Secret Ballots--Public Results

A college degree is not just the learning. In exchange for your time and ten’s of thousands of dollars you can tell people where you went to school and hope they are impressed. Is a student with a degree from Harvard or Yale head and shoulders above the person with a degree from a local state university that began at community college? Hard to tell? Looking over a stack of resumes, which stand out Yale or Northern Iowa?

In this season’s crop of preseason rankings there is one team (like Auburn in 2008) that will be ranking highly only to finish in November without a bowl bid. With the coaches’ ballot now to be secret it is interesting to see how another ballot is filled out.

"University of Florida President Bernie Machen, in a recent assessment of national universities, gave his school the highest-possible ranking, "distinguished," as he also did Harvard, Princeton and Yale universities."

See the ballot here http://www.gainesville.com/assets/pdf/GS17003616.PDF

Running a large university is a difficult job and while you may have a feeling about the competition you may not truly have a nation wide perspective. Apparently President Machen has a very positive view of the job he is doing a UF. He therefore rated his school and therefore his job as “Distinguished”. Two other schools that were rated overall as being the equals of UF, Fordham (“Strong”) and the University of Delaware (“Adequate”) have taken steps to improve their positions in this ranking.

Recently there has been buzz that the Delaware Blue Hens were considering a move the FBS level given there success on the field and putting fans in their stadium. Fordham for its part shook up the sleepy Patriot League by offering scholarship for football which academically minded north eastern universities do not need. Since the 1950’s members of both the Ivy and the near by Patriot League have offered football scholarships. Consequently, college football in the region is smaller than the one would expect given the population. These schools need to learn from the great University of Florida and realize the you can have both...bread, circus and by the way since we say so academics.

So watch President Machen, the competition is upgrading their football and shortly may be nipping a the Gator’s in arrested and legal fees.

And remember, it is only wrong if someone is watching.

Cash for Clunkers

Following the lead of our great and wise Congress the Business of College Football has authorized $50 in our attempt to stimulate and more importantly clean up America.

We here at the Business of College Football want to give you badly needed cash for the purchase of new college football publications and tickets and clean up the environment. For those that used all their tickets and have been responsible in recycling old magazines we say, “Tough luck! Being smart, thinking ahead, not wasting your money, and general personal responsibility will not be rewarded here”

Payments will be made for three items that can and should be recycled:

• $2.00 will be paid for 2008 and older college football preview magazines (just the cover and a written plead to recycle the balance)
  
  
• $2.00 will be paid for 2008 and older team guide publication publications (just the cover and a written plead to recycle the balance)
  
  
• $1.00 will be paid for unused 2008 and older college football tickets
  
  

Send one of the above items to the address listed below and the Business of College Football will sent you one or two crisp one dollar bills.

Limit of one item per household. Offer expires 7/31/09 of when the $50 has been spent. Please remember to include a self addresses envelop (postage not required) for faster processing.

Address:

Business of College Football
c/o Brian McCormack
211 Pylesville Rd.
Pylesville, MD 21132

Yes, this is a serious offer.

Question? Email-- slrpm@hotmail.com

Big East Game of the Week

Conference game of the week--mark your calendars now.
Rules: Every team must make the list at least once
Guideline: The most important game is not always the most interesting

The Big East has two other issues--they are the smallest conference with eight members and with no championship game the conference has a long season with game on December 5th. Given this their may be a "none" week or an away OOC game included.

Saturday, September 5
Cincinnati at Rutgers
A Disney arranged game between two contenders for the wide open conference crown.

Saturday, September 12
North Carolina at Connecticut
East Carolina at West Virginia
Carolina comes to the Big East: Are the Pirate able to take two in a row? UNC v. UConn in football rather than hoops?

Saturday, September 19
Northwestern at Syracuse
Will the Orange look any better than one would expect with a new coach and an ad hoc group of players.

Saturday, September 26
Pitt at North Carolina State
Rutgers at Maryland
USF at Florida State
Almost half of the conference is on the road against the ACC with, "We aren't the worst BCS conference." bragging right in the balance.

Thursday, October 1
Colorado at West Virginia (ESPN)
The Buff's are one of those rare teams that will travel. This game went to overtime last year.

Saturday, October 10
Connecticut at Pitt
If there must be a game
NONE

Friday, October 16
Pitt at Rutgers (ESPN)
Make an excuse not to go to that high school game. Can? Set the DVR!

Saturday, October 17
Louisville at Connecticut
Marshall at West Virginia
NONE

Saturday, October 24
USF at Pitt
Bully?

Saturday, October 31
Rutgers at Connecticut
Are these two really rivals?

Saturday, November 7
Louisville at West Virginia
Never going to be the 2005 game.

Thursday, November 12
USF at Rutgers (ESPN)
Can Rutgers have another season where they capture a sliver of attention from the NYC Metro area.

Friday, November 13
West Virginia at Cincinnati (ESPN2)
Can the Bearcats repeat? They are winless at home against WVU. WVU leads the series 11 to 2.

Saturday, November 14
Notre Dame at Pitt
The Irish are almost always interesting the watch. Losses to Pitt and Cuse sent Notre Dame to Hawaii last year.

Saturday, November 21
Louisville at USF
Rutgers at Syracuse
Connecticut at Notre Dame (NBC)
NONE

Friday, November 27
Pitt at West Virginia
Not an elite rivalry game but near the top of the second tier.



Saturday, November 28
Illinois at Cincinnati
Miami at USF
Not one but two unusually interesting late season OOC games.

Saturday, December 5
Cincinnati at Pitt
West Virginia at Rutgers
One of these two will determine who gets the conferences BCS bid.

