How To Fix College Football

The world of college football is bound to be inverted on its axis, and it’s bound to happen soon. It may be that the Mayan Prophecy of 2012 was meant to narrowly target Division 1-A (FBS) College Football. Perhaps Colorado and Nebraska were the oracles that saw the black cloud approaching. Conference realignment is nothing new, as just within the last 20 years the Big 12 and its predecessors have consisted of 8, 10, and 12 teams. What is new though is that all the conferences may be shifting at the same time, which has seismic consequences to the other non-BCS conferences. Assuming what the talking heads have prophesied is true, that in a short period of time college football will revolve around four 16-team power conferences, the structure of crowning achievement currently in place will seem outlandishly dated.

The BCS can barely continue to exist in its current state, considering it rewards winners of BCS conferences with prestigious games, even though they may have won from atrocious football conferences (Hello Big East). With four power conferences, that can no longer continue and the placement of teams into the BCS games will have to become more arbitrary taking more into account the voice of the voters and the computer that computes rankings based on a formula. Likely the resulting games will be skewed and smaller though just as deserving schools will continue to be punished for not being behemoth institutions, think Boise State or TCU.

Luckily I have a solution for the NCAA to consider. Borrowing very heavily from the set-up of English League Football (Soccer) I have a way to even out the inequalities without compromising the interests of the heavily invested parties of the current system. If or once the 4 16-team power conference setup occurs, the system of rewarding teams with bowl games will have to be altered. The fairest way to do this is to follow the European example and reward great seasons by lesser schools with promotion and demote those with awful seasons. In England, the Barclays Premier League is the most prestigious league for club football. The giants of the league are almost constantly assured of remaining in place, notice how Manchester United and Liverpool are comfortably competing for the Premier League Crown, not worrying about relegation. However, clubs like Swansea and Sunderland dread fighting to stay in the top league at the close of the season. It is of utmost importance to avoid finishing in the bottom three due to the financial implications of being relegated to their version of the Minor Leagues.

This same system can improve the quality of the NCAA football season. Assuming the four most powerful football conferences, the Big 10, Pac 12, SEC, and ACC, divide the remains of the teams from the Big East and Big 12 amongst themselves, the Premier League system can be adopted. The remaining teams can make up their own conferences based largely on geographical alignment. Out of the 120 FBS schools, 64 will be part of one of the four power conferences, while the other 56 may split into 4 14-team conferences. The schools that finish last in their power conference will be relegated to one of the lesser conferences. The schools that finish first in their conference will get the promotion to the power conference. Make sense? Let’s assume Boise State does not get chosen to be part of the Pac-16 Power Conference at first, but the subsequent season win their lesser conference they get the promotion to the PAC-16 and take the place of the last place team (probably Colorado).

Now how does that solve the problem of the arbitrary selection process of the BCS you may ask? Well, here is where we borrow from the set-up of the UEFA Champions League. In Europe, the prestige of a league depends on how their best teams fare in the international tournaments. The more teams that go further into international competition over the previous five years, the more teams from that conference then get the opportunity to compete in the more prestigious tournaments. FIFA creates a coefficient to measure the quality of a league a la BCS points. The Champions League is the crème de la crème of football, and the opportunity to compete in it is a sign of accomplishment for a club. Think of what a BCS berth means to a program as a comparable example. Based on these ratings FIFA allocates the club teams from England, Spain, and Germany each with four spots. Then the next three in the FIFA ranking (France, Italy, and Portugal) get three spots, and so on. Obviously this will have to be changed to correspond with the different structure of football.

Thus, the idea is that the four top conferences automatically get their top two teams spots to compete for the National Title. Then based on the results of inter-conference records, with increased weight placed on bowl game performance, the top two conferences get an additional entry into the premier competition. Out of the other four conferences, only two teams will gain entry to compete for a national title. This can be done based on either win/loss record or on their ranking according to the BCS computer/ AP Poll. That leaves 12 teams to compete for the National Championship.

