Congress vs. the BCS. What’s next?
It’s another Fantastic Friday and once more the floor is open to you. No subject is off limits as long as it’s clean. Here are five reasonably interesting topics to get our conversation going:
1. Congress vs. the BCS. What’s next? Bill Hancock, the BCS Executive Director, sent a letter yesterday responding to inquiries from senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Max Baucus (D-Montana) about the way the BCS determines its champion and distributes the money, which will be about $125 million per year in the next four-year cycle.
Hancock was polite and answered all questions. But basically he told the Senators that they had more important things to worry about: “While I appreciate your interest, I believe that decisions about college football should be made by university presidents, athletics directors, coaches and conference commissioners rather than by members of Congress.”
Zing.
Hatch, upset when undefeated Utah did not get a shot at the 2008 national championship (while No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Florida did), fired back with a statement released from his office: “Today, the BCS simply confirmed what most fans of college football have known for some time, that the BCS system is biased, secretive, and harmful to schools and competitors.
“No one wants to see Congress get involved here, including me. But if this response is any indication, there may not be any other option.”
Another Zing.
Now remember what I told you earlier in the week. The more and more outside forces like Congress push, the more and more the big conferences may decide to give up on any kind of post-season structure after the next four-year cycle.
The smart people I know who are handicapping this thing tell me that if expansion comes, the odds are better that the conferences will go back to the traditional bowl structure (Big Ten, Pac-10 in the Rose, SEC in the Sugar, ACC in the Orange, etc.) than forming any kind of playoff.
It is going to be an interesting summer.
2. Lane Kiffin is making $4 million at USC. Seriously? Seriously. Nothing really surprises me anymore but when HBO and ESPN reported that Kiffin, who has won exactly seven games as a college head coach during a cup of coffee at Tennessee, would be making $4 million at USC that surprised me. A couple of things in play here: USC was obviously in no mood to fool around last January when Pete Carroll bolted for the Seattle Seahawks. AD Mike Garrett needed somebody who knew how the program works and would say yes if the number on the table was big enough. Also remember that agent Jimmy Sexton (see Nick Saban, Houston Nutt) is one of the best when it comes to convincing a school that his guy is the one they need and this is the number that it will take to get him. Sexton sold USC on the future. The guy is good.
3. Assistant coaches deserve every penny they get: Remember back in the summer of 2008 when the SEC did its $3 billion TV deal with CBS and ESPN? I told you at the time that a lot of that new money would be spent to hire and retain the best coaches for this league. It is no coincidence that a bunch of coordinators in the SEC have now cashed in.
David Jones of Florida Today points out that a year ago only two SEC assistants were making more than $500,000. Since then Alabama DC Kirby Smart has had his pay doubled to $700,000. Georgia had to pony up and pay Todd Grantham $750,000 to get him away from the Dallas Cowboys. More than one school came after South Carolina DC Ellis Johnson and he got his salary doubled to $700,000. Auburn OC Gus Malzahn got bumped up to $500,000. Derek Dooley had to pay Justin Wilcox $600,000 to leave Boise State and become the new DC and Tennessee. And so it goes.
The money is there and the agents who represent these coaches know it. And what do you do if you’re an athletics director like South Carolina’s Eric Hyman? His business sense tells him he can’t pay $700,000 for an assistant football coach but if Steve Spurrier says he has to have Johnson running his defense (and he does), what are you going to do? You’re going to pay it.
4. You gotta give Boise State credit. They play people: The Broncos have 21 of 22 starters coming back from a 14-0 team. They will travel all the way across the country to open the season on Sept. 6 against Virginia Tech in Landover, Md. On Sept. 25 they will host Oregon State, which will be in a lot of preseason Top 25s. Next season Chris Peterson and his gang will open the season at Ole Miss. Boise State was told a while back that in order to get into the national championship discussion it would have to go on the road and beat people that are supposed to be better than them. Rather than complain about a perceived injustice as a program in a league without an automatic qualifier, Boise rolled up their sleeves and improved the schedule. Same goes for TCU, which went on the road and beat Virginia and Clemson last season.
5. Please say a prayer for the Beamer family: Cheryl Beamer, the wife of Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer, was seriously injured in a fall at their second home at Lake Oconee. According to media reports, Cheryl Beamer fell when she was carrying one of her grandchildren and tripped over a family pet and could not break her fall. She was rushed to Athens Regional Hospital where she had pins inserted in both legs. She also suffered six broken ribs and a broken collarbone. Virginia Tech Sports Information Dave Smith told the Raleigh News & Observer that the child was not seriously injured.
Frank Beamer, set to enter his 23d season at Virginia Tech, suffered a fall two weeks ago getting off a plane in Roanoke. He’ll need surgery this summer to repair a torn tendon in his right bicep.
