Is College Football Unfixable?

I believe there are few people left who wouldn't agree with the following statement: something needs to change in college football.

Now, we can argue until we're blue in the face about the what-ifs and propose theories for a college football playoff system as the majority of college football fans have been doing since the BCS came into existence and even before, but we'd be saying the same things we said last year, and the year before, and the year before...

There are many things we can't change about college football, but let us speak of two things that can be changed that will quite easily make the game better.

This year, I'd like to propose something simple to begin with: a standard number of games played by every team in NCAA Division I football.

It continually gets overlooked, but is it really fair to the record books that in a four-year college football career, one player may play up to 8 games more than another player? I don't think so. The answer is simple. Each team plays 12 games of a regular season and any championship games or bowl games are not counted toward their career statistics, but counted as playoff statistics (like all professional sports are so good at doing), so that no player can ever record more than 48 games of college football. It wouldn't even be difficult to go backward and have this rule apply to previous seasons.

This season was truly an anomaly showcasing five undefeated teams, three of them from so-called power conferences. In previous seasons, fans have been forced to argue about which one-loss team should be in the national championship and occasionally if a two-loss power conference team should be ranked higher than an undefeated Hawaii, Utah, or Boise State. I prefer the previous arguments.

Is there a way to look at these five undefeated teams and give them any sort of fair shake in which bowl games they get to play in? No, not entirely. Even if you tried to make a playoff, you'd never be able to make it big enough to include all teams with a claim to being the best team and small enough to be completed in a reasonable amount of time.

The selection of those 4, 8, 16, or 32 teams for a playoff would be just as subjective and just as arguable as the current system. Any playoff system would have to change and be re-arranged with every season to be anywhere close to effective.

For instance this season, what would you do? I'd argue for a six-team playoff this season with the five undefeated teams along with Florida giving Alabama and Texas a bye, but even that isn't completely fair because deciding who gets the bye is subjective and who gets the sixth spot is subjective. I think it would be the best way for this particular season, but it is not even close to perfect. Only three of the six power conferences are represented.

So my second very simple proposal is as follows: if a team ends the season undefeated and wins its bowl game, whether it be the BCS Championship Game, another BCS bowl game, or even a non-BCS bowl game, they should be rewarded in money just as the BCS champion is awarded and that figure should be higher than a non-undefeated team winning a similar bowl game.

What that means is that even if the BCS decides that a hypothetical 12-1 Florida should play a hypothetical 12-1 Texas in the BCS Championship Game next season and there is a hypothetical 13-0 Boise State that wins its bowl game over a hypothetical 10-2 Ohio State, Boise State should receive more money for their win than whoever wins the actual championship game.

No, of course it isn't perfect, but it provides some sense of evenness between teams that go undefeated, which is an accomplishment I believe worth rewarding whether you are from the WAC, Mountain West, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, or any other conference.

Money is a simple way to level the playing field in the slightest bit since there is no apparent way to level the playing field when it comes to glory.

In the end, yes, college football is unfixable in that it will never be perfect. It will never please everyone. That is impossible. There are still measures that can be taken, however, that are simple and would improve the game.

Yet we should be thankful that the BCS has at the very least granted us five very enticing bowl games this year. It will be interesting to see if three teams will be able to lay claim to some portion of the imaginary title of "champion."

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casino gambling has thrived as a popular form of entertainment in america since its introduction by europe 200 years ago. casino it is the primary draw for visitors to american cities like las vegas and atlantic city. today, casinos can also be found in luxurious resort settings, on riverboats along and on some indian reservations across the country. casino gamblers are lured to these establishments with such incentives as inexpensive food, alcohol and accommodations. this section features articles on casino and gambling.
online casinos - a casino wouldn't be in business if they didn't make money. the reality is that the true odds of every casino game are in the casinos favor. online casinos - understand how to play the game. the most important and easiest way to maximize your winnings is to simply, know how to play the game. online casinos by this we mean, know the rules, when and how much to bet and what your odds will be on every bet. online casinos also make sure that you know how to find your way around the online casino. know what buttons to use and when to use them. online casinos you would be surprised at how many people lose large amounts of money because they don't know what they're doing. online casinos so before you put down your money, it is worth to watch a few hands/rounds being played. and if you have any questions, simply contact the casino customer support - they're happy to help.
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y is much easier to do than when you're sober. online casinos you must just wake up the next morning with more to worry about than a bad hangover.
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Trump Headlining a Golf Tour a Bad Idea

