Am I a Goodell, or a Bad Ell?

Hi.

Trying to get in the habit of doing this once a week, but it's difficult not because of "blah blah time real life blah" as most people would claim, but simply.... where does one begin?  There's so much ridiculousness that when it seems like you're just shouting into the air, and no one is listening, what is the point of even shouting?

And then I think to myself, "That's how George W. Bush got elected."

Speaking of institutions that have nothing to do with voting: Large, faceless corporations.  Specifically, the NFL.

For the longest time, the NFL didn't even have a commissioner (which is a great name, and why is there no Dark Knight parody of this yet?), so finally Roger Goodell was named, who had the benefits of 1) not being a former owner of an NFL team, i.e. getting the job based on net worth, and 2) not being a total fucking idiot.

These first two points are, of course, shots at Bud Selig and Gary Bettman, respectively.  The third commissioner in need of being mocked, David Stern, is a power hungry control freak, of which Goodell has also been accused.

Now I'm not actually following this story as close as most angry internetters, mostly because it's very hard to give a shit when a commissioner is actually doing his job, but here's the situation:

1) Roger Goodell is chosen commissioner.

2) Roger Goodell cracks down on concussions.

3) Roger Goodell throws the fucking book at the New Orleans Saints for the bounty "scandal."

Let's take these in order.  (1) .... duh.  (2) Good.  It's still a problem, but these are grown men crashing into each other with the force of Mack trucks.  If we wanted to protect from concussions completely, we'd all go home and play golf.  You want better protection?  Hire better doctors.  OH AND ALSO give the players better motivation to not lie about their condition.  If you've just been hit in the head, but two more catches nets you an $8 million bonus?  That's math anyone can do.  Even Bud Selig.  (okay, probably not Bud Selig).

As for (3), the first Super Bowl I ever watched was Super Bowl XX.  There were some nasty hits from a nasty Chicago Bears team that season, and bounties are nothing new, not ever.  Does anyone remember pictures of numbers written on towels, said towels hanging from players waists?  This happens time and again.  You want to crack down on it?  Fine.  You want to call it a "scandal?"  No, fuck you, this is a slow news day.  If Vince McMahon were a little smarter, and took less steroids, the XFL would still be around today, with bodies piling up and lawsuits flying in from every direction, but dammit, people will pay good money to see violence.  (SPOILER: People do not go watch NASCAR because they are fans of the left turn).

So he's doing fine.  It's a position that serves at the pleasure of the NFL Board of Directors, so the real problem here is: NFL owners.  They're in for life, essentially, or until they decide to sell.  I've been waiting for the owner of the Houston Rockets to die for fifteen years, but more importantly, when is Donald Sterling (he of the NBA's Clippers) gonna kick the bucket?  He's been running that team into the ground for ... the entire time he's owned it, and with success happening this season, it's only a matter of months before he sells the best players for pennies on the dollar for "prospects" because as long as he's making a profit, why bother trying for a trophy?  He just got lucky this year.  Like that one time the Arizona Cardinals made the Super Bowl.  Will not be happening again in our lifetime (unless the team gets sold to someone not an idiot).

Speaking of all that (fingers crossed), Bud Adams turned 90 in January.  When he dies, the Titans are done. He's a fire-breathing dragon (nee Dinosaur) in the same way Al Davis was, but once Al died, the team got even worse (as if that were possible).  Long-time Lakers owner Jerry Buss died recently as well, and while I have nothing negative to say about Buss-- I may hate his team, but he actually worked toward winning Championships (except when he got rid of Shaq) -- the team has become absolute shit since he gave up control.  Kobe will never win another ring.  That team is over, the new guard got there because of who their family is, not because of competence.

So I'm looking forward to the Titans tanking it for the next 50 years.  The Colts are there as well-- they have a decent rookie QB, but that means nothing with an inferior team around him and a front office who does not know how to build one.  And with Lucas Oil stadium, they don't NEED to build one... asses in seats means a profit.  Why improve?

