The Big 12's Big Mistakes

I know I'm biased, but I say it's the best game in college sports.

Every year the seldom-used Cotton Bowl on the Texas state fairgrounds comes alive. Divided at the 50 yard line. A sea of burnt orange on one side, a wash of crimson on the other. It's Texas/OU - and it's glorious.

On every play, 50,000 people go crazy. Then on the next snap, the other 50,000 get their turn.

It happens in the first half of October, when seasons still feel new, but where this afternoon will help determine where these teams are headed. It's stressful, it's blissful, it's unbearable... and the winner gets to hold onto that feeling (and those bragging rights) for 12 months. To the victor go the spoils. And for the loser... that sting is deep and it lasts all year.

Well... until now.

This Saturday the Longhorns and Sooners will play again, this time in the sterile vastness of the Cowboys "Death Star" in Arlington. For the first time since 1903, the game in October isn't the last word on a season's best rivalry game.

This is a shame. The winner in October shouldn't have to prove it again 8 weeks later. I've attended every Texas/OU game in the Cotton Bowl (except for one) since 1990. I'm not going to this sham on Saturday. That's how I feel about this re-tread.

And this isn't sour grapes from a Longhorn because we won in October. I'll go on record right now and say this: Oklahoma should be the conference champ. They were the best team in the conference for the entirety of the season. They're the only team that only has 1 conference loss. But the Big 12 can't leave well enough alone.

This all started when we moved to a 4-team playoff. Remember 2014? In the very first 4-team year, TCU lost an epic mid-season game to Baylor. The Bears finished the season #7. TCU was #3 headed into the final week. The Frogs destroyed Iowa State 55-3 and dropped out of the playoff. The Big 12, the kings of the overreaction, began to plot.

First it was, "we need to add two more teams." But lukewarm recruiting and the realization that they'd have to share some of their money kicked that can on down the road. Then in 2016 it happened again. Oklahoma was 11-2 and conference champs, but of the 5 major conferences, the Big 12 was the one left out. It was too late to add a conference title game for 2017... but they added one as fast as they could... and here we are.

Oklahoma only has 1 loss. They deserve to be the conference champs. But the new "extra" game they've added has the potential to ENSURE that no Big 12 team gets into the playoff. Not to mention that it's absurd. Pick any two teams you want from the Big 12 and announce the game. We've already seen it. The other conferences have championship games because they don't all play each other every year. That was the whole point behind the Big 12's "one true champion" campaign that you may have missed if you blinked while they were declaring TCU and Baylor co-champions in the first season of "one true champion." Yeah, that's a thing that really happened.

So now we get Texas/OU for the 2nd time this year. I told you why I hate it. Some people love it. Ok, cool - Hook 'em. But at least the game will be rich with the feisty traditions and prodding that goes with this salty rivalry.

Texas DE Breckyn Hager Forced to Apologize by Big 12 After Saying "OU Sucks"

Oh come on! Texas all-hair candidate Hager is asked about facing OU while leaving the Texas practice facility and says, "It's 11:12 and OU still sucks!" But the Big 12 Fun Police won't have it. This wasn't the game. We're talking about practice. Not the game. Not the game. We're talking about practice. The conference forced Hager to apologize publicly. Which he did. Insert dumbfounded emoji here.

I made a joke on social media when I saw this and said, "well, I guess they'll reprimand every Oklahoma player who does the 'horns down' sign from now on then. Ha-ha-ha!"

Ha-ha-what?

Horns only go up as Big 12 says Sooners can't throw them down

I wish I was making this up. They're going to penalize Oklahoma players if they do the "horns down" sign during the game? Are you kidding?

"After further review, #5 put the 1st and 3rd fingers down, not the first and 4th. There is no penalty on this play."

So to recap, the Big 12 took the best rivalry in the conference and cheapened it with an extra game... an extra game that has potential to do more harm than good to the conference's playoff chances. Then they sucked the fun out of the only part of it that is any good?

If you want to play with the big kids in the deep end of the conference championship pool, it's time to do the right thing and cozy up to BYU and Central Florida. It's going to cost you a few bucks, but right now you look ridiculous.

And as for Texas/OU part deux - the conference is lucky. Because it really is the best game in college sports. I'll be rooting for my guys... but I'll be dreaming of October.

The death of discourse

Outrage is the new national pastime.

We are simply never as happy as when we can be angry about some perceived injustice. It has completely overtaken honest debate in this country.

“You aren’t 100% on my side? Then you are a stupid liberal.”

“You aren’t as angry as I am about this? Well, then you are definitely either racist or sexist. Probably both.”

