Does it get any better than watching college athletes compete for and win the NCAA National Championship….ON THE FIELD OF PLAY?
No, it doesn’t!
It has been great fun watching the College World Series from Omaha over the past couple of weeks and if not for work commitments we would have had more than a couple of Coaches Hot Seat members in that fine city on the Missouri River watching all that great baseball.
If you add in several Coaches Hot Seat members getting together in the High Rockies on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon around a large flat screen TV with a tub of cold beer on ice, chicken wings on the grill, all watching the South Carolina Gamecocks beat the UCLA Bruins for the National Championship and that is American sports at its best.
Pitiful, yes…Pitiful is the word that comes to mind comparing the College World Series and the NCAA Basketball Tournament to the incredibly absurd BCS which is nothing more than a series of meaningless exhibition games followed by a Bogus title game.
Yes, at the Great Rosenblatt Stadium on Tuesday night in the Grand city of Omaha, Nebraska the South Carolina baseball team hoisted the NCAA National Championship Trophy and congratulations to South Carolina for earning that Championship!
Meanwhile in Candy Ass Land….
Meanwhile, there are still a lot of Candy Asses out there in America that are stupid enough to support meaningless exhibition games over settling the college football national championship on the field of play. One thing for sure, one can never underestimate the desire of Candy Asses to make things as Bogus as possible, but then when you have several generations of Americans now that haven’t done anything for their country beyond registering to vote we can confidently call this the Age of the Candy Asses. No wonder the US Soccer team plays like a bunch of Candy Asses…Hell, they don’t know anything different!
For those folks in the Little 10…..
(Actually still called the Big 12….but as a friend of ours in Texas says, a better name for the Big 12 than our Little 10 is….
“Big Tex and the 9 Dwarfs”
Oh, that’s funny, but is Oklahoma a dwarf we ask? Our Texas buddy says, “Anyone that is following around the University of Texas like a homesick hound dog is a DWARF!”
Oh, that’s very funny….
Getting back to the folks in the Little 10….we mean “Big Tex and the 9 Dwarfs” that didn’t already know it, the new Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville is going to tell you exactly what is on his mind and to Hell with the Politically-Correct Bullshit!
“I don’t think this conference will last long because there is too much disparity between all the teams,” Tuberville told host Bill King. “In the SEC, for instance, Vanderbilt makes as much money in the television contract as Florida. Everybody is good with it. Everybody is on the same page. Everyone gets the same votes.
“That doesn’t happen here in the Big 12. We have some teams that get a little bit more money and have a little bit more stroke than some of the other teams. And when that happens, you’re gonna have teams looking for better avenues to leave and reasons to leave.”
Amen to that Tommy, which is exactly what we said after the Candy Asses that popped their heads up a couple of weeks ago to “save” the dysfunctional Little 10……we mean “Big Tex and the 9 Dwarfs,” which was nothing more than a sham to protect “interests” that are actually some of the Biggest Candy Asses on Planet Earth today. In case you don’t know who those folks are, they are the SOBs that like to crown beauty queens and organize parades instead of having Americans settle championships on the field of play.
Yes, the Little 10…..we mean “Big Tex and the 9 Dwarfs” is just a rolling disaster and shame on the large state schools that got down on their hands and knees and kissed the ass of “Big Tex!” Not that anyone at those large state schools know anything but kissing the ass of Big Tex!
Kudos to Tommy Tuberville for speaking his mind and to the folks that are running Texas Tech University we would like to say that over the past decade or so when we have visited Lubbock for football games we have always come away impressed with your institution and we can assure you that there are conferences out there that would be very interested in adding your school to their conference in the future…..
Calm down Bob Stoops! (what you and Saban talked about is Shhhhhhhhhh!)
Brian Kelly and Bob Stoops were on thePaul Finebaum Radio Networkon Tuesday and Kelly was his usual “We are going to put the Fight back in the Fighting Irish” self, but Bob Stoops made a little news when asked about a meeting he had with Nick Saban in the last offseason.
Who knows what Bob Stoops and Nick Saban discussed when they got together in Tuscaloosa last summer, but we can imagine that two old defensive guys probably talked about how to defeat the spread offense. Coach Stoops said in the above interview that everyone has the tape of everyone else so “we can see what they are doing,” but Bob that doesn’t mean you know what other defensive guys “are thinking” when they are trying to stop the spread!
We don’t know enough about the intricacies of how college defensives stop the spread offense, but Bo Pelini and his brother Carl are doing a lot of the right things on that front and everyone can sure get a tape of Nebraska playing against the spread if they want (Not that we are doubting that Bob and Bo have had many conversations about stuffing the Longhorns!)
From where we sit stopping the spread offense comes down to the same thing that stops most offenses, making the QB as uncomfortable as possible and “Popping Him in the Mouth” as many times as is feasible within the rules! Yes, getting “Popped in the Mouth” or having defenses get after you on every play always gets the quarterback’s attention and look no further than theclamps that Ohio State put on Oregon QB Masoli in the Rose Bowlto prove that point. Oh, that was some good defense…
Is it just us or does the American soccer (No, not football, but soccer!) team play like a bunch of Candy Asses? Thought you agreed with us! Candy Asses! Watching the American soccer team play in the last couple of weeks we cannot help but think that it is past time for the United States to take an entirely new approach when playing in international soccer matches like the World Cup.
We do know of what we talk about here at Coaches Hot Seat, because the CHS Flag Football Team has played a number of soccer games in the last few years against teams stocked with our Latino friends and we have brought our approach to the game of football (yes, the real game of football) to the soccer field (We show up to the soccer matches with a couple of cases of cold American beer, Anchor Steam, Sierra-Nevada, etc…, and we expect them to show up with Mexican cerveza when they come to play us in football!). Very simply, Coaches Hot Seat attacks from the opening whistle until the game is over and our attacking style is based upon General Patton’s attack at the Battle of the Bulge….
Francis Ford Coppola on writing the script for Patton
….. and the Coaches Hot Seat Quote of the Day:
“The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.” Ulysses S. Grant
The Coaches Hot Seat Flag Football team’s plan when playing the game of soccer is to take 5 Times as Many Shots on Goal as the opposing team and that means that we constantly push the ball down the field and take the attack to the opponent. The problem with the United States soccer team is that they play like the Candy Asses in Europe instead of adopting the attacking playing style of our neighbors to the South, Argentina and Brazil, which is the best style of play against good opponents.
The best soccer teams that the CHS Flag Football Team has played against in the San Francisco are usually made up of Latinos from Central and South America and they play the game of soccer like an aggressive college football team and there is only one way to counter a team that plays like, and that is to match that intensity and even top it and to make sure that our lack of soccer ball skills is made-up for by taking a lot of shots on goal. We mean A LOT OF SHOTS of goal with anyone getting any kind of opening to the goal from 30 yards in taking the shot while at the same time sending everyone else at the opposing team’s goalie in hopes of being able to take advantage of a mishandled ball.
Instead of taking the attack to their opponents the United States soccer team plays like a bunch of Candy Asses that seems to be waiting around for the other team to do something and if the U.S. continues to play that wait they will keep failing on big stages like the World Cup.
There has been a news story making the rounds since the United States soccer team lost to Ghana about the U.S. head coach, Bradley’s future to be decided. Please, if the USA soccer head coach Bob Bradley returns then the U.S can expect another mediocre and uninspired performance at the next big soccer tournament. What the U.S. Soccer Federation needs to find in a head soccer coach is someone that takes the attack to the other teams and most of all has his team ready to play from the first whistle instead of waking up 15 minutes into the game. Right now USA Soccer is made up of a bunch of Candy Asses that would have a tough time doing damage in a Paper Mache Store and until the United States hires someone who will first get the US Soccer team into shape (bring the US Soccer Team up to the Rocky Mountains and we will get them into shape!) and then will take the attack to the opponents nothing will change for the better.
The US Soccer Federation wants a stronger US Soccer Team? Great, then get rid of the Candy Asses and the Candy Ass style of play!
We have watched very little of the World Cup here at Coaches Hot Seat, but of what we have seen ESPN has done a very good job with their studio shows and the actual game telecasts. ESPN has not dumbed down the play-by-play and color commentator on the USA games for the American audience that has not played or watched much soccer in their lives so kudos to The Mothership for that decision. As for the studio shows we here at Coaches Hot Seat cannot help but think that Chris Fowler must be watching these soccer matches and listening to the commentators on the set and be thinking to himself: “How about let’s get these games moving already! A few more offensive attacks and we might actually have a real sport here, but right now this seems more like an afternoon tea party at The Grove in Oxford rather than a major competition!” Just our opinion of course, but certainly Fowler has some videotape of college football games on his laptop that he can watch back at his hotel room to remind him what a real sport looks and sounds like!
Here you go Chris, highlights from the 1986 Nebraska at FSU football game. Sneak away to your hotel room and watch this YouTube.com clip (and the others around it) and compare it to some of the paint drying…..oh, we mean soccer games you have been watching over the past couple of weeks!
“Stanford Athletics has claimed its unprecedented 16th consecutive Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup today, an award that is presented annually by the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors of America (NACDA), Learfield Sports and USAToday to the top intercollegiate athletic program in the nation.
Stanford finished with 1,508.50 points, outdistancing Florida (1,237.25) and Virginia (1,189.25) for the title.
After claiming national championships in the sports of men’s volleyball, women’s tennis and women’s lightweight crew-varsity eight, Stanford has won at least one NCAA team title for 34 consecutive years, an ongoing record.
Six other Stanford teams – women’s soccer, women’s basketball, women’s swimming, men’s gymnastics, women’s water polo and synchronized swimming — placed second in national championship competition.
Twenty of Stanford’s 35 intercollegiate programs finished their respective seasons ranked in the top-10 nationally, while nine teams were ranked first in the nation at some point during the year.
In addition, three Stanford student-athletes – Kelley O’Hara (women’s soccer), Kawika Shoji (men’s volleyball) and Julia Smit (women’s swimming and diving) – were named national players of the year in their respective sports.
Three Stanford coaches – Paul Ratcliffe (women’s soccer), John Kosty (men’s volleyball) and Al Acosta (women’s lightweight rowing) – were named national coaches of the year, while eight others earned conference/region coach of the year honors.