Early Rivalry Game Ticket Prices 5/30/09

Over the coming months the cheap seats for these high profile games will be monitored.
Update of Early Rivalry Game Ticket Prices form 3/14/09

Declines were in the 9% to 17% rflecting no more than the later entries into the maket willing to cut their margins.

Ohio State at Michigan Football Tickets Saturday, November 21, 2009
Section Row Qty. Price
3/14/09
End Zone 35R 97 2 $250.00 each
End Zone 11R 96 2 $258.00 each
End Zone 36R 94 2 $259.00 each

5/30/09
End Zone 34R 97 Up to 4 $214.99 each
End Zone 33R 36 2 $215.00 each
End Zone 34R 98 Up to 4 $215.00 each
End Zone 34R 40 2 $220.00 each

A $35 drop in price with 693 ticket availble form $215 to $1100.

Miami at Florida State Football Tickets Monday, September 7, 2009 at 8:
Upper Level End Zone 320 24 2 $109.00 each

Oklahoma vs. Texas Football Tickets Saturday, October 17, 2009
Section Row Qty. Price
3/14/09
Upper End Zone 115 29 Up to 6 $258.00 each
Upper End Zone 116 TBD Up to 12 $265.00 each
Upper End Zone 115 30 Up to 6 $278.00 each

5/30/09
Upper End Zone 116 21 2 $234.00 each
Upper End Zone 115 24 2 $234.00 each
Upper End Zone 115 23 Up to 4 $234.00 each
Upper End Zone 116 14 Up to 5 $241.00 each

A modest drop of $24 with 974 ticket availble form $234 to $1388.


USC at Notre Dame Football Tickets at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN
Section Row Qty. Price
3/14/09
Lower Level End Zone 18 TBD 2 $335.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 18 TBD 2 $335.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 19 TBD 2 $335.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 17 TBD 2 $335.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 1 TBD 2 $335.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 19 TBD 2 $335.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 17 45 2 $336.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 18 45 2 $336.00 each

5/31/09
Upper Level End Zone 118 23 2 $277.00 each
Upper Level End Zone 101 24 2 $277.00 each
Upper Level End Zone 118 23 2 $278.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 19 25 2 $284.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 17 TBD 2 $286.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 19 46 2 $286.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 18 TBD 2 $286.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 1 TBD 2 $286.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 2 TBD 2 $286.00 each

A $59 drop in price with 761 ticket available on StubHub from $277 to $1471



Alabama at Auburn Football Tickets in Auburn, AL
Section Row Qty. Price
3/14/09
Lower Level End Zone 41 54 Up to 4 $306.00 each
Upper Deck Sideline 99 35 Up to 4 $306.00 each

5/30/09
Upper Deck Sideline 99 29 2 $273.00 each
Upper Deck Sideline 62 35 Up to 4 $274.00
Lower Level End Zone 39 53 Up to 6 $274.00
Lower Level End Zone 43 50 Up to 4 $275.73 each

A $33 dropin prive with 534 ticket available from $273 to $1599

Adding Up the Crumbs

Most, if not all, businesses have the side we see that the generally clean and pretty and the dark insidebusiness. Think the the butchershop or Congress as examples: clean on the outside but sickening to the outsider on the inside.

Given thet college bowl contracts are up for renewal there is a dance (more like the scrambling when bride throws the bouquet) taking place with the bowls games and conferences jockeying for position. Given this background come the following little piece of information:

"He said bowls keep most of the best seats for their corporate partners, and the schools' fans often end up buying those tickets on the secondary market rather than through the school."

If you look at the Gator Bowl on Stub Hub the very best seats are for sale. The fact that seats are already sold may very well be a function of this being an NFL stadium and groups have leased real estate is the stadium.

Clip a Rama #2

Why try to compete with perfection. When someone posts a video predicted BCS games for both Michigan and Miami (FL) Dean Wormer had the perfect line when he said, ""Fat drunk and stupid is no why to go through life."

Clip a Rama Part #1

Navy 2009 What happened to the, "See Bill Run" SONG?



"Newberry College Head Football Coach, Todd Knight, invites everyone to come out and see the Scarlet and Gray in 2009." Hurry and RSVP for Newberry football. Damn no return address.


UCF low budget



UConn Football 2009 Spring Season Ticket Commercial...watch out for the rush



2008 APPALACHIAN FOOTBALL In marketing you need a product first and Appy State has a product to sell.

Three Losses in One Day

Delaware State Hornets:

1. Has forfeited their scheduled October 17 game against North Carolina A&T

2. Will in all likelihood lose to Michigan October 17 in Ann Arbor.

3. Are only reportedly getting $500,000 for their trouble.

Delaware State, which should make about $500,000 or more for playing at U-M, technically starts the season 0-1.

Big 12 Game of the Week

Conference game of the week--mark your calendars now.
Rules: Every team must make the list at least once
Guideline: The most important game is not always the most interesting.

Saturday, Sept. 5
BYU vs. Oklahoma (in Arlington)
Note to vendors—stock up on Sprite and decaf caffe


Saturday, Sept. 12
Houston at Oklahoma State
Rice at Texas Tech
Neither of these are particular interesting but they are better than any of the other options. This is the week that Texas travels to Wyoming to play the Cowboys.

Saturday, Sept. 19
Texas Tech at Texas
No Crabtree! At Austin! Can this be as interesting as 2008?

Saturday, Sept. 26
Army at Iowa State
Army has a chance at being competitive in this game.

Saturday, Oct. 3
Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (in Dallas)
Has Bobby Petrino have the Razorbacks in position to be a factor in the South?

Thursday, Oct. 8
Nebraska at Missouri
What is the direction for these two programs?

Saturday, Oct. 17
Oklahoma vs. Texas (in Dallas)
No brainer.

Saturday, Oct. 24
Oklahoma State at Baylor
Are the Bears making progress?

