Sometimes It's Not The Right Fit

I've lived in my current house for over 11 years and with two children more since, it seems that our foresight when we chose this house so long ago, was not as insightful as we thought.  We thought we were so smart and so prepared to grow into a house that we didn't have to stretch too much to afford.  Over a decade has passed and my wife and I have found ourselves desiring a new and larger home to raise our growing kids.  We love most things about our current home, especially the neighbors we have and the neighborhood itself.  We are both close to our jobs and the two younger kids don't have to go very far for school.  It's just a great location with many other young families nearby.  If it were possible to uproot our current house and just place a more pleasing house in the same plot, we would be so happy and wouldn't have to lose the perks of great neighbors and convenient location.

So, with this recent desire of a larger home, we have tried to make efforts in seeing what is out there in regards to something larger, yet, still within our price range.  As you can imagine, this is not easy.  We see these beautiful homes which seem to be perfect for our family and turn out to be about $200,000 above our maximum price range.  This makes things difficult for seeking a dream house, so we may have to settling for what reality will give us.  There has to be a happy medium out there somewhere.

The first step was narrowing down the areas of town we were willing to settle down.  We searched particular neighborhoods that we feel would be desirable to live without being too far from our jobs.  The children are still young enough that a change of schools wouldn't be the "worst day of my life" worthy.  Our parental status should stay intact.

The second step was getting someone to get us into the houses that are for sale by using a real estate agent that has access to the information of all the homes and the key to get into all the homes that we may be interested in seeing.

The third step is actually going out and seeing the houses that fit our criteria of the next home that we think we need to make us happy.  In a short time, we have seen several houses and have opinions on all of them.  We get to look at the photos that are posted online prior to choosing if that might be a good fit for our family or not and then have the agent set up an appointment to go see it.

The fourth step is the next step that we haven't gotten to yet.  We need to select the new family home and put in an offer and hope that it's accepted and then start all the paper work and wait to be approved and finally close on the sale to move in.  This whole process is very nerve-racking and stressful.  We have to think about how each of the houses will fit for our particular family.  Our family is original and how we would like to utilize our home is unique, as well.  We have to think about past issues with the house whether there has been water damage to walls or floors or basements; or an underground pool in the back yard that was filled in; whether the sewer pipes have flow problems; or if updates were done properly and not done cheaply.  There are some prerequisites that my wife and I have going into the search that we have learned are necessary for the future.

Just a brief update of the houses that we have gone through and pondered upon; we have noticed that when we walk into a house, it may be real impressive in some regards and then disappoint in others.  For example, the entry of a house I saw was amazing with a high ceiling and a feeling of openness.  Then, I peaked outside and saw an open lot behind the fence where there will be a bunch of houses built in the future that will block the view and the yard didn't seem very big and no place to park a future boat or camper.  So, I looked at a house where there was a huge garage specifically for an RV to put that future camper, and after looking through the house, I had no desire to even open up the 16 foot tall doors to see inside.  Searching for the right kitchen alone, this time around, could be a make or break kind of deal for us.  Our current, small kitchen has lost its cuteness because we just need more cupboard space and counter space and just more room.  So far, in our search, it is hard to imagine that there will be a "perfect" house out there for our family that will be in our price range where we may be forced to "settle" on a house that lacks one or more of our initial criteria for our happiness.

Like the search of a new home can be stressful and make one feel they can't find the perfect fit, high school football players have a similar challenge when searching for the right university to begin their collegiate football careers.  As there are some good parts of a house and some not-so-great parts of a house that might not fit just right, there are schools out there that these young men are looking at that have some great qualities to them while other qualities may be less intriguing.  Finding the perfect fit in a new home and in a new school are challenges that warrant a closer look to educate the populous.

So, when these great high school football players feel that a college football career may be in the future, they need to find out their chances of getting a scholarship to various universities.  Some instances, the athlete has already gotten offers from schools that are near by; and in rare situations, the talent is so great that schools dotting the country may be interested and offer a full scholarship.

The first step, like narrowing down the area of town to find a new home, is that the athlete needs to narrow down (or expand) their view of where they would like to settle down for next three to five years.  Like a new home, this is a big commitment and should be looked at seriously.

Like a real estate agent that gets connections to the homes, the second step for the athletes is talking to coaches and assistant coaches to arrange official visits to the campuses of interest.  For football players, the way of getting contacts from coaches is sometimes sending video footage of their highlights in various games including information of measurements and statistics from the season.

The third step is getting the chance to make all of the official visits allowed, which may be five these days.  Like finding the right fit for a new home, searching for the right fit for a university in football should be essential.  If the program looks real good and has been successful, but the coaches don't seem to mesh to personalities, then it may indicate an improper fit.  Sometimes the coaches are great and accommodating, but the program hasn't been the top of the conference for decades, the fit may not be the greatest.  There are also times when the program is excellent and the coaches are top notch, but the particular position that the athlete is being recruited for is flooded with talent - this may not be the best fit either.

Like making an offer on a house, recruiting needs the athlete to commit to a university to try to seal the deal and eventually complete the paper work which creates the contract of the athlete and school.  Some athletes verbally commit early in the process and some wait until the National Letter of Intent Day to make their awaited decision and fax in their signature to the school's athletic department.

I'll say it up front:  I was never an uber-athlete that had various schools frothing at the mouth before I left high school.  So, I have no clue what these kids are going through at such a young age and influential time in their lives.  It must feel real good being wanted so desperately and difficult to stay grounded and not letting all the attention go to your head.  Again, I wouldn't know anything about that!  So, I can only ask questions and wonder what each athlete is thinking without knowing anything about their personal lives and background and interests beyond football.  As I ask some questions, (mostly, "Why did he chose that school over any other school?) I look to see where they live currently and the position they potentially will play in college and see their short list of schools of interest and try to imagine where I would prefer to go from those standpoints.  Many times I am wrong and left wondering why a different route wasn't taken.  When I can't figure it out and see only negative reasons why that athlete chose that particular university, I put them in the Shrine Dog Award classification because the choice doesn't make any obvious sense.  The Shrine Dog Award is explained in a previous post in this blog, which can be referred to if it's confusing in this post.  Basically, the Shrine Dog Award goes to clueless kids that are not listening to the right people in their lives and jump into a situation that was based on something influential that didn't include common sense.