In Ron Sirak's Golf World piece highlighting his five critical points for the LPGA Tour to resolve, he brings up the possibility that the LPGA Tour could face stiff competition if the likes of Donald Trump or Rupert Murdoch made a big money investment in their own golf tour, put together a network TV deal, and created a string of no-cut worldwide events to lure in the best players from the LPGA Tour.

Well, there's actually a precedent — other than the USFL — to suggest that such a thing may not work out so well. It was called the U.S. Pro Golf Tour. And I know about it from personal experience.

Back in 2006, I was working with Greens Worldwide, a sports management and marketing company, on doing some work to promote their U.S. Pro Golf Tour on my 19th Hole Golf Show podcast. It was a modest schedule in 2006, including an event in the DC suburbs of northern Virginia. I stopped by the tournament there in Fredericksburg, talked to their leading money winner and two-time winner Lee Williams (he qualified for the U.S. Open that year at Winged Foot), and they even had a banner on their tournament tower for the 19th Hole Golf Show. It was pretty rad for me.

The company had signed a deal with FOX Sports Net to broadcast their tournament schedule in one-hour blocks, except for the Tour Championship, which would get two hours.

The folks behind the U.S. Pro Golf Tour were telling me that they had something big in the works in the summer of '06. They were going to put themselves on the map and become serious competition for the Nationwide Tour and European Tour.

They lined up Donald Trump.

Trump was going to present an event equally as unique as the ADT Championship format hosted at his Palm Beach course. The Trump Million Dollar Invitational was an event played at his digs in the Grenadines. The format would whittle down the field to 10 competitors through 54 holes of stroke play qualifying. The top 10 would carry over to the final day of competition.

Those players would then engage in a nine-hole playoff to determine the million dollar champion. After each hole, any ties would be settled with a skills competition, like a putting or chipping contest. The worst player would be eliminated until the final two players dueled it out on the last hole to win the money.

Australian Stuart Deane won the million dollars on the first playoff hole after the nine holes were completed. It was by far the biggest paycheck of his pro life — definitely eclipsing the money he earned for finishing 59th at the PGA Tour's New Orleans event earlier that year.

Starting in 2007, Trump was going to have his name plastered all over the USPGT's four major championships. All of them would be named after him and they would be contested at his courses in the United States with purses ranging from $1.5 million to a $5 million match play event. His total commitment would be $10.1 million. Even further, there would be a GoTrump.com Cup, presented to the player with the lowest scoring average.

"There is no doubt the talent level is among the highest in the world, and we’re pleased to be an integral part of four major championships on the USPGT schedule," said Mr. Trump.

No doubt — like everything Trump — that his name would be the centerpiece of this organization. But then suddenly, Trump took his name and his money out of the U.S. Pro Golf Tour.

In a hastily-worded release just two days into 2007, when his commitment was set to begin, Trump announced his withdrawal from the five-year agreement. He cited management changes at Greens Worldwide — the parent of the U.S. Pro Golf Tour — as the reason. According to language in his memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Pro Golf Tour, it was well within his rights.

"Although we firmly believe in what the U.S. Pro Golf Tour is doing for the game of golf by giving young professionals an international platform to showcase their talents, we've elected to exercise our option and step back until the new management presents a revised business plan," said Ashley Cooper, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for Trump Golf Properties.

The management change? Found Tom Kidd — now back with the company — left the organization and left its members high and dry after taking a $200,000 bonus.

That was basically the death knell for the U.S. Pro Golf Tour. The 2007 season was cancelled entirely and all 450 members that paid dues for the year were told that the Tour would honor those fees in 2008.