Saturday, Oct. 31
Missouri at Colorado
Both teams need this game for keeping up with the Huskers.

Saturday, Nov. 7
Kansas at Kansas State
No brainer #2.

Saturday, Nov. 14
Texas Tech at Oklahoma State
Will this be more than a contest for the #3 slot in the South.

Saturday, Nov. 21
Kansas State at Nebraska
The Jayhawks may already be out of bowl contention and they may have nothing
to lose.


Saturday, Nov. 28
Oklahoma State at Oklahoma
Are the Sooner still the dominate team?

Big Ten Conference Game of the Week

Conference game of the week--mark your calendars now.
Rules: Every team must make the list at least once
Guideline: The most important game is not always the most interesting



Saturday, September 5
Illinois vs. Missouri (St. Louis)
Nuetral site game, strong OOC match up and refreshing diversion form the cupcake dominated slate of games.


Saturday, September 12
Air Force at Minnesota
New stadium trumps the more important games:Iowa at Iowa State, Notre Dame at Michigan, USC at Ohio State, Syracuse at Penn State, Purdue at Oregon, or Fresno State at Wisconsin

Saturday, September 19
Arizona at Iowa
One of the few Big/Pac 10 match ups.

Saturday, September 26
Notre Dame at Purdue
The Boilermakers always play tough before the Irish prevail.

Saturday, October 3
Michigan at Michigan State
The Spartans last had consecutive wins against the Wolverines in 1965, 1966, 1967.

Saturday, October 10
Purdue at Minnesota
Scrambling for a Insight or Motor City appearance.

Saturday, October 17
Delaware State at Michigan
Not Delaware, Delaware State from the MEAC. This way be the worst match up up the year.

Saturday, October 24
Minnesota at Ohio State
Can the Gophers make a move in the conference.

Saturday, October 31
New Mexico State at Ohio State
Almost like a practice.How many zeros on that check?

Saturday, November 7
Ohio State at Penn State
Who will be smelling roses will be on the line.

Saturday, November 14
Indiana at Penn State
Hangover for the Lions?

Saturday, November 21
Wisconsin at Northwestern
The Badger are playing a conference on rivalry weekend

Saturday, November 28
Illinois at Cincinnati
Winner by default

Saturday, December 5
Wisconsin at Hawaii
Much better than than staying in Madison in December.

Connected to the Dollars

James Burke is know for his late 1970's show called Connections in which he shows how unrelated events come together for something entirely new. Think about the multitude of different technologies that went into the first automobiles--just the marriage of refining oil into gasoline and metal casting for the modern internal combustion engine is a miracle.



Our story will start in fall of 1966 with the debut of both Star Trek showing how advance technology would change the world and Joe Paterno who would show how a guy from Brooklyn could change college football. James T. Kirk when facing a dilemma would consult either the very local Mr. Spook or the mechanical female voice of the computer. Captain Kirk would then ignore good sound advice, doing something rash, make out with a green (1960’s) space babe, and come out smelling like a rose. Coach Paterno has also been know to act rashly with a variety of smells as a result. Just this week Joe was quoted as saying, "I've tried to talk to the Big Ten people about, 'Let's get a 12th team -- Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt -- we could have a little bit of a playoff.'" http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4118848



Spike TV started in 1983 as The Nashville Network, morphing into The National Network before becoming testosterone focused channel it is today. Other organizations evolve overtime in an attempt to stay relevant; the March of Dime now devoted to preventing birth defect began life with the task of curing polio repurposing itself to stay alive. The Big Ten and the Big Ten Network will need to keep evolving in the constantly changing environment of college sports.



This blog recognized early the potential power of the Big Ten Network and the change that this could bring to the college football landscape. While Joe was looking at the practical idea of a championship game, the more profitable plan would be to add the right team to the Big Ten to boost the dollars beyond what the SEC is currently raking in. Paterno looked to his past a rashly suggested three east coast teams two of which could add the populace New York City metro TV market to the BTN footprint (and the associated dollars). Mr. Spock would look at the numbers and look to push BTN national in one fell swoop by taking another run at adding Notre Dame to the Big Ten.



South Bend, the home to Studebaker (the late car maker) and Notre Dame is the final piece to our puzzle. Those that say, “Notre Dame will never join a conference.” might be the same that said, “GM will never file for bankruptcy.” With the NBC contract running out in 2015 and the range into at which schedules are made BTN might want to be looking that far into the future and make a rash Kirk like move. In one move BTN could transform itself and the college football landscape.

Bad Reputation

Unlike Joan Jett, teenage males do care about your bad reputation. Miami had swagger, lacking real tradition such as Michigan, Texas, or USC; they were the rebellious outsider of college football. Miami came from nowhere with National Championships in 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, and 2001.

Manny Navarro in Intruders breaching UM's local recruiting wall, warns of a hole in Miami’s control over the best of South Florida. While this is a good article, it leaves a void by not exploring the why. A simple question with a simple answer: The Canes no longer have the swagger or the wins to attract the top players. 2001, for those of use over 30 was a mere eight years ago. For a 17 year old that same journey in time is nearly half a lifetime. Don’t blame the high school, kid for not knowing about the great tradition that was the U, understand that the futility of the past four years does little to sell the Miami image.



Common in the world beyond that of college football is the, “What have you done for me lately?” that perhaps those devout followers of Sebastian the Ibis are seeing that the support of the past was just a veneer of bandwagon jumpers. This not a prediction that Miami will forever be mired as an average team in a below average BCS conference, rather a bright light on the fragility of Miami football and to a larger extent any college football program. Notice that in 2008 The cover of Phil Steele's Florida Edition featured three teams from the Sunshine State--UF, FSU, ans USF but not the Canes.



On November 28th 2009 Miami may play the most important game of their season against the University of South Florida which will for 2010 determine the pecking order for BCS football programs in Florida.

