I love sports. Anybody who knows me or who reads this blog - a group that pretty much completely overlaps - knows that I love sports. So this COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in the complete absence of sports, has been very difficult for me. Usually, Spring is one of the best times of the year for sports fans. March Madness. NHL playoffs. The start of baseball season. This year, we're reduced to watching replays of old games because that's the only way we can get our sports fix. Heck, you can't even go to little league games!
So, to pass the time until sports return, I thought it'd be fun to rank and take a look at my Top 10 Favorite Sports Teams of All Time. I'm actually going to milk this and break it into two separate lists - favorite pro sports teams of all time and favorite college sports teams of all time. We'll start with the pro teams on this post. Advanced warning: these are all St. Louis teams, so all of you Texans or Southerners or folks from outside the Gateway City can feel free to roll your eyes. But, after all, this is my blog and my list, so deal with it. :)
Here we go, counting down from 10:
10. 2001 Rams - They went 14-2 while dominating not just the NFC West but all of the NFL...well, at least until running into Bill "Spygate" Belichick and Tom "Pretty Boy" Brady in the Super Bowl. While their loss to the Patriots was a HUGE upset at the time, looking back now, it just looks like the starting point of an incredible (yet despicable) dynasty. Prior to the Super Bowl, it was the Rams who appeared to be on the verge of becoming a dynasty. In spite of the painful end to the season, this was a team that seemingly scored points at will and featured a plethora of incredible offensive talent, including multiple Hall of Famers like Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, Marshall Faulk and Orlando Pace. The offensive madness of Mike Martz was probably at its zenith with this team. We won't dwell on how the NFL screwed St. Louis a few years ago in moving the team back to L.A., but I do want to tip my hat to a team that was incredibly fun to watch and briefly made my much maligned hometown the center of the football world for a few years.
9. 2006 Cardinals - It might be a little surprising to see a team that won it all - and ended a franchise-record 24 year championship drought in the process - this low. However, you also have to remember that, prior to catching fire in October, this team was mediocre all season long, winning only 83 games and backing into the playoffs. Following back-to-back triple digit win seasons in '04 and '05, this team was a disappointment. At least until the playoffs started and the likes of David Eckstein, So Taguchi, Ronnie Belliard, Jeff Suppan and Scott Spiezio came up with huge, timely hits to spur series wins over the Padres, Mets and Tigers. Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS - with the game winning homer by Yadier Molina (who hit only .216 with 6 HR during the regular season) followed by the 3 pitch strikeout of Carlos Beltran with the bases loaded (froze him with a wicked curve ball) - remains one of the best baseball games I've ever watched. The fact that the Cardinals' worst team from 2000-2006 was the one to finally win the franchise's 10th championship is ironic but it helped heal the wounds from 1985, 1987, 2001, 2004 and 2005. It also marked my second championship parade and the first for my son, who was 3 at the time.
8. 1990-91 Blues - A regular season juggernaut that finished with the second best record in the NHL. This team was the pinnacle of the "Hull & Oates" era, with Brett Hull scoring a ridiculous 86 goals and Adam Oates notching 90 assists. Hull won the Hart Trophy as MVP and St. Louis area McDonald's locations sold the Brett Hull Hat Trick Triple Cheeseburger, which came with a special Brett Hull cup. In the playoffs, the team rallied and came back from a 3-1 deficit in the 1st round to beat the Red Wings - a series that featured Bob Probert punching Blues' goalie Vincent Riendeau in Game 2 and a Game 5 that featured numerous fights and nearly 300 penalty minutes during a 6-1 victory. I was at that game at the Old Barn and, as a 17 year old kid, it was one of the best games I'd ever seen. Unfortunately, they flamed out in the 2nd round and were upset by the North Stars. Still, this was the team that turned me into a true die hard Blues fan, as evidenced by the fact that I still own (and wear) my circa 1991 Brett Hull jersey. (Yes, Baylor friends, that's the one I wore frequently in college.)
7. 1987 Cardinals - This was last great team of the Whiteyball era and (not coincidentally) the last division and pennant winner under the team's Anheuser-Busch ownership. This was the team that gave us Tommy Herr's extra inning game winning grand slam on "Seat Cushion Night," when thousands of seat cushions were hurled onto the field to celebrate a come-from-behind win over the hated Mets. This was also the team that gave us The Secret Weapon - Jose Oquendo, who played all 9 positions over the course of the season while getting some key hits off the bench. Jack Clark mashed 35 home runs even though his missed more than a month of the season with a wrist injury. In the NLCS, the Cards rallied from a 3-2 series deficit to defeat Jeffrey "One Flap Down" Leonard and the Giants, helped in part by a clutch Game 7 home run from Oquendo, much to the delight of the cowbell toting fans. Unfortunately, they couldn't overcome the Twins' home field advantage at the Homer Dome in the World Series, leading to the second heartbreaking World Series loss in three years.
6. 2015-16 Blues - This team will forever hold a special place in my heart because it beat the Blackhawks in the playoffs (officially ending their dynasty) in a thrilling 7 game series that featured 6 one-goal games, including 2 OT games. My daughter and I were there for Game 7 when a 3rd period goal by Troy Brouwer propelled the Note past the Blackhawks and into the 2nd round and it was probably the most exciting game I've ever witnessed in person. In the conference semifinals, the Blues upset the Stars to advance to the 3rd round for the first time in 15 years. It was the last stand in St. Louis for fan favorites like David Backes and Brian Elliott.
5. 1999 Rams - Prior to this season, St. Louis football fans had known nothing but misery. 32 seasons of pro football with the Cardinals and the Rams and not even a single playoff win. That all changed in 1999, thanks to Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce and an unknown Arena League QB named Kurt Warner. The Rams not only won 13 regular season games and the first playoff game in St. Louis football history, they used a high octane offense and an opportunistic defense to win the Super Bowl, giving St. Louis sports fans their first championship in any sport since 1982. It was one of the best Super Bowls played up to that time, sealed by The Tackle by Mike Jones as time expired. This team gave me my first championship parade (I was only 8 when the previous one happened, so I didn't get to go) and finally gave long suffering St. Louis football fans something to cheer about. It was one of the most incredible one season turnarounds in NFL history. This team would probably be ranked a little higher if they and their corrupt cabal of fellow owners hadn't violated league rules to move the team back to LA a few seasons ago. Even with the sour ending, I still have to love this team for the excitement and thrills they provided.
4. 2004 Cardinals - This is the best Cardinals team I've ever seen. They won 105 games during the regular season, led by the MV3 - Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen - who all 3 had 30+ HR, 100+ RBI and OPS of over 1.000. All five starting pitchers finished in double digits in wins and closer Jason Isringhausen had 47 saves. They rallied from a 3-2 deficit in the NLCS to beat Roger Clemens and the Astros in a series that featured heroics both at the plate and in the field from Jim Edmonds. While the team ran out of gas and suffered a brutal 4 game sweep to the Red Sox in the World Series, they still won their first NL pennant in 17 years and provided the Sea of Red at Busch with countless memories.
