Tell Me Where I'm Wrong

The Bowl Championship Series has been a lightning rod for criticism ever since its inception 9 years ago. The bowl selection system, which combines human polls with computer ratings, matches up the "theoretical" ten best teams in the nation including the two best who meet at the official BCS National Championship game. Every year has been mired in controversy and this year is no different.

• 1998-99: In both '98 and '99 seasons the Kansas State Wildcats were excluded from any BCS bowl despite their respective #3 and #6 rankings.

• 2000: The 2000 season found itself in a three way race for #2 as Florida State, Miami and Washington all accumulated only one loss. Oklahoma easily beat Florida State for the Championship, however both Washington and Miami also won their bowl games handily, which would forever taint the Sooner's title.

• 2001: Nebraska beat out the higher ranked Colorado Buffalos and Oregon Ducks for the #2 spot in the championship game at the end of the '01 season despite not winning or even playing for the Big 12 title. The Huskers would end up being routed by Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.

• 2003: The '03 season found itself with 3 BCS conference one loss teams and despite its #1 human ranking USC was knocked out of the championship game by LSU and an Oklahoma team that lost in the Big 12 title game. 2003 would be the first season in the BCS era where two champions where crowed due to a technicality.

• 2004: Five teams entered the bowl '04 season undefeated, of which Auburn, Utah, and Boise State all were excluded from the championship game between USC and Oklahoma. All three would end up winning their respective bowl games.

• 2005: Due to an obscure clause, Notre Dame was chosen over the higher ranked Oregon Ducks for the last BSC at large bid.

• 2006: Florida beat out Michigan, Louisville, Wisconsin and undefeated Boise State for a chance to play undefeated Ohio State for the championship. Florida would end up beating the Buckeyes and claiming the title even though Boise State had beaten Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl to claim the only undefeated record of the '06 season.

• 2007: ...

As of Saturday night there is only one undefeated team (Hawaii) in the nation and only two one loss teams. (Ohio State and Kansas) In a season littered with top 10 upsets and ranking confusion the BCS system is now responsible for choosing just two teams to play for the championship game in New Orleans. Never has there such uncertainty in who are the two best teams in the country; never have there been so many who have valid claims to the top spots. Below are are list of teams from last weeks BCS rankings who have a compelling entitlement.

• Missouri- Their 11-2 record and two losses, both to Oklahoma will hurt them but their #1 ranking just one week ago confuses the issue. Despite being a solid team, Mizzou will most likely not receive a BCS bid at all due to highly ranked Kansas and Oklahoma.

• West Virginia- Both of Mountaineers losses came to unranked South Florida and Pittsburgh teams. Regardless of this, West Virginia backs into the Big East title due to a tie breaker, their only real claim to the title game.

• Ohio State- The Buckeyes won the Big Ten title handedly and claim a rare one loss record. However, OSU's one loss was to an unranked Illinois team and the Big Ten has been a notoriously lackluster conference as of late.

• Georgia- The Bulldogs are riding a a six game win streak but were excluded from the SEC title game and lost to unranked Tennessee and South Carolina.

• Kansas- The Jayhawks have been solid throughout the season and have only recorded one loss, however they were excluded from the Big 12 title game and their only loss to Missouri was their only game against a top ranked team.

• Virginia Tech- The Hokies haven't drawn a lot of attention through the season as their consistency has been in doubt. However their only were to top ranked LSU and a Boston Collage team which they beat last week to win the ACC.

• LSU- The Tigers only losses were to Kentucky and Arkansas, both in overtime. They have conquered the feared SEC and are likely to meet Ohio State in the title game.

• USC- The consensus number one coming into the season, the Trojans lost their composure to quality Oregon and Arizona State teams. Recently though, Southern California has been on a tear and have rapped up their sixth straight BCS berth.

• Oklahoma- Their losses to unranked Colorado and Texas Tech will hurt their cause, otherwise they have beaten top ranked Texas and Missouri and won the Big 12 title.