Now, arguably the most difficult part of this plan to come to fruition would be the mandatory playoff needed to determine the national champion. A 12 team playoff, like the NFL, would leave very little question as to who is the most deserving team to be crowned National Champion. Like the NFL, the winners of the power conferences get an automatic bye for the first week. The teams will all be ranked according to their BCS ranking. Thus the #5 team in the country will play #12 or whoever the last ranked place school is that qualified. This will continue until the National Championship game. At most, a team can play three more games than they would have under the current system.

The teams that did not qualify for the BCS Tournament, or whatever the name would be, can continue to play in games like the Chick-Fil-A or Capital One Bowl. Not only would this system not completely alter the premise that every game is crucial in college football, but it would also add importance to the lack-luster games at the end of season for teams struggling to avoid relegation. Sure, a team like Duke would likely be relegated and lose out on the earnings of the power conference, but they can also regain entry in just one year or play schools with comparable talent levels, instead of being demolished by superior competition. Under this plan, who loses?

Allow me to reintroduce myself

First off I'd like to apologize for the extended hiatus. If this was at all like the NBA Lockout, I would have threatened to blog abroad, but instead I'll do this pro-bono.

I've written some this summer, so stay tuned for some updates.

For example the Rapture released an album for mass consumption on Tuesday. I have some opinions on it.

"In The Grace of Your Love"

The Rapture have had a tumultuous history during their time as a band. Once the indie dance punk darlings of a daring New York scene, the Rapture were the “it” band. Working with the DFA studio, the Rapture’s success helped pave the inroads for the genre to take off. Their previous releases, Echoes and Pieces of the People We Love were loud, fun, and raucous. The synths squealed, the drums pummeled, and co-vocalists Luke Jenner and Mattie Safer yelped on top of it all. That was four years ago though.

Since then Mattie has left the band, they went on an extended hiatus, and they’ve grown up. The maturity that comes with facing a creative crisis, while scrambling to get the band together comes out in In the Grace of Your Love. The lead track “It Takes Time to be a Man” starts off in a jazzy groove with a piano jangling in the background, and delves into the reflective nature of a band that has grown up. The songs have sprawled out, losing much of the tight fury from the previous albums. Instead, the band gives their ideas more time to breathe and develop within a song. “How deep is Your Love” clocks in at over six minutes, where ideas build on top of each other, naturally maneuvering the song into a sound the band had not previously explored.

Unfortunately, the ideas that were so tightly jammed into brief moments of dance punk bliss on the previous albums have largely evaded the band on this album. The ideas on this album seem more contrived and have to be coerced out, and there are not enough them to sustain throughout. The momentum of the album fades, the spastic energy has been drained, and the effort just becomes tired.

The long hiatus may be the cause for the brevity of the inspired ideas. Parts of this album do dazzle and bring back memories of what the band once was. Unfortunately, the new look Rapture sound more mature but miss the entire point of their sound, and leave behind a disappointing comeback album.

P.S

The title for this post is from Jay-Z's "Encore". Fake Shore Drive has a post about his 50 greatest songs. I disagree with a lot of the picks. Stay tuned, I've been in a heavy-rap mood lately, and will have things to discuss.

Gnarls Barkley

Gotta say this makes these guys a lot cooler in my books.

Funny Ha Ha

Can someone please explain to me the difference between dubstep, techno, and electronica?
ohitsjustin:

dubstep is like wahwahwahwahwahwahwah

and techno is like uns uns uns uns uns uns

and electronica is like deedledeedledeenerdoodeedledoodeedle

i hope that helped

via (badkarat)

Another Parks and Rec Link

If you all don't watch the show, well then you won't "really" get it. But here is a tubmlr of cats that look like Ron Swanson.

Peep this

The guys from the Hood Internet have a tumblr where great album covers are made greater due to the addition of tacos. It's pretty clever, check it.

Parks and Recreation

One of my favorite shows is finally back on the air after a brief hiatus. They put out a hilarious advertising campaign to promote it.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/12/09/arts/pyramid/pyramid-jumbo.jpg

"Capitalism: God's way of determining who is smart, and who is poor"

Look for it after the Office.