3. 2011 Cardinals - I could live to be 110 and I'll never again witness another baseball team like the 2011 Cardinals. Left for dead, they rallied from 10.5 back in August to make the playoffs on the last night of the season. Expected to promptly exit stage right in the playoffs, they shocked the Phillies in the NLDS (the Game 5 matchup between Chris Carpenter and Roy Halladay was one for the ages) before pounding their way past the Brewers in the NLCS. The Fall Classic gave us the best World Series game ever (Game 6) in which the never-say-die Cardinals twice were down to their last strike, only to rally and win the game on an iconic 11th inning walk-off homer by hometown hero David Freese. It remains the only game in MLB postseason history in which a team scored in the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th innings. That game was really a microcosm of the 2011 Cardinals as a whole - just when you thought they were dead, they'd rise up and pull out some unexpected wins. This team gave us the Rally Squirrel, 11 in '11 and it marked the last time that Tony LaRussa and Albert Pujols would wear the birds on the bat. It marked the end of an era and gave Cardinals fans an unbelievable come-from-behind story that featured a hometown hero as its centerpiece. This team gave me my third championship parade, my son's second (he was 8) and my daughter's first (she was 4).
2. 1985 Cardinals - For more than 30 years, this was my favorite sports team of all time. Part of that was my age at the time. I was 11 and so this was really the first time I was old enough to follow the team day in and day out. As my college friends can attest, I've had a love affair with this team and I can easily rattle off the stats, even when I'm inebriated. Willie McGee hit .353, won a Gold Glove and an MVP. Rookie Vince Coleman led MLB with 110 steals and won Rookie of the Year. Tommy Herr produced one of the most bizarre stat lines ever, driving in 110 runs despite only hitting 8 HR. John Tudor started the season 1-7 before going a ridiculous 20-1 after that. He won 21 games and had a sub-2.00 ERA. The only thing that kept him from winning the Cy Young and giving the Cardinals all of the major awards was Dwight Gooden's stupendous sophomore campaign. This was Whiteyball at its finest, winning 101 games while hitting only 87 HR but stealing 314 bases. This was "The Heat is On," "Go Crazy, Folks!" and Pedro Guerrero throwing down his glove in disgust after Tom Niedenfuer gave up game winning 9th inning homers in back-to-back game in the NLCS. Unfortunately, this was also baseball's fastest man getting run down by a slow moving automated tarp machine and Don Denkinger's blown call at 1st in Game 6 of the World Series. This was the team that really made me fall in love with baseball, while also teaching me how much sports can also break your heart. If I'd done this list a year ago, this team would still have been #1 on this list. But then a miracle happened...
1. 2018-19 Blues - ...and that miracle was the BLUES FINALLY WINNING A STANLEY CUP!!! If the 1985 Cardinals made me cry sad tears over sports for the first time, the 2019 Blues made me cry tears of joy over sports for the first time. Similar to the 2011 Cardinals, this team was left for dead and came back to accomplish what no one thought was possible. In last place in the NHL when the calendar turned to January, they caught fire in the new year thanks, in large part, to an unheralded 3rd string goalie who had been wasting away in the minors before getting called up in January. They went on an incredible run to make the playoffs and then JUST. KEPT. WINNING. They rallied to beat the Jets in the 1st round before coming back from a 3-2 series deficit to beat the Stars in the 2nd round in double OT in Game 7 on a goal by another hometown hero, Pat Maroon. They overcame a blown call (IT WAS A HAND PASS!) in the conference finals to beat the Sharks and advance to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1970. Prior to this, the Blues had never even won a game in the Cup Final in franchise history. This time, they fulfilled the hopes and dreams of a long suffering fan base by winning those last 4 games to finally bring Lord Stanley's Cup to the Gateway City. They were the oldest franchise to not have won a Cup. The 16th and final playoff win had me in tears because a part of me genuinely doubted whether I'd ever get to witness the Blues win a Cup. This was a gutsy, gritty team that was the perfect representation of what a hockey team should be - hard nosed, physical, unselfish and blue collar. This was "Gloria" and the biggest, craziest championship parade I've ever seen. This one was my 4th, my son's 3rd and my daughter's 2nd. Like the 2011 Cardinals, I could live to be 110 and I'll never again experience something like the 2019 Blues.
Honorable Mention: 1999-2000 Blues
There you have it - my list of my 10 favorite sports teams of all time! How many of these are on your list? I'd love to hear your picks.
Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Friday, April 10, 2020
Adjusting to the New Normal
Life is all about adjustments. From the moment we enter the world from our mother's womb, we're making adjustments. Adjusting to light and dark. Adjusting to breathing on our own. Adjusting to the different tastes and textures of solid food. As toddlers, we adjust to being able to walk on our own and exploring the world around us. As we get older, we adjust to going to school and being away from home and our parents all day. Middle school and high school brings adjustments like going to a different school and changing classes every hour. As teenagers, we learn to drive and learn responsibility with our first jobs and adjusting to having to balance work and school and friends. If you go away to college, you have to adjust to being on your own, away from home, making new friends while balancing schoolwork and free time.
For the first 18 to 22 years, our lives are governed by the school year. There is always a beginning every fall and an end every spring. The "school year" and "summer" are two completely different things with different priorities. But because it's basically all you've ever known, there's some comfort in that cadence - knowing there's always a light at the end of the tunnel, whether it's winter break or summer.
Which brings us to what I found to be one of the most difficult adjustments of all: having a job and living in the "real world." Unless you're a teacher, you have to adjust to a completely different cadence, where January is basically the same as July. The annual beginning and end we've grown up with no longer exists and we have to adjust to the fact that there's no built in beginning or end. There's no "summer break" to look forward to. It takes a few years to adjust from having 3-4 months off every year to having, if you're lucky, 3-4 weeks off. In addition to that, you have to adjust to paying bills for cars and credit cards and rent or mortgages. It's a sea change - a completely different circumstance than you've grown used to for the first few decades of your life. And it's a new reality that will last about twice as long as your previous reality.
Even once we settle into adulthood, the adjustments don't stop. Getting married? You have to adjust to sharing everything - your life, your finances, your bed - with someone else. Having kids? You have to adjust to the responsibility that comes with raising another human being. The sleep deprivation. The expense. The fears and worries, the joy and the heartaches. And each phase of your child's life interacts with the phases of your own life and it requires adjustments upon adjustments. Change is the only constant.
Now, in the face of the current pandemic, we are having to adjust to things we likely never envisioned. If you're lucky, you're adjusting to working from home and not being able to shop or dine out as you normally would. If you're less fortunate, you're adjusting to being out of a job and worried about how to pay the bills or feed yourself and your family. The current restrictions on mobility and the requirements for social distancing are unlike anything anyone alive has ever experienced. They require all of us - students, adults, workers, retirees and everyone in between to once again adjust.
Is it going to be easy? No. It's tough not being able to see friends and relatives, not being able to get together to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and graduations. It's tough to not be able to go out to eat or to go shopping. For those who are out of work, it's even more difficult because that lack of income brings with it all kinds of other stresses and concerns. But I have faith that we can do it. After all, each and every one of us has adjusted to so many changes in our lives and it is our adaptability that has allowed humankind to survive previous pandemics and plagues, recessions and depressions. It may not be easy or fun, but we can do it.