Have a great weekend.
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385 comments Add your comment
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
1:23 pm
Hey Obama……. this topic of prayer was started by the author not me. Its a legit respnse. Don’t like it…..don’t read it
The wonderful government of B Hussein Obama
May 22nd, 2010
1:36 pm
“Hey Obama……. this topic of prayer was started by the author not me. Its a legit respnse. Don’t like it…..don’t read it”
Kind of hard not to notice your poorly written drivel when it takes up half of the second page on this blog. Oh, and UGAY sucks.
Love to Read
May 22nd, 2010
1:52 pm
Pat Sulley wrote:
“Matt: 1-1 traces Joesph’s lineage to David. Not Mary’s. Joesph did not contribute any of his DNA to Jesus and is therefore NOT a son of David…
Jesus had none of Josephs DNA and none of Davids DNA hence not from the house of David. Hence not the Messiah…hence not the Son of God …”
………………………………………………………………………….
Interestingly, you rely on the book of Matthew to prove a point—that Jesus is not the Son of God. Yet, the very same book (Matthew) a mere 17 verses later states, “His mother was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18)
A good rule of thumb (for everyone) is to read the entire passage/chapter when looking at a particular Scripture. You’ve always got to know the context.
As the old saying goes, “A Prooftext out of Context is a Pretext.”
I understand that you are a Deist, but if you’re going to use the Bible, please don’t MIS-use the Bible—–there’s already enough people doing that already.
Always use logic and sound scholarship, whether you are a Deist, a Christian, etc.
I apologize if I’ve come across too “preachy”. Hopefully this will give you some food for thought.
Best wishes and happy reading
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
2:05 pm
SEnter your comments here
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
2:12 pm
Misuse the bible…..saying the holy spirit came to her still does not place jesus ‘in the house of david’ it would still not be in compliance with scripture. Nothing was misread by me. Now you on the other hand……
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Not being A son of david….and getting knocked up (so she says) by the holy spirit, is STILL not having josphs DNA and therefore not Davids. It still fails to comply with scripture as he is NOT a ’son of David.
Love to Read
May 22nd, 2010
2:18 pm
Wow.
Didn’t….hear…a …..word.
Good luck, Pat. You really do have my best wishes.
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
2:43 pm
Being pledged to be married is not adding DNA.
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NOT HAVING davids DNA kills any chance of his being the messiah
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The holy spirit (even if u bought into that nonsense) does not have Davids dNA.
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Not having Davids DNA kills any chance
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If the holy spirit visiting her nullified that requirement then there would not have been made such an effort in Matt 1.1 to TRACE JOESPS LINEAGE to PROVE he was a son of David
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
2:48 pm
They would have simply skipped Matt 1.1 and would have gone str8 to ‘the holy spirit knocked her up and therefor Jesus is the messiah’ they didn’t. They put Matt 1.1 in.
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No where does it comply with scripture needing Jesus to be the son of David. He was not and isnot
HugoStiglitz
May 22nd, 2010
2:54 pm
Dear god. What happened to this blog. Religious wackos. Political wackos. This is a college football blog. You people are nuts.
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
2:55 pm
Did….not…hear….a….word?. I heard u and I ask again…..how does being knocked up (supposedly) by the holy spirit (convienantly, I might add) add Davids DNA? Why bother to trace Joesphs?
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I suggest to reread it and ask urself those revealing questions
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
2:56 pm
Hugo….did u read the article? Tony opened the door. I just walked thru
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
3:00 pm
God is God. Jesus, if he existed at all (kinda sounds like Mithra, osiris and krishna repackaged to me) was a man.
DLine
May 22nd, 2010
3:19 pm
I don’t care if it takes an act of Congress to get a playoff, a playoff would be fun, exciting and provide some of the best football matchups around. I can’t even imagine the anticipation of such a system.
Tony C and Tony P, the Disco Boys
May 22nd, 2010
3:21 pm
Hilarious….most illogical Deist ever. I’ll have to point some of my true Deist friends towards this post. They won’t believe me until they see it. House of card arguments and circular reasoning.
Awesome!!!
This just brightened my day!!!
some help on the point?
May 22nd, 2010
3:22 pm
About the issue of Jesus being “in the house of David.” In the Jewish custom, adoption as a son affords you full heirship to your adopted father’s house. In fact, a common practice among the Hebrews was levirate marriage (a case in which a patriarchal relative marries his brother’s widow to afford the dead man’s estate an heir), and when a levirate marriage occured with an heir in place that son was fully adopted as the new man’s son and the rightful heir. Additionally, if a Hebrew nobleman or his wife were barren it was a custom that he adopt an heir for his household. That heir was afforded full son-ship among that family and was the rightful legal heir to the house. It’s not quite the same as today, which can be different at times.