• Hawaii- Boise State's undefeated season last year has legitimatized mid major teams for a chance for the title.

• Arizona State- Although a long shot for the title game the Sun Devil's only losses are to top ranked Oregon and USC.

As of mere minuets ago, LSU will play Ohio State for the BCS title game in the Louisiana Superdome. If anything this year's race for the title proves that a 8 or 16 team playoff is desperately needed. Each of the teams on this long list deserve at least a shot, especially Hawaii. The BCS can still be used as the selection system for the playoff and the traditional bowl games can still exist outside of the playoff or serve as games themselves. However, randomly picking the apparent two best team belittles the trophy that we give. Why can't the gridiron be the deciding factor instead of a computer? They act as if a playoff is completely foreign to sporting.

Birthdays and Those Nagging Halloweens

I find myself wondering when I'll get a weekend. The two or so weeks that made up the Drama production of "Dead Man Walking" caused quite a lot of late nights and tried patience. I didn't have much time for homework or really much of anything outside of Jackson Auditorium. Through all the exhaustion was a good experience, but I'm glad for it to be over. Too bad "Rally" opens in less than a week and I probably wont have much of a life this week.

Anyway, wedged in the middle of the strenuous schedule a few weeks ago was my 19th. birthday; a fact that didn't stir up a whole lot of emotional stimulation. It's nothing new, true excitement over my approaching birthday quickly faded after about age 10. Sure, its still something to enjoy, but I discovered that I had better things to do than to emotionally writhe in anticipation. Looking back, this transformation my have had causation deeper than simple mental maturation.

Growing up in that homeschool environment that inevitably dooms all who enter to a limited social circle may have opened my eye's up to the sad truths regarding early adolescents before most others around me. My birthdays were a perfect example of this. Although I never really looked forward to the simple date of birth, for a period of 4-5 years, I highly anticipated the party that would bring all my closest friends together. So I would plan months in ahead and perfect ever aspect of the get-together, which I moved from late October to the Holiday break for the College Football National Championship game or to late January for the Super Bowl.

I hated hearing the excuses of too much school work, or not knowing in time so I made sure to give months of lead time and constantly remind my friends to run it through their parents. (a concept that never seemed to sink in) Some years were great and and really fulfilled the expectations I had for the party, but for the most part, my ego took a hit every year. Most everyone I would invite couldn't or didn't make time for one evening and for someone who doesn't attend a school everyday and has constant exposure to his peers it was a shot right to the heart. Much like the many end of school parties that haunt my memories, it was a vivid reminder that the majority of those who I thought enjoyed my company, in reality, couldn't have cared less.

My birthday parties were one of the many events that scarred my social growth and for a time caused my to give up on interaction completely. That phase didn't last long, but it's all part of my maturation in terms of interaction with others. God made us to be relational beings, but the majority of our associations are dominated by selfish cravings, which inevitably lead to heartache and bitterness. I've become accustom to it, it's just who we are as humans. I still need to remind myself often; I have the phrase "people will always fail to fulfill my expectations" on my cell phone welcome screen. I try my best to always selflessly interact with others while at the same time not throw a pity fit when others don't return the favor.

Another thing that sours my birth season is its proximity to Halloween. That's right, I'm not a fan. It's not that I hate the prevalence of "evil" like some hopped up religious nut. (although I've never quite understood the fascination) I've just never liked how commercialized it is, and that goes for most every holiday. I love spending time with friends and family during some time off, but as for the mass commercial festivities, I'd rather do without. I've never been one for dressing up, why do you think that day would be any different? I've also never understood why Halloween magically gives many "ladies" that right to dress up like, how should I say it... deviant little sluts? For some reason, we see Halloween as the day of the year to embrace "evil" as something to be celebrated, something that will forever bewilder me.

What's next? Thanksgiving and the dreaded Black Friday; yet another concept that grinds my gears. No matter, while some materialistic psychos spend hours grappling with other sleep deprived nut-jobs for inanimate objects I'll be relaxing with family and friends; giving thanks for life and its true joys.