In the interim, enjoy the extra time with your family and pets. Enjoy short commutes and the ability to work in your pajamas. Enjoy showering less and sleeping more. At some point, this "new normal" will fade away and we'll return to the schools and office buildings, restaurants and stores, churches and arenas that we frequented before. What that happens, those things we took for granted for so long will seem that much sweeter.
Until then, pass the remote. I have some shows to binge on Netflix...
For the first 18 to 22 years, our lives are governed by the school year. There is always a beginning every fall and an end every spring. The "school year" and "summer" are two completely different things with different priorities. But because it's basically all you've ever known, there's some comfort in that cadence - knowing there's always a light at the end of the tunnel, whether it's winter break or summer.
Which brings us to what I found to be one of the most difficult adjustments of all: having a job and living in the "real world." Unless you're a teacher, you have to adjust to a completely different cadence, where January is basically the same as July. The annual beginning and end we've grown up with no longer exists and we have to adjust to the fact that there's no built in beginning or end. There's no "summer break" to look forward to. It takes a few years to adjust from having 3-4 months off every year to having, if you're lucky, 3-4 weeks off. In addition to that, you have to adjust to paying bills for cars and credit cards and rent or mortgages. It's a sea change - a completely different circumstance than you've grown used to for the first few decades of your life. And it's a new reality that will last about twice as long as your previous reality.
Even once we settle into adulthood, the adjustments don't stop. Getting married? You have to adjust to sharing everything - your life, your finances, your bed - with someone else. Having kids? You have to adjust to the responsibility that comes with raising another human being. The sleep deprivation. The expense. The fears and worries, the joy and the heartaches. And each phase of your child's life interacts with the phases of your own life and it requires adjustments upon adjustments. Change is the only constant.
Now, in the face of the current pandemic, we are having to adjust to things we likely never envisioned. If you're lucky, you're adjusting to working from home and not being able to shop or dine out as you normally would. If you're less fortunate, you're adjusting to being out of a job and worried about how to pay the bills or feed yourself and your family. The current restrictions on mobility and the requirements for social distancing are unlike anything anyone alive has ever experienced. They require all of us - students, adults, workers, retirees and everyone in between to once again adjust.
Is it going to be easy? No. It's tough not being able to see friends and relatives, not being able to get together to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and graduations. It's tough to not be able to go out to eat or to go shopping. For those who are out of work, it's even more difficult because that lack of income brings with it all kinds of other stresses and concerns. But I have faith that we can do it. After all, each and every one of us has adjusted to so many changes in our lives and it is our adaptability that has allowed humankind to survive previous pandemics and plagues, recessions and depressions. It may not be easy or fun, but we can do it.
In the interim, enjoy the extra time with your family and pets. Enjoy short commutes and the ability to work in your pajamas. Enjoy showering less and sleeping more. At some point, this "new normal" will fade away and we'll return to the schools and office buildings, restaurants and stores, churches and arenas that we frequented before. What that happens, those things we took for granted for so long will seem that much sweeter.
Until then, pass the remote. I have some shows to binge on Netflix...
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Best of the College Years - In Words and Phrases
In keeping with my recent theme of 1992-96, here is a list of some of the things I remember from my college years - just in words or phrases. Think of it as an homage to "It's The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" and "We Didn't Start The Fire"...without the rhyming...or a chorus...or airplay.
Welcome Week
Saying goodbye to Mom and Dad
On my own for the first time
Penland Hall
Baylor Line
Sic 'em
Nevermind, Ten, Core and Automatic for the People
J.J. Joe to Melvin Bonner
BUGWB and the Baylor Line cooperating to steal an opposing player's helmet
A flea flicker to beat Georgia Tech on Homecoming
Stopping UT on 4th and 4 to go to a bowl game
Celebrating by rushing the field and tearing down the goal post
The Elite, Health Camp and "I Survived the Circle"
Melody Ranch and Cody's
David Koresh and the Branch Davidians
FBI raid
Waco on the news all over the world
The compound in flames on a windy spring day in Central Texas
KMOX on the radio 700 miles away
Ken Wilson and Oh Baby!
Cujo standing on his head against the Leafs
Grackles and bird crap everywhere
Hitting a deer with my car on a date
Baylor Landing
Beezus
APO
Fall '93
The office and asbestos
Red rules!
We lie, we cheat, we steal, we win
Yellow is the color of jaundice
A fun group of PTAs
Square dancing and Elvira
Big sib hunt
Roller skating at a roadside dive
Animal Shelter and LaRue's Learning Center
Initiation at the most beautiful college library in America
Toast song with unofficial lyrics and verbal accompaniment
Chili's and skillet queso
Dante's Informal
State flags in the Homecoming parade
Chapel Forum
Waco Hall and the Tower of Power
Bean bag chair
Nightly Dr Pepper and popcorn while watching Cheers reruns
Quantum Leap
Ghetto HEB
Beavis & Butthead
Sweet Pea & Bunnykins
Rock 'n Bowl
You gotta keep 'em separated
Whataburger and IHOP at 3am
Crashed on the floor, Sesame Street on TV
Discovering that others could see Snuffleupagus
My hat on someone else's head
Purple, Cracked Rear View, Dookie and Deluxe
A dry erase board that served as the equivalent of a group text
Hootie in Dallas - a caravan on I-35
The O.J. verdict
Flash photos
A love triangle of sorts and missed connections
Trash can punch and random '80s Cards statistics
The heat running up the phone bill
Diadeloso
A road trip to El Paso and crossing the border for margaritas
Cameron Park and Mother Neff
Elvis and dancing on the table
The Loose Cannon
Taco Hell Club
Suspension Bridge
Valley Mills and backroads
Chilling at the lake
Sarah McLachlan
Nellie, Roscoe and Kirby the Wonder Car
Gretzky wearing the blue note
A Miracle on 5th Street
A dance and street party
TV vans from all around the globe
Noze Brothers and The Rope
Awwww yeah
And as usual, the conversation returns to sex
Purity test
Ice storm, accident and slumber party with Heathers and Pulp Fiction
Serving as personal chauffeur to and from Hastings
Honor Among Thieves and Sorry to a Friend
Love unspoken but yet assumed and known
Old Main, Carroll Science, Burleson Quadrangle
The old bear pits
The carillon in Pat Neff
Green and gold swings under trees
Fountain people outside the SUB
Judge Baylor
Ferrell Center
Graduation
An inadequate goodbye
Four amazing years filled with good memories and great people deep in the Heart of Texas
Flinging green and gold afar
To the light ways of time
That Good Ol' Baylor Line
Sic 'em forever
Welcome Week
Saying goodbye to Mom and Dad
On my own for the first time
Penland Hall
Baylor Line
Sic 'em
Nevermind, Ten, Core and Automatic for the People
J.J. Joe to Melvin Bonner
BUGWB and the Baylor Line cooperating to steal an opposing player's helmet
A flea flicker to beat Georgia Tech on Homecoming
Stopping UT on 4th and 4 to go to a bowl game
Celebrating by rushing the field and tearing down the goal post
The Elite, Health Camp and "I Survived the Circle"
Melody Ranch and Cody's
David Koresh and the Branch Davidians
FBI raid
Waco on the news all over the world
The compound in flames on a windy spring day in Central Texas
KMOX on the radio 700 miles away
Ken Wilson and Oh Baby!