“Winning the Directors’ Cup for 16 consecutive years is a testament to many generations of excellent student-athletes and some of the top coaches in the nation who have been part of the fabric of Stanford Athletics for many years,” said Jaquish & Kenninger Director of Athletics Bob Bowlsby. “It’s an award that everyone associated with Stanford Athletics is very proud of and one that we won’t give up easily.”
The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors of America (NACDA) and the USA Today in 1993-94 in an effort to honor universities that strive for success in all of their sports programs. The program was expanded in 1995-96 to include Division II, III and the NAIA. Each institution is awarded points based on an institutions’ finish in 20 sports — 10 each for men and women.”
Wow! That is about all we can say to Stanford’s run over the past 16 years with the Directors’ Cup and the job done by everyone in the Stanford Athletic Department starting with AD Bob Bowlsby. Bob arrived at Stanford in July 2006 and he has enhanced the athletics department tremendously over the past few years and completed a series of major construction projects on the campus while making the Stanford athletic department and teams even better, if that was even possible! A job well done Bob Bowlsby! Now keep it up!
It’s too bad that everyone that follows sports in America cannot get to see the Stanford sports teams and student-athletes compete in events each year, because it truly is like watching Olympic-level athletes performing at incredibly high levels while at the same time meeting a standard in the classroom that is unmatched in Division I athletics.
The academics at Stanford University is what makes this 16 year run in the Directors Cup really remarkable, because Stanford is both an institution that has very high standards for admission into the school, but also a place where students have to perform once they get to the campus. Looking at the US News & World Report’s most recent ranking of National Universities, Stanford checks in at a tie for No. 4 with only Harvard, Princeton and Yale ahead of them with the schools that are tied for 4 th: California Institute of Technology, MIT, Penn and Stanford. We don’t want to make any wild accusations…..OK, we will make an accusation or two, but we rather doubt that in the vast majority of students in majors at the Harvard, Princeton and Yale are anywhere near as demanding of what is required of student at The Farm. Throw in the demands and time required for student-athletes to be members of some of the top college sports teams in the country and you have the remarkable Stanford Athletic Department which has folks that will both “Pop You in the Nose” competitively and “Whip Your Ass in the Classroom as Well!”
Congratulations to Stanford Athletics – 16 Straight Directors Cups……Now let’s go for 17 In a Row!
In Mr. Ricks Op-Ed in the New York Times he goes to the heart of the matter as it pertains to holding responsible and firing leaders in the US military, but also in our minds here at Coaches Hot Seat a disturbing trend in American society driven mainly by the rise of the Candy Asses and the folks that are Scared to Death of any change in our country. Mr. Ricks writes:
“FOR most of our nation’s history, the armed services have had a strong and worthy tradition of firing generals who get out of line. So for most of our presidents there would have been no question about whether to oust Gen. Stanley McChrystal for making public his differences with the White House on policy in Afghanistan. If President Obama had not fired General McChrystal, it would have been like President Truman keeping on Douglas MacArthur after his insubordination during the Korean War.
Some analysts fret that losing General McChrystal will mean sacrificing the relationship he had developed with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. But the general’s dysfunctional relationship with the other senior American officials in Kabul, painfully laid out this week in Rolling Stone, is more significant. If President Obama is to be faulted, it is for leaving that group in position after it became apparent last fall that the men could not work well together.
No policy can be successful if those sent to put it in place undermine one another with snide comments to reporters and leaked memorandums like the cable disparaging Mr. Karzai written by Ambassador Karl Eikenberry last year. For this reason, the president should finish cleaning house and fire Ambassador Eikenberry and the special envoy, Richard Holbrooke.
Mr. Obama should then replace them with a team that has a single person clearly in control, with the power to hire and fire the others. And he should send that new group to Kabul with clear orders that they should get along, or expect to be relieved.
In the longer term, the Army has to return to its tradition of getting rid of leaders who are failing. The Navy has shown more fortitude; in the first two months of this year alone it fired six commanders of ships and installations. On Tuesday, it fired the skipper of the frigate John L. Hall, two months after it collided with a pier at a Black Sea port in Georgia. The Navy stated simply, as it usually does in such cases, that the officer’s superior had lost confidence in him. That is all that is needed.
The Marine Corps has also largely kept the tradition of relieving officers — most notably during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 when its top ground officer, Maj. Gen. James Mattis, fired the commander of the First Marine Regiment. During his tenure, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has fired secretaries of the Army and the Air Force and an Air Force chief of staff. “
Well written Mr. Ricks. The very same thing could be written and said about American society in general where far too often mediocre and even failed performance is rewarded, and make no mistake about it keeping someone in a position of management or leadership when they should have been fired for not performing at high level is rewarding people that are not living up to a minimum set of standards. Excellence and High Achievement have almost been stricken from the English language and American society in recent years as just doing one’s job is enough to keep one in that job and that attitude does tremendous damage to our Republic as the principles of our country that the best rise to the top and the mediocre find other things to do in life have been tossed to the curb.
The BCS is the “Idiocy of Mediocrity” on steroids as too many Americans, but a minority of Candy Asses, cling to something that undermines the basic principle of the American Republic that “All Americans Are Created Equal” and that everyone should have an equal opportunity in life and every team an equal chance to win a championship. If you disagree with the idea that every team in Division I-A football should have an equal opportunity to play for and win the National Championship, then you are below a Candy Ass in our eyes, you are a Yellow Bellied Coward that takes our Declaration of Independence and US Constitution and throws them in garbage.
Of course, never underestimate how incredibly scared the Lovers of the BCS are about the idea that something might change in life and no doubt if the BCS Lovers had their way we would still have slaves in America and doctors would still be using leaches in the practice of medicine. The BCS Lovers throw out words like “tradition” just like the defenders of slavery in the 1850s used the term “states rights” (in other words if we want to keep blacks as slaves that is a “states rights” issue) and then we end up with the absurd conclusions to college football seasons where there are multiple teams that have legitimate claims to have the right, the American right, to play, to earn and win the national title on the Field of Play.
Yes, the BCS Lovers are not different than the George C. Wallace’s of American history that are so in love with the idea of Americans being treated in different and unequal ways that they believe their right to treat Americans unequally is a fundamental right based upon history or “tradition” (Hey, slavery is a “tradition” so we should keep doing it the “states rights” crowd screamed in the 1850s!), but is in fact one of the things that undermines our Republic the most. The BCS Lovers are frightened of change and they want to freeze the world as if the stopping or slowing down of change will allow their evil world to continue on for just a little longer, because most of all, folks that support and love the BCS are the people that get a great thrill of “Standing in the Schoolhouse” door and slowing down real progress in America.
Thank Goodness that most Americans have the intelligence to look forward and realize that it is “change” that is the fundamental concept that sets OUR country apart from the rest of the world, but there will always be incredibly evil people that will be working like Hell to stop the world from advancing forward. (Some of those very people that are incredibly frightened of change came together to save the dysfunctional Big 12 conference recently and those people also happen to be the same incredibly evil BCS Lovers that believe that All Americans and thus student-athletes are not created equal.)
Yes, Americans cross the Delaware River in the middle of the night to win a war, they invent the automobile, they take to the skies, they attack a beach at Normandy and Iwo Jima to unseat evil dictators, they dare to look to space and go to the Moon and they stand up against tyranny and destroy and “Evil Empire.” That is how real Americans live their lives, but within our country we have incredibly evil people that believe that some Americans are not Equal to Others and they cling to the past, just like the “states rights crowd, because when you get right down to it people like the BCS Lovers are scared to death of change, they are scared to death of people actually being held accountable for their actions in their lives, they are scared to death of teams winning and losing on the field of play, but most of all these pitiful BCS Lovers are scared of life itself.
Yes, Tom Ricks is right about the US military and our civilian leadership holding military leaders accountable for their actions in life, but Tom should extend that argument to the entire society writ large, because at the very heart of our biggest problems and with things like the Bogus BCS are very evil and incompetent people that when you get right down to it are frightened of change and even the living of life the way Americans have since a few very brave men put their names to the Declaration of Independence at the risk of their own lives. That is how Americas live and then we have how the BCS Lovers live who are the folks pulling down our Republic in hopes of keeping things “the same” even if “the same” treats American in ways that go against the principles of our country.
This is very simple: Americans act in courageous and brave ways to go forward over the next hill to take on the challenges of life.
The Evil BCS Lovers work like Hell to pull down the country and don’t give a Damn if the things they support bring down the entire American Republic, because these very petty and frightened people are scared to death of change and scared to death of life itself. The “BCS Lovers” crowd will always swap “keeping things the same” for a bright and promising future, because when you get right down to they lay awake at night scared to death that the “bogey” man might change something!
We are Americans at Coaches Hot Seat. Are you an American or are you scared to death of change and of life? Sadly, there are way too many people that are scared of life and even scared of their own shadow as they see it in the lights of the Rose Bowl!
…. and picked up the Odds to Win 2011 BCS Championship and those odd numbers are very interesting indeed. Let’s take a look:
Alabama 4/1
Ohio State 7/1
Oregon 9/1
Texas 10/1
Boise State 10/1
Nebraska 12/1
TCU 15/1
USC 15/1
Virginia Tech 16/1
Oklahoma 18/1
LSU 20/1
Georgia Tech 20/1
Florida 20/1
Georgia 25/1
Iowa 25/1
Arkansas 30/1
Pittsburgh 30/1
Auburn 30/1
Miami, FL 35/1
Oregon State 35/1
Wisconsin 40/1
Penn State 50/1
North Carolina 60/1
FSU 60/1
Cincinnati 60/1
Michigan 75/1
Notre Dame 75/1
Oklahoma State 80/1
West Virginia 80/1
California 80/1
Arizona 100/1
Mississippi 100/1
Missouri 100/1
Rutgers 100/1
Utah 100/1
Stanford 125/1
Clemson 125/1
South Carolina 125/1
South Florida 150/1
BYU 150/1
Washington 150/1
Tennessee 150/1
UCLA 150/1
Texas A&M 150/1
Michigan State 150/1
NC State 150/1
Fresno State 300/1
Nevada 300/1
UNLV 1000/1
Field (All Others) 100/1
Now those are some very interesting odds for the Winner of the 2011 Bogus BCS National Championship and looking back a year to what the same sports book had as the favorite we find in the Coaches Hot Seat Blog entry from August 11, 2010 we see the favorites then for the 2009-10 season were:
Florida 9/5
Oklahoma 5
Texas 5
USC 7
Ohio State 12
Notre Dame 12
Virginia Tech 15
Mississippi 18
Alabama 20
LSU 20
California 20
Florida State 30
Oregon 40
Penn State 40
Miami (Fl) 40
Nebraska 40
Oklahoma State 50
Georgia Tech 50
Clemson 50
Illinois 50
One thing the sports book has to take into account is the most absurd postseason championship system in any sport on the Earth today and it looks like these folks believe that both Alabama and Ohio State will get thru their conferences to play in the Bogus BCS title game. It also looks like they have not bothered to change Oregon’s odds to win the Bogus BCS title (9/1) after the dismissal of Masoli, but then again, maybe they are thinking the Ducks run the table in the Pac-10 and end up the season undefeated!
