GO FOR 2

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany officially announced that beacause of what he called ‘tweaking’ to the BCS rules, teams that were not in BCS-automatic bid conferences would have greater access to the Rose Bowl. The actual process for this is fairly complicated, but its a step in the right direction for the BCS and should help bring some much-needed excitement to a classic game which has grown somewhat stale.

Here’s how this all works: The Big-10 champion and the Pac-10 champion are contractually required to play in the Rose Bowl, unless one of those teams earns a birth in the BCS National Championship. If one of those champions (let’s be honest, Ohio State or USC) does go to the national championship, then another team qualifying for a BCS bowl game is chosen for the slot.

The change that Jim Delaney is referring to is that, between 2010 and 2013, if the Big-10 or Pac-10 champion goes to the National Championship – and there is a team from a Non-BCS conference which has earned a BCS bid, then the Rose Bowl must take that team.

So why does this have the potential to really spice up a game that has lost a lot of its luster? Well, of the past 6 games only 1 hasn’t included USC – and Texas or Michigan has been USC’s opponent 4 of the 6 times. Sure, the Trojans put on a great show, but it would be nice to see some new faces in this game. And the Non-BCS schools aren’t exactly pushovers, and they pull out all the stops when they finally get a chance to shine on the big stage – just ask Oklahoma and Boise State. The cinderella inspired moments and potential upsets that come with a small school are also good for sponsors and the bowl games themselves. Maybe Boise State’s fan’s don’t flock to a bowl game like an SEC school’s fans would, but a BCS bowl game is always going to have solid attendance. In the meantime, the potential for a game becoming an instant classic – being replayed on ESPN and talked about on blogs for years to come – is publicity that you simply can’t pay for.

In a broad sense, Non-BCS schools deserve a chance to play in the big-name, big-history bowl games, and this is a good start. Meanwhile, the annual USC-fest….I mean Rose Bowl…could potentially get some much-needed lifeblood and positive publicity from a game that’s a little out of the ordinary. Let’s face it, everybody wins.

Everyone is so focused on the behavior of NFL players lately, but maybe what would be more helpful is to look closer at the college stars who already have the warning signs. If these kids can get some more focused attention and guidance, maybe they’ll be less likely to have serious problems once they’re wealthy and on their own.

One player that you  might want to look aklkh21;.21.9u24..f.f.e.0000

Oh, sorry, I was busy texting and wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing. Like I said, one player worth looking at now is Texas linebacker Sergio Kindle. Kindle recently crashed his car into an apartment building because he was texting while driving (he then pushed the car back to the road and drove home, so yeah, he’s tough at least). Real smooth Sergio, not like it was a squirrel or something…it was a building. I’m guessing its been there a while.

Now sure, what he did was stupid, but its no reason to panic. Of course, Kindle did also have a drunk driving arrest last season. Now you can panic. This is a kid who is likely to end up in a Dante Stallworth type of situation, he clearly just isn’t responsible enough to be driving. This behavior isn’t likely to improve when he gets rich, buys a Bentley, and can stay out as late as he wants partying at clubs.

Maybe the NFL should reach out to players like Kindle now, show him the long-term consequences, maybe a yellow-pages listing for a limo service, I don’t know..but it seems like some kind of effort is appropriate. These players have talent, and character issues won’t keep them from getting drafted, the question becomes what happens to them afterward. Just something to think about, unless you’re driving near Austin, then you should probably just keep an extra-good lookout for swirving cars.

Bobby Bowden. Courtesy of Flickr.com/ryanregister (Used under Creative Commons License)

A public records lawsuit allowed Florida State to release a June 2nd letter in which the NCAA announced its intentions to uphold sanctions against FSU, which include the school forfeiting wins.

This all stems from an incident back in 2006-2007 where over 60 FSU athletes cheated on…get ready for it…an online test in a music history course. Good choice, guys.

Now, the big fuss about this really comes because the school’s football team will have to forfeit as many as 14 wins, which will likely cost Bobby Bowden a shot at the all-time wins records for a college coach. Let’s face it, Bowden was NEVER going to catch Joe Paterno. Just take a look at the current state of the two school’s programs – Florida State has gone 16-10 and Penn State has gone 20-6 over the last two seasons. Beside that, Paterno has a one game lead over Bowden even IF all of FSU’s wins stand.

However, Florida State refuses to accept the penalties, presumably just because they are concerned about Bowden’s legacy. Can you think of any other reason why FSU cares so much about a handful of wins spattered across mostly non-elite programs? There isn’t one. These kids are supposed to be STUDENT athletes. If they cheated as students, the athletic accomplishments simply shouldn’t stand. Yet somehow both Bowden and University President T.K. Wetherell both insist on making the situation about the Bowden/JoePa race. According to the AP Wetherell commented:

“There was no coach involved in this,” Wetherell said. “The one group of people that were not involved in this thing were the coaches. They’re the one group that’s being penalized.”

And, in a comment to WBRC-TV in Birmingham, Bowden added:

 ”Joe would not want to win this thing the way they (the NCAA) are doing this.”

So the lesson is, student athletes cheating in collegiate sports is hardly as important some absurd race to see which coach can compile the most wins before they simply HAVE to retire. Bravo, Florida State. Way to prove that your real mission is about academics, and not just about winning some football games.