Let me clear things up by demonstrating what I see, which is available to the public without cost, and explain my point of view.  When I see a highly touted athlete that plays running back in Indiana, first I think that he might want to stay close to home.  As a 4 or 5-star football player, I immediately think he could go to any FBS school if his studies are up to par.  Indiana is very close to many Big Ten schools that would most likely recruit a local running back with certain skills.  So, this kid would most likely have close contact with the likes of Indiana Hoosiers, Illinois, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Boston College, to name a few.  Then there might be some schools recruiting this Indiana kid from outlying members of the conference(s) that have closest ties with him, like Nebraska, Wisconsin, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Syracuse.  The interest may dip into other conferences by measure of taking away a great athlete from other conferences just to secure their weakness of recruiting, like West Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and even USC or UCLA.  So, when I think of these factors just based on where he currently lives, it takes just a couple seconds to process the thought of where he might want to go that's close to home.  Then I look at his specific position that he is being recruited for and think of who has done real well at recruiting that position recently and what they do to prepare the kids that play that position for the NFL.  For example, Ohio State usually puts out really good running backs and can recruit that position to bring in blue chip athletes each year, so if the Indiana kid wants to start right away, then he may lean toward another school who may not be as strong or hasn't recruited high caliber talent in that position for a couple years.  So, I look closely into that on scout.com and look up to four years prior to see who the competition might be for the incoming freshman.  Is(Are) the starter(s) from last year coming back?  How many upperclassmen will there be when he gets to campus?  Now, when signing day arrives and this top 20 running back in the nation from Indiana, who could go anywhere, signs his letter of intent to play for Kansas, my first thought becomes, "Did he get confused with basketball?"  Did he really choose to play for the Jayhawks?  Does he have family there or does he not care about winning?  He will definitely be the starter from the get go, but life is so much easier on running backs if there is an offensive line significant enough to break open holes to allow you to demonstrate why you were so highly recommended coming out of high school.  Indiana boy just claimed himself a Shrine Dog Award!  Congratulations and good luck in Kansas!

Now, the Indiana kid was just a made up example of what I see and what I'm looking for when I'm tracking the recruiting process of these top notch high school players; however, there are real examples in the past and near future who appear to have claimed this Shrine Dog Award from me.  Let's look back a few years!  I have a good example in 2011 recruiting class with Notre Dame recruiting so well in recent years that every athlete in the nation looks hard at South Bend, IN, and knows of the deep tradition of the Fighting Irish.  Sometimes these great schools that are tradition rich can get a huge load of players at certain positions, and in 2011, one of those positions happened to be at defensive end.  Scout.com keeps track of the date of the verbal commitment that each player announces to the public who they have verbally committed to.  Early on, the first two DE commitments were a couple of 3-star guys #66 and #50 in the nation at that position.  Then with less than a month before the National Letter of Intent Day, ND started reeling in the DE's in a large kind of way.  January 14, Notre Dame received a verbal commitment from the #4 guy overall, then the very next day received the commitment from the #2 DE overall bringing the position count to four.  Then, low and behold, two more days later, the #97 DE commits to the Fighting Irish, only to be outdone two more days later with, yet, another DE commitment from the #10 defensive end in the country.  Does one team need six defensive ends?  Yes!  In the same recruiting class?  Probably not, unless all the upperclassmen at that position suddenly died.  This scenario leaves me with no choice to give a Shrine Dog Award to one of them six defensive ends that kept his initial verbal commitment.  Do I choose the #50, 3-star from Florida?  He committed second, so he shouldn't feel bad, but he is coming from so far away only to be a practice dummy behind the three 5-stars that will play ahead of him.  Should I choose the #97, 3-star guy from Ohio?  Yes, Chase Hounshell could definitely deserve such an honor of Shrine Dog being the lowest ranked of the five (at the time) DE's that had committed.  Maybe, the Shrine Dog Award would go to #10, 5-star Stephon Tuitt because he is the sixth DE to commit in the same year for the same team who recruited three DE's the year before and traveling all the way from Georgia.  He may have a shot at a starting position in a few years.  I suppose he thinks he's better than the #2 and #4 DE's of that year.  I don't know!  Maybe both of the last two DE commits should each earn the award because they probably didn't consider if this is the best fit for them.  This is how it's done!  This is how it works!  The Shrine Dog Award will call them out and maybe someone will change their mind before it's too late, or just get the transfer papers filled out now if it is too late.

In the 2012 recruiting class, there are a few glaring Shrine Dog Award winners that leave people scratching their head.  In my opinion, the most obvious decision made by an incoming freshman is one of the seven defensive backs that committed to Texas Longhorns.  Two of the DB's are #'s 11 and 17 safeties in the nation, while the rest were cornerbacks.  Four of the CB's are in the top 21 in the nation and all 4-star athletes and all but one of them committed before January.  The fourth CB to commit to the Longhorns happened to be Kevin Vacarro, the #136, 2-star CB from the state of Texas.  The first sign that maybe committing to Texas would be the three 4-stars that are ranked way ahead of Kevin.  Then to see yet another top 18 CB committing a month later and seeing the two top 20 safeties committed as well would be a red flag for most.  However, Kevin dreamed of being a Longhorn since he knew how to hold a football, he didn't dare put the time in to research his chances of being able to actual "play" for the team in a game.  To make things worse, four top 21 DB's were recruited from the year prior (only one safety), and four top 15 DB's the year before that (only one CB).  Kevin didn't realize that the defensive backfield would have so much talent and depth only among the underclassmen alone?  C'mon!  Did Kevin even think to look into all the information about the team he chose and the position he plays and really consider this the best fit?  Based on the information I have, I would have to say no!  Congratulations, Kevin Vacarro!  You earned yourself a Shrine Dog Award!

I have to laugh a bit regarding a particular university in the 2013 recruiting year.  We saw a Mississippi State team recruit six wide receivers.  The final WR commitment came from a 4-star WR ranked #23 in all the country.  Maybe he should get the Shrine Dog Award, but I figured that one of the five 3-stars should get the reward.  I don't thinks it's wrong that one school should recruit six WR's in one recruiting class, but I take into consideration the past reputation of great quarterbacks.  I do not think of Mississippi State as a passing prowess team.  The Bulldogs have been known as a running team that pounds the ball down the throat of the opposing defenses, but passing?  Holy cow!  Who is making mistakes here?  Is it the athletes or is it the actual coaches thinking this is a good idea?  Maybe the Shrine Dog Award should go to the offensive recruiting team.  This scenario just makes me chuckle because it doesn't seem like a good fit for most of the athletes.  The positive thing is that there was only one 4-star athlete that was wasted at that school.

Finally, as the beginnings of the 2014 recruiting class begins to unfold into what could be an interesting recruiting year, I have focused on the top 30 running backs.  This is a skill position that the most talented RB's should take a close look at where a good fit would be based on whether the ultimate goal is getting to the level after college - mainly, the NFL.  First, I try to consider which schools really know how to turn out successful RB's into the NFL on a consistent level.  The recent schools I think of that have had success are schools like Miami, Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, California, and Tennessee, to name a few.  Then there are some universities that do a great job at making their running backs look really good in college, but not necessarily translating into NFL success are schools like USC, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Oregon, and West Virginia.  So, when the top athletes at the running back position look elsewhere to be the starters, that's all they'll be, the starters - nothing more.  They may struggle shining in certain programs that aren't known for their stellar RB play.