Cujo standing on his head against the Leafs
Grackles and bird crap everywhere
Hitting a deer with my car on a date
Baylor Landing
Beezus
APO
Fall '93
The office and asbestos
Red rules!
We lie, we cheat, we steal, we win
Yellow is the color of jaundice
A fun group of PTAs
Square dancing and Elvira
Big sib hunt
Roller skating at a roadside dive
Animal Shelter and LaRue's Learning Center
Initiation at the most beautiful college library in America
Toast song with unofficial lyrics and verbal accompaniment
Chili's and skillet queso
Dante's Informal
State flags in the Homecoming parade
Chapel Forum
Waco Hall and the Tower of Power
Bean bag chair
Nightly Dr Pepper and popcorn while watching Cheers reruns
Quantum Leap
Ghetto HEB
Beavis & Butthead
Sweet Pea & Bunnykins
Rock 'n Bowl
You gotta keep 'em separated
Whataburger and IHOP at 3am
Crashed on the floor, Sesame Street on TV
Discovering that others could see Snuffleupagus
My hat on someone else's head
Purple, Cracked Rear View, Dookie and Deluxe
A dry erase board that served as the equivalent of a group text
Hootie in Dallas - a caravan on I-35
The O.J. verdict
Flash photos
A love triangle of sorts and missed connections
Trash can punch and random '80s Cards statistics
The heat running up the phone bill
Diadeloso
A road trip to El Paso and crossing the border for margaritas
Cameron Park and Mother Neff
Elvis and dancing on the table
The Loose Cannon
Taco Hell Club
Suspension Bridge
Valley Mills and backroads
Chilling at the lake
Sarah McLachlan
Nellie, Roscoe and Kirby the Wonder Car
Gretzky wearing the blue note
A Miracle on 5th Street
A dance and street party
TV vans from all around the globe
Noze Brothers and The Rope
Awwww yeah
And as usual, the conversation returns to sex
Purity test
Ice storm, accident and slumber party with Heathers and Pulp Fiction
Serving as personal chauffeur to and from Hastings
Honor Among Thieves and Sorry to a Friend
Love unspoken but yet assumed and known
Old Main, Carroll Science, Burleson Quadrangle
The old bear pits
The carillon in Pat Neff
Green and gold swings under trees
Fountain people outside the SUB
Judge Baylor
Ferrell Center
Graduation
An inadequate goodbye
Four amazing years filled with good memories and great people deep in the Heart of Texas
Flinging green and gold afar
To the light ways of time
That Good Ol' Baylor Line
Sic 'em forever
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Tim's Top 50: Best of the College Years - Country Edition
Last week, I posted my Top 50 rock/pop songs from my college years (1992-96). Now I'm following that up with my Top 50 country songs during that same time period.
To recap the rules: To qualify for this list, the song has to have been released between the beginning of 1992 and the end of 1996. While some of these may technically have been released BEFORE I started college or AFTER I finished college, it was easier to just focus on 1992-1996 than to split hairs on specific dates within those years. The only negative of the 1992 cutoff on the front end is that it eliminates some early gems from Alan Jackson (like "Dallas"), Clint Black (like "Killin' Time" and "Better Man") and, of course, Garth Brooks (too many to list). However, rules are rules and I'm going to abide by them.
This list wasn't quite as tough as the previous rock/pop list, but it was still tough and I still had to omit some songs that I really liked. Having said that, here we go...
50. "Like There Ain't No Yesterday" by Blackhawk
49. "Burn One Down" by Clint Black
48. "Boot Scootin' Boogie" by Brooks & Dunn
47. "Thank God for You" by Sawyer Brown
46. "God Blessed Texas" by Little Texas
45. "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)" by Joe Diffie
44. "Alibis" by Tracy Lawrence
43. "Bubba Shot the Jukebox" by Mark Chesnutt
42. "Should've Been a Cowboy" by Toby Keith
41. "Sawmill Road" by Diamond Rio
40. "Sure Love" by Hal Ketchum
39. "Every Light in the House is On" by Trace Adkins
38. "Cry on the Shoulder of the Road" by Martina McBride
37. "The River" by Garth Brooks
36. "We Tell Ourselves" by Clint Black
35. "Just One Night" by McBride and The Ride
34. "Blue Clear Sky" by George Strait
33. "John Deere Green" by Joe Diffie
32. "Queen of Memphis" by Confederate Railroad
31. "Some Girls Do" by Sawyer Brown
30. "I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)" by Alabama
29. "Be My Baby Tonight" by John Michael Montgomery
28. "Time Marches On" by Tracy Lawrence
27. "What Might Have Been" by Little Texas
26. "I Sure Can Smell the Rain" by Blackhawk
25. "(Who Says) You Can't Have it All" by Alan Jackson
24. "Heads Carolina, Tails California" by JoDee Messina
23. "Almost Goodbye" by Mark Chesnutt
22. "Who's That Man?' by Toby Keith
21. "The Red Strokes" by Garth Brooks
20. "Carried Away" by George Strait
19. "When the Thought of You Catches Up With Me" by David Ball
18. "Look Heart, No Hands" by Randy Travis
17. "Foolish Pride" by Travis Tritt
16. "Goodbye Says It All" by Blackhawk
15. "Straight Tequila Night" by John Anderson
14. "Pickup Man" by Joe Diffie
13. "Independence Day" by Martina McBride
12. "Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)" by John Michael Montgomery
11. "Anymore" by Travis Tritt
10. "The Song Remembers When" by Trisha Yearwood
9. "I Cross My Heart" by George Strait
8. "When You Say Nothing at All" by Alison Krauss & Union Station
7. "Nobody Wins" by Radney Foster
6. "Strawberry Wine" by Deana Carter
5. "That Summer" by Garth Brooks
4. "I See It Now" by Tracy Lawrence
3. "Chattahoochee" by Alan Jackson (the original version - NOT the dance remix)
2. "I Can Still Make Cheyenne" by George Strait
1. "Neon Moon" by Brooks & Dunn
Whew......there's my list. What are your thoughts? What songs did I leave out that you would have included? What did I include that you wouldn't have? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
As always, thanks for reading!
To recap the rules: To qualify for this list, the song has to have been released between the beginning of 1992 and the end of 1996. While some of these may technically have been released BEFORE I started college or AFTER I finished college, it was easier to just focus on 1992-1996 than to split hairs on specific dates within those years. The only negative of the 1992 cutoff on the front end is that it eliminates some early gems from Alan Jackson (like "Dallas"), Clint Black (like "Killin' Time" and "Better Man") and, of course, Garth Brooks (too many to list). However, rules are rules and I'm going to abide by them.
This list wasn't quite as tough as the previous rock/pop list, but it was still tough and I still had to omit some songs that I really liked. Having said that, here we go...