By virtue of Joseph deciding to adopt Jesus, Jesus would have been in that day considered the firstborn and rightful heir to his house (there were other siblings later).
That said, what you’ll find by observing the text is that Matthew records the lineage of Jesus through Joseph (Jesus’ legal father). And what is stunning is that not only is Jesus legally within the house of David, Luke’s geneology for Jesus – which is through his mother Mary (blood relation) – is also traced through the house of David.
So Jesus is actually “in the house” so to speak, both legally AND biologically. It is a simple realization that a tax collector (Matthew, a man concerned with accounting and the law) would record the legal geneology while the physician (Luke, a man concerned with physical facts and data) would record a biological geneology through the only knwon human ancestor. Luke’s factual record keeping as a respected physician of the time is rarely if ever questioned by scholars.
Hope this helps clear up the two geneologies of Jesus. Very good things to question and look at, in my opinion.
some help on the point?
May 22nd, 2010
3:33 pm
pat, you say “if he existed at all.” Do you mean to ignore that his life’s account was written by eye-witnesses and circulated during the lifetime of other eye-witnesses? From the standpoint of just a historical text (say, in the same way we verify “The Galic Wars” for a source on Julius Caesar) then the events in the Newt Testaments books (especially the gospels, the epistles and Acts) are sounder historical texts than most of Greek literature. The Iliad and the Odyessey, for example, had fewer original munscripts written far further past the death of their source. Surprisingly, the entire life account of President George Washington is tougher to prove by the evidentiary texts on him than is the life of Jesus and the events of the early church.
Worth looking at.
some help on the point?
May 22nd, 2010
3:34 pm
*manuscripts
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
3:35 pm
Now its……’yeah but……he was adopted’ no. If that was the excuse then why was it not spoke to in Matt. Seems kinda important to just not address. Hmmm
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Christian know how to spin….I will give ya that.
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The bible goes to great lenghts to explain important issues but failed to mention ‘he is the son of David thru adoption’ leaving it to us to figure it out? No
some help on the point?
May 22nd, 2010
3:36 pm
As an evdienciary historical text alone, the New Testament is unassailable. You may quibble over facts here and there that lie within, but there are good explanations for all of those. The question is not “Did Jesus exist” nor is it “What things did Jesus do?” The question is “Who is Jesus in relation to me and what ought I to do with that information?”
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
3:37 pm
Other than the bible and koran point to another document (secular) that give an account of jesus.
some help on the point?
May 22nd, 2010
3:39 pm
On adoption: they DO mention it! It’s implied by the fact that Joseph didn’t have Mary killed or divorce her in secret but instead RAISED Jesus as a son! Matthew traces his lineage through Joseph, because if he were responsible for collecting taxes from that family (his old profession) then he would’v ecollected from Jesus AS an heir of Joseph due to the clear and understood adoption!
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
3:39 pm
Using moby dick as the only referrence to Ahab (?) Proves Ahab existed?
some help on the point?
May 22nd, 2010
3:39 pm
other documentaiton of Christ’s life : works of Josephus
some help on the point?
May 22nd, 2010
3:40 pm
No, Moby Dick is fiction and was not circulated on the pretenxe of fact. The gospels were AND it was during the lifetime of eye-witnesses that could have – but didn’t- disupte them.
some help on the point?
May 22nd, 2010
3:41 pm
* pretense
** dispute
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
3:42 pm
No….its of such importance in the link….it would have been addressed DIRECTLY.
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Same as Joesphs linage being addressed
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Same as the holy spirit visiting mary.
some help on the point?
May 22nd, 2010
3:46 pm
Also, let me say this. If you were writing to describe a cultural revolution and then later the revolution picks up steam and others need instruction on it, wouldn’t it make sense that your works end up collected with others’ works that describe the revolution? So looking outside the Bible seems like you just want to get more toward lesser-accepted scholarly texts…the most historically veriifiable sources are the ones that ended up cannonized!
City Slickers
May 22nd, 2010
3:47 pm
about Pat:
“He doesn’t get it! He’s never gonna get it! The COWS can program a VCR by now.”
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
3:48 pm
I am on my droid phone and its painly slow to use this tiiny keypad.
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I will come back in four or five hours when I am at home.
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Josephus?…….LOL.
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UMMMM WHAT????
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Ur funny.
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Census?
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Tax record?
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Property records?
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You know REAL evidence
some help on the point?