We don’t listen to each other. And we CERTAINLY don’t respect one another.

If you’re out marching, you’re too sensitive and you’re causing trouble. If you’re not marching, you’re part of the problem.

“Political correctness” has gone WAY beyond the pale. Just yesterday the internet was exploding about an Asian broadcaster being pulled off a University of Virginia football game because his name is Robert Lee. In the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, the decision was made two weeks ahead of the game to reassign Lee to a different game. It’s a wonderful example of all of our problems in one perfect, and completely unimportant package.

Let’s all agree here. It’s completely ridiculous for anyone to assign ill will to ESPN because this guy’s name happens to loosely match a Confederate general. Of course he shouldn’t have to change games. It’s also completely ridiculous that Lee would be in any danger. But you know what else is completely ridiculous?  Assuming that someone in this “victim for sport” culture won’t try to make hay out of it. Of COURSE someone will be upset. Of COURSE someone will take a photo with his name on the screen and turn it into a meme – finding a way to hurt people with something that should be nothing.

Even the way this story was discussed online tells you everything.

Some people lost their minds that “this guy can’t even do his job because of all the delicate flowers who might get their feelings hurt.” And the response?  “He’s being reassigned to a different game. It’s no big deal. Have a little perspective.”

But the problem is that none of us have perspective. Not anymore.

Why can’t we all use common sense? Why should ESPN have to say anything other than “Robert Lee is a professional broadcaster who has been assigned to this game. We condemn racism in all of its forms, and will proudly stamp our logo on his fine work in Charlottesville next month?” Why should ESPN have to say anything at all?

A friend of mine was talking about the horrible events in Virginia recently and how he had to explain it to his kids. You know what he said to them?  “There are some people in the world who think that white people are better than black people. Isn’t that crazy?”  His daughter’s response? “Really? That doesn’t even make sense.” I’m proud of that statement and the response. Don’t lend it any weight.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it could be that easy?  It should be.

But our society won’t let it be. We have to continue these conversations - lend credence to arguments that would have seemed silly 20 years ago - to the point where it’s actually plausible that Robert Lee doing his job might offend someone… to the point where it isn’t ridiculous at all for him to change games.

It comes down mostly to WHO is sharing the story, not the story itself. If you’re on the left and see one of your Republican “friends” sharing this ESPN story then you feel obligated to jump in and defend “your side" - take on outrage that you don’t actually even feel yourself.  Just in case someone, somewhere MIGHT be offended, and the other guy will never be this enlightened. If you’re on the right and a “friend” you know to be a Democrat posted this story, you must rush to call it silly, and an overreaction. Make their perspective into a punch line. Because of the SOURCE, not because of the actual story.

Get off social media and talk to actual live people. You’ll see that we’re not that different. The truth is, nearly all of us hate racism, and wish that we could take the word “nearly” out of that sentence. The truth is, most people don’t actually want to see every citizen on the street carrying an assault rifle. The truth is, most people don’t actually want the federal government to support anyone who simply doesn’t care to get a job. These aren’t black-and-white issues and yet we feel obligated to treat them as absolutes – you’re with us or you’re against us. But who is representing the REAL us?

Sadly, most people don’t want to have an actual, thoughtful, measured conversation about any of it. The outrage is more fun. The anger is more energizing. A snarky comment about how stupid the “other side” is… or a flippant response to the same – that’s the currency of the day. Who got in the best zinger today?

I’m certainly not immune to this. You just read 750 or so words about how outraged I am by all of this outrage.

But I just feel like we’re shouting into the wind. All the time.

And what are we teaching our kids? That there are 2 polarized sides to everything. And anyone with a differing opinion should not be invited to the conversation – in fact, he should be mocked.

I’m reminded of an old quote. “I have never learned anything from someone who agreed with me.”

When will we learn?

Hello, Dallas/Fort Worth - Let's Talk Sports!

I had a very strange evening this week.

A guy I worked with at FOX for several years had been very sick.  His family spread the word over the weekend that they'd love to have anyone come by and see him, but we should do it NOW.

Me and a couple of other former work buddies went over to see Max at the hospital around 8pm.  When we arrived we were told that they'd removed all the machines. 

Max died about 15 minutes after we got there. 

In that final moment, surrounded by his wife and his son and his brother and some of his dearest friends, his sister-in-law started singing "Amazing Grace" and we all joined in.  It was so sad, but also so sweet.  I definitely went there preparing to see him near the end, but I certainly didn't expect to be there when he took his last breath.  I'm not going to lie and say that this was an extremely close friend.  Max and I worked together for 8 years, and in the 6 years since I left FOX we'd seen each other maybe 3 or 4 times.  Mostly just a few facebook posts lately.  So you'd think that I would feel strange being there with his closest friends and family at the end, but somehow I'm glad I was there.