Hennessy

This project is a bit old now, but still very cool. Hennessy just recently put together some of the better innovators in the rap/electro scene with some of the premier graphic artists today. The results, I think, are very impressive. Anyway check it out.

http://www.hennessy-blending-of-art.com/

If they ask you're over 21, right?

Yogi Berra

"If you don't go to somebody's funeral, they won't come to yours."

Woody Allen

"In my next life I want to live my life backwards. You start out dead and get that out of the way. Then you wake up in an old people's home feeling better every day. You get kicked out for being too healthy, go collect your pension, and then when you start work, you get a gold watch and a party on your first day. You work for 40 years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You party, drink alcohol, and are generally promiscuous, then you are ready for high school. You then go to primary school, you become a kid, you play. You have no responsibilities, you become a baby until you are born. And then you spend your last 9 months floating in luxurious spa-like conditions with central heating and room service on tap, larger quarters every day and then Voila! You finish off as an orgasm!"

— Woody Allen

YUP

"I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details."

-Albert Einstein

Rock Duos

Yesterday, Jack and Meg White officially announced they were done as a band. They said they "officially ended and will make no further recordings or perform live."



On the other hand, one of my favorite punk dance rock duos, Death From Above 1979 have announced they are back together as a band and will be playing Coachella among other festival into the summer. SHWING !!!

Big Star

Took me a minute to listen to this song, but its a game changer.


It's hard to imagine R.E.M or Weezer exisiting without these guys.
Unfortunately both Alex Chilton and Alex Hummel, the lead vocalist/guitarist and bassist respectively, passed away in 2010.

For further listening check out their double album #1 Record/Radio City and Third. Really its a must listen, especially if you like stuff like Springsteen or the Replacements.

Coachella 2011

Hey y'all. Coachella just announced their lineup unfortunately for the 22nd consecutive year I will not be able to make it. However, I'll give a few thoughts on the subject.

1) Doesn't it feel kinda small??
I mean Friday and Saturday, the headliners don't exactly get rave reviews. Sure, Arcade Fire would be great, but after that on Saturday, not many of the other headliners catch my eye until it gets down to New Pornographers and Gogol Bordello. Friday is a little stronger, but I'm having a hard time to get excited about KOL and Interpol.

2) Sunday is a hella good day though. It'd be tough to cram in all those bands in just a day, but seeing a couple reunited bands that I loved growing up would aahhmazing, namely the Strokes and DFA 1979.

3) Kanye West. 'Nuff Said.

Anyway if I had the chance to go to this I would, but I'm sure Des Moines will be comparable.

Bill Simmons on Carmelo

Normally I try to keep this blog about music and movies and the like, but after reading the new Bill Simmons column I felt like something needed to be said about an article that seriously diminishes my view of one of my favorite sports writers.

Simmons in his new article writes about the ongoing saga of where Carmelo Anthony should go. First, he starts off by listing how much money Carmelo has made per year. This is supposed to prove a point, but no point ever comes of it. His first four years Carmelo made the money appropriate to his position in the 2003 draft. The NBA is not the NFL where rookie negotiations are incredibly complicated, instead there is a pay scale that is accepted by both players and owners. After playing out the deal and becoming one of the top players in the league, Carmelo signs an extension that is set to expire this year. Simmons points out that in his eight years in the league, Carmelo made a lot of money, and because of that he should not make his decision based on money. However, Simmons fails to acknowledge that Denver offered him the most money and he does not want to play here anymore.

Instead, he thinks that if Carmelo were to just make his decision based on money then he would just accept an extension and move on to New Jersey. Completely downplaying the fact that likely within two years the Nets will have moved to Brooklyn. He says "how could Anthony possibly settle for a 10-28 team in Jersey? Because it's near New York? Because it's almost like playing for the Knicks? Because they're moving to Brooklyn in two years? Because Jay-Z owns 1 percent more of the Nets than my dog does? Excuse me, but he's saying that the largest market in the United States is not capable of supporting two teams better than most cities can support one. Remember Team A in the area, the Knicks, have long estranged their fans with terrible signings throughout the Isiah Thomas period. Simmons largely ignores the significance of a team in Brooklyn that will still have the fans in New Jersey plus all the new ones they can pick up by moving to an international city.