50. "Like There Ain't No Yesterday" by Blackhawk
49. "Burn One Down" by Clint Black
48. "Boot Scootin' Boogie" by Brooks & Dunn
47. "Thank God for You" by Sawyer Brown
46. "God Blessed Texas" by Little Texas
45. "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)" by Joe Diffie
44. "Alibis" by Tracy Lawrence
43. "Bubba Shot the Jukebox" by Mark Chesnutt
42. "Should've Been a Cowboy" by Toby Keith
41. "Sawmill Road" by Diamond Rio
40. "Sure Love" by Hal Ketchum
39. "Every Light in the House is On" by Trace Adkins
38. "Cry on the Shoulder of the Road" by Martina McBride
37. "The River" by Garth Brooks
36. "We Tell Ourselves" by Clint Black
35. "Just One Night" by McBride and The Ride
34. "Blue Clear Sky" by George Strait
33. "John Deere Green" by Joe Diffie
32. "Queen of Memphis" by Confederate Railroad
31. "Some Girls Do" by Sawyer Brown
30. "I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)" by Alabama
29. "Be My Baby Tonight" by John Michael Montgomery
28. "Time Marches On" by Tracy Lawrence
27. "What Might Have Been" by Little Texas
26. "I Sure Can Smell the Rain" by Blackhawk
25. "(Who Says) You Can't Have it All" by Alan Jackson
24. "Heads Carolina, Tails California" by JoDee Messina
23. "Almost Goodbye" by Mark Chesnutt
22. "Who's That Man?' by Toby Keith
21. "The Red Strokes" by Garth Brooks
20. "Carried Away" by George Strait
19. "When the Thought of You Catches Up With Me" by David Ball
18. "Look Heart, No Hands" by Randy Travis
17. "Foolish Pride" by Travis Tritt
16. "Goodbye Says It All" by Blackhawk
15. "Straight Tequila Night" by John Anderson
14. "Pickup Man" by Joe Diffie
13. "Independence Day" by Martina McBride
12. "Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)" by John Michael Montgomery
11. "Anymore" by Travis Tritt
10. "The Song Remembers When" by Trisha Yearwood
9. "I Cross My Heart" by George Strait
8. "When You Say Nothing at All" by Alison Krauss & Union Station
7. "Nobody Wins" by Radney Foster
6. "Strawberry Wine" by Deana Carter
5. "That Summer" by Garth Brooks
4. "I See It Now" by Tracy Lawrence
3. "Chattahoochee" by Alan Jackson (the original version - NOT the dance remix)
2. "I Can Still Make Cheyenne" by George Strait
1. "Neon Moon" by Brooks & Dunn
Whew......there's my list. What are your thoughts? What songs did I leave out that you would have included? What did I include that you wouldn't have? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
As always, thanks for reading!
Monday, March 16, 2020
Tim's Top 50: Best of the College Years - Rock/Pop Edition
It's been a while since I've posted anything, but now that we're all quasi-homebound due to the Coronavirus madness, it's given me some time to come up with some new material for my blog. I'm going to restart things with my list of the top 50 songs from my college years. We'll start with the rock/pop selections and then maybe pivot to country or other genres in the coming days and weeks.
The rules: To qualify for this list, the song has to have been released between 1992 and 1996. While some of these may technically have been released BEFORE I started college or AFTER I finished college, it was easier to just focus on 1992-1996 than to split hairs on specific dates within those years. The only negative of the 1992 cutoff on the front end is that it eliminates some early grunge gems like Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Pearl Jam's "Alive" and Soundgarden's "Outshined," all of which were released in 1991. But since those were unequivocally released prior to I went to college, they are excluded from the list.
Longtime readers of this blog know that I've done many music-related lists before, but I have to say this one was the most difficult yet. There were so many great songs released during the time period that I was very difficult to come up with just the top 50. Be forewarned that there will be a lot of grunge and alternative rock because, we ARE talking about the '90s after all. Having said that, here we go...
50. "Last Dance with Mary Jane" by Tom Petty
49. "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis
48. "Possum Kingdom" by The Toadies
47. "Take A Bow" by Madonna
46. "In The Blood" by Better Than Ezra
45. "Pulling Teeth" by Green Day
44. "1979" by Smashing Pumpkins
43. "Name" by Goo Goo Dolls
42. "Something's Always Wrong" by Toad The Wet Sprocket
41. "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow
40. "Better Man" by Pearl Jam
39. "Self Esteem" by The Offspring
38. "Today" by Smashing Pumpkins
37. "Linger" by The Cranberries
36. "No Excuses" by Alice in Chains
35. "Hold My Hand" by Hootie and the Blowfish
34. "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam
33. "Two Princes" by Spin Doctors
32. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Deep Blue Something
31. "Lithium" by Nirvana
30. "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" by Smashing Pumpkins
29. "Until I Hear It From You" by Gin Blossoms
28. "Friday I'm in Love" by The Cure
27. "Barely Breathing" by Duncan Sheik
26. "A Long December" by Counting Crows
25. "Walls" by Tom Petty
24. "Shine" by Collective Soul
23. "Creep" by Stone Temple Pilots
22. "Ants Marching" by Dave Matthews Band
21. "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring
20. "Crowing" by Toad The Wet Sprocket
19. "Elderly Woman Behind a Counter in a Small Town" by Pearl Jam
18. "Would?" by Alice In Chains
17. "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden
16. "Cumbersome" by Seven Mary Three
15. "Zombie" by The Cranberries
14. "Lightning Crashes" by Live
13. "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
12. "Basket Case" by Green Day
11. "Hey Jealousy" by Gin Blossoms
10. "Possession" by Saran McLachlan
9. "Santa Monica" by Everclear
8. "Let Her Cry" by Hootie and the Blowfish
7. "Wonderwall" by Oasis
6. "No Rain" by Blind Melon
5. "Buddy Holly" by Weezer
4. "Sorry to a Friend" by Edwin McCain
3. "One" by U2
2. "Black" by Pearl Jam
1. "Interstate Love Song" by Stone Temple Pilots
There you have it. What are your thoughts? What songs did I omit that you would have included? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for reading!
The rules: To qualify for this list, the song has to have been released between 1992 and 1996. While some of these may technically have been released BEFORE I started college or AFTER I finished college, it was easier to just focus on 1992-1996 than to split hairs on specific dates within those years. The only negative of the 1992 cutoff on the front end is that it eliminates some early grunge gems like Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Pearl Jam's "Alive" and Soundgarden's "Outshined," all of which were released in 1991. But since those were unequivocally released prior to I went to college, they are excluded from the list.
Longtime readers of this blog know that I've done many music-related lists before, but I have to say this one was the most difficult yet. There were so many great songs released during the time period that I was very difficult to come up with just the top 50. Be forewarned that there will be a lot of grunge and alternative rock because, we ARE talking about the '90s after all. Having said that, here we go...