What Have You Done For Me Lately (Karaoke)

Dumping Cupcakes

How sold are the fans? The truest measure of demand for tickets is in the discount placed on the, "Can miss" game. The person buying a set of season tickets will make their money on the rivalry game and will feel the need just to move (dump) the cupcake game. Below are teams with a comparison bet ween the an FCS game and a conference or OOC BCS team within a week or two of each other.

Forida State

Jacklonsville State at Florida State Football Tickets
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Sideline 28 83 Up to 4 $31.00 each

South Florida at Florida State Football Tickets
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Sideline 28 83Up to 4 $157.00 each

USF is 5 times more popular?


Penn State

Eastern Illinois at Penn State Football Tickets
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Lower Level End Zone NG 39 2 $90.00 each

Minnesota at Penn State Football Tickets
Saturday, October 17, 2009
ower Level End Zone NG 39 2 $185.00 each

A bargain trip to the center of PA for the weekend of October 10th.

Kansas

Northern Colorado
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Family Zone GA G/A Up to 4 $19.50 each

Duke
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Family Zone GA G/A Up to 8 $19.50 each

And if this were basketball? It is football and there is no demand for Blue Devils in the heartland.

Wisconsin



Northern Illinois
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Lower Deck End Zone Y 3 53 Up to 4 $52.00 each

Fresno State
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Lower Deck End Zone Y 3 53 Up to 4 $59.00 each

Wofford
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Lower Deck End Zone Y 3 53Up to 4$45.00 each

Michigan State
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Lower Deck Corner A 49 Up to 8 $93.00 each
Lower Deck End Zone Y 3 54 Up to 6 $149.00 each

The Badgers are home the first four weekends of the season

Florida

Vanderbilt at Football Tickets
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Upper Corner 47 TBD Up to 5 $129.00 each

Florida International
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Upper Corner 47 TBD Up to 4 $95.00 each

Love and respect for Vandy?

This is Uncalled For

Watch the video first unless you have a masters of better in history:



Got it, a disastrous raid into France to appease Uncle Joe Stalin (interesting new book about Stalin)

As it turns out, K and Williams were right as the raid on the Big East has become the ACC’s Dieppe with its football equally as mediocre as it ever was, and its treasured conference championship football game unable to cut it in Florida, having been moved to North Carolina where it still didn’t sell out.

Did you get the mistake? Partial credit for those that know that the ACC Championship has not yet bombed in North Carolina. The real problem are:

1. Assuming that more than a handful of readers know about Dieppe and those that followed the directions above are in know. Mike Burke seems to think he is now the Dennis Miller of Cumberland, Maryland sports.

2. Giving credit to Mike Krzyzewski and Gary Williams for opposing the ACC expansion. Both understood that the expansion would diminish their standing as the limelight would be diverted from them to football or dilute the basketball with the addition of Miami and Virginia Tech both traditionally marginal

For now the dollars favors the expansion of the ACC. This blog was in part motivated by the ACC expansion and that action and last year we marked the five years since the raid with---

Part #1: Atlantic Swofford: Raiders of the Lost Dream

Voices From Beyond

For the record the reference to Dieppe is refreshing and adds a much needed spark to the sports page,

Onion Sports

Could college football be far behind----

NCAA Expands March Madness To Include 4,096 Teams

Early Rivalry Game Ticket Prices

Rivalry Game Ticket Futures--prices per StubHub.com 3/14/09



Over the coming months the cheap seats for these high profile games will be monitored.

Ohio State at Michigan Football Tickets Saturday, November 21, 2009
Section Row Qty. Price
End Zone 35R 97 2 $250.00 each
End Zone 11R 96 2 $258.00 each
End Zone 36R 94 2 $259.00 each

Miami at Florida State Football Tickets Monday, September 7, 2009 at 8:
Upper Level End Zone 320 24 2 $109.00 each

Oklahoma vs. Texas Football Tickets Saturday, October 17, 2009
Section Row Qty. Price
Upper End Zone 115 29 Up to 6 $258.00 each
Upper End Zone 116 TBD Up to 12 $265.00 each
Upper End Zone 115 30 Up to 6 $278.00 each

USC at Notre Dame Football Tickets at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN
Section Row Qty. Price
Lower Level End Zone 18 TBD 2 $335.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 18 TBD 2 $335.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 19 TBD 2 $335.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 17 TBD 2 $335.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 1 TBD 2 $335.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 19 TBD 2 $335.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 17 45 2 $336.00 each
Lower Level End Zone 18 45 2 $336.00 each

Alabama at Auburn Football Tickets in Auburn, AL
Section Row Qty. Price
Lower Level End Zone 41 54 Up to 4 $306.00 each
Upper Deck Sideline 99 35 Up to 4 $306.00 each

Spot On

Fraud and Friction at Florida St. from Inside Higher Ed does an excellent job of countering the "poor Bobby" chorus.

To quote the article:

What the committee did focus on in the Florida State case was the fact that the situation presented one of the most widespread cases of cheating in the association's history. Three former members of the university's academic support team for athletes were found by a university investigation to have given improper academic assistance of various sorts -- including answers to exams in online courses and help in preparing papers for athletes considered to be learning disabled -- to a total of 61 athletes in 10 sports.

Florida State as an institution was a party to this cheating and should pay the price as as a group including Mr. Bowden.

Watch your Wallet

With the Big Ten Network now cutting big checks to memeber institutions look for others to beat a path to this free money.

Want to hear a blood curdling scream? Want until at Gator or Dawg fans has to pay for the ACC Channel.

The BTN had its first profitable quarter, which ended at the conclusion of the last year, and has plans to expand in a variety of areas with more Internet streaming of sports such as women's basketball and baseball.