Let me start with the positive decisions that these young athletes have made and state the reason why I feel that those decision may be the best (or closest to the best) choice they could make as the top running backs in the nation according to scout.com.  First, the RB's that chose to stay close to home that will be playing in front of friends and family:  those are Joseph Yearby from Miami, committed to Miami; Jalen Hurd from Tennessee, committed to Tennessee; Bo Scarborough from Alabama, committed to Alabama; Parris Campbell from Ohio, committed to Ohio State, Dalvin Cook from Florida, committed from Florida; Jeffrey Jones from Minnesota, committed to Minnesota; Justin Jackson from Illinois, committed to Northwestern; Terence Williams from Texas, committed to Baylor; Donald Catalon from Houston, committed to Texas; Devon Thomas from Oklahoma, committed to Oklahoma State; Shaun Nixon from Austin, committed to Texas A&M; and Traevohn Wrench from Kansas, committed to Kansas.  I appreciate that these guys have chosen to stay near their homes and commend most of them for choosing wisely to make their mark at the next level.

Next, I will list those commitments that may not make much sense by seeing how much traveling those young men will be doing just to get to school.  These make less sense based on the information that I have, but there might be reasons of extended family members nearby the university or girlfriend or whatever unknown possibilities to choose where to play football.  These players are the following:  Sony Michel from Florida, committed to Georgia; Elijah Hood from North Carolina, committed to Notre Dame; Christian McCaffrey from Colorado, committed to Stanford; and Nick Wilson from California, committed to Arizona.  With Elijah Hood, I am assuming that he is committed to Notre Dame is because he attends a Catholic high school and would like to attend a Catholic college, so this may make some sense.  For Nick Wilson, Arizona doesn't always have a lot of great running backs within its state, so the Arizona schools must recruit hard in California for the best talent that is in very close proximity of the campus which makes some sense, too.  Now for Christian McCaffrey, the two main Colorado schools have not been real great at football as of late, and Christian may be very intelligent and searching to get a degree that he can use after football is all over, so Stanford makes sense.  It is tough to make the analysis on these athletes due to such randomness of choices; however, some universities like Notre Dame and Stanford are known for their ability to recruit nation-wide.

Finally, I would like to introduce the names, I feel, would make great candidates for the Shrine Dog Award for the running backs in the class of 2014.  I can't take any running back seriously when they are a top 30 RB in the nation and choose a university such as Minnesota, Florida, Northwestern, or Kansas.  Florida may surprise you to find itself here for me, but let me explain by saying that I can't remember when Florida had a great RB that rushed for over 1,000 in the season and just made an impact in the rugged SEC.  In the old Steve Spurrier days, the Gators were known for their high flying attack from great quarterbacks that flung the rock all day long.  The RB's are just used for short distance running and passing and didn't need someone super special carrying the pill.  Even lately, the best RB Florida has had was their QB who out-rushed everyone else on the team (Tim Tebow).  A true running back is not a luxury that Florida has had or they just haven't been able to utilize any talent at that position which would make playing for Florida as a highly touted RB a really unwise decision.  Minnesota?  Well, Minnesota hasn't had anyone special since their two best backs were sharing the field together back in 2003 and 2004 with Laurence Maroney and Marion Barber III, then Maroney shated duties with Gary Russell in 2005.  That's it!  Nobody since.  So, why (unless you're the biggest Gophers fan) would anyone choose Minnesota as a top 30 RB in the nation?  Same goes for Northwestern and Kansas.  Northwestern has had some flashes of great RB's in the past with stinky offensive lines that have still been able to get decent yards, but it's hard work.  Kansas is a school that doesn't stick out to me as a power football university.  I'm sure if I thought long enough and browsed through my college football magazines that date back to 1997, I might be able to name one or two Jayhawk RB's that made an impact at Kansas.  Now, with Charlie Weis as the new head coach and his ability to recruit was proven at Notre Dame, but also proven at Notre Dame was his ability to lose games as the head coach - and that was with excellent talent flooding in to play for the Fighting Irish not caring who the head coach was, but Kansas?  Wow!  That's one Jayhawk fan that will leave college his senior year with some possible regrets.

Before I crown Traevohn Wrench with the Shrine Dog Award for choosing Kansas, I would like to say that Traevohn is at least thinking that he is staying close to home and he will most likely be the starter within a year or two upon arriving on campus - if he doesn't make an immediate impact.  The unlikely candidate who I feel would be most deserving of this honor of one who is merely flattered by the scholarship offer and not looking thoroughly into what he is committing to is Bo Scarborough, who plans to attend Alabama.  It makes sense that a guy from Alabama who gets a scholarship offer from Alabama would just commit to Alabama.  That's in a perfect world, right?  Well, since when is it a perfect world?  If you dig a little deeper and find out who is currently on the running back roster for the Crimson Tide and who will be coming in the fall, Bo may have a change of heart.  Everybody knows that Eddie Lacy was the latest to pound his way through holes opened up by the beastly offensive line at Alabama who is now off to the NFL following his predecessors, Trent Richardson and Mark Ingram (who won the Heisman Trophy).  Eddie's backup last year was a true freshman, T.J. Yeldon.  Between Eddie and T.J., there never seemed to be much of a drop-off, if any, when one came out and the other went in throughout most of the season.  When Bo gets to Tuscaloosa, T.J. will only be a junior and playing for possibly his last year, but there was another RB recruited in the same class as T.J. (#8 in 2012), Kenyan Drake (#17), who may be competing for playing time.  They will have a senior, Dee Hart (#8 in 2011), that may have a chance at some playing time, as well.  Now the kicker is the 2013 class that will be sophomores or redshirt freshmen when Bo gets to Alabama, which brought in four top 15 RB's.  Let me repeat that - FOUR top 15 running backs were recruited in the class of 2013!  Not only will Bo be competing for playing time against the potential starter, T.J. Yeldon, but some talented backups in Dee Hart and Kenyan Drake, but the four guys one year ahead of him who include:  the #15 Tyren Jones, #14 Altee Tenpenny, #12 Alvin Kamara, and the #4 (5-star) Derrick Henry, who could plow over any linebacker and defensive end, standing at over 6'3" and weighing over 240 pounds.  Yes, Bo is currently the #7 RB in his class, but going up against a solid and deep backfield, I have to feel that Bo's early decision has not been a very good one and may not seem like the right fit for his football future.  There are many schools that tend to create great running backs that still make it to the NFL that Bo can choose from, so at this point, all is not lost (unless he stays committed to the Crimson Tide).  There you have it!  Congratulations, Bo!  At this time, as you remain committed to Alabama, you have the honor of receiving the Shrine Dog Award.

So, as I continue my search for a new home and try to find one that will actually be the right fit, there will continue to be the high school athletes that make decisions that will not make sense as far as the right fit with where they live and the position that they play and where they end up committing themselves.  I feel that these blue chip football players should try to do more research on where they are thinking about going and find out for himself whether it would be the right fit or continue looking at universities that would be a better fit.  Sometimes you just have to find it yourself and feel right about it.