50. "Last Dance with Mary Jane" by Tom Petty
49. "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis
48. "Possum Kingdom" by The Toadies
47. "Take A Bow" by Madonna
46. "In The Blood" by Better Than Ezra
45. "Pulling Teeth" by Green Day
44. "1979" by Smashing Pumpkins
43. "Name" by Goo Goo Dolls
42. "Something's Always Wrong" by Toad The Wet Sprocket
41. "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow
40. "Better Man" by Pearl Jam
39. "Self Esteem" by The Offspring
38. "Today" by Smashing Pumpkins
37. "Linger" by The Cranberries
36. "No Excuses" by Alice in Chains
35. "Hold My Hand" by Hootie and the Blowfish
34. "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam
33. "Two Princes" by Spin Doctors
32. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Deep Blue Something
31. "Lithium" by Nirvana
30. "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" by Smashing Pumpkins
29. "Until I Hear It From You" by Gin Blossoms
28. "Friday I'm in Love" by The Cure
27. "Barely Breathing" by Duncan Sheik
26. "A Long December" by Counting Crows
25. "Walls" by Tom Petty
24. "Shine" by Collective Soul
23. "Creep" by Stone Temple Pilots
22. "Ants Marching" by Dave Matthews Band
21. "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring
20. "Crowing" by Toad The Wet Sprocket
19. "Elderly Woman Behind a Counter in a Small Town" by Pearl Jam
18. "Would?" by Alice In Chains
17. "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden
16. "Cumbersome" by Seven Mary Three
15. "Zombie" by The Cranberries
14. "Lightning Crashes" by Live
13. "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
12. "Basket Case" by Green Day
11. "Hey Jealousy" by Gin Blossoms
10. "Possession" by Saran McLachlan
9. "Santa Monica" by Everclear
8. "Let Her Cry" by Hootie and the Blowfish
7. "Wonderwall" by Oasis
6. "No Rain" by Blind Melon
5. "Buddy Holly" by Weezer
4. "Sorry to a Friend" by Edwin McCain
3. "One" by U2
2. "Black" by Pearl Jam
1. "Interstate Love Song" by Stone Temple Pilots
There you have it. What are your thoughts? What songs did I omit that you would have included? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for reading!
Sunday, January 5, 2020
Checking in My Predictions for 2019
Last January, I made a number of predictions about things that would happen during 2019. Now that the calendar has turned to 2020, I thought it would be fun to loo back and see how accurate - or inaccurate - my predictions were.
Here we go....
Sports
Politics
Personal
Random - I actually hope I'm wrong on all of these
Here we go....
Sports
- Prediction: Alabama will again win the national championship in college football. What Happened: Close, but no cigar. The Tide made it back to the national championship game but lost to Clemson.
- Prediction: The Baylor women's basketball team will finally get back to the Final Four. What Happened: My prediction was correct. Even better, the Lady Bears won their 3rd national championship! Sic 'em Bears!
- Prediction: The Baylor men's basketball team will again fall short of making the NCAA tournament but will win at least 2 games in the NIT. What Happened: My prediction was, thankfully, incorrect. The Bears played well down the stretch and made it back into The Big Dance.
- Prediction: Mizzou will make the NCAA tournament and advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009. What Happened: This one was off, as Mizzou collapsed down the stretch and didn't even make the NIT.
- Prediction: The Blues will start playing better, but it will be too little, too late and they will miss the playoffs for the second consecutive year. What Happened: I think we all know that I missed big time on this one and I've never been so happy about that in my life. THE BLUES FINALLY WON THE STANLEY CUP AND I CAN NOW DIE IN PEACE!!
- Prediction: Afterwards, the Blues will make some major moves to change the lineup. As a result, some combination of Alex Pietrangelo, Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen and/or Jaden Schwartz will no longer wear the blue note come the 2019-20 season. What Happened: Needless to say, this one was way off, too. All of the aforementioned players still wear the blue note, though Tarasenko has missed most of the season so far with a shoulder injury.
- Prediction: The Cardinals will end their playoff drought after 3 years and make it back to the MLB playoffs. What Happened: I was spot on with this prediction. The Cards won the NL Central and defeated the Braves in the NLDS before flaming out against the eventual world champion Washington Nationals.
- Prediction: Matt Rhule will rebuff overtures from the NFL and remain at Baylor. The Bears' rebirth under his direction will continue and BU will win 8 games and make another bowl game. What Happened: I was correct, in that Matt Rhule led the Bears to an amazing 11-3 season that far exceeded my wildest expectations. Of course, in part because of that success, Rhule is once again being courted by multiple NFL teams.
- Prediction: Tiger Woods will come close but will still fail to win another major. What Happened: Wrong. Woods finally broke his streak and won another major - the Masters in April.
- Prediction: Some guy from Kenya will win the New York City and Boston Marathons. What Happened: Yep, I was right! ;)
Politics
- Prediction: The government shutdown go on long enough to be the longest ever but it will eventually end before the end of January without the president's desired funding for a border wall. What Happened: I was correct.
- Prediction: Robert Mueller will finally complete the Russia investigation. What Happened: I was right about this, too.
- Prediction: The investigation will result in Donald Trump being indicted and articles of impeachment being drafted in the House of Representatives. What Happened: This is both hit and miss. Trump has been impeached by the House, but it was because of a phone call with Ukraine rather than anything involved with the Russia investigation.
- Prediction: The border wall will not get funded and will not get built. What Happened: It depends on who you talk to, I guess. Some portions of the wall are being built, but it's not happened with the speed or materials that Trump wanted.
- Prediction: Someone who is not a septuagenarian will actually declare a run for U.S. president. What Happened: Thankfully, there are at least a few Democrats who aren't eligible for Social Security who decided to run and who have not yet dropped out.
- Prediction: Like so many of his predecessors, new Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker will come under investigation for ethics or corruption related things. What Happened: This one is wrong...so far. But Pritzker still has time to follow in the footprints of his predecessors.
- Prediction: A current member of the U.S. Supreme Court will pass away, which coupled with the aforementioned indictment/impeachment of Trump will throw the judicial branch into chaos the likes of which hasn't been seen in decades. What Happened: Nope, not yet, though a couple of them have been hospitalized.
Personal
- Prediction: My son will successfully get his driver's license this spring. What Happened: Bingo! And on his first attempt, too.
- Prediction: My son will get his first job. What Happened: Correct! He started working at Bread Co. back in August.
- Prediction: I will continue to sprout more gray hair. What Happened: Duh. Of course I have more gray hair.
- Prediction: My wife will finally get her beloved convertible this spring as well. What Happened: She did! We bought a 2018 convertible VW Bug in late February. It's red with a black top and it's a BLAST to drive on warm days!
- Prediction: My daughter will hit her first home run in softball and will again make the high school basketball feeder team. What Happened: This one is 50/50, though it's not my fault! About a week or two after I published my predictions, she told me that she no longer wanted to play softball. So, obviously, she didn't hit a home run. However, she did make the basketball feeder team again and so far she has scored points in al but one of her games.
- Prediction: My son will compile a winning record on the JV tennis team. What Happened: Nope. He won a few matches, but not enough to have a winning record. :(
Random - I actually hope I'm wrong on all of these
- Prediction: There will be at least one major national disaster (earthquake, hurricane) to hit the U.S. What Happened: A hurricane blasted the southeast coast, but fortunately it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
- Prediction: There will unfortunately be more than one major mass shooting in the U.S. What Happened: Sadly, yes, this one was correct.
- Prediction: There will be some sort of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. What Happened: This is a yes and no result. There wasn't another 9/11 or Oklahoma City, but there were a frightening number of attacks on Jewish people in New York.