In 2009-10 it was Texas at 5/1 and Alabama at 20/1 that met for the title and as one looks over the odds for the 2010-11 season it seems to us that the teams down to the 50/1 area have at least an outside chance of getting onto a run and winding up in the Bogus BCS title game.
Speaking of the Bogus BCS, for those of you that claim to be Americans and also support this Evil and Bogus BCS, get a gander at this Harry Truman quote that we ran across over the last couple of days:
“You know that being an American is more than a matter of where your parents came from. It is a belief that all men are created free and equal and that everyone deserves an even break.”
Well said President Truman, very well said! As we have said here many times, it is impossible to believe in the principles of the American Republic and support the Bogus BCS at the same time and if you are both then you are a sorry excuse for an American. Not that there haven’t been in the past and even today there are incredibly evil people in our country, and everyone one of the BCS folks are as evil as one can be because they actually stand for some Americans being “more equal” than others.
This is very simple if you are an American:
Equality of Opportunity, to get an education, to get a job, to decided what you want to do with your life and to win a championship.
Yes, in every other sport in the United States sports championships are earned and won on the Field of Play and we are proud to stand with Americans that believe in that fundamental principle, but then we all know that once a Candy Ass always a Candy Asses and we have no doubt that everyone of these BCS Boys would be hiding in the closet if our country ever got into another real shooting war because if they don’t have the guts or common sense to stand up for the principles and for what is right about our country there is no chance they would fight for our country.
The General McChrystal Debacle
Anyone that gives a Damn about their country and who has been paying attention in recent days has seen the reports around the US General Stanley McChrystal and his negative comments about United States civilian leadership. Politico.com is covering the McChrystal story very well.
As we have pointed out here in the past, maybe General McChrystal has forgotten the US Constitution or he doesn’t quite understand the chain of command, but we can tell anyone reading this Blog that if an Admiral or General or another military person in a position of leadership had said things like McChrystal and his staff said when we were in the US military they would have been thrown out on their ears!
A few of us here at Coaches Hot Seat spent a considerable amount of time in the Persian Gulf region before, during and after Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and we are outraged that any US General/staff would make such outrageous comments and we would have already fired his worthless rear-end if we were in the White House.
There are plenty of generals in the US military that can defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda and win the war in Afghanistan and allowing McChrystal to stay in his current position would only make the Obama Administration look incredibly weak.
Congratulations to Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell for Winning the 2010 US Open!
There are several of us here at Coaches Hot Seat that follow the game of golf fairly closely and when Graeme McDowell’s name popped up on the leaderboard at the US Open this week we all knew McDowell to be a very good golfer and great person to boot. Several years ago a member of CHS played in a pro-am event with McDowell and when Graeme’s name has come up in the past when he has contended in major tournaments the phrase that our friend has always used is:
“McDowell can play the game of golf and he has a lot of class.”
Now everyone knows both of the above with McDowell gutting out a heroic US Open win on a very tough golf course in Pebble Beach with the top 3 players of this era, Els, Michelson and Woods bearing down on him.
Or as the Coaches Hot Seat quote of the day by the Great Vince Lombardi once said:
“I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.”
Hard to beat the immortal words of the Great Vince Lombardi…
The flip-side of Graeme McDowell’s terrific performance at Pebble Beach was the very disappointing play of our best two American players, Phil Michelson and Tigers Woods, in the 4 th round of the US Open. The 2010 US Open was there to be had for both Michelson and Woods and just a little better than average round and it could have been either man in possession of the US Open trophy today. It matters little what Michelson and Woods have said or will say about Sunday’s round, because the fact of the matter is that both men played poorly and made some incredibly stupid shot decisions in the Final Round on Sunday.
Phil Michelson had every chance in the world to win the ’10 US Open but too much aggression at timse coupled with some shots that looked like a 10 handicapper was hitting them led to a final round 73 and yet another wasted opportunity at our National Championship for Phil. Certainly, Phil Michelson will not be able to sleep on this night, or for many nights to come.
If anything, Tiger Woods should be kicking himself more than Michelson because right out of the shoot in the final round on Sunday Woods made a terrible error at the first by hitting his 2 nd shot to the Par 4 above the hole which left him with an incredibly fast putt which led to a 3 putt and a Bozo-like bogey on 1. From then it was just one bad swing or decision after another including a tee shot on the Par 4 No. 3 hole that a 20 handicapper couldn’t repeat on the worst day of his life. A terrible line off the tee with a 3-wood on the Par 5 Sixth hole led to a ball on the beach when any club from a 4-iron on up down the left hand side of the fairway could have allowed him to easily hit the ball on the green in 2. After all that Woods arrived on the 7 th tee at 3 over par when he should have been 1 under at worst and 3 under at best and found himself behind an 8-ball that he never recovered from. Oh, yes, Woods’ 2nd shot to the Par 4 Tenth hole may have been one of the worst shots in Major Championship history by someone that has a clue that we have ever seen. Aim the shot 20 feet to the left of the pin and Woods would have had a 15 to 10 foot putt for birdie, but a ball down the cliff after a shot that a 20 handicapper would have a hard time repeating led to yet another bogey. Come on Tiger, you are hitting the ball OK, but geez you might as well have handed McDowell the US Open on a Silver Platter and let him take your jet home with him back to Northern Ireland to boot!
Actually, Michelson and Woods gave the US Open away, but Ernie Els may have been even worse as he did everything in his power to make sure that someone other than himself left Pebble Beach with the trophy. Ernie, you are a great guy, but what the Hell man?
Even with the disappointing play of our Americans on Sunday it was a great US Open and a terrific week on the Monterey Peninsula. Hard to beat the stunning beauty of the Monterey Peninsula, the US Open at Pebble Beach, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Pacific Grove, Monterey, Carmel Valley, Big Sur, great friends and the great people of the area and we can report that fun was had by all. Now after a week on the Pacific Ocean it is back to the Sierra-Nevada, Cascade and Rocky Mountains for us and back to the grindstone of work!
Pac-12 Conference, Divisions, Divisional Play and the Coaches Hot Seat solution to the conundrum now facing the conference
Since Colorado and Utah have been added to the Pac-10 (A great move for both of those very good schools and the Pac-10 in our opinion) there has been much written about how the new Pac-12 could divide itself into two divisions which would lead to conference championship game. Most of what has been written on this subject has been negative, highlighting the fact that the teams in the northwest section of the US that are in the new Pac-12, Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, do no want to lose the games against California foes because of all the recruits they get from the state.
Well, after several nights of discussing the subject over beers, fine wine, great steaks, shrimp and fish around the outdoor fire, or laying on the grass on the hill overlooking holes 9 and 10 at Pebble Beach at the US Open with cold beer in hands, Coaches Hot Seat has come up with what we believe to be a great solution to Larry Scott and the boys and girls in the conference office in Walnut Creek.
We call it the Coaches Hot Seat Pac-12 Divisional Solution for the Ages!
Here it is:
The Pac-12 would divide into two divisions for “Divisional Purposes” only (hint: Not entirely for scheduling, but more on that in a moment…) and the Two Pac-12 Divisions would divide up as:
North
Colorado
Oregon
Oregon State
Utah
Washington
Washington State
South
Arizona
Arizona State
Cal
Stanford
UCLA
USC
The above are the two new Pac-12 Divisions but for “Divisional Purposes” only. The winners of the above two Pac-12 Divisions, the teams with the best conference records, would meet in the Pac-12 Championship Game to be played in early December at a stadium to be named later (more on that in a minute also…).
Now that we have the Two Pac-12 Divisions set we move to Three Quad Scheduling Regional Divisions. The three below “Quad Regional Divisions” would be used to determine the actual schedules of the Pac-12 schools each season.
Pac-12 – Three Quad Regional Divisions
Northwest
Oregon
Oregon State
Washington State
Washington
Desert-Mountain
Arizona
Arizona State
Utah
Colorado
California
Stanford
Cal
UCLA
USC
Here is how the Scheduling for the Pac-12 would work with the three above “Quad Regional Divisions”:
1. Every Pac-12 school would play 9 conference games each season
2. Each Pac-12 school will play every team in its Quad Regional Division, which would be 3 games for each team.
3. Each Pac-12 school will then play 6 games from the other Two Quad Regional Divisions on a Round Robin basis over 3 to 5 years (why bother with all the details when we have cold beer to drink and Larry Scott has people on his staff that can work out the details) that would allow for every Pac-12 team to play a home-and-home series with every other Pac-12 school over that 3 to 5 year period.
The Pac-12 team with the best record over the 9 conference games in each division will win the division and advance to the Pac-12 Championship Game.
4. Any tie for the top spot in a Division will be broken first by head-to-head competition, next by win/loss record in the division, next by final ranking in the AP poll (better than that Bogus BCS poll), etc…. Just don’t do what those Little 10 clowns did a couple of years ago with their tie-breaker between Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech! Got Stupid?
The advantage of the Quad Regional Divisions is that it allows for the Regional Rivalries that have been built up over years to continue to be played and for all the Pac-12 conference schools to play a nice variety of schools each year and to rotate through and play every other Pac-12 school in every 3 to 5 years on a home-and-home basis. Hell, a good scheduler could really make the schedule sing with the above format, but again, we have cold beer to drink!
Did everyone get that?
1. The Pac-12 would be divided into Two Divisions: North and South. These two divisions will only be used to create Divisions while the….