The Shrine Dog Awards

I went to college at Southern Oregon State College (now Southern Oregon University) and have to admit that I never found too many of the serious students that attended classes and studied in the library daily and focused on all that was academic.  My time was spent going to classes and studying occasionally at the student union and focused on socialization and learning where the cute girls went on Friday and Saturday nights.  I know it doesn't sound real aspiring for someone about to begin their university studies without an idea of what to study, but it's tough not to learn something.  There are so many activities that students can be involved in, especially if they live in the dorms for a year or two, that at the very least one can learn much about oneself.  I participated in many extra curricular activities, such as; the Greek Games, pageants, talents shows (with zero talent), etc.  It was fun getting involved with the student body and campus activities!  One cool thing about college, is you can take sports classes and get actual credits for them, so I enjoyed taking volleyball classes all the time.  Then finally, I tried something really different that I never intended.  I had a friend in the residence halls that was a rugby player.  He and I became good friends and he encouraged me to come to rugby practices and try it.  So, I went, and I liked it.  I played for the SOSC rugby club for a while until a shoulder injury kept me out.  However, Kai and I remained close friends throughout the year and I learned things about him and his quirks.  The thing that stuck with me was that he was from Beaverton, Oregon, and he lived close to a Shriner's Hospital.  It's a weird thing to remember, but I found out when I asked him why he kept calling people a Shriner.  He would tell me and all who would listen that he escaped from the Shriner's Hospital and that's why he acted the way he did with an awkward gait and eyes crossed.  Sensitive people will get offended, but it was just Kai and who he was.  Since leaving college, I have adopted the term Shriner and mostly calling myself such a name.  These days, I'm known at work by some by the nickname, "Shrine Dog".  It is a term of endearment because my other nicknames would have to be edited out of this post.  So this is how the title has come about.

Now, the Shrine Dog Awards is not necessarily a term of endearment in the sense of my meaning.  This self-acclaimed award will be what I give to recruits coming out of high school who may make a decision to attend a university that wouldn't really make sense to anybody but the coach recruiting the young man.  Before I go into some examples of who would be ideal candidates for this award and why I feel they would deserve this honor, I want to make sure that every reader knows that this term and type of award is solely for poking fun and helping me keep track of those schools who horde players at certain positions.  I have no intentions of offending anyone because it would offend me above all else due to the nickname I have gained at work - and I don't think it wise to call an award after my given name (that may be even more offensive than most other things).  So, from here on out, when I mention "Shrine Dog Award" or "Shrine Dog Candidate", my readers will know from where it derives and the meaning behind it.

In conclusion, I will give one example from a couple years ago in the class of 2011.  There were some pretty good quarterbacks out there that year and the number one, according to Scout.com, was Jeff Driskel.  He was the man to get and the Florida Gators picked him up.  Well, the National Letter of Intent day arrived and passed and Mr. Driskel signed his letter of intent and waiting to be the next starter for the Gators.  Then, a few days after the NLI day, the number nine guy, Jacoby Brissett, wanted to finally end all speculation to sign his letter of intent.  Now, instead of signing on with the school that his mother begged him to sign with (Miami Hurricanes), who did not have a single quarterback sign with them that year and hadn't had a quality signal caller in a few years, Mr. Brissett signed on to Florida.  My thought immediately was, "Get your transfer papers ready, Jacoby."  Why would you sign on to a team that already has the number one guy in your class if you want to play and start for that team?  At the time, it did not make sense.  Even now, with Jacoby not with Florida anymore, it makes less sense.  So, for me, Jacoby Brissett is a Shrine Dog Award winner.  He should have listened to his mother and signed with Miami.  Someone needs to educate these high school kids about these huge decisions in life that may make a huge difference in their future.  So, if any of my readers have access to influence any of these highly sought after young men, I will be around to call them out to give them a Shrine Dog Award if they have not thought carefully and analyzed their decision of where to spend their college football career.  This decision making is not something new and I don't see it going away as I look at the 2013 class and the makings of the 2014 class shaping up.  I have some awards to pass out and you will be able to read them in my future blog posts.

There's No Such Thing As East Coast Bias

Just a little over a week ago, my family and I returned from visiting Oahu, Hawaii, for about a week. It was amazing! It was all and more that I ever dreamed Hawaii would be. I'm not sure if it was the palm trees in the skyline that reminded me of my fond months in the Dominican Republic, or the tolerable weather that allowed us to do whatever we wanted, or the shallow waters in the coves and beaches that took you into the native fish inhabitants, or the warm ocean water that you could spend the whole day and night in, or the fine sand that felt like walking in flour on some beaches of the west part of the island, or the breathtaking panoramic views of sheer mountains with green vegetation lying so close to the infinite waters of blue, or the numerous visions of beautiful people - male and female, or the many stops to learn about history and different cultures.

I can't really pinpoint one thing that made our vacation so wonderful, but I feel sorry for all my future vacations because they will never measure up - unless it is a trip back to the islands in the Pacific without children. Only because I'm a guy and have a one-track mind, Hawaii - especially Oahu - had me thinking of one thing and wishing that my kids would be left behind. It's a little embarrassing and difficult to mention on a blog, but I have to admit, the environment in Honolulu gave me a bad desire. Well, it was just... I needed, uh... I had to see the Aloha stadium and buy me a University of Hawaii hat. Every Wednesday and Saturday (when there's not a home game), the Aloha stadium hosts a swap meet with hundreds of vendors selling all sorts of trinkets and clothes and jewelry. I was able to get a great deal on a lei and feel the vibes of football around the stadium. It was so great! I wasn't there just to do some bargain shopping on tourist items, but to be close to a college football stadium with a rich history of some great games. Later, I bought a U of H hat at the Navy Exchange Mall for under ten bucks. My trip was complete! Oh, I suppose the seafood dish at Duke's Canoe Club on Waikiki beach was nice, too.

So, with that Warriors hat on my head and fresh memories of the Samoan at the Polynesian Cultural Center that had me rolling from laughter during the entire presentation, I wondered to myself, "Why don't football teams from the East Coast come play Hawaii in Hawaii?" It seems that Hawaii plays some of the teams on the other side of the Mississippi River, but the Warriors have to do the traveling, usually. For the University of Hawaii to have an away game, they travel by plane for 4-6 hours just to get to the mainland - let alone, to get to their actual destination. What a huge disadvantage for them! There are so many schools in the east that really don't have to travel very far to play quality opponents.

Speaking of quality opponents, I've been looking at the preseason rankings by the AP and the Coaches' polls. It sure seems that voters believe that the only quality opponents are found in the east. I figured with the addition of two more teams in the newly formed Pacific 12 conference, that there may be an increase of one school placed in the preseason polls' top 25. History shows that there will be 3-4 teams from the Pac-10 that would be honored in the top 25 of the preseason; so logically, expecting 4-5 Pac-12 schools to be in it seemed reasonable. Boy was I wrong! In the AP poll, they were generous to put USC in the 25 spot to give the Pac-12 a whopping THREE teams in the top 25. Unfortunately, the Coaches' poll can't vote for USC until they have paid their debt to the sanctions gods, because the coaches seem to think that there are only two teams worthy to be in the top 25 from the Pac-12. Are you kidding me? I looked a little more in depth and found that the ACC, surprisingly, was treated the same with two teams from their 12-school conference made it in the top 25. The Big East made one team. Dang! The Mountain West Conference even got two! What the heck is wrong with the Pac-12, ACC, and Big East? Well, they sure are not the other three major conferences because the 12-teamed Big Ten conference has 4 and 5 teams in the top 25, while the 10-teamed Big XII has 4 and 5 schools in the top 25 (half the conference in the Coaches' poll). However, nobody can out-due the huge representation that the "top conference in the nation" has with 75% of it's 12 members in the top 25 preseason polls. Actually, that's not entirely true. They have 8 of the 12 schools in the top 23! With that many teams in the top 23 and only two of those teams playing competitive teams to open their season, while the unranked SEC schools start their seasons playing teams like; Elon, Western Kentucky, Montana, and BYU, there could potentially be 11 SEC schools in the top 25 polls after week one.

