To Win, Others Must Lose

I can't believe it has been nearly a year since my last blog post!  I am really slacking with my blog duties, but several things have changed since my last post.  My family and I bought a new, larger home to accommodate those growing children.  I took some of the money from selling the old house and purchased a laptop to make it more convenient for me to post blogs with more frequency.  That idea hasn't seemed to come to fruition yet, but I hope this post will get me into some kind of groove so that inspiration will flow into my head like the rivers of Hell's Canyon.

I'm hesitant to admit that I recently watched a movie called Battle Royale.  This is a film based on a novel written by the Japanese author, Koushun Takami, who finished this novel in 1996, but not published until 1999.  This story is set a couple years after a class of seventh graders mistreat one of their teachers in junior high.  This said teacher gets a chance for revenge against that seventh grade class when the government becomes concerned with the changing trend of how disrespectful children are getting and makes a law to remind the youth who it is that is really in charge in the country.  Two years later, this class reunites for an overnight field trip.  Next thing you know, the kids have been gassed and taken to a deserted island where they find themselves surrounded by armed military servicemen when they come-to in the classroom of some rundown building.  They were shocked when they see two unknown boys, who volunteered to be there, and then their seventh grade teacher walks into the room.  He begins to inform them that they were brought there to participate in a game.  The 42 students learned that in order to win the game and go home, everyone else needed to be dead within the next three days.  One by one, after the teacher killed two in the classroom (one got a knife in the head for whispering), they were called by name to receive their bag that contained a map, water, some food, and a random weapon.  Some weapons were knives, guns, hatchet, cross bow, GPS, binoculars, and the main character had a garbage can lid.  Each student had a collar around their neck to track their locations and monitor their conversations.  It didn't take long for some kids to take it seriously and just go berserk and do things they normally wouldn't do due to fear of dying.  One of the volunteers ends up killing a large amount of the students while the other ends up helping the main character and the girl he ends up grouping with.  Those three kids end up seeing a lot of death and wrong-doing on their path to cheat the game and end up all leaving the island alive.

This movie reminds me a lot of a book I've read by Suzanne Collins, "The Hunger Games".  This novel was published in 2008 and has two additional sequels to it.  The first two books have now been made into movies, as well.  This is about a 16 year old girl named Katniss Everdeen, who is played by a very popular actress, Jennifer Lawrence.  She lives in a post-apocalyptic country that contains 12 districts that have been sentenced to suffer for their rebellion 74 years prior.  Each year, the government, in district one (The Capitol), has a "reaping" in each district to choose one boy and one girl between the ages of 12-18 to go to The Capitol to be introduced to the nation on television only to fight to the death until one person remains alive.  The extremely organized "Hunger Games" has all 24 children start in the same randomized locale at the same time with nothing in their hands, but stare at the cornucopia full of bags with survival gear, hand weapons of all kinds, and other protective gear.  This cornucopia is essentially bait for a blood bath to begin and weed-out the weaker participants.  Katniss, from district 12 (farthest from The Capitol), ends up surviving many trials and outsmarts many other teens to only end up killing a few kids by her hand, or arrow, which is her weapon of choice.  She ends up teaming up with her male counterpart from district 12 and cheated the system (government) to force the two kids an unimaginable ending with both winning.  The book does a better job at expressing the disgust Katniss has with the whole "Games" and how she feels about not wanting to harm anyone, but is frightened to see some of the kids from the inner most districts who train how to kill their whole life to prepare solely for the purpose to compete in the "Games" and win.

The similarity of these two novels (movies) with the concept of kids killing each other until one person is left alive is a bit disturbing, but it reminds me of some of the results that a few major college football conferences go through in a season to find the conference champion.  I noticed this last season where the Pac-12 conference beat up on each other more so than prior years.  We saw a less-than-impressive Utah team beat a very good Stanford team.  Then this Stanford team goes and gets a win against the favored Oregon Ducks in a near-flawless game.  Oregon not only lost the game, but also lost the desire to win-out the remainder of the season with the idea of not getting an invitation to play for the national title with one loss.  Stanford then lost to USC, who had a couple losses already.  Oregon lost to Arizona like the Ducks were actually Portland State.  Arizona State had a great season until they lost to Stanford in their conference championship matchup.  UCLA had a successful season, but the back-to-back losses to Stanford and Oregon, respectively, hurt.  The loss to Arizona State kept the Bruins out of the conference title game.  Washington State was more competitive than prior years by beating USC for the first time in many years and losing to the national champion runner-up, Auburn (at Auburn) by only seven points in a very poorly officiated game favoring the home team.  What I'm trying to say, is that the conference was so competitive and deep this past year, that all the teams ended with more than one loss to keep each other from playing for the final BCS national title.  It's like all the other 39 kids dying while trying to survive to win the game, while the winner, who turns out not really being a winner after all - to see many of your best friends from school die and be killed is not a winning feeling to live with for the rest or your life.