2. Quad Regional Divisions will be used to determine scheduling in the Pac-12.
Sound simple enough? Thought so.
Memo to Larry Scott at the Pac-12: Larry, you and the boys and girls there at the Pac-12 have permission to use the Coaches Hot Seat Pac-12 Divisional Solution for the Ages…..IF…..the Pac-12 conference makes a $10,000 dollar charitable contribution to Swords to Plowshares in San Francisco.
We have a lot of veterans coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq right now and these folks really need our help.
Pac-12 Site/Stadium Recommendations for Conference Championship Game
Getting back to Coaches Hot Seat figuring out the future for the Pac-12, here are our Site/Stadium recommendations for the Pac-12 Championship Game which we believe should be played on the same Saturday as the SEC, Big 12 (Oops, no Championship Game for the Little 10 Boys!), ACC and a future Big Ten title game.
What we would be looking for in a Site/Stadium for the Pac-12 Championship Game:
1. A Nice Stadium
2. A group of people in the community/city that could run the game along with the Pac-12
3. A place/city that has good weather in early December
The Rose Bowl, Pasadena
Yes, we give the Rose Bowl folks a hard time about the Bogus BCS, but they have proved they can run a postseason football game and that is why they should be first on the list to host the Pac-12 Championship Game (Yes, the Rose Bowl folks could also host a Quarter, Semi or National Championship Game as well if we got rid of the Bogus BCS and settled the National Championship on the Field of Play, which we all know is exactly what is going to happen in the future. It is now only a matter if We are going to do this transition from the Bogus BCS to a Playoff in College Football the Easy Way…..or the Hard Way! We would recommend the Easy Way to the BCS Boys!)
New San Francisco 49ers Stadium, Santa Clara
No, the new San Francisco 49ers Stadium in Santa Clara (about 40 miles south of San Francisco) will not be opened until 2014, but when it is it will be one of the best stadiums in the West. Again, great weather!
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
Yes, Qualcomm Stadium is 40 Plus years old, but it is still a nice stadium and if the folks running it had a commitment for the Pac-12 Championship Game along with the San Diego Chargers and the San Diego State football team playing there, the people in San Diego might be able to get a new stadium built in the future.
Yes, there are people in the Northwest that will claim that Seattle’s Qwest Field….
….should be considered and no doubt Qwest is a magnificent stadium, but we believe that if the Pac-12 is looking to make the Pac-12 Championship Game truly a great event that will bring together fans from every conference school, college football fans in general and sports fan to the game, then weather must be a primary consideration and Seattle in December isn’t our idea of good weather!
There you have the 3 stadiums that we believe that the Pac-12 should consider for the Pac-12 Championship Game. Don’t worry Larry (Scott), these recommendations are on the house!
Back to the Mountains of the Great American West and Back to Work! Well, we will find some time to play some golf, get the horses out and cast a fly or two into the rivers….
First, on this fine Sunday, June 20, 2010, we would like to wish a Happy Father’s Day to all of the Fathers out there in the United States and world!
Mothers are important, mothers are irreplaceable, mothers make the world go round, but without a doubt in our minds here at Coaches Hot Seat, it is the Father that has become the most underappreciated person in America today. The “PC – Politically Correct” and Liberal Weenie crowd gets great fun out of running down Dads and Fathers, and those idiots incredibly foolish opinions on Fathers has done great harm to our country. We could recite to everyone chapter and verse of families and entire communities that have been destroyed in the United States BECAUSE OF the lack of a Father’s presence in the house and neighborhood, but don’t ever expect the Morons of the world to understand how important Fathers are to our country.
Oh, how so very stupid these people are that run down the importance of Fathers, for it is the strength of the Father and the Wisdom and Deep Love of the Mother that makes a strong family and allows children to become all they can be in life.
To Hell with the Idiots that don’t realize and celebrate the importance of Fathers and thus we say:
HAPPY FATHERS DAY!
Or as Mark Twain wrote in 1874:
“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”
How true Mark Twain, how so very true!
A Great Day in America as WE Decide a Championship
It has been great fun to watch the US Open this week in person and on TV with taped replays because there really is nothing like watching Americans and even citizens from other countries fight like Hell to win a National Championship, all on the Field of Play of course, the Pebble Beach Golf Links in this case.
For all you Candy Ass BCS Lovers out there, no the US Open and players will not now cease play for 30 plus days and then get back together with the “No. 1” player playing the “No. 2” player in a bogus match to decide the title. No, the rest of the players in the US Open will not be paired off in matches 30 plus days from now in meaningless exhibition games in cities far from Pebble Beach. No, unlike the Candy Ass BCS, the United States Open Championship will be decided today on the field of play which means if you are a Candy Ass BCS Lover you might want to get out your backgammon set and find something to do with the rest of your fellow Candy Asses because today at Pebble Beach we will have REAL MEN fighting for and winning a championship and we know the Precious Candy Ass BCS Lovers can’t deal with real competition like that!
Please, if you are a Candy Ass, Un-American, Sorry Excuse for an American, “How in the world could you have grown up in America” BCS Lover don’t turn on your TV today to NBC Sports and watch the US Open, because we rather doubt that your precious little psyche can deal with REAL MEN playing for a winning a championship on the field of play. Please, don’t hurt yourself by turning on the TV!
No, this is not a joke because if you are Stupid Enough and a Big of a Candy Ass enough to support the Bogus BCS then you don’t deserve to watch REAL MEN decide a championship. Please, go plan a parade, a beauty queen crowning, a trip to a theme park, but don’t turn on your TV, because you will see something that is the defining characteristic of what it means to be an American:
A CHAMPIONSHIP WON AND EARNED ON THE FIELD OF PLAY
Note: The above warning goes double for any Candy Ass college head football coach that supports the Candy Ass BCS, because you are the worst of the worst in America. You talk a good game about being tough and acting with discipline and responsibility, but then you believe a championship in America should not be decided on the field of play? Please, any college football coach that supports the Candy Ass BCS should be ashamed to show his face anyplace where REAL MEN fight for and win championships, places like the Pebble Beach Golf Links on June 20, 2010 or the practice field for any football team for that matter!
If you are a supporter of the Candy Ass BCS why don’t you go to the florist today, or pick wildflowers, or paint your toenails, but please sure the Hell don’t watch the United States Open Golf Championship because you might just see something that will scare you to death:
Men with real courage fighting for and winning a championship on THE FIELD OF PLAY.
Today here at Coaches Hot Seat we will take our children to the US Open and show them what it is like for A REAL MAN OR WOMAN to play for a championship and we will point at the golfers and say:
“See, that is how a REAL AMERICAN ACTS, AND FIGHTS, AND BATTLES TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP.”
BCS Lovers = It is a disgrace that you dare call yourself an American
Thank Goodness that the majority of People in the United States…
…agree with us about the importance of winning championships on the field of play and that all Americans should have Equality of Opportunity, not Equality of Outcomes, but the Equality of Opportunity to prepare for, to fight for and to win a championship. Yes, Thank Goodness that the United States Golf Association stands up strongly for the importance of competition and earning championships on the field of play, because the Candy Ass BCS Lovers, mainly the conference commissioners, the bowl clowns, the college presidents and some disgraceful head football coaches would be the Destroyers of America if their Bogus Philosophy ever became the dominate theme in our country. Thank Goodness their evil is right now contained to one sport, but not for much longer you Sorry Ass BCS Lovers, not for much longer!
Hang your Head in Shame Today BCS Lovers and stay the Hell out of the way, because we have a Championship to be played and to be WON!
The Coaches Hot Seat Quote of the Day:
“It’s how you show up at the showdown that counts.” Homer Norton
Yes, it is how you show up at the showdown that counts,” and that is what we have today at Pebble Beach, A SHOWDOWN!
It’s not how many shots out of first place a golfer is, but….
Two of the Greatest Golfers of all time, Jack Nicklaus and Bobby Jones, talked about in their careers about how they ended up winning big tournaments because they were able to stay calm and focused while the other players around them blew up or melted away. That thought will be doubly important today as one of the toughest golf courses in the country in Pebble Beach when under US Open conditions challenges the leaders, their psyches and their golf games.
Dustin Johnson starts the Final Round of the US Open with a 3 shot lead over his closest opponent, Graeme McDowell, a 5 shot lead over Tiger Woods, a 6 shot lead over Ernie Els and Gregory Havret and a 7 shot lead over Phil Michelson. More than likely there are only 6 golfers that have a legitimate shot at winning the US Open on Sunday, with Phil Michelson being the last at 7 shots back, because even the Great Johnny Miller only came from 6 shots back in 1973 (37 years ago if you can believe it!) to win the US Open at Oakmont after shooting a 63.
With so few golfers having a real shot at winning the US Open today, the 5 closest golfers to Dustin Johnson need to make sure they manage themselves and their games very well and not get so impatient that they are forcing the issue when it doesn’t need to be forced. Pebble Beach is a golf course where the most hay can be made on the first 7 holes and any good golfer that has played Pebble knows that anyone standing on the 8 th tee even or over par has not achieved very much and that means that the golfers doing the chasing today must play smart-aggressive golf today on holes 1 thru 7 so that they put themselves in spots where they will have good chances at birdie and par will be the worst score they will end up with.
The great and intriguing about the game of golf is that fortunes can change very quickly and that 2, 3, or even 4 shot swings are not unusual when a major golf championship is on the line. What we here at Coaches Hot Seat would love to see today in the Final Round of the US Open is our American players going out and playing aggressive to get birdies but also managing their games well so that they don’t blow themselves out of the competition before they make the front nine turn.
Yes, our DVRs will be running to tape those College World Series games!
College athletes competing in a “playoff” in the College World Series to determine the National Champion! What a novel idea! No, just an American Ideal in fact for all you BCS Lovers out there!
If there is one thing we would tell the golfers playing in the US Open today it would be the advice that the former Great Head Football Coach at USC, John Robinson, used to say to his quarterbacks when he sent them into the game on a key play: “Have Fun!” This is what you have practiced so hard for in your life so enjoy the trip.
For those golfers that are behind the leader, maybe this will help from the GreatPaul “Bear” Bryant….
Let’s have a great FINAL ROUND OF THE US OPEN and LET THE BEST MAN WIN!
About a dozen of us here at Coaches Hot Seat were at dinner last night in Carmel….