In late 2007, a management company named SportsQuest, Inc., signed on with Greens Worldwide — whose stock price was basically zero at that point — to be presenting sponsor for the entire U.S. Pro Golf Tour season for three years. Their deal ends next season. In order to attract more sponsors, the U.S. Pro Golf Tour promised the world to investors: prime time airtime, pro-am clinics, even tickets to other major events in golf.

The 2008 season was to have had five events with a total purse of $4,220,000. All events were to be played using the Trump Million Dollar Invitational format — splitting prize money between the stroke play and playoff formats. The season never got off of the ground, but USPGT player Bryan DeCorso even went on to win the Nationwide Tour's South Georgia Classic.

This season, Jefferson Starship joined the party to perform at the U.S. Pro Golf Tour's events. No joke. But, it never got going.

Even still, the U.S. Pro Golf Tour has operating agreements with SportsQuest and a broadcast production partner in EPIC Corporation. In the agreement announcement with EPIC in March 2008 — for the '09-'11 seasons that may never come — the Tour was still using Trump's name:

"The USPGT has previously conducted the TRUMP Million Dollar International televised on ESPN and ESPN Internationally."

It is tough to stop a crook and a bad business model. In fact, it was probably Trump's eye that kept him from being embarrassed even more so. Most people would never have heard about this investment decision gone awry for Donald Trump were it not for this piece.

The LPGA Tour clearly has a better business model — a 60-year one, in fact. Donald Trump's involvement with that Tour, now terminated, was a much more sophisticated relationship. Trump has since moved onto bigger things, like hosting the U.S. Junior Amateur and pressing for bigger championships at his Bedminster course.

But those were also-ran relationships with bigger entities. With the U.S. Pro Golf Tour, he was basically calling all of the shots. And it never got off of the ground. Perhaps if Trump were to try to challenge the LPGA Tour and build his own women's tour, he would be much more prudent and learn lessons from the U.S. Pro Golf Tour.

Defining the New With the Old

In today's game, former players complain about bad positioning and tackling on defense in football. My inclination is always to defend the "today's player" and see the view of the past player. In researching some of the former players, I noticed they played both offense and defense from little league to high school. They were starters and stars in college on both sides of the ball. My question to the old-timers is: did playing offense in college helped them become better defensive players in the pros? Today's players learn either offense or defense, but never both with some exceptions.

NFL legends like Dick Butkus, Jack Pardee, Ray Nitschke, Chuck Bednarik, and Lee Roy Jordan were linebackers who played offense, as well, from elementary school till college. Pardee and Nitschke played fullback in college, while Bednarik, Butkus, and Jordan played center. With the exception of Bednarik, these players became defensive specialists in the pros which gave them advantages concerning positioning, tendency situations, and movement. For instance, is the receiver, running back, or quarterback timid, injured, or could not move to a certain area? Likewise, each player broke down the offense and reacted to the situation accordingly. In essence, they knew when and how to make the tackle before the snap of the ball.

Due to this knowledge and ability, most linebackers in that period called their own plays with the exception of Lee Roy Jordan. When he played for the Dallas Cowboys, his defensive coach, Ernie Stautner, called the plays. Stautner studied opponents' offenses and tendencies from the week leading up to the game by film. Likewise, he set up a computer program on what teams did in situations on certain downs, whether they ran or passed the football. But in a playoff game against the 49ers, Lee Roy saw something in the backfield in what appeared to be a running play, but decided it was a pass play and setup the defense over Stautner's objections. The result was an interception to win the game.

The media of the time said, it was natural instincts and Lee Roy himself didn't know why he made that assumption. A close examination reveals that Lee Roy studied film like his coach. Yet, it was his experience as a center in college that helped him looked for tendencies and the confidence to make decisions. Considering that 11 other guys are at the line of scrimmage, Lee Roy noticed how a 49er running back kept his hand down during runs and on pass plays, lifted his fingers slightly before the snap of the ball. Hence, the decision to call pass and the ensuing interception.

The question becomes whether today's specialists would make that play or be in position to make that play? Should we expect them to do so when they are specialized to play one part of the line? I defend today's players, but understand the frustration of past players. The blame should go to those who put emphasis on player specialization instead of player development, which starts in elementary school through college. If it wasn't for development, yesterday's players might as well be today's players.