I know I promised more today, but, well, I threw up nothing and I feel like utter crap. I've been fighting off an illness for a couple of days and it finally found me.
So if something doesn't make any sense, it could be the illness.
* The Brian Kelly to Notre Dame talk has started. Thing is, if Notre Dame fires Charlie Weis, they'd be fools not to offer it to BK and BK would be foolish not to take it. I know Kelly has turned down Georgia Tech and Washington, and there may be 5-10 places he'd leave UC for, but Notre Dame is one of 'em.
* How about a Florida-Cincinnati Sugar Bowl? I think it could happen -- I like the way Alabama matches up with Florida. UC has to handle their business first, though. I think Pitt matches up well with UC.
* Alabama's Nick Saban says he's tired of the bashing of SEC refs -- of course, it's easy to say that when you're the beneficiary
* Steelers looked really good yesterday. Better hope the change of altitude and short week messes with the Steelers. Somehow I doubt it.
* Topps is leaving the football card market.
* FanGraphs tries to measure "the little things" -- and one of the leaders in "little things" last year was Joey Votto.
* Red Reporter looks at free agent shortstops and comes to the same conclusion I do -- I think -- not sure anyone's worth the money, unless you get a Bobby Abreau-type 1-year bargain rate.
* An interesting look at how much teams put into payroll -- however, I'm not sure it's exactly fair. There are other operating costs that are not as flexible as payroll in a non-cap, non-floor situation
* Some great stuff from a behind-the-scenes tour of Cooperstown.
* If you can't make the Elder-St. X game on Saturday, it'll be shown on tape-delay.
* An interview with Mad Men's Matthew Weiner, who is also working on a feature film.
* Now you can get a TV deal 140 characters at a time.
* A Simpsons week on Fox.
* Happy birthday Sesame Street
Sorry, we'll do better tomorrow (I hope -- and not really 'we' just me.)
So if something doesn't make any sense, it could be the illness.
* The Brian Kelly to Notre Dame talk has started. Thing is, if Notre Dame fires Charlie Weis, they'd be fools not to offer it to BK and BK would be foolish not to take it. I know Kelly has turned down Georgia Tech and Washington, and there may be 5-10 places he'd leave UC for, but Notre Dame is one of 'em.
* How about a Florida-Cincinnati Sugar Bowl? I think it could happen -- I like the way Alabama matches up with Florida. UC has to handle their business first, though. I think Pitt matches up well with UC.
* Alabama's Nick Saban says he's tired of the bashing of SEC refs -- of course, it's easy to say that when you're the beneficiary
* Steelers looked really good yesterday. Better hope the change of altitude and short week messes with the Steelers. Somehow I doubt it.
* Topps is leaving the football card market.
* FanGraphs tries to measure "the little things" -- and one of the leaders in "little things" last year was Joey Votto.
* Red Reporter looks at free agent shortstops and comes to the same conclusion I do -- I think -- not sure anyone's worth the money, unless you get a Bobby Abreau-type 1-year bargain rate.
* An interesting look at how much teams put into payroll -- however, I'm not sure it's exactly fair. There are other operating costs that are not as flexible as payroll in a non-cap, non-floor situation
* Some great stuff from a behind-the-scenes tour of Cooperstown.
* If you can't make the Elder-St. X game on Saturday, it'll be shown on tape-delay.
* An interview with Mad Men's Matthew Weiner, who is also working on a feature film.
* Now you can get a TV deal 140 characters at a time.
* A Simpsons week on Fox.
* Happy birthday Sesame Street
Sorry, we'll do better tomorrow (I hope -- and not really 'we' just me.)
I'm not so sure Brian Kelly is going to be the first offer Notre Dame makes anyway. I know he turned them down once, but I think they'll make a strong push for Urban Meyer again. This time, I'm not so sure he turns them down. Think about it, he's going to lose his golden boy, he will certainly lose a lot on defense. He's already won 2 championships with the possibility of a 3rd this year.
