Congrats to Utah,Your National Champions

ESPN's front page said something like "too much Tim Tebow and plenty of Percy Harvin..."; you don't need to hear the rest. Everyone knows that the game last night was supposed to crown us a champion. But did it? I, for one, don't think so.

As a fan of college football, and therefore a staunch opponent of the BCS, I was cheering for whatever would reflect badly on the system. Before the game that seemed like it would be a low scoring, say 24-14, win for Oklahoma, meaning Texas would have a good argument as the best in the land. However, once the game ended I realized that Texas wasn't the team I should be arguing for, it should be Utah.

The Utes beat a handfull of ranked teams this year, including three in the top ten, peaking with a pummeling of Alabama in their bowl game. This is the same Alabama team that Florida battled throughout the SEC Championship game. This is the same Alabama team that beat Ole Miss, who beat Texas Tech, who beat Texas, who beat Oklahoma...you get the idea. What do the Utes have to do?

They went and played Michigan at the Big House to start the year. Sure, that looks less than impressive now, but when they scheduled it, the appointment was downright ballsy. Then the Utes played Oregon State, another BCS conference team. Most years this wouldn't be a big deal, but the Beavers had beaten USC, a team that a lot of fans think would have won it all in a playoff format. The Utes then blazed through the Mountain West Conference, a league that would give the ACC or Big East a run for their money. During their run, Utah beat top-15 teams in TCU and BYU, en route to the beatdown of the Crimson Tide.

Who did Florida beat this year? What juggernaut did the Gators slay that gives them the right to claim the National Championship? The Gators played Hawaii, Miami, Citadel, and Florida State in their non-conference games, then had to deal with the likes of LSU, Georgia, Arkansas, and the rest of a down SEC. Florida earned the right to play Alabama in the SEC Championship, but was far less impressive than Utah against the Tide.

The other day I was watching a Best Damn Sports Show countdown of the top 50 sound bites in sports and one of them was the rant by Mike Gundy, head coach of Oklahoma State Football. The media made Gundy out to be a crazy man with a funny moment in press conference history. However, what I realized the other day, which is exactly what I thought at the time, was that Gundy was making an excellent point about the media's coverage of student-athletes. He was made out to look like a lunatic because that's what the media wanted.

Then, a few days ago, I was reading about the Utah Attorney General and his plan to sue the BCS for anti-trust violations. Just like Gundy before him, the AG was made to look like a fool in the media, because he was supposed to be dealing with more important matters. If this is your argument, you can honestly shove it (language edit). Of course, he should not mention this travesty, because he can only focus on one thing at a time. If he is looking into this, he will have absolutely no time left to deal with crime! In Utah. Oh no! The point is that Utah's AG, like Gundy, is not crazy and the system should be fixed. It's not just because it is a flawed system, it's because the system is about making money for a select few at the expense of millions.

About a decade ago, the NCAA adopted the BCS to give college football a definitive champion. Since then it has failed as much as it has succeeded and has lined the pockets of a lucky few while raping and pillaging the sports world. Of all the popular sports, college football is the only one that fails to crown a legitimate champion. Hell, I don't know of another sport that is worse, major or not; I'd rather have a French judge decide who the best team is. We're better off in the old system, that at least didn't pretend to provide a consensus. The only way the BCS works is when two teams separate themselves from the rest and that rarely happens.

The BCS and the NCAA ruined my college football postseason, and Utah's entire season, and for that they will never be forgiven. This should have been a crowning year for college football, with the likes of Texas, USC, Florida, Oklahoma, Utah, Penn State, and others in a tournament. It's time to settle the national championship on the field. The money grab for the conferences, schools, and bowls needs to stop.

Until it does, Utah was the team that went unbeaten this year. I have always like Florida, but the Gators lost this season and Utah did not. The Utes played a respectable schedule and just because they were snubbed by voters and formulas doesn't make them less deserving of a crystal football. So let's congratulate the "other" national champions, the Utah Utes!