- Prediction: Another former U.S. president will pass away. What Happened: Wrong! Jimmy Carter has been hospitalized on multiple occasions, but he is still alive, as are Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
- Prediction: Another well known celebrity will be accused of sexual assault or misconduct. What Happened: Two words - R. Kelly.
Monday, December 2, 2019
Fixing College Football - Playoffs and Realignment
College football is a lot of fun. Aside from the ridiculous notion that the main attraction (the players) aren't allowed to make any money at all while everyone else connected makes millions, few things match the passion and pageantry of college football. Putting aside the "we should pay players" arguments, I'd like to tackle two ways that we can make this great sport even better: fixing the College Football Playoff and realigning the conferences to make more sense from a geographic and traditional rivalry perspective.
College Football Playoff
If there's one thing in college football that screams to be improved, it's the College Football Playoff, the manner in which the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) selects the national champion. In every other level of NCAA competition (Division I FCS, Division II and Division III), there is a legitimate playoff system that features 16 teams in a tournament to determine the national champion. Why should the highest level of competition be any different? A handful of years ago, they moved to the current 4-team playoff format. While this was arguably an improvement over the old BCS days, it's still not good enough. The current format guarantees that at least 1 Power 5 conference champion doesn't even get the chance to play for the national championship. Also, limiting the field to only four teams guarantees that at least a few very worthy teams (often teams with only 1 loss) get left out of the mix.
Here's my idea to fix this problem:
1.) Expand the field to 8 teams: each Power 5 conference champion + 1 Group of 5 conference champion + 2 at-large bids. Conference championships should mean something.
2.) Eliminate the 12th regular season game from the schedule. All teams play 11 regular season games: 8 conference games and 3 non-conference games. Eliminate games against FCS teams. Only allow teams 1 bye week. Bowl eligibility remains 6 wins, though I'd much prefer eliminating some of the bowl games and making the cutoff 7 wins.
3.) Force Notre Dame to join a conference (see below).
Here's how it would work:
1.) Regular season begins the last weekend in August and runs through the 3rd weekend in November.
2.) Conference championship games would be played during the last weekend in November.
3.) First round CFP games are played the first weekend in December at on-campus sites. #1 seed hosts #8 seed, #2 seed hosts #7 seed and so on.
4.) 2nd round/national semifinals are played around New Year's via the existing bowl game structure as is currently the case. The two winners of those games then meet in the national championships game as is currently the case.
This plan removes the inequity of some teams playing 9 conference games while others only play 8. It also removes teams padding their schedules with wins against FCS teams. It provides more teams an opportunity to play for the national championship and provides more potential for upsets. Holding the first round games on-campus makes it easier to sell tickets, in that it removes the need for fans of the higher seeded team to travel 3 times to watch all of the playoff games. Finally, this structure still allows time off for finals.
There is ZERO reason why this system wouldn't work and it's unquestionably less controversial than the current system. By eliminating one regular season game, the additional round of playoffs isn't adding any additional wear and tear on the teams that advance. Instead of an "eye test" determining all 4 teams in the playoffs, 6 teams would be determined by virtue of winning their conferences, so only 2 teams are subject to the whims of the selection committee. The committee would maintain the ability to rank/seed the eight playoff participants.
Conference Realignment
Over the years, conferences have realigned several times which has resulted in anomalies like a Big 12 with 10 teams, a Big 10 with 14 teams and a team in Missouri (with is neither southern nor eastern) playing in the Southeast Conference. Along the way, in search for more revenue dollars, schools have crapped on historic, hundred year old rivalries that have robbed us of tremendous grudge matches like Texas-Texas A&M and Missouri-Kansas. It's also resulted in teams like West Virginia travelling thousands of miles for conference games. That shouldn't happen. We're going to fix it with a realignment plan that puts in-state and regional rivals in the same conferences and minimizes the travel needed for conference games.
Here are the changes we would make:
1.) Miami and Florida State move from the ACC to the SEC
2.) Georgia Tech and South Carolina swap conferences, with Georgia Tech joining the SEC (where it was a founding member and belonged for 32 years) and South Carolina joining the ACC (where it was a founding member and belonged for 18 years)
3.) Missouri, Texas A&M and Nebraska all move back to the Big 12
4.) Maryland moves back to the ACC (where it was a founding member and belonged for 61 years), as does West Virginia
5.) Notre Dame moves to the Big 10
6.) Rutgers gets removed from the Power 5 and goes back to the American or some other conference
7.) The Pac-12 adds BYU and Boise State and becomes the Pac-14
With those changes made, here are what the conferences would look like, with the new members of each conference in bold, and with a rationale for why each of the aforementioned moves makes sense.
SEC (14 teams)
Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Miami, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Rationale: You now have all three main Florida universities in the same conference and both main universities from Georgia in the same conference. It truly is a conference contained within the southeastern quadrant of the country.
Big 12 (12 teams)
Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU
Rationale: You restore the Texas-Texas A&M and Missouri-Kansas rivalries. You have Nebraska back in the same conference as Oklahoma. It makes sense geographically and from a historic point of view. Also, you have 12 teams in the Big 12. It reduces travel for Missouri, Nebraska and Texas A&M.
Big 10 (12 teams)
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Rationale: You lose Maryland, Nebraska and Rutgers but you pick up Notre Dame. Maryland and Rutgers have always like weird add-ons and the addition of Notre Dame more than offsets the loss of Nebraska, especially from a football and men's basketball standpoint. It condenses the conference's geographic footprint (and lessens travel schedule) and puts all three main schools from Indiana in the same conference. Notre Dame makes all the sense in the world from a geographic and academic standpoint that it's ridiculous that it has never happened before now. Rutgers has been a disaster of an addition to the conference from a competitive standpoint and this resolves that issue as well.
ACC (14 teams)
Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Louisville, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Virginia
Rationale: You put the two main universities in South Carolina in the same conference. You restore the "Backyard Brawl" between West Virginia and Pittsburgh and, with Louisville, Virginia and Virginia Tech nearby, you finally have West Virginia in a conference that makes geographic sense. While you still have a conference spanning from Massachusetts to South Carolina, you remove Georgia and Florida from the geographic mix, thus reducing travel to an extent. Considering that Florida State and Miami have only been in the ACC since the 1990s and 2000s, respectively, you're not losing decades-long rivalries or members.
Pac 14 (14 teams)
Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, BYU, California, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington, Washington State
Rationale: You make the "Holy War" between Utah and BYU a conference game and add another top notch football program in Boise State. Adding a team in Idaho and another team in Utah helps Colorado from a travel perspective, giving them a couple of other games in the Mountain Time Zone.
Making these in-state rivalry games all conference games frees up teams to schedule other top flight non-conference games. I realize that Iowa and Iowa State are still in different conferences, as are Colorado and Colorado State. If you really wanted to remedy THAT, you could slide Iowa State to the Big 10 and leave Rutgers in, keeping the Big 10 at its current 14 teams and instead move Arkansas to the Big 12, restoring traditional rivalries with Texas and Texas A&M. The question then is who becomes the 14th team in the SEC. Thinking about that made my head hurt, so I left it as proposed above. As for Colorado, you could swap out Colorado State for Boise State in the Pac-14 if you wanted, though I think Boise State would be a more attractive option.