That means more money for the Big Ten, which already received a $70 million -- and growing -- rights fee from Fox, partial owners of the Big Ten Network, and has a profit-sharing arrangement with the schools in the conference.

Plop plop

Heard a story about a famous coach while at College of William and Mary years ago that directed an assistance to, “Do whatever it takes” in order to get a certain recruit to visit the school. The dutiful assistance then did what was needed and was fired after the AD got a call from a grateful mother thanking him for the money given her son. True or not this illustrates the pressure put on subordinate to get the job done.

The press coverage in the Florida State cheating scandal is concerned with the fate of Bobby Bowen's wins and ignoring the underlying question of institutional integrity. FSU did self report which is to be commended. Was this scandal the fault of rogue elements in Tallahassee or an institutional failure.

In any workplace there are unwritten rules of conduct: those actions which will and will not be tolerated. Although there is an element of the group dictating the rules, it is the function of top management to set the tone. Those charged with tutoring student athletes must feel the pressure that everyone pass and stay eligible. The question is, “How much pressure came from above?” The pressure need not be overt, rather the subtle culture of an organization might enough to create and environment of questionable actions to reach the goal.

The NCAA also placed show-cause orders — ranging from three to five years — on the three university employees: Hillard Goldsmith (former academic adviser), Brenda Monk (former learning specialist) and an unnamed student tutor.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/seminoles/orl-sportsfsupenalties08030709mar07,0,4044978.story
Does this cause the powers that be at Florida State proud of their culture or reaching for the Alka Selter?

Eyes of the Beholder

In about 1985 distance 2nd place furniture polish Behold in a 7oz. can had a half price package that grew sales dramatically. The company then change from two size of Lemon Behold 7oz. and 14oz. to a pair of 9oz. products Lemon Behold and Natural Wood Behold. Part of the presentation to the trade was that, "Our brand has growth".

It was not a lie. It was using the numbers to tell your story. The proposal from the Mountain West Conference for a replacement of the current BCS system has a funny ring to it as the number given are stacked in the MWC favor.

Beautiful numbers in the eyes of the right beholder (from USA Today in a .pdf).

Mildcats

Kansas State released their 2009 schedule on February 23 and in order to get that very profitable 7th home game will play two FCS teams in UMass and Tennessee Tech. They have visits to the ULL Ragin Cajuns and UCLA to round out the OOC schedule. Teams playing two FSC team maybe balancing the bottom line in the short but are hurting their product. Or is it the case that KSU failed to plan ahead and just grabbed something.



http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1050336.html

What do you bring to the table?

When did you make the move to the “big people table” at holiday meals? At what point did you graduate. For most it was a mere matter of age. There were those awkward years where you were seated in the kitchen with the six year old cousin that is no longer cute and then the first year sitting with the adults where you were all but invisible. Once you made the move there was no going back.

The Mountain West wants a seat at the BCS table as they have fielding very competitive teams that have already won three BCS games—more wins than the ACC (2004-2009) despite not having the coveted automatic bid. In the 2008-09 final poll the MWC had 3 teams in the final top 25 as compared to 2 for the Big East and 3 for the Atlantic Coast Conference. If the MWC were applying for an opening they would definitely be the top candidate.

The Mountain West resume as impressive as it is lack one critical element...television numbers. Given that the BCS is a television driven event the ability to demonstrate that your conference can deliver the eyeballs is of paramount importance. Currently, this key piece is missing. Looking at the 2008 numbers from ESPN you'll see that the MWC fails to deliver impressive numbers.

The road to the BCS may go through the Magic Kingdom of college football. With ESPN having the BCS broadcast rights, the folks in Bristol have unprecedented influence over the agenda. In short given the overwhelming influence ESPN has over the college football storyline, Craig Thompsonthe, MWC commissioner first needs to get the conference a place on already crowded regular season broadcast schedule.

How can the MWC prove that the conference can deliver the all important television rating and the dollars to justify the BCS payout, if the games are hidden on the mtn. , CBS College Sports, and Versus? While it may sound harsh but your on the field performance will get you an invite to the BCS when warranted, a permanent berth requires that you prove the financial angle is covered. Can the addition of one of the non-BCS conferences grow the pot of money? Until the answer is yes the current situation cannot change.

If Congress wants to get involved and regulate college football they might want to start with assuring equal television exposure. Yes, a return era to the equal time. Organize the Fall sports schedule towards make sure that we get to see Wyoming, Troy, and FIU in prime time. While we are nationalizing the banks, maybe we can nationalize cable TV. And start by moving the masters of Bristol to the shores of the Potomac.

The alternative for those not at the BCS table is to grow (up) and earn your place at the table.

On Epicycles and the House of Plantagenet

http://www.astronomynotes.com/history/epicycle.htm



Part 1 March Madness is a Folly

There are 344 teams in D1 basketball with 65 + 32 going to post season tournaments or 28% far below the percentage of teams going to college bowl games. The 65 “best” included first round losers: Mount St. Mary at an RPI of #159, #147 Texas Arlington, #108 Winthrop, #98 Georgia, and #90 Portland St. While #94 San Diego and #66 Siena did win in the first round, their roll as mere March filler came in the second round. Source--http://www.kenpom.com/rpi.php

The Big East put seven teams, about 11% of the 65, into the March Folly despite the fact that these teams had already, “decided it on the court”. Worse only one Big East made it to the group of eight with Louisville losing North Carolina. For all the hype the NCCA basketall tournament is a bloated income ditribution vehicle with numerous meaningless games.

If this is the correct way to do things what would a college football playoff look like? Some might say an eight team playoff, others 16, using the same 65 out of 344 of 18.9% we need at least 23 teams or 24 just too even things up. Automatic bids: the six BCS conferences, MAC, WAC, MWC, Sun Belt, C-USA.