…and as the dinner plates were being cleared away and the coffee was being brought out we were discussing the recent Big 12 (Little 10) “Retraction.” An older gentleman at the next table over (“older to us is North of 6o or so as we get “older” ourselves!) leans over after hearing our conversation and says:
“I’m just glad that my school’s leaders (school to be left unnamed to protect the idiots) weren’t at Bastogne.”
We then asked the “older gentleman” what he thought his school’s leaders would have replied to the Germans in the same situation.
“I don’t know……something like.. “Surrender? Hell, yes we will surrender! In fact, do you have any of that good German sauerkraut because we just love German sauerkraut!”
Roars of laughter by everyone at both tables which stunned some of the elitists there in Carmel that get a little concerned when anyone is having TOO much of a good time!
“That’s great. Let us buy your party dessert.”
Older gentleman: “Well, thank you. We would appreciate that. After all, I am sure my AD will be hitting me up for more money since we are shipping so much of it to Austin now!”
“The greatest meeting of land and water in the world.”
Another Great Day of Golf in the Second Round of the US Open at Pebble Beach
Does it really get any better than this? Great setting, great challenge, great golfers, all battling to win the National Championship of the United States of America.
No, it doesn’t get any better and we are lucky enough here at Coaches Hot Seat to realize that and appreciate it greatly.
One thing we would like to say after seeing the golfers and Pebble Beach in person and watching the replays of the golf at night, the TV production and on-air talent by NBC Sports and ESPN – ABC is just tremendous. We would also add that the The Golf Channel has really hit its stride in recent years since being purchased by Comcast. The Golf Channel’s shows and on-air personalities are great as well and for those of us that love the game of golf there really is nothing like being able to turn to The Golf Channel pretty much around the clock and find interesting and entertaining programming.
Getting back to NBC Sports and ESPN – ABC’s TV work this week at the US Open, they are doing a tremendous job of bringing what being at Pebble Beach really feels like and we love the on-air announcers stepping up and telling us what they really think about particular situations and golfers. A decade ago it was Johnny Miller and a few other folks that would give you their opinion without a filter on the golfers, the golf course and the game of golf, but now from top to bottom the on-air talent is “telling it like it is!”
Great seeing Chris “Boomer” Berman (Brown ’77) on the 18 th tower with Roger Maltbie in the afternoon telecasts on ESPN. Boomer and Roger bring that “let them eat cake” attitude to golf coverage which is great shock-treatment for some of the elitists running around Pebble Beach that have never really recovered from the fact that Johnny Miller just says whatever the Hell comes into his mind! All of you keep it up! Now only if we could get Boomer and Roger into the Tap Room at Pebble Beach for a few drinks…now that would be great entertainment!
On Thursday during the First Round of the US Open at the Pebble Beach Golf Links we were walking along the left-hand side of the 14 th fairway when we saw a person wearing a Texas A&M baseball cap. After some introductions and chit-chat we got around to asking about conference expansion and this Aggie says to us:
“There is nothing at A&M that couldn’t be fixed with one man or woman with a little courage.”
Well said Aggie!
Sounds like the 7the President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, another one of our favorite US Presidents when he said:
“One man with courage makes a majority”
Another Great Man’s quote on courage jumps to our minds as well, Winston Churchill:
“Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities….because it is the quality which guarantees all others.”
We have been hearing from a lot of Aggies over the past week or so on A&M’s decision to stick with Daddy Longhorn and if our emails reflect even a small section of the opinion of Aggie students, alums and boosters then the folks in College Station have a Helluva mess on their hands!
Stay tuned, because this is not over….
Matt Hayes of Sporting News on Utah – BCS
Matt Hayes of the Sporting News wrote about a subject that has been addressed by a few in the media in the last few days on Utah switching now to being a fan of the BCS since they are now in a “BCS” conference.
“So now, the dilemma for Utah: After years of whining about equality among Division I football teams, do president Michael Young and athletic director Chris Hill continue to speak out against the BCS? Or do they realize the monumental advantage over rival BYU and take advantage of it?”
“Whining about the equality among Division I football teams,” Matt?
If you want to know and understand why the United State is filling up with Candy Asses read no further than the above line.
….and tell the folks there that you want to tear up the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights and most importantly the Declaration of Independence. Please, Matt, by all means since you so clearly do not believe in the principles of the United States of America, if you really want to back up your beliefs then actually stand up like a Man and rip up our Founding Documents.
Since it seems Matt Hayes, along with the rest of the Candy Asses that support the Bogus BCS do not seem to understand the basic principles of our country, HERE THEY ARE!
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Remember that? That is the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
The Declaration of Independence does not say that some Division I teams and student-athletes are more equal than others but rather says “that all men are created equal.” Maybe even plain English isn’t clear to these Candy Asses that support the Bogus BCS?
Has it really come to Americans having to remind other Americans on the principles that the United States of American was founded upon? Seems so, but then when so few people, especially so few people in the media that have done anything for their country beyond register to vote, one will often find a warped view of what our American Republic is really all about. No, it is now about crowning beauty queens and parades when it comes to settling National Championships in our sports on the field of play.
Here is what America is about for the Candy Asses reading this blog and if you support the BCS you are a CANDY ASS:
In one of those debates Douglas and Lincoln, and the crowd listening to the debate had a very similar exchange to what is below:
Abraham Lincoln: Judge Douglas says he, he doesn’t care whether slavery is voted up or voted down.
Heckler: Neither do we, Lincoln, you know-nothing!
Lincoln: Well friend, I may not know much, but I think I know right from wrong. Now you say that you don’t care whether slavery is voted up or down. Now any man can say that, who does not see anything wrong in slavery. But no man can logically say it who does see wrong in it. Because no man can logically say he doesn’t care whether wrong is voted up or down.
Lincoln: I say this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. A house divided against itself cannot stand.
Heckler: That’s what you think, you long drink of water!
Lincoln: Yes, my friend, that’s what I think. That is the real issue. That is the issue that will continue in this country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silenced.
Stephen Douglas: As I say, I have known Mr. Lincoln for twenty-five years. He is a fine lawyer, possesses high ability, and there is no objection to him. Except….the monstrous revolutionary doctrines which he conscientiously entertains and is determined to carry out if he gets the power!
Spectator: Don’t worry, he ain’t gonna get it!
Spectator: Never! No never! Not that hillbilly railsplitter!
Douglas: Why didn’t I tell you…that this doctrine of Lincoln’s declaring that men are made equal by the Declaration of Independence and by Divine providence is a monstrous heresy!
Lincoln: My countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines conflicting with those great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence, if you have listened to suggestions which would take away its grandeur, if you are inclined to believe that all men are not created equal in those inalienable rights enumerated by our chart of liberty, let me entreat you to come back. Think nothing of me. Take no thought of the political fate of any man whatsoever. But come back to the truths that are in the Declaration of Independence. You may do anything with me you choose, if you will but heed these sacred principles. You may not only defeat me for the Senate, but you may take me out and put me to death. Do not destroy that immortal emblem of humanity. If that Declaration is not the truth, let us get the statute book in which we find it and tear it out.
Lincoln: Who is so bold to do it?
Spectator #3: No one!
Spectator #4: I won’t!
Spectator #5: Not I!
Lincoln: If it is not true, let us tear it out!
Spectator #3: No! No! Never!
Lincoln: Then let us stick to it then! And let us stand firmly by it.
Yes, President Lincoln, if the Declaration of Independence is true then the BCS cannot exist, because the BCS does not treat all Americans equally. It is that simple, and that is why we have no doubt the…
Hey, we like Matt Hayes here at Coaches Hot Seat. He is a very good reporter/columnist. He is a very good writer. He works very hard. Those things are not in dispute. What is in dispute is if he has any understanding of what the United States of America stands for, namely that Matt Hayes, all of us here at Coaches Hot Seat, all of the student-athletes that play Division I football and every other American for that matter are….
CREATED EQUAL.
It cannot get any simpler than that! Several of us here at Coaches Hot Seat have served and fought for Matt Hayes’ right to say anything he likes about the BCS or any other subject, but when an American writes that Americans only asking for the right to compete for the Division I football National Championship on an EQUAL football with every other player in that Division, then that is crossing the line in our books and deserves a very strong rebuke.
Yes, we have many folks now in positions of power in the game of college, including many incredibly hypocritical college presidents and chancellors, that defend the Bogus and Un-American BCS, but just because a Buffoon in power defends something doesn’t make him or her right. We have the principles of our Declaration and Founding Documents on our side here at Coaches Hot Seat and since it has been proved over and over again throughout history that the people that stand up against evil, and make no mistake about it the BCS is very evil because of how it treats the same class of Americans unequally, always win out in the end we have no doubt the conclusion of this debate.
We are Americans and as Americans we believe that every American is EQUAL. Evidently, Matt Hayes of the Sporting News does not believe that fundamental principle and for that he should be mighty ashamed because down the road of treating one group one way and another a different way is every despot and dictator in the history of the planet. No, we will not recite some of the evil dictators that have proclaimed and pointed at one group for “Unequal” treatment, but anyone with a working brain can imagine even in US history where evil has flourished.
No, we stand with Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln here at Coaches Hot Seat. The question is: Who the Hell does Matt Hayes stand with?
Another of our Favorite US Presidents here at Coaches Hot Seat, Abraham Lincoln:
Senator Orrin Hatch still fighting against Bogus BCS
We were also very happy to see yesterday that even though Utah is now in a “BCS” conference (doesn’t that “BCS conference” term make you want to throw up?) that he will continue the campaign against the BCS.
A couple of us here at Coaches Hot Seat were lucky enough to work around Senator Hatch on Capitol Hill years ago and although our politics are slightly to the left of Hatch’s (we are generally center-right at CHS), it would be hard to find a finer man in politics in our country today.
Always a gentleman, always very well informed on the issues, a tremendously hard worker for the people of Utah, a man that will take the time to talk to the man and woman in the street, a very funny man, a very good singer and song writer, a good man in every sense of the word, that is Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah.
It really is too bad that all Americans do not have the opportunity to see our “Elected Leaders” behind closed doors and out of the public eye, because it would be very eye-opening to the American People to see what these people are really like in private and in unguarded moments. Many of them are selfish Bastards that put their love for “Politics” and the “game of political intrigue” above the Republic and even their own constituents, but there is a decent number of our “Elected Leaders” that are not only very good people but are also very good public servants.