I've heard rumors on different blogs that he has an "out" for Notre Dame in his contract. Once again, that's a rumor, not sure if there's any substance to that at all. It seems to me, that Claussen and some of his weapons will be back and Notre Dame has had some recruiting success so he'll be coming to a well stocked program. I wouldn't be shocked at all if Urban Meyer would want to go there to bring Notre Dame back to relevance.
I made this comment on yesterdays TOL but I'll rehash it for comments and critique.
My hypothesis is that UC can conceivably leapfrog Texas if both win out.
The BCS is comprised of 3 main components, Harris Poll, Coaches Poll, and the Computer Rankings. All have equal weight.
UC is currently ranked 3rd in the Computers and 5th in both Polls. We can assume that if they win out that A. they will fall no lower than 3 in the computer polls and B. They will be ranked 3rd in both polls behind the SEC winner and Texas. it is also important to note that Texas is 5th in the computer polls and comparing schedules it doesn't appear that they will leapfrog UC.
So here's the math if we put UC at 3rd in both polls and keep Texas at 2.....(today)
Harris Coaches Computer Total Average
UC .9432 .9417 .910 2.7949 / 3 = .932
Tex .9516 .9485 .870 2.7701 / 3 = .924
I know things rarely hold and any little thing can change the standings.
If you think this is far fetched, look closely at the BCS data, Alabama is in the exact position in the coaches and harris polls(at # 3) as we anticipate UC will end up at. Texas is at #2 is the Harris and Coaches, which we should also expect at the end. The difference is that Alabama is ranked ahead of Texas in the computers therefore, they rank higher in the BCS standings.
Will this happen? who knows, the point is that it's not as hopeless for UC in the national title game as it appears. In fact, I think they have a good chance at it.
MATH ROCKS!!
It could happen, but I just can't see them leap frogging Texas. A lot would need to happen that's for sure. I wouldn't mind seeing them in there, but I don't know if they could beat Florida, Texas, or Alabama. I personally think the game wouldn't be very close, but we'll see when they play Pitt exactly how good their defense is.
My opinion is that UC is very good, but I'm not sure they are National Championship good. That's just my opinion. I'd like to see how they fare against a really good defense, which they have not faced yet, and see how they're defense holds up to a great offensive team. The next few weeks will answer a lot of those questions.
hardball, thanks to your comments, i made an email to people who know these things and will write a story about that this week.
The hall of fame article was really cool. How lucky was that guy to get to get a behind the scene's tour? I think I'd be like that kid on the commercial who was screaming yes yes yes about the N64 he got on Christmas morning. Holding the Babe's Jersey and a bat he used unbelieveable.
That's interesting math hardball. First things first. UC has to win out, and the Pitt game is going to be tough. If that happens, the voters should (but won't) consider moving UC ahead of Texas because the Big East is stronger than the Big 12 this year.
Since your math looks sound, let me say Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! If voters were to know this, they would certainly vote Texas #1, the SEC champ #2, and maybe UC #4 behind TCU (or even the SEC runner up) to ensure the matchup they want.
Just kidding about being quiet. It's inevitable that every scenario will eventually wind up on ESPN. You might as well be the one to break the story.
Last night I was thinking of the Brian Kelley to Notre Dame talk, and I just don't think it makes sense for him to leave this year. Think about what he has coming back to UC. He's going to have a really good QB, most of his defense, and all kinds of weapons. He's certainly going to have a favorite to the Big East yet again, and with UC's success the last 2 years, next year they will get much more consideration from voters if they are 8-0 at this point in the season.
In addition to that, I don't know that Notre Dame will go his way, I think there are other bigger names out there they will go after first. I think the misses they've had on other coaches, as well as Rich Rodriguez and his pretty terrible start at Michigan, Notre Dame may look to Stoops or Urban Meyer first. I do however, think and actually fear that Michigan may go after him for the 2011 season because Rodriguez does not have Michigan moving forward and there always seems to be some sort of controversy with him up there. They may have hired the Michigan football version of Billy Gillespie up there.
That is great that we can receive the credit loans and it opens completely new chances.