The challenge for those that want this is the fill in the brackets in a reasonable manner. You’ll need three play in games and then some gymnastics to avoid repeating games that have already been played.

The answer that will be arrived at will be the equivalent of using epicycle to epicycles to explain planetary retrograde motion in an Earth center solar system. Or paraphrasing Dennis Miller in his brief time on Monday Night Football, “That tournament is more complicated that the House of Plantagenet.” The BCS may not be perfect but the basketball model isn’t either.

Must See College Football

To rise above the clutter is the goal of most if not all programs in college football and while Saturday is the prime time for college football there is so much supply it is easy for even a great game to get lost. ESPN Thursday night football is a prime time only game (for the most part)on the dial. The hard core football fan has no place else to flip. Even the least of these games is better than the very predictable network sitcom, carefully staged reality show, or a repeat of MonsterQuest. Disney Sports has finished molding the Big 12 and ACC schedules giving us a look at how to plan our fall television viewing. As of 2/12/09 the plan looks like:

9/03/09 South Carolina at NC State (ESPN, 7 or 7:30 p.m. ET)
9/10/09 Clemson at Georgia Tech, (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET)
9/17/09 Georgia Tech at Miami (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET)
9/24/09 OPEN
10/01/09 Colorado at West Virginia (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET)
10/08/09 Nebraska at Missouri (ESPN, 9:00 p.m. ET)
10/15/09 OPEN
10/22/09 Florida State at North Carolina (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET)
10/29/09 North Carolina at Virginia Tech (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET)
11/05/09 Virginia Tech at East Carolina (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET)
11/12/09 OPEN
11/19/09 OPEN
11/26/09 Colorado at Oklahoma St. (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET)
Texas at Texas A&M TBD
12/3/09 OPEN

From a scheduling point of view the Virginia Tech at East Carolina is one of the more interesting choices for a late season out of conference match up. With East Carolina beating both Virginia Tech and West Virginia they have played there way into the Thursday night lime light.

Stimulate Your Team

Is there a college football program that doesn’t have a shove ready project of some type that could put $10 million dollars into the economy right away? You want real and fast stimulus (you are allowed to say NO)? If a capital hill lawmaker is a supporter of the current proposal then add is a mere $1.2 billion so each BCS school gets $10 million each with the only requirement that the money be spent on new capital improvements to the facilities.

New indoor practice facility? Yes!

Stadium expansion? Yes!

Update the bathrooms? Yes!

Hire new staff? No! (Review the meaning of capital improvements)

Luxury boxes? Yes!

Administrative office construction Yes!

If the idea of a stimulus plan is to jump start the sagging economy, then the more quickly the money is spend the sooner we might see the unemployment rate decline. The beauty of this plan is that while the federal government does foot the bill for the construction, there is no continuing obligation to keep funding expansion after the economy recovers.

Granted in construction projects $10 million is small but if combined with effect fund raising, management, and shrewdly taking advantage of the current retreat in materials cost there is the possibility of the school coming out with a very nice upgrade.

Some may question the flat $10 million going to both the Temple and Ohio State. While on the surface this may seem to be questioned as a boom to the meek and a drop in the bucket to the might, the design here is to get the money spent and at the end of the day have something to show for it. And again without a continuing expense in the Federal budget.

In true Washing style two more elements could be added:

an additional $1.2 billion for road construction within 10 miles of a college stadium

a provision that forbids the establishment of a BCS playoff for the next 20 years

Class Free Zone

As stated here before gambling is to college football as prosituition is to sex. And here to prove than anology with all the class or a tarted-up harlet:

Wake Forest Demon Deacons versus Navy Midshipmen College Football Odds and Pick Gamblers Television

There is one benefit from watching these videos...you're too sick to pack on those holiday pounds.

The "Y" Bowls

Not every bowl game can have great teams, at a great time, at a great venue, in a great location. Here is a list of the “have not-iest” games:

EagleBank Bowl
Date Dec. 20
Teams Wake Forest vs. Navy

Venue RFK

Location Washington, D.C.

Other 11:00 a.m. kickoff

On the good side Navy got a real break on travel expenses. The minuses: bad stadium, temperatures in the high 30’s, and early kickoff (attendance: 28,777)



magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl
Date Dec. 20
Teams South Florida vs. Memphis

Venue Tropicana Field

Location St. Petersburg, FL

Other Isn’t Skype free

The Trop is bad baseball venue and even worse for football. The field looked like it had snow on it except where they covered up the baseball dirt area. On the positive side ESPN announcers said MagicJack more than the required number of times. (attendance: 25,205)


Emerald Bowl
Date Dec. 27 ESPN
Teams Miami vs. California

Venue AT&T Park

Location San Francisco, Calif.

Saturday by the bay but another of the baseball stadium game. AT&T park feature the endzone wall and the ever popular shared sideline.


Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl
Dec. 30
Teams Maryland vs. Nevada

Venue Bronco Stadium

Location Boise, ID

Other: High temperature of 40 with rain

Maryland fans are falling all over themselves to book airline tickets for a winter trip to land of the Smurf Turf. This game has been the boobie prize of the
ACC for several years now. Which is worse for Ralph and the boy: staying home for the holidays or seeing the sites in Boise.


GMAC Bowl
Jan. 6
Teams Tulsa vs. Ball State

Venue Ladd-Peebles stadium

Location Mobile, AL

Other GMAC is in serious trouble

The only bowl game using Federal bailout money the only issue here is the late dat of this game. Yes, the hardcore college football fan will care but by January 6th most are looking forward to next fall.

Canary In the Mine

Is there such phenomenon as fan fatigue? Anyone who has taken an economics class is familiar with the concept of the law of diminishing return. At a certain point additional input will not result in additional output. A simple why to look at the issue is that you could put five grains of wheat in a pot and get five nice plants but would have little success if you put 500 or 5,000 grains in that limited space.