The Pac-12 conference looked better than it has for several years with some great non-conference match-ups that had the Pac-12 coming out on top a majority of the time.  The big losses were to some highly ranked teams like Ohio State and Auburn, but there were two losses to Notre Dame and a loss to FCS power, Eastern Washington.  However, there were many wins that helped the conference by beating the likes of Nebraska, Wisconsin, Tennessee, BYU, Boise State, Boston College, and one win against Notre Dame.  The conference went 6-3 in bowl games this year, meaning that 9 of the 12 teams earned a bowl bid; which is tougher for the Pac-12 and Big 12 teams to do with only three non-conference games and nine conference games.  It's easier for the other conferences that play four non-conference games to pad your win column to "earn" a bowl bid.  Anyway, to avoid going down that tangent, I will say it is sad to see the Pac-12 look so good throughout the season but feel like your the only one on the planet that felt that way after seeing the final polls.  The top Pac-12 team was Oregon after beating Texas in their bowl game and ended the season at #9.  For a first time ever head coach, #9 final ranking is extraordinary; however, when the nation sees four SEC schools ranked higher than that (who had a less than stellar season - in SEC expectations), it makes the whole season look like a wash - especially being ranked lower than Alabama who lost their last two games.  Alabama hadn't won a game since they beat the crap out of Chattanooga on November 23rd, but yet they remain in the top 10 in the final polls?!?  That only happens in the SEC.  The nose of the SEC is so far up the media's dark orifice down below that when the media blinks, all they see is SEC snot.  The only winner of such bias, is... well, the SEC.  The SEC gets the TV deals, the money, 1/3 of the top blue chip recruits each year, championship opportunities, best coaches, and all the glory without needing to earn it.  I know what you're thinking (to those SEC faithful), and I agree, I am jealous.  I'm jealous that I'm not getting any sips of that SEC Kool-Aid and have to suffer the fact that there are other conferences worthy of mention, but don't get that same recognition as each school in the SEC.  My rose colored SEC glasses have not come in the mail yet, so I have to still base my ideas on facts.  That's a really hard way to go, so, yes, I am jealous that giving the crown to the SEC each year when the teams are all 0-0 is not in my mental capacity of thinking (or lack thereof) yet.

Before I get into the topic of recruiting, I would like to congratulate the Florida State Seminoles for a perfect year and a wonderful win over Auburn who tried to bring the Sears trophy back to the state of Alabama for the fifth straight year.  I saw it fitting that FSU played in the first and last BCS national title games.  I thought the recruiting that Jimbo Fischer was doing was ridiculous before winning the title, now I can only imagine how many top recruits may be swayed from a nearby SEC school and jump to the Seminoles instead.

This recruiting thing has gotten me a little nervous with less than three weeks left until the national letter of intent day and in the last day or so, the team that I am hoping the most success for because I have two siblings that graduated from the school, Oregon, has lost a verbal commitment from Budda Baker, the #5 Safety in the nation; and the verbal commitment from Arrion Springs, the #9 Cornerback in the nation, has become a soft verbal.  These are two of the best athletes that had committed to the Ducks for 2014 and losing one or both of them does not  bode well for the program.  Oregon doesn't traditionally sign a huge load of high profile recruits at all.  This class was shaping up to be one of the best in the history of Oregon football.  Oregon must end the last two weeks strong and I have a good idea of who I'd like to see sign on with the Ducks on February 5th.  I read the wish list from the Bleacher Report and agree totally with John "Juju" Smith for sure, Trey Lealaimatafao is a needed Defensive Tackle that Oregon hasn't pursued in many years, Nick Gates from Nevada would be a nice catch at the Offensive Tackle position that Oregon needs to get to that next level of consistency, and Tony James was the fifth on the wish list because the Bleacher Report is afraid that he will ultimately stay closer to home (even though he has stayed solid with his verbal commitment). I'll tell you who I think should commit to the Ducks and I can't understand why they wouldn't:  I would include the first four on the Bleacher Report's wish list because they haven't committed and add; 1) Adoree Jackson, a five-star Cornerback that is a track star as well who doesn't seem to know that Eugene, OR, is nicknamed Tracktown, USA, 2) Budda Baker (again), who planned to play offense as Wide Receiver for the Ducks, 3) Glen Ihenacho, another Safety that needs to make a solid commitment and sign with the Ducks, 4) Chandler Leniu, a four-star Middle Linebacker from California that is considering Cal, Fresno State, and Washington State, 5) Petera Wilson, another Middle Linebacker from Tennessee who might choose Oregon as his future football program, 6) Outside Linebacker, Joey Alfieri, who is currently committed to Stanford, so Oregon needs to find a way to get the local Portland kid to flip his decision within two week's time, 7) ,8), & 9) are three five-star Defensive Ends that have the Ducks deep down their lists; Solomon Thomas from Texas, Lorenzo Carter from Georgia, and Malik McDowell from Michigan, all need to take serious consideration in traveling several hundreds of miles to Eugene to make their homes and start their amazing football careers at a school where they will get playing time from the start, 10) Poona Ford, who opened up his search again recently that could make a serious impact on a needy defensive line, 11) Casey Tucker at Offensive Tackle from Arizona would be a huge pickup for the Ducks and bolster an offensive line that could open up huge holes for the uber-talented Running Backs, 12) Kaleb McGary would also be a nice addition to the offensive line, a four-star Offensive Tackle from Washington, 13) Michiah Quick would be a great compliment to committed Jalen Brown as the #'s 6 and 7 Wide Receivers in the nation.  If Oregon brought in half of this list, they will do well with recruiting for the 2014 year.

