Saturday, November 7, 2009

David vs. Goliath

A sportswriter recently wrote an article about the football team from Boise State, and how they are struggling to get national recognition because the big BCS schools won't play them, and are shutting them out of their scheduling.

I personally do not think that Boise State is on the same level as the national powerhouses of the BCS conferences. While the big schools play what I believe to be a weak schedule, they are still far tougher in comparison to that of Boise State. Yeah, they beat Oregon, but it was in the first week of the season and now Oregon is playing like one of the best teams in the nation. But I find it hard to believe that Boise can't get a single big school besides Oregon to add them to their schedule. Now there is no way that the best of the best in terms of play and media recognition (AKA Texas, Florida, 'Bama, LSU, Miami, Notre Dame, Oklahoma) will agree to play them because, well let's be honest, what do they have to gain from playing and beating a Boise State team? If they win, the media says that this is a WAC team and they should have won, and if they lose, they are chastised for losing to a team from a non-BCS school. Boise has A LOT to gain from a game like this...even in the event of a loss. If Boise loses close, they get a boost because they hung with the big boys of college football...if Boise wins, they are boosted up the polls faster than my beloved Fighting Irish when they win some games.

So is it worth it for a big school to put Boise State on their schedule? Not at all. Will they eventually do it? Maybe.

~Golf Czar

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Championships Vs. Integrity

Urban Meyer has hit a new low.

His defensive captain, Brandon Spikes, was caught on camera last weekend attempting to get his fingers inside of the facemask of an opposing player, the intent of which has not been 100% determined. The common intent of such an act is to either poke or gouge at the eyes of an opponent. Urban Meyer, after seeing the same footage that the entire sports-watching world saw, decided that a 1st-half suspension vs. Vanderbilt this weekend was enough punishment for such an offense.

Now yes, it is fair to say that we don't know beyond a shadow of a doubt what the intent of Mr. Spikes was when he shoved his fingers inside of the other player's facemask, but one can make a decent assumption as to his intent in doing so. So perhaps Urban Meyer is dishing out this punishment based on that notion, but it can also be assumed that Coach Meyer doesn't want to lose the anchor on a defense that has has kept them in some pretty crucial SEC games this season.

So here is my take: Coach Meyer has crossed the line, and once again the governing bodies at the SEC have let the big bad wolf known as The University of Florida do pretty much whatever they want. They refuse to step in on this matter and make sure that Brandon Spikes receives the punishment that he deserves. The governing body of the SEC's only job at this point is to make sure that either Florida or Alabama (or both) are playing for the BCS Championship come January. They have quieted coaches that speak out about the officiating that is clearly in favor of Florida, and now they support a coach who refuses to repremand a star player for a hanus and aggressive act.

Good work SEC, you've chosen title-contending-runs over sportsmanship, playing the game with a sense of class, and the integrity of the game.

~Golf Czar