Much has been made this week of the prices that Orange Bowl tickets are selling for and more specifically the weak demand on the part of Virginia Tech fans. Usually VT fans are among the most loyal. Loyal in this case comes with the expectation that they will open their wallets and buy. Unfortunately fans cannot afford the show their passion with dollars becoming increasing limited. Looking at the rear view mirror, the ACC Championship Game and the lack of attendance may have been the canary in the mine telling us that all is not right in the land of college football. Further that the Orange Bowl may be a preview of a new reality where the ability of fans to fund ever more expensive programs.

There will be those that will look recession proof as the growing continue be it a greatly reduced pace. But give the grimness of the current economic landscape we could see first a reduction in the “ESPN-make a Bowl” games followed by programs having to do more with less and even some schools dropping out of the FBS group.



Link to video

Perhaps on the part of VT fans their may be some fatigue of making the trip to Miami for a second straight year coupled with the knowledge that they may not be the best team in the ACC (Georgia Tech is ranked much higher) and the they are played the very unsexy University of Cincinnati Beatcats. Bearcats fans are at least excited by the novelty of attending a BCS game but are still considered by footballs old money are unworthy of a serious bowl game.

Yes, Ohio, it’s not just the school in Columbus that can play its way into the Bowl Championship Series – and the Bearcats can’t wait to begin using that as a selling point to recruits. So sometime Friday, a box of Orange Bowl knickknacks will arrive in Cincinnati, visual evidence of the Bearcats’ breakout season that landed them in a BCS game for the first time.

For more information about bowl ticket prices check out the CNBC coverage.

People the current economic environment is uglier than anything since the 1970's (and into the early 80's), the readjustment in the larger economy will trickle down to college football. Where will your team be when the dust clears?

12/22--Addendum: as Scott Armstrong points out the ticket is the cheap part of the bowl experience.

Exacting Work

Ever watch the two line judges come running in to stop the ball? When it is your team their judgment is often too short and too long for the other team. Then when the precise location has been determined the chains are brought out only to tell us that it is now fourth and three links. While the outcome of the game may depends upon the officials flawed estimations, generally the placement is close enough to the casual view without his hopes and dreams of vicarious glory invested the final score.

Yesterday's ACC Championship game had announced attendance of 53,927. Anyone watching the game could see that this number and the visuals did not add up. For those that did not see the event, this was not a fill just the lower deck event. There were not enough fans filling seats that anything would make this stadium look full.

Yet there was the ever present spin:

Tampa Bay Sports Commission executive director Rob Higgins said. "I'm confident we can look in the mirror and say we did absolutely everything we could to try to create the best atmosphere."

Look in the mirror has to look better than the video tape. And they were really looking for that quite open atmosphere.

Higgins said his group distributed returned tickets to more than 80 local charities and groups.

Could not give ticket away.

He wouldn't say if the low ticket sale would mean a financial loss and there still were associated events, including a concert and high school all-star game, then a youth football gala today.

The losses are too ugly for a family newspaper.

"As a whole, I'd say we're pleased on so many things," Kelly said, referring to creating a 48-hour celebration of ACC football, "but we have to get better in terms of reaching our (attendance) goal."

Missing quote, "And now I need to go back to my Sit and Spin from the nice people at Kenner."

The change in venue from Jacksonville to Tampa was designed to fix the attendance problem but as this fiasco shows the issue is with the product, ACC football. Both the SEC and Big 12 (at least filling the lower deck) had fans in the stands for their games so blaming the economy does not hold water. The problem here is the product and the lack of customers willing to pony up.

A real suggestion for the ACC is to schedule their football game around basketball games to be played in Tampa that weekend. Invite six ACC schools to play games OOC games over the same weekend in Tampa with two games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Sadly, resorting to adding basketball to the ACC Championship game mix would be an admission the Atlantic Coast (is still a basketball) Conference.

The officials have measured and it is now 3rd and 16.

Mr. Kelly in an earlier interview about the game.



Video from the endzone--fuzzy and jiggly.

Irish Bowl Part II--Body Heat

Norte Dame hater delighted in seeing lower than lowly Syracuse comeback to defeat the Irish last Saturday. Unless USC fails to show Notre Dame will end the season at 6-6 which is bowl eligible and both the Sun and Gator bowls would just love to have the Catholics in for the holidays. These two bowls split inviting Big 12 or a Big East/Notre Dame. Notre Dame is the hot step sister of the Big East and both bowls hope that they can position themselves to get some of the ND action and do not really care how.

The Sun Bowl is playing the part of the dim lawyer from Body Heat that loses his moral way in lust for Kathleen Turner (in 1981 she could carry it off). So allure is the prospect of having Notre Dame that you will do or say stupid things:

"When we went into the arrangement with the Big East, we did it solely so we'd have an opportunity for Notre Dame. Period," Folmer said. Going on to say that extra personal will be needed to sell tickets.

Remember that the bowl game is merely a trick to have out of towners to fill up hotels during the holidays and spend money.

Mr. Folmer is of the opinion that a 6-6 Notre Dame is there for the taking but the pnly way that can happen is if USC beats the Irish AND Rutgers loses the Louisville. A Rutgers wins means that the step sister Big East will have six teams with 7 or more wins. And as the commisioner of the Big East pointed out

Teams that complete their regular seasons with 6-6 records may be selected only after it is assured that teams with winning records have received a bowl invitation under the conference’s affiliated bowls.

The Sun Bowl now looks foolish...lust will do that.

Or we could just blame Otto.