There you have my grand plan to improve college football by fixing the current broken playoff system and restoring traditional rivalries. What are your thoughts? Which changes to you agree with? Which other changes do you think more sense? I'd love to hear your ideas and thoughts.
As always, thanks for reading! Oh....yeah....SIC 'EM BEARS!
College Football Playoff
If there's one thing in college football that screams to be improved, it's the College Football Playoff, the manner in which the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) selects the national champion. In every other level of NCAA competition (Division I FCS, Division II and Division III), there is a legitimate playoff system that features 16 teams in a tournament to determine the national champion. Why should the highest level of competition be any different? A handful of years ago, they moved to the current 4-team playoff format. While this was arguably an improvement over the old BCS days, it's still not good enough. The current format guarantees that at least 1 Power 5 conference champion doesn't even get the chance to play for the national championship. Also, limiting the field to only four teams guarantees that at least a few very worthy teams (often teams with only 1 loss) get left out of the mix.
Here's my idea to fix this problem:
1.) Expand the field to 8 teams: each Power 5 conference champion + 1 Group of 5 conference champion + 2 at-large bids. Conference championships should mean something.
2.) Eliminate the 12th regular season game from the schedule. All teams play 11 regular season games: 8 conference games and 3 non-conference games. Eliminate games against FCS teams. Only allow teams 1 bye week. Bowl eligibility remains 6 wins, though I'd much prefer eliminating some of the bowl games and making the cutoff 7 wins.
3.) Force Notre Dame to join a conference (see below).
Here's how it would work:
1.) Regular season begins the last weekend in August and runs through the 3rd weekend in November.
2.) Conference championship games would be played during the last weekend in November.
3.) First round CFP games are played the first weekend in December at on-campus sites. #1 seed hosts #8 seed, #2 seed hosts #7 seed and so on.
4.) 2nd round/national semifinals are played around New Year's via the existing bowl game structure as is currently the case. The two winners of those games then meet in the national championships game as is currently the case.
This plan removes the inequity of some teams playing 9 conference games while others only play 8. It also removes teams padding their schedules with wins against FCS teams. It provides more teams an opportunity to play for the national championship and provides more potential for upsets. Holding the first round games on-campus makes it easier to sell tickets, in that it removes the need for fans of the higher seeded team to travel 3 times to watch all of the playoff games. Finally, this structure still allows time off for finals.
There is ZERO reason why this system wouldn't work and it's unquestionably less controversial than the current system. By eliminating one regular season game, the additional round of playoffs isn't adding any additional wear and tear on the teams that advance. Instead of an "eye test" determining all 4 teams in the playoffs, 6 teams would be determined by virtue of winning their conferences, so only 2 teams are subject to the whims of the selection committee. The committee would maintain the ability to rank/seed the eight playoff participants.
Conference Realignment
Over the years, conferences have realigned several times which has resulted in anomalies like a Big 12 with 10 teams, a Big 10 with 14 teams and a team in Missouri (with is neither southern nor eastern) playing in the Southeast Conference. Along the way, in search for more revenue dollars, schools have crapped on historic, hundred year old rivalries that have robbed us of tremendous grudge matches like Texas-Texas A&M and Missouri-Kansas. It's also resulted in teams like West Virginia travelling thousands of miles for conference games. That shouldn't happen. We're going to fix it with a realignment plan that puts in-state and regional rivals in the same conferences and minimizes the travel needed for conference games.
Here are the changes we would make:
1.) Miami and Florida State move from the ACC to the SEC
2.) Georgia Tech and South Carolina swap conferences, with Georgia Tech joining the SEC (where it was a founding member and belonged for 32 years) and South Carolina joining the ACC (where it was a founding member and belonged for 18 years)
3.) Missouri, Texas A&M and Nebraska all move back to the Big 12
4.) Maryland moves back to the ACC (where it was a founding member and belonged for 61 years), as does West Virginia
5.) Notre Dame moves to the Big 10
6.) Rutgers gets removed from the Power 5 and goes back to the American or some other conference
7.) The Pac-12 adds BYU and Boise State and becomes the Pac-14
With those changes made, here are what the conferences would look like, with the new members of each conference in bold, and with a rationale for why each of the aforementioned moves makes sense.
SEC (14 teams)
Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Miami, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Rationale: You now have all three main Florida universities in the same conference and both main universities from Georgia in the same conference. It truly is a conference contained within the southeastern quadrant of the country.
Big 12 (12 teams)
Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU
Rationale: You restore the Texas-Texas A&M and Missouri-Kansas rivalries. You have Nebraska back in the same conference as Oklahoma. It makes sense geographically and from a historic point of view. Also, you have 12 teams in the Big 12. It reduces travel for Missouri, Nebraska and Texas A&M.
Big 10 (12 teams)
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Rationale: You lose Maryland, Nebraska and Rutgers but you pick up Notre Dame. Maryland and Rutgers have always like weird add-ons and the addition of Notre Dame more than offsets the loss of Nebraska, especially from a football and men's basketball standpoint. It condenses the conference's geographic footprint (and lessens travel schedule) and puts all three main schools from Indiana in the same conference. Notre Dame makes all the sense in the world from a geographic and academic standpoint that it's ridiculous that it has never happened before now. Rutgers has been a disaster of an addition to the conference from a competitive standpoint and this resolves that issue as well.
ACC (14 teams)
Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Louisville, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Virginia
Rationale: You put the two main universities in South Carolina in the same conference. You restore the "Backyard Brawl" between West Virginia and Pittsburgh and, with Louisville, Virginia and Virginia Tech nearby, you finally have West Virginia in a conference that makes geographic sense. While you still have a conference spanning from Massachusetts to South Carolina, you remove Georgia and Florida from the geographic mix, thus reducing travel to an extent. Considering that Florida State and Miami have only been in the ACC since the 1990s and 2000s, respectively, you're not losing decades-long rivalries or members.
Pac 14 (14 teams)
Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, BYU, California, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington, Washington State
Rationale: You make the "Holy War" between Utah and BYU a conference game and add another top notch football program in Boise State. Adding a team in Idaho and another team in Utah helps Colorado from a travel perspective, giving them a couple of other games in the Mountain Time Zone.
Making these in-state rivalry games all conference games frees up teams to schedule other top flight non-conference games. I realize that Iowa and Iowa State are still in different conferences, as are Colorado and Colorado State. If you really wanted to remedy THAT, you could slide Iowa State to the Big 10 and leave Rutgers in, keeping the Big 10 at its current 14 teams and instead move Arkansas to the Big 12, restoring traditional rivalries with Texas and Texas A&M. The question then is who becomes the 14th team in the SEC. Thinking about that made my head hurt, so I left it as proposed above. As for Colorado, you could swap out Colorado State for Boise State in the Pac-14 if you wanted, though I think Boise State would be a more attractive option.
There you have my grand plan to improve college football by fixing the current broken playoff system and restoring traditional rivalries. What are your thoughts? Which changes to you agree with? Which other changes do you think more sense? I'd love to hear your ideas and thoughts.
As always, thanks for reading! Oh....yeah....SIC 'EM BEARS!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)