Now we can truly see what a horrible strength of schedule the Pac-12 has with only two ranked teams. What a bunch of cupcakes! The definition of powerhouse IS the SEC. Every week of conference games displays at least two ranked teams for each game - probably three in some instances - to demonstrate the grossly under-rated strength of schedule that each SEC school has. No wonder the non-conference slate has to include schools like Elon, Coastal Carolina, Samford, Southern Illinois, UT Martin, Missouri State, Northwestern State, Western Kentucky, North Texas, Georgia Southern, The Citadel, Furman, Buffalo, Montana, and Jacksonville State. Those are necessities when ALL your conference games are against ranked opponents. That puts a lot of wear and tear on your team week in and week out. No other conference experiences that. Surely, there could never be any talk about playing a nine conference game season like the Pac-12 does and what the Big Ten will start doing in 2013. That would be immediate overload for each SEC team and make it impossible for any team to come out unscathed and undefeated to play for the national title 19 seasons straight. No way! (OK! You may have sensed a little sarcasm in the last paragraph- actually I intended for the whole paragraph to be sarcastic!)

That's right! The major media and poll voters are drinking a lot of that SEC Kool-Aid to give a huge number of schools in the conference the "vote" of confidence that they will all have winning seasons to play in a bowl no matter what the teams are bringing in from the previous year. However, all I see in the polls is the lack of equal distribution and focus on other worthy and deserving teams that have actually shown signs of growth and improvement in the past years that keeps the spotlight shining bright in one area of the country that has definitely earned its recognition in the football world. Although the SEC has been the dominant conference for several years straight, the voters need to focus on their responsibilities as representatives of a national voting process, not just a southern or eastern American voting process. Do some homework BEFORE you vote! Don't just vote trendy and popular!

With the lack of equal distribution of the nation's teams, it is glaringly obvious that the strength of schedule will overwhelmingly be in favor of the SEC. Even if LSU and Georgia lose their openers against Oregon and Boise State, respectively, they won't drop far (if at all) in the polls because they play highly ranked teams while the other ranked SEC schools play easy games and get wins to "justify" the votes. Then you look at the ACC and Pac-12 conferences and will notice the strength of schedule will perceive to be very easy because nobody is ranked in those conferences. How absurd! How do you ignore the fact that Arizona State may have the best defense in its conference and not get enough votes to be in the top 25? I see that Sports Illustrated gets it by having ASU clear up at #17 in their college preview magazine. Unfortunately, I don't think SI gets any say in what the strength of schedule will be for the year.

I implore the voters to do homework before they make their votes! I say this because either the majority of the voters are ignorant about football or they didn't look into the teams' stats and facts very thoroughly before deciding that a team or two may be great. I have some serious question marks regarding several teams and why they would be good enough to be considered in the top 25. My initial question is,"Why is Arkansas ranked so high (or at all)?" Sure they had a great season last year only to fall to Ohio State in the Sugar bowl, but they lost three offensive linemen who protected the departed Ryan Mallett. How do you replace Ryan Mallett? Sure, Tyler Wilson will have all the same top four receivers from a year ago, but he has zero starting experience. Even in mop-up duty for Ryan, Wilson threw 3 interceptions with only 4 TD's. That ratio has to change dramatically for Wilson to be close to Mallett who went 8-5 in '09. Tyler needs to pray now that his three new starters on the line will come together quickly to protect him. All these things come to mind for me and don't tell me, "Yes! Arkansas is definitely number 14 in the nation." C'mon! Really? Only two starting linemen back and no Ryan Mallett? Now to make things worse, the SEC leading rusher, Knile Davis, was lost for the season to put a ton of pressure on Arkansas' other running backs to help block and catch and take the pressure off the first-time starting QB. Hmm. Is Arkansas a questionable call? I think so.

Another questionable call is voting Auburn anywhere in the top 25. This is the defending national champs, yes, but their team was depleted by graduation and the NFL draft. Auburn has recruited supremely well the last couple years; however, when any team returns two or three offensive players and three defensive players, the outlook is very grim. Auburn lost offensive star and Heisman trophy winner, Cam Newton, AND defensive star, Nick Fairly, who basically won the national title for the Tigers in January. You don't just plug in eight new starters on offense and defense, each, and expect to be a top 25 squad. I don't care if you just won the title or not. You will NOT repeat with those statistical challenges. Urban Meyer or Nick Saban can't do it, so Gene Chizik will not be able to do it, either. Auburn will be out of the top 25 after week two when Mississippi State destroys and humiliates them on their home field. (Mississippi State should be ranked higher!) So, why were there so many votes for Auburn? Homework for the voters?

Another questionable school that hails from the almighty conference of the SEC would be the Florida Gators. This is a team that went 8-5 last year under Urban Meyer. They struggled at running back and quarterback and the decent defense loses 7 of the top 9 tacklers from a year ago. Although Florida has recruited amazingly at defense, they still return only four starters from last year. This will force these young freshmen and sophomores to go through some serious growing pains to gain experience. The best scenario, the young guys will gel by the end of the season and be really good, but I see it more like next year for a full season working together to make a defensive impact in the SEC. This year? Nope! Plus, Urban Meyer, arguably the best young coach ever, has left the university and Florida replaced his head coaching resume for a stellar defensive coordinator of a different program, who doesn't have a head coaching resume. More growing pains? Yes! Will Muschamp's defense may fair better than the head coach this year. It's not easy to jump from D-coordinator to Head Coach (and that's merely mentioning those that were already in the system, not to mention a completely different conference entirely)! So, to statistically and logically consider Florida a top 25 team in the nation, is pure ignorance of the sport. If Urban Meyer was still at the helm, then it makes sense to have Florida at #22, but a brand new head coach? Dumb!

I must mention another questionable call on the highly touted top 25 list from the SEC. As much as I love Georgia and Mark Richt, they did not have a good season at all. Only because they won a home game against Idaho State were they able to participate in a bowl game and lost to Central Florida. Mark Richt was among the top five coaches mentioned with "hot seat" throughout the entire off season. However, the Bulldogs are not falling any farther! Last year was definitely the cellar of where Georgia will go. They go up from there. How far up is still to be determined. So, to put an unknown team, that went 6-7 last year, into the preseason top 25 for this year makes me wonder what the heck people are thinking. I would LOVE to see Coach Richt take his Bulldogs to the SEC championship game this year, but he is returning five offensive starters and seven defensive starters and replacing most of the departed starters with freshmen and sophomores and junior college (JUCO) transfers. How can a voter put that much confidence into that knowledge and place that team in the top 25? I don't get it! Speaking of sophomores for Georgia, Aaron Murray will be the bright spot on the offense by being the best QB in the conference this year. He will need a ton of help losing his top two targets (including AJ Green) and will rely on true freshman, Isaiah Crowell, to take over the rushing duties and the three new starters on the line will have to step up rapidly! What does this recipe smell like? It's not a preseason top 25 voting, but it is potential. Potential doesn't equal one of the best teams in the nation, though.