Tickets Galore #14

Maryland at Boston College at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, MA
Upper Sideline TT $40.00
Bargain price for a gmae with a team in the hunt for a BCS berth

Syracuse at Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, OH
No tickets listed
Bearcat fever???

Baylor at Texas Tech at Jones SBC Stadium in Lubbock, TX
Upper Sideline 117 $85.00
Finish up the season with a game with the mighty Baylor Bears (Possible let down game?)

Akron at Temple at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA
Lower Level Sideline 102 $18.00
Tickets from the scaplers will be even cheaper.

UCLA at Arizona State at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, AZ
Upper Corner 213 $5.00
Sun Devil ticket are always a bargain.

Auburn at Alabama at Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL
Lower Level LL $319.00
Give thanks the St. Nick (Saban). Even a parking pass will run you $150.



Army/Navy Game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA
Upper Level Sideline 221 $40.00
Lower price than expected.

BSC returns to the Disney Land

ESPN is the last party standing in the contest to carry the BCS game beyond 2009.

SportsBusiness Daily reported that, according to sources, ESPN bid $125 million per year over four years to get the games, while Fox's top bid was $100 million per year.

At least the ESPN hype will be on all the games rather than just the Rose Bowl.

Tickets Galore Week #13

Duke at Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, VA
Upper Sideline 21 $42.00 each

Florida State at Maryland at Byrd Stadium in College Park, MD
Upper Sideline 312 2 $39.00
Terps are slowly in the ACC hunt.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati Football Tickets
Saturday, November 22, 2008 at 1:00 PM at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, OH
End Zone GA 116 $41.00
Bearcat mania? Terps v. Bearcats in the Orange Bowl?

Iowa State at Kansas State at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, KS
Lower Corner 1 $17.00
WHY? Overpriced at $1?

Illinois at Northwestern at Ryan Field in Evanston, IL
Lower Corner 103 $27.00 each
Thrown in a blanket and you have a deal.
Google Maps link

BYU at Utah at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, UT
Redzone N 28 $185.00
The ticket price will keep you warm.


Washington at Washington State at Martin Stadium in Pullman, WA
End Zone Reserved 18 $15.00
More over priced than the Iowa State at Kansas State game?

Ole Miss at LSU at Tiger Stadium - Baton Rouge in Baton Rouge, LA
East Upper 643 $68.00
No comment!

Yale at Harvard at Harvard Stadium in Boston, MA
13 KK $53.00
Ticket prices top out at $77. Maybe too steep for unemployed Harvard MBA's that worked on Wall Street.

Tickets Galore #11

2009 Capital One Bowl Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL
Mezzanine Corner 215 $95.00
Say mezzanine seven times real quick. And we will check back later for an update when the teams are determined.

North Carolina State at Duke Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, NC
Family GA $35.00
Section 14--This might be good lacrosse seats.



Oklahoma State at Texas Tech Jones SBC Stadium in Lubbock, TX
Lower End Zone 11 16 2 $130.00 each
The hot ticket of the week Two of 250 for sale.

Syracuse at Rutgers Rutgers Stadium - NJ in Piscataway, NJ
Upper Deck Sideline 218 $17.00
The bargain of the week considering the cost of a Broadway show.

Penn State at Iowa Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, IA
Sideline 107 $138.00
A surprisingly strong price for this Big Ten match up.

California at USC Los Angeles Sports Arena and Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA
Upper Corner 28 $45.00
Can Cal make this a game worth watching?

Tennessee-Martin at Auburn Jordan Hare Stadium in Auburn, AL
Lower Level End Zone 38 $12.00
More of a bargain given the travel time for a Broadway show.

Wyoming at Tennessee Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, TN
Upper Level Corner ZZ15 $17.00
SEC fans are dumping tickets. Hey this is a cheap ticket for the opportunity to say goodbye to Phil.

Looking ahead:
Northwestern at Michigan Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 12:00 PM at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, MI
Corner 40 $4.00 each auction

The Most Critcal Issue of the Day

Presidential politics and college football rarely intersect and they should not.
When ask on that tower of intellectual discourse, ESPN through Chris Berman, about what he would do to improve sports Mr. Obama said they he favored a playoff. Yes that playoff for college football.

See for yourself at 1:35


Mr. Obama maybe articulate and highly educated but he has
made a serious blunder on this critical issue. Iraq and the economy will sort
themselves out in time but putting a college football playoff into place will
change the fundamental foundation of college football and September games like regular season college basketball...meaningless.

It will start with eight teams but grow into a money monster that will create calls for the little guys to get a share of the wealth. Just like basketball it may well devolve into the silliness of the beyond marginal "play-in" game so we can cut the pie into 65 slices.

Perhaps Mr. Obama was feeling the hubris of being head in the polls but this may rank as one of the most serious and telling statements of the long campaign.

"All I am saying is give peace Columbia a berth"

Tickets Galore #10

Florida State at Georgia Tech Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, GA
Upper Level Sideline 203 $81.00
Nice seats. Prices helped by the openess of the ACC crown?

Missouri at Baylor Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, TX
Corner A $19.00
See a Tiger game on the cheap?

West Virginia at Connecticut Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT
Upper Sideline 205 $60.00
2007 Co-champs face off. Not worth $60.

Northwestern at Minnesota Metrodome in Minneapolis, MN
Face of the two Big 10 pretenders. Not worth $59.

Temple at Navy Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, MD
Lower Level Sideline 31 $27.00
Last Navy real Home game of the season.

Oregon at California Memorial Stadium (Cal) in Berkeley, CA
Gold Zone XX $29.95
XXX section is $29.95 per month.

Tulsa at Arkansas Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, AR
Upper Level Sideline 500 $18.00
This is actually and interesting game of unbeaten Tulsa visiting an SEC team.

Fresno State at Louisiana Tech Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, LA
E 01 $7.00
The bargain game of the week.

Big dose of SALT