Obviously the Knicks are the bigger draw, though the Nets are clearly on their way up with their ownership base of Mikhail Prokhorov-the Russian Billionare, and Jay-Z. This base will supply the financial assets needed to build a winning team. Carmelo reportedly would still prefer to play for the Knicks, however as of now they don't have the assets to trade for him. Since Carmelo is not playing for the Knicks, Simmons blames Carmelo's former agent Calvin Andrews for not getting him the same fourth year player option Dwayne Wade and Lebron James got, that would have set up for Carmelo to play for the Knicks or any other team this year.

A lot of assumptions go into this claim from Simmons. First, would New York have acted the same as they did with the Lebron James sweepstakes? New York tried to shed as many of their large contracts as they could for last years free agent class, moving prized forward David Lee to Golden State. But, Lebron spurned them to go play for Miami, and instead they signed A'mare Stoudemire. So, if Carmelo was a free agent last year, Simmons assumes it would've been a given that he go to the Knicks, despite their salary cap troubles and already having promising small forward Danilo Gallinari. Considering, the system Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni runs, Gallinari may even be a better option at the position. Still, Simmons obtusely refers to Carmelo as greedy if he does not get to go to the Knicks.

Assuredly the Knicks would be much better if they got Carmelo while not giving up any players, a thought that is not a "pipe dream" if Carmelo waits till this summer. A completely unreasonable demand considering the ensuing lockout that is bound to happen this summer. As terms of the new labor agreement have not been agreed upon, it has been assumed that star contracts will begin to be limited in size as the ballooning of salaries has caused teams to lose money overall. For example under the current bargaining agreement, DeSagana Diop was able to get a contract of four years, $26.8 million, all for producing 3.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg,and 0.8 bpg. The 3 year/ $65 million deal Carmelo has on the table would be by far the best deal he can get going into the off-season. After that it becomes a very large financial gamble for one of the games biggest superstars.

Simmons, being the NBA guru he claims to be, offers a solution. Move Carmelo to the Clippers, where he can sign his extension, play in a large city, and have the opportunity to share the court with Blake Griffin. Although, Simmons refutes his attack on the Nets by praising the Clippers, who are the second team in Los Angeles by a wide margin. At this point, Simmons begins to day dream about Blake Griffin and bring in anecdotes from people who like seeing people dunk. Eventually he gets back on track, and talks about what the Clippers can offer Denver. A package of lottery pick Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman, expiring contracts and the rights to Minnesota's unprotected 2012 pick.

This sounds like a completely reasonable offer on paper, until you begin to examine each individual piece. Al-Farouq Aminu averages 7 points and 3 rebounds on a lottery bound team. Chris Kaman, an oft-injured aging big man who is averaging 10 points and 7 rebounds this year all while making over $11 million. The expiring contracts on the Clippers amounts to three players: Deandre Jordan, Ike Diogu, and Jarron Collins. Though Simmons later in the article talks about keeping Jordan on the team. The other two expiring contracts free up a whole one million dollars. This leaves the most promising aspect of the trade: the Minnesota Timberwolves' 2012 #1 pick. The pick sounds enticing except for the fact that in two years Minnesota can actually be good. Their team is stocked full of lottery picks, all of whom are beginning to pan out or in the case of Kevin Love already have. Add Ricky Rubio in 2012 and this could be a legit playoff team. This offer leaves the Nuggets with an aging big man who plays the same position as Nene and Chris "Birdman" Andersen, and not much else.

While I may normally enjoy Simmons' work, this article sounded like an unabashed fan boy discussing what-ifs on a Clippers forum. Seeing that Carmelo has clamored to be on a Northeastern team for a while and takes his wifes wishes into account, the destination for Carmelo is clearly not the Clippers. While going to New Jersey may not be the dream scenario, it is the only destination right now that makes sense both fiscally and logistically.