So, I mentioned four SEC teams that "earned" a place among the preseason top 25 that I feel the voters have done them a disservice by placing them somewhere they don't belong. Then again, who does? It's all relative and speculative and based on future expectations because we haven't seen anybody on the field against an opponent yet. However, if you have the responsibility to vote for the nation's best football teams, then you have the responsibility to do it right and research the topic at hand to most accurately represent the universities that actually have a chance at staying within the top 25 - not who is currently trendy and cool. There are too many teams from the SEC that are in the 2011 preseason top 25 AP and Coaches' polls. It is ridiculous!

I've mentioned four schools that shouldn't be in the preseason polls, so now I will call on a few teams that were maybe mentioned with a couple votes or less that I feel should get more national attention due to what they've done and what they are bringing back to start a new season. I've already mentioned one: Arizona State. They have gradually been building a stout defense around the nasty, Vontaze Burfict, who is now a junior that has a knack for the location of the ball. The quarterback has plenty of experience and standing at 6'8", he'll be able to see well over the four returning starting linemen. The receiving corps got a boost with Oregon transfer, Aaron Pflugrad. Arizona State lost by 1 point against both Wisconsin and USC last year. Dennis Erickson is not new to head coaching with some impressive wins during his time at Miami. This squad should be in the top half of the league this year.

Another team that is barely on the list of vote receivers, is Northwestern. This is NOT a trendy pick! They are not flashy and popular. They are just outright getting better! They return an amazing QB in Dan Persa who touted a ridiculous 73.5% completion last year and rushed for over 500 yards. The top tailback returns along with seven other starters from a year ago. The sacks leader, Vince Browne, returns at his defensive end spot. They went to a bowl each of the last three years and went 7-6 and are just getting started and will improve.

Tulsa is another team that should be considered with a very potent offense that ranked #5 in total offense last year. They went 10-3 and if the defense improves, they will easily get to 10 wins again this year. The QB-receiver combo of G.J. Kinne to Damaris Johnson will be something to watch. We'll get a taste of what they can do when they open up their season at Norman, OK, September 3rd. The Sooners will start the tough road of non-conference games for Tulsa.

You can't rule out June Jones and what he's done at SMU. They have improved dramatically winning at least 7 games in each of the last two years and return 10 offensive starters and eight defensive starters. SMU had their first 8-win season since the mid-'80's before the "Death Penalty" was enforced. Watch for them to take off!

The Orange from Syracuse have seemingly become significant out of the blue. The defense has become very stout over the course of last season and they return eight of their offensive starters. This could very well be a team that went 8-5 last year to a 10-win season this year. Last year's winning record was the first since 2001 for Syracuse.

As great as it would be to have your entire favorite conference in the preseason top 25 polls, it sure doesn't make any sense because it shuts out the rest of the nation when there's more parity in D-IA football now than there ever has been. I think that I have reasonably explained why at least four of the SEC teams should not be ranked in the top 25; although, the 2010 season ended with six SEC schools finishing in the top 25 spots in the AP poll (but still, eight? Before a game has been played yet?). I'm really and generally concerned about the voters of these polls and makes me wonder about the integrity of their responsibility to the college football fans out there that take the polls so literally. I'm sure it evens out (mostly) as the season progresses; however, it gives a clear advantage over a particular conference or area of the country when it comes to strength of schedule which is based on pure speculation when all teams have a 0-0 record. So, I'll just sit here quiet and contemplate those beaches of Oahu, feeling the energy from the Aloha stadium, while the season passes on and the SEC schools trickle out of the polls slowly while the Pac-12 and ACC teams have to actually earn their way slowly into the polls.

Tailgating Is So....

Week 1 in NCAA college football is behind us with so many questions still unanswered regarding the 120 teams in Division 1. Now, if you've read any of my prior posts, you know that I can't always get straight into football talk. Something on my mind lately is how old I'm getting. To some, I'm still a young pup; however, to most, I'll be entering mid-life crisis shortly. The other day, I went to the eye doctor (very young, attractive woman without glasses) and she mentioned something like, "you're getting to the age..." and that's all I heard. It was a blow to the ego (that was never there to begin with) after noticing a cute smirk on her face with hopes of her thinking I looked young for my age. That's okay because I took my astigmatism in my right eye straight to the outdoor gear store to get some shoe strings for my boots that I haven't been able to wear for about a year to prove to myself that a guy "getting to the age" can still be active - even though I don't look it. Well, the young thing that helped me there is lucky to be legal to drink, but was very willing to help me find the proper laces for my boots. She actually suggested to get small, round climbing rope for better strength, better knots, and better price. She was a genius! So, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and put her to the test on purchasing the proper backpacking pack. Again, she impressed and wasn't too proud to get close enough to measure my back for frame size - even someone "getting to the age" with a astigmatism. I might have to go back in there to show her my new look with her laces to show my appreciation (I'd like to get that pack, too).

Then, a few days ago, I went to the library to see if they had this fairly popular book. I looked for a bit and realized that I didn't know the title nor the name of the author. Instead of leaving immediately, I stayed and looked around thinking that something I saw would jar my memory and remember the name of the book. Well, I'm still puzzled to this day and can't figure out how I'm going to get the name of that blasted book. I wasted an hour, I think. So, I'm getting astigmatisms AND I'm losing my mind. I guess my steel trap mind is no longer letting things back in or something. Am I really getting that old?

This age thing has gotten me thinking of tailgating of all things. Strange, huh? Maybe that's an age thing, too. So, my best friend from high school is having his 40th birthday this fall. Each year he goes to Corvallis to tailgate before the Oregon State game at Reeser Stadium. Fortunately for him, there have been three years straight that the Beavers have had a home game the weekend of his birthday. I have tailgated only a time or two with other non-drinkers, so I don't know what to expect when I get to Corvallis to surprise my buddy at the game around lots of people drinking. Am I too old and boring to feel like I might not enjoy it? I'm sure it all depends on where you are tailgating, so the atmosphere may be more pleasant than imagined. I have all these thoughts of tailgating and what it must be like for someone much younger than myself and how it may be a different experience entirely. I'm sure that tailgating in the Southeast would be spectacular with tons of fans to chat football and the co-eds everywhere, like; LSU, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, or Ol' Miss. Plus, I would love to experience the game atmosphere at places like those in the Southeast, or storied programs like Michigan, Texas, Ohio State, Miami, Notre Dame, Nebraska, or USC.