The truth is, I wasn't exactly sure if I should even go over there in the first place.  And afterward, I still wasn't 100% sure why I did.  I've decided that it's really two things:

1) Some jobs are like families. 

If you've never had one of those jobs, this may be hard to understand.  But in a newsroom you're under the gun ALL the time and these are the people you go to battle with.  That's probably a bad analogy, but it's intense time together and often long hours and there are wins and losses all the time.  Perhaps a sports team is a more apt comparison.  The point is, you go through a lot in a short period of time - and all of it together.  There's a special bond there.  Case in point - Max worked in Baltimore for a few years before coming to Dallas.  On the night he died, the station he worked for there did a very touching tribute to him on the air.  Again - he had only worked in Baltimore for a short time and it was TWENTY years ago.  These bonds endure.

2) Max was special. 

I first met him when I was working for a small TV station making once-a-week visits to the "big city."  He always greeted me with a smile.  He learned my name.  And when I took a job with him at FOX he became a friend and a cheerleader.  Any time I did something on-air Max would come in the next day and tell me how great it was (even when it wasn't) and he would always tell me that his wife Marla was my biggest fan.  Max was honest and fair, sweet and just so genuine.  Ask around - it's hard to find anyone who can remember seeing Max in a bad mood.

Look, we all know Max wasn't perfect.  Nobody is.  Anyone who knows Max knows that he had his struggles.  But I never once saw him take his problems out on anyone else or try to point fingers.  Max was kind.  Max was caring.  And when Max laughed, his entire body was in on the joke - those high shoulders shook and he almost looked like he had a bobblehead.

You never really know what mark you leave on someone and vice versa.  Watching the outpouring from friends, coworkers and viewers it's obvious that Max had a big impact on those who knew him.  These last few days have taught me that he clearly meant a lot to me, as well. 

And yesterday another former co-worker texted me with this:  "Was at Max's house today.  This photo had a prominent place in his office."

And now I know EXACTLY why I spent Monday night with Max.  And mostly I just wish I had spent more.  Farewell, old friend.

A Farewell to Bowling

Tuesday, August 12^th will be my last day at USBC.  I’ve accepted a position with AT&T in Internal Communications.  They want to change the way they talk to their employees and they think I can help.  Before I go… I’d like to say a few words to my bowling friends.

Six years ago I didn’t know there was oil on the lanes.  I did my best to sound like I knew what I was talking about on-camera, but behind the scenes I was asking a lot of questions and soaking up as much information as I could.  Bowlers and proprietors all over the country were very welcoming and helpful and I thank you all for that.

To those who have worked for USBC – fight on!  Your passion is contagious.  It’s easy for those of us who come from outside the sport to enter into the campus and get a bit lost in the politics and the association structure and get discouraged by what can seem like an impossible task.  Your love for what you do is the best asset the company has.  It makes believers out of those of us who didn’t grow up with bowling.   You make us all want to do better.

And don’t YOU get discouraged!  Yes, membership may be falling, but it’s NOT YOUR FAULT.  Most of the outside world has no idea what you’re up against.  These are the people who ask “what am I getting for my $20?”  They don’t understand that more than half of that money never gets to Arlington.  They see their fees go up but don’t realize that it’s been nearly a decade since USBC asked for a dues increase.  Never forget that you give them the standardization of the sport, rules, protection of their money, certified averages, tournaments, Team USA, a scholarship program, coaching, live streaming of events, continuing research, support of wonderful charities… the list goes on and on - and you do it all for nine dollars!  It’s the best deal I’ve ever seen and those who don’t see it simply aren’t paying attention.  You’re always going to hear from the vocal complainers, but I’ve been in bowling centers all over the nation and there are so many people who light up when they see that logo on my shirt.  Keep doing what you’re doing for those people.

I hear it all over the country – “how do we fix bowling?”  The truth is, that’s the wrong question.  Bowling doesn’t need to be fixed.  The game is fine... it's the perception that has to change.  You just need to find a way to let the rest of the world see bowling the way you see bowling.  The rest will take care of itself.  I should know.  You convinced me.

And finally, to the bowlers – somehow this is the hardest part.  I feel like an honorary member of a very special club.  I’ve been down there on the lanes with you in your finest and worst moments.  I’ve shared victories and failures… dinners and drinks… card tables and the grind of the road with you.  You always made me feel like I belonged in those moments.  Your honest answers when the camera was on, and your friendship when the camera was off, made all of my work better.  You welcomed me with open arms and for that I will always be grateful.

