU.  Of course, that's our a logical, educated guess that resulted from a scientific study consisting of closing our eyes and tossing darts at the alleged suspects.  Plus we watch ESPN, but that seems to hurt more than it helps.

[Sidebar] Speaking of suspects, good police work resulted in the quick arrest of four people in the burglary-gone-bad-murder of former Miami Hurricane and Washington Redskin Sean Taylor.  The national and local media, which practically blamed Taylor for his own murder by basically implying he "deserved it" due to his own behavior and associations, was left with some serious egg on their face when in truth it turned out to have nothing to do with Sean at all. 

It turns out that the incident was intended to be a routine burglary by some street punks looking for money and who thought Sean and his family would not be home.  Taylor was shot when he surprised the young hoodlums who broke into his house and lost his life as a result of his heroic efforts to protect his family.  

Hopefully, after several of the suspects confessed to the crime soon after being arrested, justice should be swift and merciless. 

Yet still, there are some serious apologies in order that will likely never come from the same media that dragged his name through the mud and focused on his isolated mistakes rather than the numerous contributions that he made to his family, his community and the sports world in general.

Tried in the court of public opinion before the facts were even known, Sean Taylor's true legacy will only be remembered by his family, friends and adoring fans: That Sean Taylor was a good man, a generous person and one of the greatest football players to ever wear the orange and green at the U. 

Case closed.

Now back to the Chaos.  In a season where seemingly anybody could beat everybody (see: Appalacian State over Michigan, Stanford over USC, etc.), and the number two ranked team in the country lost seven times, six of which were to unranked teams, the chaos started early and finished strong in the 2007 college football season.  Chaos wreaked havoc week after week, rearing it's ugly head when you least expected it as leading contenders turn into pretenders and were knocked from their perches atop the college football  standings. 

The BCS selection committee will attempt to answer the question of who deserves a shot at the title game tonight. But the results will likely spur more debate and only create more questions than they answer.  Ah yes, the 2007 college football season.  Which team will win it and which team deserves it most nobody really knows.  What we do know is that it will end in Chaos.  That is guaranteed.