I would just like to understand why there aren't more blue-chippers knocking on Oregon's door, begging to be a part of their amazing program and fascinating offense.  Especially the offensive linemen that could make a major impact on how well Oregon would be able to make a physical push in the trenches in the fourth quarter to keep the ball going forward in tight games.  I would love to see some of the amazing defensive linemen be a part of a quick, physical defense that the Ducks have been known for the past few years.  It has been the lack of a stout, tough Defensive Tackle that clogs up the middle that prevents the large offensive lines to grind out the clock if Oregon's offense needs to get back on the field for a quick score.  Do people really forget the impact Haloti Ngata had on Oregon's defense in the early mid-2000's.  He has really made a name for himself in the NFL now too.

Some more confusing information that I don't understand is how two of the best recruiting programs in Ohio State and Alabama could both lose their last two games and still continue to gather in the top-ten players at each position.  They have been practicing this recruiting technique for years - especially Alabama, so how on earth could they lose any game?  On paper, no other program in the nation can come close to the talent level that Alabama has on its roster year in and year out.  I understand that Auburn, a huge rival for decades in the Iron Bowl was able to beat Alabama by some fluke special teams play, but to see Oklahoma take The Tide down in a huge game is hard to fathom.  And yet, Nick Saban is still able to bring in a group of athletes that would make any coach's mouth water with anticipation.  Alabama does such a great job recruiting that they can't even keep all the talent they sign to begin with.  For example, the news just came out that one of the four top 15 Running Backs that 'Bama stashed away last year has announced he's transferring.  If Alvin Kamara would have listened to me (or read my blog last year), he never would have signed with The Tide to begin with.  He should have know that TJ Yeldon was going to start the 2013 season as a true sophomore with another season, at least, after that.  Then put in three other top caliber Running Backs in the very same class and you find too much depth and a difficult time in keeping all the egos happy unless they changed the position they played.  Alvin should consider a program that doesn't recruit so many backs that they don't know what to do with them all, like Clemson that I like or Tennessee that I like, but he just needs to stay out of trouble - like the five-star early enrollee at 'Bama that was just arrested.  Some schools just don't know how to utilize those special backs when they recruit them.  I've seen many times where a top back goes to a particular school that is already loaded or doesn't use the running game as much or just lacks the offensive line to give the Running Back the chance to get free (like Barry Sanders playing for the Detroit Lions - just think how great he could have been if his offensive line was above average).

So, all I have to say is that the Pac-12 came out real competitive and did some real good things this last year and showed some major signs of improvement as a complete conference and the recruiting scene has not reflected the success they had and will continue to have in the future.  Even though the SEC did NOT win the national championship game, it continues to dominate recruiting beyond the years of all the winning they had the last seven years prior.  As of this moment, according to scout.com, the SEC has 29 commitments in the top-100 football players in the nation.  Now, this is astonishing in its own right, but this is without 23 of those top-100 players who haven't even committed yet; and at least half of them will pick the SEC as their school of choice, which will give the SEC around 40% of the top-100 football players in the whole country.  Outrageous!  Why not?  ESPN has a serious crush on the SEC and the nation-wide voters of all the polls have sucked down gallons of this SEC dominance Kool-Aid and followed suit by voting so many SEC schools in the top-25 each week so high in the polls.  How else does one conference end the year with four top-7 teams in all polls?  Over half?  Really?!?  Obviously, it doesn't matter if there are 42 students ready to fight to the death in the SEC, there will always be three that manager to survive and be crowned winners, thanks to the media (ESPN) and all those mindless voters who don't know how to stand up to their own convictions and vote their hearts - just follow the rest of the nation and make it look easy.  Now for the Pac-12, there will never be a winner with 24 teens coming to a cornucopia to fight for their best-used weapons, and even if two survive, they are still only from the 12th district and never will be taken seriously like those Capitol participants who obviously represent the SEC.