Weekends in Austin

For the last few weekends I've been milling around trying to think up a post in order to keep this trend going. (In other words, I like being the only one who keeps up on blogging) But, I've either been unable to find a topic of interest or too busy. I've been in Austin a lot in the last month or so and in some instances I've wanted to be back, others not so much.

Weekends in Seguin are interesting. I feel some guilt every time I skedaddle back to Austin, but then of course, when I spend the weekend on the always bustling TLU campus, there's nothing to do, unless of course I want to "throw some down," get plastered, and participate in whatever activities follow; it's always a surprise... I guess I'm just not very good at this college stuff am I?

I've recently noticed how many movies I saw over the summer, probably more than all my previous summers combined. That habit apparently didn't carry over to the school year as I've only graced a theater once, it was well worth it though. You'd think it would be a blockbuster and/or box office hit but no, I'd be surprised if the flick made $1 million. It was a documentary by Ron Howard and only opened in about 5 theaters in Texas, which is why it was required of me to spend the weekend at home in order to actually watch said documentary.

Following Howard's enthusiasm for the US Space Program, In the Shadow of the Moon documents the Apollo moon landings in the words of the few men alive who have set foot on an alien world. Being the history buff and space junkie that I am, I was looking forward to the opening for weeks and got the whole family to join in as we found the only cinema in Austin that will show small independent films. It was all that I had wanted and for 4/5ths of it, the movie was good. It was the last ten minutes that made this documentary great.

Hearing from these former astronauts, many of whom have now become Christians, what they experienced and how they now view the earth and the existence of man itself was something special and it's why I think everyone would enjoy it. If you're able to find the theater, its still showing in Austin and I'd highly recommend it.



After that movie excursion on Saturday afternoon, I "dropped off" my siblings at a dodgeball tournament and was soon roped into playing for the next 2 hours; man was I sore. Sunday afternoon was spent as a family at Olive Garden and I've discovered how much fun we have now. After enduring 17 years of awkward, tension filled family outings, all of a sudden we seem to get along... mostly. All of a sudden I enjoy coming back and spending time with them; who saw that coming? I mean I still crank up Sum 41's "Walking Disaster" as I approach the Austin city limit (that's a good album by the way, anyone else out there into it?) but I can't say that I can identify with all the lyrics, just some of them, and that's a good thing...

Last weeks visit wasn't quite for kicks, I've been needing to see an off-campus play for my Drama class and since Seguin isn't exactly a center for the arts, I was back in Austin once again while still fighting off the remnants of a mild cold. The afternoon preceding the play wasn't too amusing. My father was trying to replace the kitchen faucet while the girls were away and after halfway flooding the house and shutting off the water for 3 hours, which prevented me from taking a much needed shower, Texas laid an egg while playing KSU. Oh and all this on top of my car dieing out on me. Needless to say, I pulled into the obscure theaters parking lot with a bit of leftover frustration.

It was a fast-paced political comedy that pulled a few good chuckles out of me, but overall left me less than pleased as the last 10 minutes degraded into a pro-anarchy tirade. Sigh... I got back to my house at 11 at night and ready for the day to be over. Sunday was better; the perfect weather lured me out of the house for some after-church football. Due to my condition, I wasn't %100, but football is football. The rest of the day I spent trying to spend some time with my now sociable family while still getting my Camry to a shop. Homework kept me up till after midnight and I needed to catch a ride back to campus early Monday morning but at least I left feeling like I'd had some type of fulfilling weekend.

This weekend was homecoming and I had the family (or at least some of them) down for a visit. Next weekend is Fall break (a concept I'm still trying to comprehend but thankful for none the less) so I'll be doing what I can only assume everyone else on campus is doing for the extended weekend, getting on home. Let's hope this doesn't get too routine...

So that's what I'm up to, rap that post up and ship it.