May 22nd, 2010
3:48 pm
Maybe – if it were written today by you. But look at it. It’s the clearest explanantion, and it’s logical. Matthew was comfortable writing in an inferrential manner about Jesus’ adoption as Joseph’s son, so why do you demand 2000 years later that if he wanted you to belive him he should’ve used a term that is oly a big deal in your culture? People back then knew if a kid didn’t look like his dad and wasn’t A) dead or B) abandoned or C) his slave then it was an adopted son. Simple logical inference.
LongGone
May 22nd, 2010
3:51 pm
I personally wanted a college football playoff starting in 1966. Alabama and Georgia had the two best teams in the nation. Alabama went undefeated while allowing 6 opponents zero points. They allowed an average of 3.7 points per game. Georgia lost to Miami by 1 pt in Miami on a Friday night in Miami. They were 9-1 for the season. The bowl system would not allow them to play each other. There was no conference championship game back then and they did not meet in the regular season. Alabama beat Nebraska 34-7 in the Sugar Bowl and Georgia beat SMU 24-7 in the Cotton Bowl. Notre Dame and Michigan State played to their infamous 10-10. The Associated Press and the United Press, the only two polls that counted back then, voted Notre Dame #1, Michigan State #2, Alabama #3, and Georgia #4. The two Southern teams could probably have beaten #1 or #2. The bowl system sucked back then and the bowl system sucks today. What does the BCS prove? It’s still based on opinion. If it takes Congress to set this right, then so be it!
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
3:54 pm
Cannonized…go back two pages for the answer to that.
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It was cannonized….over 300 years AFTER his death. By a pagan ruler that PAID the church leaders to bring to gether all the books and put in some “records” in and thew some out. It was done by VOTES 300 years AFTER he was supposedlydead. Not real reliable
some help on the point?
May 22nd, 2010
3:54 pm
I won’t be here that long, but I’ll say this. The New Testament’s historical veracity is unassailable by the usual standards of evidenciary historical texts. The onus, then, is on us. It’s not that the burden of proff is on the texts (since they’re better documented then nearly any texts before the printing press) the burden of belief is on us. The question for eveyone to answer when they encounter evidence of ANYTHING is “what, now, do I do with this information?” When it comes to the life of Jesus, the evidence is clear so the question then is “What do I do with Jesus?”
With that I leave. I posit that Jesus is exactly who he claims he is – the Christ. Do with Him what you will.
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
3:56 pm
Matthew didn’t write Matthew. It was written over 100 years after his death.
some help on the point?
May 22nd, 2010
3:57 pm
didn’t see you cannon comeback until now, I won’t explain it as i need to go, but your research on that isn’t even what’s accepted by histroy proffesors. Please do some early church history research through a more reliable source. That account is painfully off the mark and drips of pop media-level “factuality.”
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
4:01 pm
Dude no one believes the bible we have today resembles the text of …say…200 years AD.
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ITS BEEN ALTERED….ADDED TO…TEXT HAS BEEN REMOVED OR REWORDED.
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That’s NOT unassailable.
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The counsil of trent added and removed books….then the counsil of Milan….translations were incorrect or out of context….unassaiable?
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
4:03 pm
I miss spoke….it was NICEA that books were added or removed
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
4:05 pm
My research is from the most reliable source….in order to link it I need to be at home
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
4:20 pm
My ‘remarks drip of’ me trying to debate using a tiny keypad that is difficult to see and harder to use (droid). The comments probably look like a child was typing…..I am doing the best I can with very poor equiptment for a debate
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
5:28 pm
And yet I don’t follow mythical beings such as Thor, Zues and Christ like the idiot with the blender comment. Why don’t u go sacrifice a lamb or some other dumbasz thing to worship them.
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
5:33 pm
I are not stupid! Mi inteligence level is hier than anone on this blog.
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
5:36 pm
At least I don’t believe some moronic crap about some horned red creature eating souls in some pit of fire….bwahahahahahahaha
Delbert D.
May 22nd, 2010
5:37 pm
patrick – please make your contribution to Wikipedia
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
5:40 pm
Or maybe u can go fishing for that whale that swallowed Jonah (and yet Jonah lived)
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
5:42 pm
Or maybe u can get a pillar of fire to lead u to some magic food lying all over some desert
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
5:44 pm
Or my u could stick a rod that was a snake then a rod again into a river to make it blood
pat sulley is the result of inbreeding
May 22nd, 2010
5:47 pm
Or u could learn how to spell simple words such as YOU.
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
5:48 pm
But a deist versioon is the crazy one…lol
AJC IT guy
May 22nd, 2010
5:49 pm
We have pat sulley’s IP Address and will contacting the GBI very shortly.
pat sulley
May 22nd, 2010
5:49 pm
I r not a sex offender. I not no what sex is.