Today's Links

• Sam Smith is right, Bulls fans are angry. He's somewhat of an apologist for them though.
• Oh yeah, and Larry Hughes wants out. Finally he agrees with me on something.
• Chicago native Curtis Granderson accepts an invitation to play in the World Baseball Classic.
• Great National Championship. Florida wins. Hats off to Tebow, that guy is a monster.
  
• You know, there's number 2s, and there's number 2s.
• Milton Bradley is introduced for the Cubs and he's going to wear number 21. Oh and his problems are a thing of the past.
• Thursday Dick Joke Jambaroo. That Nazi Shark has been making bad calls on the winners of games all year.
• The ownership questions in San Diego and Chicago may play a big impact in any Peavy-to Chicago deal.
• Dennis Rodman is in a movie about a midget basketball team playing against full-size people, with Dennis Rodman as Himself.

Thoughts on Tonight's BCS Title Game

I couldn't decide what kind of post to put together for the big game tonight, so what follows are some random thoughts on the title bout (think Mike Tyson's Punch Out).

• I finally decided that I am cheering for Oklahoma in this game. I've always liked Florida for no good reason, but when it comes down to it, I will cheer for anything that reflects negatively on the BCS. A 4-3 win for Oklahoma would do the trick.


• I'm surprised that this game isn't getting the hype that the title game received a few years ago when Texas and USC faced off. Then again, I think those teams were unbeaten. Still, this game has the potential to be just as good. We have undeniable talents on both teams and plenty of first round draft potential. Not to mention the last two Heisman winners.


• You have to think that Utah and Texas are pulling for Oklahoma as well. If Florida wins, somehow their loss is less relevant. They lost to Ole Miss, who beat Texas Tech, who beat Texas, who was in Footloose with Kevin Bacon. If OU wins, then everyone gets to rehash the issue of whether they belonged there in the first place. Texas gets to say that they beat the Sooners on a neutral field and Utah gets to say they dismantled Alabama, and therefore could have beaten Florida too.


• A major factor is Oklahoma's recent tradition of not showing up for big games. Sure, they did fine in the Big 12 Championship, but it was against a Missouri team that had already fallen apart. The Sooners have gone all Ohio State on teams when they get to BCS bowls recently. Last year they lost to a West Virginia team that just lost its coach, the year before was the loss to Boise State in one of the best bowl games ever, and I believe they were blown out in the championship before that.


• Tebow & Co. actually have a little experience with the title game, albeit Tebow was a jump-passing fullback then, that didn't save the world by circumcising babies.


• So, this will be where I put my prediction for the game, which is sure to be completely wrong. Florida 42 - Oklahoma 34.

Gary Danielson Tries to Make SEC Football Unwatchable

This Saturday has been a fantastic day for football. Army-Navy early, USC-UCLA and the SEC Championship this afternoon and the Big 12 Title game to cap it off. However, for the last three years, one thing has made the SEC Championship game difficult to watch, or at least to listen to.

Gary Danielson has to be among the worst announcers in the country. It doesn't have a lot to do with his analysis or insights into the game. Danielson is awful because he is biased and has no shame in putting it on display.

Other networks show favor to some teams, like ESPN and the Yanks and Sox, and some announcers obviously love a particular team, like Vitale and Duke, but this is a whole new level of annoying favoritism and irresponsible broadcasting.

For two straight years, Danielson lobbied throughout the broadcast for the SEC's teams to get into the National Championship games. He would launch into long narratives about the merits of the SEC's teams over the other contenders. He was at it again this year saying things like "I'm not watching the National Championship game if Florida is not in it."

This year, the campaigning for Florida wasn't enough. Danielson had to throw in his endorsement of Tim Tebow for the Heisman Trophy. Telling voters to pay attention to Tebow and slurping the junior quarterback just about every chance he got. "How could you not get down the field fast after Tim Tebow pumped you up." Or after a fairly simple slant for a touchdown, "you can't do this stuff!" It was a damn five yard slant.

Look, Tebow is a great college quarterback and thrives in that offense, but we don't need to hear about it all game long. It's number one against number four. How about we focus on the game? Danielson's lobbying is getting so old and tiring and he really makes it impossible to listen to the game. Unless you're in Tim Tebow's family.