So, when I head to Corvallis this fall, I will have to go with an open mind and minimal expectations of "how to" tailgate. I will be positive because there will be the love of the game all around me which will drown any concerns. Maybe I will need to be careful not to get carried away by enjoying myself too much. I suppose that could happen. I mean, it is an OSU game, so any school that is a State University would provide fun for any young guy trying to hang out with some pretty girls. It would be easy to approach a said pretty girl and say, "I need U!" Obviously, there would be a puzzled look on the young girl's face, "You need me?!?" Judging by how she says the word "YOU", the quick fix would be, "Yes! I have the 'O' on my chest, my buddy over there has the 'S' on his, so we're looking for someone to put on the 'U'." Innocent enough, right? Why not? Then if things seem to progress some, you could play a bit and say something like, "Ya know, I think your 'S' is better than my buddy's - he should be the 'U'." I'm sure you would need to be careful saying "S" to keep it "innocent", still. I guess if I were younger, I would want to tailgate every week. Whoever invented it is amazing! The keys seem to be bringing your spirit and don't be a jerk to the fans of the opponent. That's another cool thing about tailgating - mingling with the "enemy". When I went to a Huskies game in Seattle a couple years ago, they were playing Ohio State and the majority of the fans were really great and cordial. I loved that! I don't think anybody should make a butt of themselves at a cool place like a football game.

Pending that I'm not getting too old to tailgate, I am really looking forward to the game in Corvallis (even though Oregon State is not the preferred team to travel to). Time seems to be at a stand-still, but now that the games have actually begun, it will pass a little more rapidly. So, if anyone has any advice for me regarding tailgating or how to act in enemy territories or how to age more gracefully, please, I invite you to respond and I would welcome your advice.

Preseason Football Predictions

Way back in time, during those crazy years in college in Southern Oregon, there was a time of year that many students longed for and got so excited about and made huge plans to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend. It's nearing us as I write, so it has brought to mind some of the mysteries and energy that the mere thought would bring to me long, long ago. Along the Interstate 5 (I-5), about 10 miles north of the California border lays a small college in Ashland, Oregon, named Southern Oregon University. In my days of attendance, it was Southern Oregon State College, known for the Shakespearean Festival, liberally-minded free spirits, the rugby club, criminal justice program, the Mt. Ashland ski swap, and many parties. For Memorial Day weekends, it was a time to go out in the nice weather and pack up for a road trip to Lake Shasta, California. For many, large groups got together and rented house boats for the weekend to float around the lake during the day and dock on the banks at night. For others, in smaller, more intimate groups, people would get a hotel or maybe use a tent and camp somewhere along the lake's shores. No matter how you stayed there, there would always be more skin and alcohol anyone would ever need to see in a whole lifetime. I recall getting so excited each year after that initial visit to Lake Shasta with most universities within 2-3 states away were represented. It was an opportunity to meet so many people from all over, and I do recommend carrying a small puppy, if you like girls stopping you to pet your dog - (borrow one if you have to).

One particular year, I was depressed thinking about how I wouldn't be able to make it to Shasta. However, a friend of mine from the rugby team, Kai, decided to just go and not really plan - and fly by the seat of our pants (shorts). So, we did. I got so excited to think about Lake Shasta and meeting new people and spending time with a good friend along the way. We didn't have a tent or arrangements for a house boat, so we decided to just sleep in the car the three nights. Great plan! (Just kidding.) To make a long story short, we happened upon other "car travelers" from our school that we knew and decided to try to find out together where all the house boats were going to dock for the night so we could hang out with tons of people and listen to the band that usually plays on top of one of the boats. Then we met up with "the car". It was a small car full of three California girls. Kai and I didn't get to talk to them initially, but the other guy from our school stopped them to convince them to look for boats with us. We couldn't find the boats, so we decided to take a break and cool off in the water a bit. I'm so glad we did because I was able to witness the most amazing sight of my life - to that point. One of those three girls was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, indescribable thing that I couldn't even find in my dreams. Everything about her was perfect! I was never very outgoing or confident with the ladies, so this one was so intimidating that I couldn't look at her while she was appearing to look in my direction at all. I'm sure I seemed like a shy, bashful school boy surrounded by teasing girls. While I was out in the water and she was sunbathing on the sand, I could get a glimpse of her elegant form when she was talking with one of her friends (looking away, of course). Then, she noticed my badly burned back from the day before and kindly offered to put lotion on my skin. Oh my! She spoke to me! Sigh! And sigh again! What a sweet, sweet angel! Then I got even more nervous because all I could think about was whether or not the red skin would hide the zits on my back. I panicked! Would she talk to me again if she sees my zits? Will she stop rubbing the lotion? I can't bare the thought of the embarrassment! So, I clumsily declined the offer and almost immediately began kicking myself in the head and haven't stopped since for blatantly denying myself the simple pleasure of the most beautiful girl rubbing lotion on MY back. Later, when we were all parting and saying goodbye, I tried to muster up the courage to look at her and ask if I could call on her, even though we lived so far apart. I failed again. I watched that little car drive off as the most dejected, lonely person on earth. I was a loser! My excitement for Lake Shasta would never be the same. The kinks in my neck after sleeping across the front seats of Kai's car were that much worse than they would have been with a small bit of lotion absorbing into my back. The extremes of feelings about those few hours left such an impression that till this day, I am still affected by those emotions. I was too consumed with my vanity of a few zits rather than being confident and taking a chance of a really hot girl actually liking me. I'll never know because I didn't seize the opportunity. Ah, Memorial Day weekends!

So, my enthusiasm for Memorial Day is about the same these days as it was when I was a young buck. Being married and with small children doesn't get me excited about house boats and meeting interesting sorority girls; however, it is that time of year that allows college football sports writers ample time, after spring practices have wrapped up, to put down some predictions of the fall and the upcoming college football season and blessing us with those wonderful preseason annuals. I get so giddy and anxious! May seems to be the longest month of the whole year. Once the bowl games are finished in January, the next day is Cinco de Mayo and spring is blooming in the air, then the next day is... May 6th! Then the 7th! Then the 8th! Does it really have to go by so slowly? How can I buy a preseason college football annual if it is still May? C'mon!

The magazines are a bit expensive, but I feel I get my money's worth by how much I go through them before the first ball is kicked off in August. I've been buying the Athlon college football annual since 1997 and love it every year! It is usually the first one in the stores. Now days with the Internet, I get a little glimpse of what the annuals are going to talk about and what the top 25 looks like. It's like eating one Salt and Vinegar potato chip (my favorite) - that tangy vinegar hits the taste buds and it's all over trying to resist additional chips. That's where I find myself on the Athlon web site, waiting one day at a time to count down the top 25. I read the current day's team and need to read more. Today it is Oregon at #9. Well, who rounds off the rest of the top 10? Is Alabama going to be anything other than #1? How many Pac-10 teams will be in the top 10? I just gotta know! I get so excited wanting to know! But I have to wait until June. Sigh! And sigh again!