So now it’s on to a new chapter, but don’t worry, bowling… I’ll be watching.  Thank you so much for allowing me into your world for a little while.  I know I’m better off for it.

Class Warfare

If you're a true Longhorn football fan, two things are probably true today:

1) You've been keeping an eye on the happenings of National Signing Day.
2) You've been hearing a lot about how Texas has underperformed in this year's recruting war.

Fear not! I'm here to tell you that all is well in Longhorn Nation.

First, the history: Texas always has a good recruiting class. It's something we've hung our hats on for a while now and for good reason. 6 of the last 7 years Texas came out of National Signing Day with one of the top 5 classes in the country according to Rivals.com. It's one of the reasons Mack Brown has hung on. Coach of the month for February. We've all heard the jokes.

So this year, as the dust settles and the letters are signed, Rivals has Texas #23 in the country while Scout.com has the Horns at 22.

So you see the obnoxious posts from your Sooner and Aggie friends about how Texas' reign at the top of the recruiting heap is finally over and you start to sweat a little. It makes some sense. The Longhorns haven't exactly been flying high on the football field the last couple of years. Maybe it's catching up with them?

Dig a little deeper.

The Horns aren't ranked lower because the good players aren't choosing Texas. They're ranked lower because they don't have that many scholarships to give this year.

Texas only has 15 available scholarships (largely due to LAST year's #2-ranked bumper crop of 28 recruits, most of whom you haven't seen on the field yet).  The consensus top 5 classes this year had an average of 26.5 scholarships to give.  And the truth is, Texas is making the most of the spots they DO have available.

Recruits are assigned a "star" level. 1-star kids don't get to Texas. 5-star kids are wanted by everyone. According to Scout.com the average Texas recruit this year earns 3.67 stars. Only 7 schools in the nation have a higher average. That's higher than Texas A&M and it's higher than Oklahoma. Rivals has the average at 3.60 stars good for 9th best and still ahead of our neighbors.

It's also important to look at position rankings. Sticking with Scout's numbers Texas is bringing in the 10th-rated offensive guard in the country, the 10th-rated outside linebacker, too. The #6 quarterback in the country is a 6'4", 220-pound dual-threat, run-first kid with a big arm named Tyrone Swoopes. He'll be in Austin this year. The top center in America, Darius James is now a Longhorn. And the #2-ranked offensive tackle (that oh so important QB protector) is a 5-star, 6'6" stud named Kent Perkins. Welcome to the team.

It stands to reason that if the Longhorns had another 5 scholarships to give they'd be in the top 10. If they had 10 more, they'd be right there at the top again.

So chin up, Longhorn fans! Aggies and Sooners may be talking smack, but if you know how to read the numbers, you'll be able to give it right back.

An open (and chilly) letter

Dear City of Minneapolis Department of Petty Annoyances,

This is the 4th time I've visited your fair city over the past year and a half.  I've come to appreciate your non-threatening downtown and I make a point of patronizing a local restaurant every trip. (And by that I mean eating there, not pretending to be nice to it.)

Last night I pulled into a metered parking space in weather usually reserved for a Morgan Freeman penguin voiceover.  I took two bucks out of my wallet and walked a half block to one of your machines.  Let me reiterate here: the wind chill was reported to be -20 degrees.

When I got to the machine to pay, the machine informed me that it only takes coins and credit cards. I was either out of silver or it was frozen to my thighs so I was forced to remove a life-saving glove and pull out my AmEx.

After the 3rd consecutive dipping of my card (and there should be NO dipping in this weather) the machine informed me that it was incapable of reading the stripe.  Seeing as how snow blindness makes most any reading difficult, I'm not surprised.  But unless your meter maids are riding around on polar bears, I'm sure we can all agree not to prosecute, yes?

So imagine my surprise after pumping money into your lethargic winter economy (talk about frozen assets) to find a parking citation on my windshield.  How did it even get there?  Did a snow owl screech down from a nearby building like delivering a letter to Harry Potter?

And $42?  Is that because the city needs money for the cleanup and removal of yeti droppings?

I'm hereby informing you that I will not be sending you $42.  I'm keeping 1 dollar of that total for every degree below comfortable that I was subjected to on this trip.

You owe me 20 bucks.

Party Crashers

Six months ago the "powers that be" voted to abolish the BCS system as we know it and move toward a playoff.  That new structure begins with the 2014-2015 season which gives the BCS folks a couple more years to see just how screwed up they can make things - and boy are they taking this opportunity seriously.