We have always felt that “public servants” was a very odd term for people in politics, because most of these Bastards in Washington DC and in the state capitals don’t really give two rips about anything beyond getting reelected so they can stay in “the game.” All Americans would be heartened to know that they are some heroes among the selfish Bastards, Buffoons and Idiots, but they are few and far between. Senator Orrin Hatch is one of those heroes in our opinion.
Long before the BCS became a serious issue to us here at Coaches Hot Seat we got to see Senator Hatch up close and personal in some of the most heated debates of the time, the Bork, Thomas and other US Senate Judiciary Committee Supreme Court hearings and if there was one man that was trying to cut through the crapola during that time to get down to the real issues at hand it was Orrin Hatch.
Hell, we could go on about Senator Hatch, but we are guessing you are getting our point on the man. Orrin Hatch is just another example of what the Pac-10 got along with the University of Utah yesterday, and that is the People of the state of Utah which in our mind for the vast majority of the folks in state are the very best of what makes our Republic so great.
Thanks Senator Hatch for standing up to these BCS Bastards and for your great career in “Public Service” to the people of Utah and your country.
First Round of US Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links
The First Round of the US Open was mighty entertaining to take-in and to watch on TV later in the day via the greatest invention ever, TIVO/DVRs!
What a lot of TV views and golfers playing in the US Open learned yesterday is that what makes Pebble Beach such a tough golf course are the very small greens which can become tremendously difficult to putt in the afternoons.
The greens at Pebble Beach are made up of Poa annua grass which is a very fast growing grass that with a lot of play can become very bumpy which Tiger Woods and other golfers found out in spades on Thursday. In Tiger Woods post 1 st round press conference said yesterday about the greens at Pebble Beach:
“It’s awful, just awful,” he bellyached. “It is what it is. It’s poa and they’re fast. You know they’re going to be bouncing all over the place and you can’t leave yourself a second putt.
“There’s no one making a lot of putts out there. You just can’t. The afternoon guys can’t. The morning guys have a chance.””
Well, we agree with Tiger Woods on the above but Tiger has been playing golf in Northern California for 15 plus years and he knows that poa annua grass can become very bumpy in the afternoon and that means the smart golfer should adjust his game to take in that reality.
When you are playing in a high-level competition like the US Open on poa annua greens, especially fast greens that will make for very difficult putts and make even very short putts a huge challenge then you must adjust your approach accordingly. What the smart golfer does to counter how tough fast poa annua greens can be in the afternoon is by making sure that he keeps the ball below the hole at all times and that one work very hard to lag the ball very close to the uphill side of the hole. To make putts under 10 feet on poa annua greens one must be able to hit the putts very firm and if a golfer gets into the wrong position off the tee which forces him into playing away from the pins then the golfer should expect to take a lot of putts.
As a very well known golfer told one of us here at Coaches Hot Seat a few years ago in the 19 th hole over beers after one of us was complaining about taking so many putts and what we could do to end up with less putts…
“What about hitting the ball closer to the hole?”
Well said!
Another thing about the US Open or any other competitive event at Pebble Beach is that the golfer must always work and grind very hard over every putt and not let one’s concentration lapse once on gets onto the green. On many of the holes at Pebble Beach when the wind is blowing there is so much effort just getting the ball onto the greens in regulation that many golfers will let up a little over the putts and that is when Pebble Beach will reach up and bite one in the ass. With that in mind and since it is impossible to concentrate for the entire 5 hours it takes to play an US Open round these days, a golfer must especially manage his thoughts in between shots by letting his mind go a bit so that the pressure and thus tension does not build up throughout the round. Focus on the shot at hand and once you hit it relax until you get closer to the ball and then focus like Hell again, but really Damn focus when you get on the green because the greens at Pebble Beach and how one putts on them will decide the 2010 US Open champion.
Let’s have a great Second Round at the United States Open!
American sports is in for a very few good days as a confluence of three major events comes together to provide sports fans all they could want and more. No, we are not talking about the World Cup soccer event which we cannot make heads or tails of and often fall asleep within minutes of starting to watch it!. Please, wake up when the US is playing or if the US gets knocked out when the whole damn thing is over!
No, we are talking about Game 7 of the NBA Finals tonight in Los Angeles. The United States Open Golf Championship getting underway this morning at Pebble Beach on the Monterey Peninsula and last but not least the NCAA’s College World Series which begins this Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska.
As the Great Dick Enberg would say: “Oh, My!
Championships will decided over the next few days and weeks and as Americans once we get beyond celebrating and spending time with our friends and families, there is nothing we enjoy more than watching Americans competing for and winning championships.
The Wilderness Warrior as reviewed by the New Yorker:
“Theodore Roosevelt spent the day of July 1, 1908, the tenth anniversary of the Battle of San Juan Hill, creating forty-five national forests. In this biographical study of T.R.’s campaign to save hundreds of millions of acres of wilderness, Brinkley writes that “the forestry movement would be forced down his opponents’ throats.” Roosevelt’s intense love for nature was, Brinkley makes clear, a conqueror’s love—triumphal Darwinism—and included a “blood lust” in hunting the wildlife he championed. The baby bear that, in popular myth, T.R. refused to shoot was actually an adult bear that he directed to be dispatched with a knife. Brinkley fully inhabits Roosevelt’s mind, a condition that has its disadvantages—the book, with blow-by-blow accounts of college hiking trips and squabbles between naturalists, does not entirely earn its nine hundred pages, making it harder to see the forests (and the story of how T.R. rescued them) for the trees.”
Utah to the Pac-10 and the Little 10
With the Little 10 retreating back to the Midwest and evidently not ready for primetime the Pac-10 is moving forward with an invitation and we are guessing acceptance by the University of Utah to join the conference.
We here at Coaches Hot Seat are very biased in favoring the University of Utah because we have longtime friends that live in the Salt Lake City area and are Utah grads and many of us here have been traveling to SLC and Park City for years for both business and pleasure. We often get to Park City at least a couple of times a year during the winter and summer and Park City/SLC is in our opinion one of the best destination spots for getting out and enjoying the great outdoors. Salt Lake City where our friends live is filled with some of the best people one could ever hope to know and whether we are playing golf, hiking in the mountains surround the City or attending Utah football games none of us can recall a time when we did not enjoy ourselves immensely in that area of the world. Yes, its not easy to find a watering hole in Utah (though not in Park City) at times, but we work around that pretty easily and when we are at our friends’ local country club the cold beer is flowing as much as the laughs are!
Getting back to our point here, the University of Utah is a very good institution of higher learning and has some tremendous professional schools and their campus is one of the best ones in the country. One thing we have noticed over the years when visiting the Univ. of Utah is how engaged the students are and how much they care about their school and the Ute athletic teams which should hold them in very good stead with their new Pac-10 counterparts. Just like Nebraska is a very good addition to the Big Ten, Utah is a very solid school to be added to the now 11 teams in the Pac-10 and we expect Utah to only become that much better of an university as it become fully integrated into the conference.
As has been reported in the media over the last couple of days it looks like the Pac-10 will split into two different divisions and schedule a conference championship game which from our point of view is going to be a tremendous benefit for the conference and its schools/athletic teams. The Little 10 administrators and coaches can talk all they want about how great it is going to be now that they will play all 9 teams in the conference and that they will be better off without the Big 12 championship game, but when it comes to early December and the Pac-12 is playing a nationally televised and hugely hyped championship game and the Little 10 could very well be playing games that mean nothing at all then we will see if the Little 10 boys are crowing! Yes, doing away with the Big 12 championship game by the Little 10 makes perfect sense…If you like tossing millions of dollars in revenue and millions of dollars in free media to boot into the ocean!
Memo to the Little 10: We will take our 12 teams and play that conference championship game and you boys can wallow around and watch the game at the LA Coliseum in front of your TVs from Texas! Just make sure that everyone in the Little 10 calls down to Austin if you want to change the channel on your TV sets, because everyone now knows that no one in the Little 10 makes a move without consulting Austin first! (Does the fact that major state universities in the United States are down on their hands and knees kissing the ass of the University of Texas bother us? No, it doesn’t really bother us, but it is pretty damn embarrassing, or it should be, to the butt kissers!)
Texas A&M AD Bill Byrne
Texas A&M AD Bill Byrne has been in the media in the last day about a voicemail he left for a former student that had sent him a crass email about the Aggies cow-towing to the Longhorns and not making the move to the SEC and we thought what the Hell that might be interesting to common on!
We will say upfront that even though we have been hard on Bill over the past couple of years, we have a lot of respect for the man mainly because we got to see first-hand the great work he did as the University of Oregon AD between 1983 – 1992. Bill did a tremendous job raising a ton of money and turning Oregon athletics into a national player and in our few run-ins with him he was always very upfront and personable which are traits not always found in athletic directors. We like upfront and confrontational because that is how most Americans used to be in that they would speak their minds on a subject and not be worried about all this politically-correct Crapola! At least Bill Byrne will tell you where he stands, because some of these folks are like zombies and are scared to death that they might say something “inappropriate!” We can tell you what we think about saying something inappropriate in one word: BULLSHIT! Do you think that is inappropriate? Good, we meant it to be! See Bill, we can do it too!
Bill Byrne left Oregon for the Nebraska AD jobs and was there between 1992 – 2002 and by all accounts he did a very solid job in Lincoln as well. Byrne arrived at Texas A&M in 2002 just a few hours after the A&M leadership had hired Dennis Franchione from Alabama and of course Franchione and Byrne had a falling out over Coach Fran’s email issue and for not winning enough football games and then Bill made his latest big move which was to hire Mike Sherman as the A&M head football coach.
Up until Byrne hired Mike Sherman we really didn’t have any issues with the man, but what we could not understand was how in the world he and the folks at A&M arrived at the decision that Mike Sherman was the right head coach for the Aggies. Sherman was the offensive coordinator with the Houston Texans when he was hired by A&M and had been out of the college game for over a decade. In our opinion there were at least three dozen head and assistant coaches that would have been a much better fit in College Station than Mike Sherman, starting with current Baylor HC Art Briles and a dozen more coaches easily that would have brought more of a college-focused approach to A&M that Sherman does not and could not have based upon his experience.