As of today, with 10 more days left in the month of May, I was able to scrounge up three websites that give me a little bit of information before I buy their annuals. I mentioned Athlon Sports with their daily countdown (not weekends) to the top 25, having 25 to 9 now. The Sporting News has their preseason annual on sale now with the many regional covers being offered online, with a small little part giving their top five. Phil Steele has a great website, but he likes his daily top 33 and has only the first four or so teams, so hasn't even touched the top 25 yet. Then there is Lindy's who just put out the entire list of their preseason top 25. I love it! Most of them will predict the top 5 teams or so nearly the same; for instance, Lindy's and Sporting News have Alabama at number one, then they each have Boise State and Ohio State at 2 and 3, 3 and 2, respectively. Then they each have Florida placed at #5, while #4 for each is completely different. Lindy's has Texas at #4 and Sporting News has Miami at the four position. Miami at number four seems pretty generous right now because Lindy's has that same team ranked at 20 and Athlon has the 'Canes at 14.

I can't stand the anticipation of having those magazines in my hands, and writing this piece on it makes it worse for me! I'm thrilled about the thought of placing each magazine in its own plastic cover, like the ones you see at a doctor's office. The protective cover makes them last so much longer because they would get pretty wrinkled up in my back pack, otherwise. I use the annuals to gather information and collect my own thoughts to derive my own top 25 theories for the season. Some magazines tend to put more emphasis on a particular conference or two and a lot less on the others, which is where some of the bias of strength of schedule begins to factor in the whole season. I'm looking at the Athlon preseason rankings, for instance. We don't know who they will put in from 1-8 yet, but they already have four teams from the Southeastern Conference (LSU (24), Auburn (22), Arkansas (17), and Georgia (15)). Nobody in their right mind and knows even a little bit of current college football will not have Florida and Alabama on their top 10 list, so that will make a whopping 6 teams from the SEC in a preseason ranking from Athlon. Half of the conference makes the list! Wow! That must mean that it is an excellent conference! (Sarcasm!) They haven't even played a game yet and the computers will look at those rankings and say that all the teams within that conference must all play really tough schedules because half of the conference is found within the top twenty-five. On the other hand, the computers will notice that the Pac-10 is not represented in the top 25 very well, unless USC and another school can sneak in the top eight teams together, and those computers will say that any team in the Pac-10 has a weak schedule due to this list of rankings.

What if I were one of those infamous writers and decided to put all the Big East teams at the top and nobody from the SEC in my top 25 teams? Then it would appear that if Pitt loses only one game during the season, they would be playing for the national title. I'm not saying that Pitt would be far off this year if they qualified to play for the title, but because their whole conference would be ranked boosting the strength of schedule. How would that role reversal affect the nation? A question from my thoughts: Do the writers rank so many SEC schools in the preseason purposely to boost the strength of schedule because they know that the non-conference strength of schedule for nearly all the teams in the SEC are ridiculously terrible? Yes, you have Florida vs. Florida State or Georgia vs. Georgia Tech or South Carolina vs. Clemson every year, but in the Pac-10 they would call that a conference game - every year.

Memorial Day is approaching - slowly - and my excitement can hardly be contained. I feel like I'm anticipating a Lake Shasta visit that can't get here fast enough. So, I leave with a bit of advice: 1) Formulate your own top 25 by combining all the information available from the preseason annuals that will come out soon, and 2) Be confident and don't lose out on your moments in life, but don't get carried away because either extreme will cause regrets.

Harris Poll Bias

When I was a young lad in high school, there were few words that really stood out as I studied English to increase my vocabulary; however, one of those words sticks with me still to this day - "superfluous", meaning: extra, not needed or necessary. There are some things in life that can be described by this word - yes, even in college football, which I would have thought to be impossible until I ponder on the following thoughts on the subject of polls. I thought the whole idea of a poll, starting after the college football season has began to pan out with most non-conference play in the past and some conference games under way, were to reduce any pre-season hype/expectations and other poll influences that are not involved in the BCS. Looking at this week's Harris Poll has achieved nothing more than an additional look of the AP and Coaches' polls. There are so few differences between the Harris Poll and the AP, Coaches', and even the Legends' polls that it makes me wonder if the AP and Coaches' polls are so influential and dictate the state and direction of college football rankings, that the voters for the Harris and Legends polls are too scared to vote completely different from the grand-daddies of polls.

Now, I love the idea of the Legends Poll and think that they would have a better grasp of who should be ranked or not; however, they have no say in the ultimate outcome of the development of all the BCS bowl games like the Harris Poll does. The Harris Poll has all this power over the schools' football programs and I feel like they are not taking it seriously enough to show the proper respect that some schools deserve and freely giving respect to certain squads that don't necessarily deserve the respect that they are getting right now. In the BCS, it is all about the "right now" in performance of all the teams across the nation. What's your record right now? Did you win right now, or did you lose? How tough is your schedule right now? How tight did you play your most difficult games so far, or did you struggle against the weakest opponents? The Harris Poll was set up, in my kindergarten understanding of the poll, to help even out who has demonstrated quality football and to reward the teams that have done so and point out those teams who may seem over-rated in the other polls that have not demonstrated a justifiable higher ranking.

There are a couple "red flags" that make me question the integrity and validity of the Harris Poll, and we are a mere five weeks into the season. The first one I see is a 2-2 team at #20. Does it really matter what team it is? I don't think so. If you are a .500 team, do you really feel like you should be ranked in the top 25? This is so absurd! There are teams that are in the six major conferences that are 5-0 and 4-0 that are ranked lower that the 2-2 team. Is this for real? Does this really demonstrate an un-biased look at the top teams in the nation? Anyone who knows what a statistic is when they see it, knows that a 2-2 team has NOT demonstrated themselves better than a 5-0 team. Obviously, the voters in the Harris Poll have yet to see a statistic, which is very frightening for those teams that had to go 5-0 to get a glimpse into the top 25's elite status because it is apparent that it's not what you've done on the field, but who you are and what you've done in the past and what is expected from you by your alumni. Now, if this particular 2-2 team went on to win the rest of their games to finish 11-2, then I can see a top 20 showcase, but this early on, I have to suspect some foul play going on. Either that, or the voters for this very powerful Harris Poll are just not paying attention to college football and the games that were played the week prior because it just doesn't make sense.

Another "red flag" of inadequacy of voters who supposedly are not biased, is the fact that Florida is #1 with the schedule they have played so far. Really?!? Two conference games, yes, but against unranked teams (one had just lost to a Pac-10 team the week before (gasp!)). The other two wins were against Troy (no, not the USC Trojans - just Troy Trojans) and the well-known (sarcasm) Charleston Southern! Is that so impressive to put a team at #1? I'm confused. Why wouldn't an Alabama team be #1 instead? They have actually played teams that are significant this year, and won those games. Even the undefeated Iowa squad has played a more difficult schedule than the Gators, but they find themselves at #11. Is it really so hard to look at things at an unbiased view to get it correct "right now"? Of course the rankings will change as the teams' records change with some ranked teams losing and some teams improving throughout the year. I can't stress the "right now" enough. My Harris Poll would look completely weird compared to the AP and Coaches' polls, especially knowing that I had all that power over the outcome of the fate of so many teams in the nation. I would take it totally serious and think things through and take everything into account before I followed the previous week's AP Poll standings. Until the Harris Poll voters get it right to correct the BCS just a little bit of the flawd system, then the Harris Poll will be nothing but superfluous!