A system that was designed to reward the best 8 or 10 teams in the country with more money, higher-profile bowl games and the prestige that goes with it has failed so miserably that you would barely recognize one of the games.

The national championship game is fine.  #1 vs. #2.  Just as it should be.  Oregon and Kansas State will play in the Fiesta Bowl.  Perfect.  #4 and #5.  Florida is ranked 3rd and they're in as an "at-large."  No problem.  Stanford is ranked 6th and won the PAC-19 or whatever.  All good.  The top 6 teams are in.  The next 5, however, are not.

Never mind for a moment that Florida State has two losses and is ranked lower than 5 teams who will NOT get a BCS game.  At least Florida State won one of the "real" conferences.  Never mind that Louisville is ranked 21st in the latest polls or that the Big East really doesn't belong among the "real" conferences.  They, also, won an automatic spot fair and square.  Never mind that Ohio State was ineligible this year and instead we got an unranked Wisconsin team as the Big Ten champions even though there are two Big Ten teams ranked higher than Wisconsin.  Again, the Big Ten champs get a spot.  Those automatic qualifying conferences get a representative.

No, this post is about the final at-large selection.  Congratulations to the folks in Miami who get the #12 Florida State Seminoles versus the #15 Northern Illinois Huskies. Wake me up when that grease fire has been put out.

You see, it seems that the BCS has an obscure clause to allow a team like Northern Illinois to crash the party.  IF a non-qualifying conference has a conference champion that is the highest-ranked team among non-qualifiers... IF that team is ranked in the top 16 in the BCS poll... and IF that team is ranked higher than one of the automatic qualifying conference champs (in this case Louisville AND Wisconsin fit that bill) then this little upstart team gets a BCS bid.  It's hilarious, really.  You can only allow a joke team in if ANOTHER joke team is already in via a weak conference title. 

I've heard a LOT of complaining about this selection, but it really wasn't a SELECTION.  The rules made it so that Northern Illinois HAD to be taken.  So probably the rule is bad, I get that.  But part of the problem here is that it should never have happened because Northern Illinois shouldn't be ranked anywhere near the top 16. 

I'm not hating on the Huskies here.  If they had gone undefeated this year, they'd have a really good claim.  But they didn't.  They lost to Iowa - one of only two teams from real conferences that they played this year.  Iowa was one of the worst teams in the Big Ten, finishing 4-8 overall and 2-6 in the conference.  The other team from an automatic conference that NIU beat?  Kansas.  The Jayhawks went 1-11 this season.  This Northern Illinois team also squeaked out a 1-point win over Army (2-9 this year).

Voters in the human polls are dropping the ball here.  This "selection" doesn't happen if Northern Illinois is ranked 17th.  How can you possibly think that a team that had to score in the final five minutes in order to beat Kansas and Army and who LOST to Iowa is a top 15 team nationally?  Because they won the MAC?  They needed two overtimes to beat Kent State to do it.  Depending on which source you use to calculate strength of schedule, Northern Illinois either played the 100th or 123rd toughest schedule this year.  Laughable.

There's another BCS rule out there that says that you can't take more than two teams from the same conference.  Too bad for the teams ranked 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th since they're all from the SEC.  And too bad for Oklahoma who would have been the next logical at-large selection due to that rule.  But Georgia is the team that gets the worst of it here.

The Georgia Bulldogs are ranked #7.  They battled Alabama in the SEC Championship game and came up about 6 feet short as time ran out on the 2-yard-line going in for the winning score.  They were that close to playing for a national championship and now they get the Capital One Bowl.  Why?  Because of some obscure rules that never really made sense, but it's not until you see them in action that you understand the true damage they cause.

This year the rules cost Georgia (or Oklahoma) about $12 million.  That's the difference in payouts between a BCS bowl and where the Bulldogs and Sooners will land.  But more than that, you've cheated the players, coaches and fans.  Moreso than ever you're creating the culture that WHO you play doesn't matter... just don't lose.  Why would good teams want to schedule other good teams?  It makes no sense anymore.  So get used to teams like Texas A&M scheduling teams like Division I-AA Sam Houston State.  It's better to play the sisters of the poor and get your wins than to test yourself against better competition... and that sucks.

Luckily this will all be over soon.  But in the meantime we have to suffer through #12 vs. a dubious #15 in one of the sport's premiere contests while the teams ranked 7th-11th are left scratching their heads.  Brutal.  There's only one year left, guys.  Change some rules and try and get it right once.  That would be a great way to go out.