Next week (if there's a next week), March Madness.  Oh, and what is this "America 12" shit?  Oh, fucking fuck Christ.....

Why Does College Football Suck?

I'm hoping having a Twitter account and needing something to tweet will actually keep me busy writing this.  It's not like there hasn't been bullshit to call out over the last couple of months.

1. West Virginia

To the surprise of everyone but me, WVU tanked their season, despite having Big East level talent and having to play a Big 12 schedule.  Kansas State was the surprise here, but the Big East has been completely irredeemable since Miami left.  Everything else is just posturing and good scheduling.  The TCU win over WVU should prove to the sports world that the Big East and Mountain West are in equal ground, but apparently bringing in one new class of freshman and changing conferences mean a team has been completely revamped.  SPOILERS: No.

2. The ACC

Can you believe FSU involved in NCG talk?  You're in the ACC.  Just by playing in the ACC, your schedule is too weak to stay that high, and if you lose, you fall all the farther (as they did).  It's like being in the Pac-12.  Or Big East.  Or Mountain West.

3. The MAC

Best season all around.  Three teams have been ranked at one time or another, and Kent State is ranked for the first time since the early 1970's.  Hell, UMass even won a game.  But this year will it be the coaches, or the actual schools, that get raided for another conference?

4. The Big Ten

Despite being an academic powerhouse, their football has been questionable at best since 2003.  Their only decent team is enduring a post-season ban.  Michigan returned to the rankings, which is good, but being ranked #22 in the nation is not exactly a return to national power.  Unless you're thinking Louisiana Tech is about to make a run at the national title game.

Which brings us up to this week.  Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten.  The Big Ten Network, made of money like it is, gets to expand into Baltimore and New Jersey.  And we can all enjoy the annual football barnburner when Rutgers travels to Lincoln, Nebraska.  Heck, Pac-12 vs Big Ten in the Rose Bowl?  Whee!  Maryland vs Utah.  GO TEAM.

.... which assumes Maryland will ever compete, when they have proven they cannot.  More teams means it becomes more difficult to rise to the top... Rutgers managed to do it in a terrible Big East (for football) ... meanwhile BE basketball remains among the best in the country, and new additions South Florida continues to suck.  Miami basketball continues to suck within the ACC.  Etc.  It takes money and time, and all the best athletes are going to traditionally better teams in the conference.  But HEY.  Everyone gets paid.  So there's that.

Meanwhile the Big 12 continues to be run by idiots (Hi!  I'm Kansas!  Texas gets way more money than we do out of this TV deal, and I'M OKAY WITH THIS!  *drools on self*).

.....

The above was written a few months ago, apparently I forgot to post it, or else failed to do so, because of Blogspot's new layout.  To speak of more recent developments:

The Catholic 7 departing the Big East was only surprising in that it's largely unprecedented.  The the leadership of the Big East (if you can call it leadership) decided they wanted to be a football league, which you can do, just not when it would swell the membership to 20+ schools.  The WAC grew unchecked in the 1990's, and it topped like a Jenga tower.  Which is exactly what happened to the Big East.  Which is exactly what I said would happen.

These days the Big East is more WAC than Mountain West.  Sure, it has Houston and Memphis, but that's exactly the problem: Those are new additions.  Those schools moving to the BE, in a post-BCS world, is a step DOWN.  Why bother?  Tired of playing UAB?  That's cool bro, now you can travel to Connecticut ever year.  That makes total sense.

The return of BSU and SDSU to the MWC was also predictable, because without the BCS, they have no reason to stay.  As for C-USA, well.. we'll see.  That's a whole lot of teams in a league no one cares about, but the same can be said for the 2014 Big East and the 2014 Sun Belt (or 2013, or 2012...).  The "highest rated BCS team" gets in the playoffs starting in 2014, but how many years in a row will that be the Mountain West before they change the rules again?

Like you, I can't wait to see.......