On top of Byrne and A&M hiring Mike Sherman they also gave him and outrageously generous contract that is over 7 years with all of the compensation in the contract guaranteed to Sherman and without a buyout clause. Now for a coach that has been out of the college game for over a decade and had never been a college head coach that Byrne and A&M gave Sherman such a lucrative contract strikes us as complete and utter foolishness especially when the A&M athletic department has been in such dire straights financially in recent years. By the way, A&M regent Gene Stallings made that exact point about the length and guaranteed aspect of Mike Sherman’s contract when it came up for approval before the regents and if Gene Stallings is not listened to on such an important issue then one can only wonder what the Hell the folks on the A&M are not listening to on other subjects.
Since we do not have any A&M grads here at Coaches Hot Seat we again don’t really have a “dog in this hunt” but if we were critiquing Bill Byrne we would say that he has fallen down and almost failed on two very significant issues:
1. Mike Sherman’s contract does not have a buyout clause but in fact guarantees him every cent of the compensation in the contract even if he is fired by the school. That kind of contract in today’s world is just stupid and it is especially stupid considering that Mike Sherman had never been a college head coach before he was hired by A&M. Mack Brown, Bob Stoops, Nick Saban, yes we MIGHT guarantee all of their contracts without a buyout clause, but Mike Sherman? Please, or as Forrest Gump said: Stupid is as Stupid Does!
2. The second big thing that Bill Byrne has struggled with during his time in College Station which is not fully Byrne’s fault is that the Aggie athletic department has struggled financially during his tenure. (Here is a story on A&M athletic department finances from 2009, Loftin Releases Budget Numbers For A&M Athletic Department in 2010) There have been a lot of reasons for the financial struggles of the Aggie athletic department, the economy, some weak home out-of-conference football games, the coaches they have had to fire and pay off, etc., but since we have some friends down in the Houston area our problem with Byrne is that he has not been able to tap into the vast amount of wealth and money in Texas and raise millions more dollars to address the athletic department’s financial issues. Yes, raising money is very hard, but in a state that is doing as well as Texas and with millionaires on every corner and several billionaires running around the place it was/is vitally important that Byrne really start twisting the arms of the wealthy A&M alumni and boosters and raise the millions of dollars that would have avoided the athletic department having to take out a loan from the school.
There you have our issues with Bill Byrne: Mike Sherman’s ridiculous contract and the lack of the kind of serious fundraising that A&M really needed over the past few years that could have staved off the budget cuts they had to make in 2009.
Of course, we will add to above mistakes the decision to stay in the Little 10 and let the Longhorns completely become the Aggies’ Daddy!
We have no doubt that in the coming decade that the leadership at Texas A&M will rue the day they did not jump at the opportunity to join the SEC conference and stand up to their tormentors over in Austin. Beating Texas on the athletic fields is one thing, but giving them the finger and heading off to what we consider to be the greener fields of the SEC would have been a masterstroke by Byrne and Company at A&M and on top of that….Man it would have felt good to stick to those Texas Bastards!
Here is what A&M could have said to Texas as they headed off to the SEC:
Oh, that would have FELT SO VERY GOOD TO THE AGGIES! Hey that was so good how about a Song or Two from the Man in Black?
Instead, Byrne and Company called up their Daddy in Austin and asked if there was anything they could do for them: get some coffee, a donut, do you need to have your car washed, shoes polished?
We just hope that when the folks down there in the A&M athletic department have to go to the bathroom that they call up to Austin to see if it is OK with their Daddy, because we don’t want to step on the toes of anyone in “the capital,” would we now?
Seriously, Bill Byrne is a good guy, a fiery guy, a good administrator, a decent guy, who just so happens to have made a few mistakes since he has been at Texas A&M and we believe he made a HUGE MISTAKE in not fighting like crazy to get the A&M leadership to take that offer from the SEC and change the school, the Aggies athletic teams and athletic department for years to come.
Bill Byrne could have left A&M as a visionary leader that didn’t kiss the ass of the Longhorns and someone that moved A&M into a position to become a national school that would have competed against the very best collegiate athletic programs in the country, but instead of taking the path that had not been trodden upon he took the well worn one…..with BEVO and Daddy Longhorn leading the way!
Texas A&M in the SEC Conference…..Oh, that has A GREAT RING TO IT!
Note: Hell, this A&M to the SEC deal can still be put together! It’s not too late! Texas A&M to the SEC. SEC adds FSU or Georgia Tech to have 7 teams in each division. Big Ten invites Missouri to join their conference. Larry Scott in the Pac-10 then invites again: Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to make 16 teams after Colorado and Utah have joined….. Oh, that would be VERY GOOD!
Where did Little 10 commish Dan Beebe go to college?
(Our conclusion: One must drive your golf ball into the fairway and if you are very good driver then drive ball into particular sections of each hole’s fairway to find the best spot to attack the green and the pin. Not that anyone here at CHS is aiming at one part of the fairway, because anywhere in the fairway at Pebble Beach with its current rough setup thrills the Hell out of us! In many ways Pebble Beach is a lot like the Augusta National in that one must put the ball in the right spot off the tee to attack the greens and it will be interesting to see if these contestants in the US Open will find spots to attack what are some of the smallest greens in the world in championship golf at Pebble Beach).
…we were talking about Little 10 commish Dan Beebe’s negative comments about the Pac-10 and its fans….
and someone asked where Beebe went to college. Surely someone that is going to talk about the Pac-10’s fans went to one of the Pac-10 schools we thought….
“Check Beebe’s bio on the Little 10 website,” someone said.
A few minutes pass….
“You are not going to believe this,” as the CHS member that went to the computer says as he is holding out Beebe’s printed out bio.
“What we all said in unison,” as laughter roared through the house!
“Walla Walla Community College and Cal Poly?”
“Oh, those are powerhouse athletic programs!”
Memo to Little 10 commish Dan Beebe: Walla Walla CC and Cal Poly as your college experience give you no right to talk about anyone in the Pac-10, except of course if you want to talk about something that you know nothing about!
Walla Walla CC and Cal Poly! That is perfect for the Commish of the Little 10 Conference!
Oh, that is so very funny! Thanks Dan for the good laugh!
United States Open Golf Championship at Pebble Beach
Of course, the United States Open gets underway this morning at Pebble Beach and The Golf Channel and ESPN have been all over this championship.
TV Schedule
June 17
ESPN
1-3 p.m., 5-10 p.m.
NBC
3-5 p.m.
ESPN
1-3 p.m., 5-10 p.m.
NBC
3-5 p.m.
June 19
NBC
4:30-11 p.m.
June 20
NBC
3-9 p.m.
June 21
ESPN
Noon-2 p.m.
NBC
2 p.m. to conclusion
If you have DirecTV at home or work you can tune into Channels 701 – 705 for some great expanded coverage!
With ESPN leading off the coverage today at 10:00 AM Pacific Time here is an ESPN preview:
Now, let’s settle a National Championship of the United States in one of the most beautiful spots on the planet!
A college football game is a college football game whether it is played in Palo Alto, California or Austin, Texas and since we really don’t have a “dog in the hunt” on conference expansion the past couple of weeks have been great entertainment, but little more from our perspective. We here at Coaches Hot Seat are going to attend Texas, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Colorado, Boise State, Utah, etc’s football games no matter which conference they are playing in, but for the participating schools this all is very “serious business” as Kansas AD Lew Perkins said at the Big 12 meetings a couple of weeks back.
Yes, the almighty dollar along with good ‘ole fashioned power and influence has driven conference expansion in recent weeks, but when you get right down to the very core of the issue as it pertains to being a member of a “BCS’ or “Non-AQ” conference this entire damn thing has really been about the absolute absurdity of the Bowl Championship Series. Hell, the entire bowl system actually, but at the core of college football is a very simple problem that every other sport in intercollegiate athletics does not have to deal with:
1. College Football’s Bogus Championship System treats some Americans as inferior to others
2. Americans do not settle National Championships in Bogus title games and in meaningless exhibition games.
Talk about tradition all you want, but anyone with a working brain knows the BCS is complete and total BULLSHIT and is in fact an incredibly evil and vile system when it dares to exist in the United States of America.
Hell, we fought a Civil War to stop the spread of slavery into the new U.S. western states and it took that War to eliminate the vile and evil slavery and it may very well take throwing some of the SOBs behind the BCS into jail. It shouldn’t have to come to that, but if some people in our country are going to insist on treating one group of our citizens in an evil and discriminatory way that in our opinion breaks several U.S. laws, then it may very well take a felony indictment or two to solve the outrageous BCS.
Don’t think it will come to that? Please, think again, because one can easily assume that there are thousands of very damning emails all across the United States by the principles behind the BCS that talk about and/or even brag about the Bogus BCS and we are confident of that because we here at Coaches Hot Seat have news stories going back to the mid 1990s that have those very same people saying outrageous things that most Americans would recoil at hearing.
Let your mind wander for a moment and imagine that college football had a group of Americans running it and the game actually settled its national championship on the field of play as college basketball now does. Would schools be so desperate to be a member of this or that conference, or would they actually act like Americans and be judged not on what someone did 50 years ago, but what they actually did right now? We all know the answer to that question, but then we also all know that the BCS conferences are filled with cowards that don’t have the guts nor the courage to settle the national championship in college football on the field of play, because it scares the Hell Out of Them that they will get rolled up as Oklahoma and Alabama have in recent years against “non-BCS” teams. That is what is at the center of this mess, these Cowards running these conference love money and power more than settling championships in an American Way.
Yes, Real Courage and Real Guts is sorely lacking in many BCS college athletic departments, because they are very comfortable in their little fantasy world now where they can be mediocre almost and haul in lots of money with their football programs, which brings us to the question of the night for Coaches Hot Seat at dinner last evening:
Where did all these Candy Asses in positions of power in America come from?
Good question! By the way, if you believe in and support the Bogus BCS and don’t think that championships should be earned and won on the field of play…you are a Candy Ass and you are most certainly not an American.
