8.12.10 1:47 pm by Brian
Even though the regular seasons for both NCAA and NFL football are still weeks off, both leagues have been making headlines since the end of their respective seasons. Unfortunately, some of these headlines haven’t been very positive. On the NCAA side, investigations into sports agents and the integrity of programs have been daily stories, and the Big XII Conference nearly dissolved before it was saved at the last minute. On the NFL side, free agency has been exciting but the looming thunderhead cloud of a potential locked-out season in 2011 has caused contract disputes, training camp holdouts, and general apprehension for all who are invested in the National Football League.
Much of this is off-field; I want to look at something in the NCAA game that has been a hot-button topic for years now: the Bowl Championship Series.
I’m not going to suggest a perfect solution to the “problem” of the BCS, because countless writers have done so before me and just about as many writers have tried to defend the integrity of the BCS for the game. Those are all fine and good ideas, and I won’t pretend that I have anything new to bring to the table.
The perspective I am taking is the perspective of a college teacher—which is what I do for my job when I’m not writing on this site—and how the “culture of perfection” nurtured by the BCS system fundamentally works against the environment of teaching in those colleges across the country.
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8.06.10 4:04 pm by Alex, Brian and Pat
Football season is right around the corner, and we are more than ready. Brian, Pat, and I (Alex), have decided to release power rankings for each week of the NFL season, as a means of stimulating discussion and keeping track of the rise and fall of teams during the 2010 season. Here’s how it works: the three of us rank all the teams 1-32 and we average him out and then we write a sentence or two about what’s been going on with each team. To make that part easier, we’ve divided up the divisions, and we’ll each be “covering” those divisions for the entire year. The breakdown is as follows:
- Alex – AFC North, NFC East
- Brian – AFC East, AFC South, AFC West
- Pat – NFC North, NFC South, NFC West
So, check it out, leave a comment, or hit us up on our respective Twitter accounts and call us out on our biases. (more…)
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5.21.10 2:29 pm by Brian
Now to wrap up the discussion of “gauntlet” game scheduling for the 2010 NFL Regular Season, I move on to the National Football Conference’s 16 teams. As a recap of the prior story, I’ve repeated my opening few paragraphs. If you are familiar with what I’m working with here, feel free to hit the jump and read on.
To further explore that idea, I’m defining a “gauntlet” schedule as a series of at least three or more games in a row that are taxing to a team either because they have to face strong teams or because there is significant travel involved. A team can have a difficult schedule but avoid this “gauntlet” idea if the games against the tougher teams are further spread out across the season; by the same token, a team with an easier schedule who has to face good teams multiple weeks in a row can still face a “gauntlet.”
If a team does face such a “gauntlet” during their schedule, it is also important to note when it happens in the scope of a season. If a team has a series of tough games at the beginning of the season, then it’s problematic because they might stumble out of the gate and never recover. If the “gauntlet” comes at season’s end, there will be added pressure on building up a good record before those games so that the team can “absorb” losses if they have to. And “gauntlets” in the middle of the season are perhaps most problematic, because they can jostle teams into and out of playoff position with little time left to recover.
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5.17.10 5:30 pm by Brian
The regular season schedule for the upcoming NFL 2010 year has been out for over a month now, and I’ve already taken the opportunity to preview some of the bigger storyline games that fans can look forward to once the summer comes to a close. However, one thing that I have not yet addressed is the concept of “gauntlet” game scheduling and the effect that can have on a football team.
To further explore that idea, I’m defining a “gauntlet” schedule as a series of at least three or more games in a row that are taxing to a team either because they have to face strong teams or because there is significant travel involved. A team can have a difficult schedule but avoid this “gauntlet” idea if the games against the tougher teams are further spread out across the season; by the same token, a team with an easier schedule who has to face good teams multiple weeks in a row can still face a “gauntlet.”
If a team does face such a “gauntlet” during their schedule, it is also important to note when it happens in the scope of a season. If a team has a series of tough games at the beginning of the season, then it’s problematic because they might stumble out of the gate and never recover. If the “gauntlet” comes at season’s end, there will be added pressure on building up a good record before those games so that the team can “absorb” losses if they have to. And “gauntlets” in the middle of the season are perhaps most problematic, because they can jostle teams into and out of playoff position with little time left to recover.
In this story I have addressed the schedules of the 16 AFC teams for the upcoming season, picking out each team’s “gauntlet”—or set of “gauntlets”—that will factor into their hopes for success. Check back in the near-future for reports on the 16 NFC teams.
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5.14.10 4:54 pm by Brian
From May 24th through May 26th, 2010, the NFL owners will be coming together for another set of offseason meetings. While rule changes and ownership approvals will be on the docket, there will also be another matter of importance which will be addressed: the site of Super Bowl XLVIII, which will be played in February of 2014. The deadline for submission of bids to host the game was Wednesday, May 12th, and three host committees got their proposals in to the National Football League for consideration:
- Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida
- Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida
- The new Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey
Even though the meetings are still a few weeks off, the internet has already begun to buzz over which of the venues should be chosen and why. While this makes my discussion here entirely not unique, it makes it no less valid. It is my opinion that the NFL owners should select the new Meadowlands Stadium as the site for Super Bowl XLVIII, for the three reasons detailed below.
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5.04.10 4:09 pm by Brian
A recent saying has taken root in the NFL that you’re not truly an NFL superstar until you have a rule change come about because of something you did or something that happened to you. We have the “Tom Brady Rule” about defensive players not being able to hit quarterbacks below the knees after Brady’s 2008-ending injury—and some would add the “Tuck Rule” to Brady’s résumé as well—and this season will see a “Flozell Adams Rule” where personal fouls occurring at the end of a half can be assessed on the kickoff that begins the next half of play thanks to Adams’ antics with Justin Tuck the New York Giants before halftime in a game last December.
I think one of our old NFL superstars could use a rule of his own, however; #4 for the Minnesota Vikings, Brett Favre.
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