You see, those of us here at Coaches Hot Seat take a very dim view of people that don’t hold the principles of our American Republic in a very high regard. Maybe that is because we actually gave up a part of our lives to defend our country and we have not been squirreled away on a college campus for our entire lives with mish-mash being drilled into our heads while the Real World was going by just beyond the green grass and stately buildings. Funny thing happens when you lay your life on the line for your country…..the principles of our Republic come to actually mean something far beyond just a week’s worth of homework in 9 th grade. We actually take Mr. Jefferson’s words very seriously “that that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Clearly the folks behind the BCS do not.
Yes we take Mr. Jefferson’s words very seriously, but then we also understand that there are plenty of Americans that cannot nor will ever understand the price that has been paid to give everyone the freedom that so many take for granted. There is American Idol or Dancing With the Stars to be watched or other such nonsense, and God forbid if someone broaches the subject that Americans should settle one our national championships on the field of play. No, we can’t have that…when there is money to be made and power to be held by a very small group of evil people.
The conference expansion in recent weeks and the collective “sigh” by so many in college sports and in the media that the their comfortable little world was not going to change too much really exposed just how many Candy Asses we have in America today. Many Americans have become way too comfortable with the ease of life and the routines that they depend upon to get through the day, which to the Revolutionaries that founded our Republic would causes great revulsion.
Thank Goodness there were some Americans that were not so comfortable with the lives that was offered to them under the crown of England and that over the history of our country there were always Americans that were willing to stand up and defend our country and its core principles: “that that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
“Most Americans are scared to death and in some ways even terrified of change,” was a comment thrown out at dinner last night of which all of us here at Coaches Hot Seat agree with. Unfortunately or rather fortunately from our and John F. Kennedy’s point of view:
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”
Former President and General Eisenhower said it even better:
“Neither a wise nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.”
How the conferences and the schools around the country configure themselves is really of not of a great concern to us here at Coaches Hot Seat. What does concern us greatly is that there are now Candy Asses all over America that are willing to sacrifice the principles of our country and even what they claim are their own principles to secure their own safety and security.
Benjamin Franklin had it right when he said that:
“He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither.”
Sadly, here are way too many people in leadership positions across America that are far to quickly willing to give up freedom and their principles in order to secure a personal or institutional safety that is actually just an illusion. That there are 5 schools in the Big 12 conference that were willing to sacrifice money and their personal dignity to a group of schools that was working behind their backs to leave them behind goes to the heart of what we are talking about here. If you want to be sick readJ. Brady McCollough’s Four frenzied days saved the Big 12 from demise, Kansas City Star, where he writes:
“As Scott’s plane touched down early Saturday afternoon, athletic directors, presidents and chancellors from the Forgotten Five had spoken on a teleconference. Those schools, as a bid to keep Texas and the others in the Big 12, would eventually agree to forfeit their share of the buyout paid by Colorado and Nebraska for leaving — a total a source said could reach $35 million to $40 million.”
That is just a stunning account and admission that the schools that were being left out of the new Pac-16 were so willing to bow down and kiss the asses of the teams that were headed out of the Big 12. Just outrageous and also very Un-American.
Yes, there are way too many Candy Asses in collegiate athletics and in our country that know little of what goes on in the lives of their fellow Americans, but especially do not understand the heavy price that was paid just so they would NOT ACT LIKE CANDY ASSES, but rather would act like Americans.
What does a Real American sound like when he talks about the way life should be lived?
“This world demands the qualities of youth; not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease.
“There is,” said an Italian philosopher, “nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the — in the introduction of a new order of things.”2 Yet this is the measure of the task of your generation, and the road is strewn with many dangers.
First, is the danger of futility: the belief there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills — against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and violence. Yet many of the world’s great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant Reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and 32 year-old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that “all men are created equal.”
“Give me a place to stand,” said Archimedes, “and I will move the world.” These men moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history, but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events, and then the total — all of these acts — will be written in the history of this generation.
“If Athens shall appear great to you,” said Pericles, “consider then that her glories were purchased by valiant men, and by men who learned their duty.” That is the source of all greatness in all societies, and it is the key to progress in our time.
The second danger is that of expediency: of those who say that hopes and beliefs must bend before immediate necessities. Of course, if we must act effectively we must deal with the world as it is. We must get things done. But if there was one thing that President Kennedy stood for that touched the most profound feeling of young people around the world, it was the belief that idealism, high aspirations, and deep convictions are not incompatible with the most practical and efficient of programs — that there is no basic inconsistency between ideals and realistic possibilities, no separation between the deepest desires of heart and of mind and the rational application of human effort to human problems. It is not realistic or hardheaded to solve problems and take action unguided by ultimate moral aims and values, although we all know some who claim that it is so. In my judgment, it is thoughtless folly. For it ignores the realities of human faith and of passion and of belief — forces ultimately more powerful than all of the calculations of our economists or of our generals. Of course to adhere to standards, to idealism, to vision in the face of immediate dangers takes great courage and takes self-confidence. But we also know that only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly.
And a third danger is timidity. Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change the world — which yields most painfully to change. Aristotle tells us: “At the Olympic games it is not the finest or the strongest men who are crowned, but those who enter the lists.” “So, too, in the life of the honorable and the good it is they who act rightly who win the prize.” I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the world.
For the fortunate amongst us, the fourth danger, my friends, is comfort, the temptation to follow the easy and familiar paths of personal ambition and financial success so grandly spread before those who have the privilege of an education. But that is not the road history has marked out for us. There is a Chinese curse which says, “May he live in interesting times.” Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind. And everyone here will ultimately be judged, will ultimately judge himself, on the effort he has contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which his ideals and goals have shaped that effort.
President Kennedy was speaking to the young people of America, but beyond them to young people everywhere, when he said: “the energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it; and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.” And, he added, “With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”
That is how a Real American talks. No, safety, money and protecting incredibly evil things like the BCS should not be the primary consideration of Americans. Our Republic was founded upon ideas that were beyond Revolutionary for their time and even today still inspire people around the world to either come to America or to transform their own countries into a place where: “All men are created Equal.’
Why indeed, are there so many Candy Asses in America? Actually, the answer to that question is a very simple one. There are way too many Americans (less than 10 percent of Americans are now serving or have served in the US military) in 2010 that do not understand the price that has been paid and is being paid today to secure their individual liberty and freedoms. Anyone that understood what it means to be an American would not “sigh” with relief (like some schoolgirl) over a few schools changing conferences and they most certainly could not defend something as vile and evil as the BCS. Yes, the BCS is evil, incredibly evil in fact, because it strikes at the core principle that if you work your ass off and pay the price and do what you are supposed to do you too will get a shot at doing something great in our country. That is true for every sport in America, from Little League Baseball, Girls Softball, track & field, hockey, college basketball and any other sports you can name…..except for college football.
The very simple reason that college football does not decide its national champion on the field of play as does every other sport in America, is that there are incredibly evil and greedy people running that BCS that are living an incredible lie and violating the principles of our country everyday of their lives. They put money and power above the game of college football, the student-athletes, the fans and everyone else for that matter, but they continue on with their outrageous behavior with little regard for all the things that have been done on their behalf in the history of our country.
Dan Beebe strikes at Pac-10 Fans
Speaking of outrageous. How about this comment from Big 12 commish Dan Beebe who only a few years ago shot down something as simple as a Plus-One system for college football:
Really? That wouldn’t be the COWARD that is afraid to decide the National Championship on the field of play Dan Beebe would it? Why, yes it is and while we are on the subject let’s just face facts. The Boys down there in Austin at the University of Texas don’t have the guts either to win the National Championship on the field of play. In fact, Mack Brown is now talking about how great it is that the Big 12 will not have a Championship Game! Now Mack, do you believe that Paul Bryant was afraid of a little competition? What are the Boys in Austin so scared of? TCU just spanked their butts in the College Baseball playoffs and the Horned Frogs are now in Omaha for the College World Series… Maybe the Longhorns don’t believe they can compete if they had to win a title on the field of play. There is NO OTHER POSSIBLE CONCLUSION to that reality because A REAL MAN wouldn’t be hiding behind the BOGUS BCS. Maybe those Texans like parades and crowning beauty queens after all! Someone buy Deloss Dodds and Mack Brown a dozen roses each so they can put them on their desks and dream of doing everything but earning a national championship on the field of play!
That’s right, BEVO and the Boys down in Texas are Cowards, because a Coward wouldn’t be afraid to settle the national title in college football in the same way it is done with every other sport on the UT campus.
Cowards and Hypocrites…. Yes, that is a very bad combination. If you folks want to drop that label, how about standing up for the principles of the United States of America…the very one’s that the folks over at the Alamo fought and died for….Oh, that’s right there isn’t anyone near the University of Texas Administration that has spent two seconds in the military or evidently can even recite the Principles of our Republic, because if they could they would quit counting money and start standing up for their country. No, the principles of our country don’t include bogus title games, meaningless exhibition games and visiting theme parks when there are championships to be played for and won.
“Sigh” the elites say as they claim college football dodged some kind of threat. Hardly, because the real threat lurks within college athletics and in the media that enables something as evil as the BCS. Yes, that is what should really concern Americans that there some citizens among us that believe that a championship should not have to be earned on the field of play, because those are the Bastards that would sacrifice everything that Americans have lived and died for in the life of our country…and for what…the pitiful and absurd BCS.
Don’t think these people are evil? Wake-Up and Think again.
The 2010 US Open, Pebble Beach Golf Course
W e are only one day away from the 2010 US Open and our National Championship for golf getting underway (Yes, for all the Candy Asses out there, this Championship will be earned and won on the field of play!) and Pebble Beach is looking like a mighty challenge indeed. Somewhat cool weather coupled with some possible wind over the next few days could equal ONE HELLUVA CHAMPIONSHIP!
Yes, the Pebble Beach Lodge…..
Could very well become the….Hotel California!
Of course, who would really want to check out of the Pebble Beach Lodge as long as the beer was flowing in the Tap Room? No one, is the answer to that question!
Oh, this could by mighty entertaining on a great stage in Pebble Beach for OUR National Championship in golf.
Nick Venet recalls visiting Darin one time in Big Sur and walking behind him up the beach as he sung and tried out the lyrics of a new song: Beyond the Sea. Now that must have been something to hear Bobby Darin sing Beyond the Sea on the beach in Big Sur.
Bobby Darin, Beyond The Sea
In 2004 Kevin Spacey made a movie about Bobby Darin with Spacey in the lead role with him singing all of Darin’s songs. Enjoy.
