Now, maybe I’m old school in this way, but I thought the Olympics were all about Us vs. Them. The one time every couple of years that we put aside all this world economy stuff, and set out to prove that our athletes are better, our facilities are better, and our way of doing things is better. Right? I mean, that’s what I grew up thinking, and not just because I watched Rocky IV a few hundred times. Ivan Drago my ass.

But…how does that work if everybody is training over here? Are they pretty much admitting that we have the best of everything? Did we lure the best coaches from all around the world? Or maybe they just like living here? So, what is it that they are representing? A place where they were born? A place with inferior facilities and methods? Because let’s face it, great athletes are often separated by very small margins, and those margins are often created by superior facilities and methods.

We already have competitions to determine the best athletes from the United States. You can compete in those every year. Why wait for the Olympics?

I’d spend some time telling you that college football is the best sport in all the world, but you already know that. And I’d go on and on about the sights and sounds of the season, and how fall is the best time of the year, but you’d only agree with me. So, I’ll skip to the part about the Aggies.

Texas A&M had a rough start in the new millennium, but things appear to be pointed in the right direction as Coach Fran enters his 3rd season as head coach. File this under stuff you didn’t know, but Kyle Field is the largest football stadium in the state of Texas, and was named the #1 college football stadium in the nation. Crap on that Bevo. And, unlike some schools (with the worst “fans” in the nation), Aggies don’t boo their players when the going gets rough.

I’m adrift in a sea of t.u. face painters. Also known as jock sniffers. I’m not sure where these guys were in the early 90’s when A&M was mopping the floor with the shorthorns, but a massive superiority complex doesn’t require a good memory. And everything IS bigger in Texas. The university in Austin is a great school, but I’d be ashamed to call myself a “fan” of the football team. These guys make Philadelphia Eagles fans look friendly and accommodating. Order your Tuck Fexas shirts now.

This is an actual conversation I had at work this week with three tea-sips of the usual loudmouth variety. See if you can follow the logic.

Them: The Aggies only won all those games in the 90’s because they had a coach that cheated.

Me: What? You mean Jackie Sherrill? Yeah, he definitely bypassed a few NCAA rules, but he left after the 1988 season. Show me a program that hasn’t been in trouble for something. Besides, R.C. Slocum was the coach during the 90’s when they were the 5th winningest program in college football, and he ran a clean program.

Them: Yeah, but it’s not the 90’s anymore.

Me: What does that have to do with what you originally said?

Them: Haha…CHEATERS!!!

I’m currently leading our seventy person bowl pool. You can hold the congratulations as we’re only nine games in, but I’d like to thank Wyoming and Fresno State for engineering the two largest upsets of the bowl season, and securing my early lead. Based on this, I feel qualified to offer a few thoughts on the process that I may not be qualified to offer after the dust settles on January 4th.

One of the many problems with the bowl system is the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) and the travishamockery it makes out of trying to determine a legitimate national champion. It doesn’t help that it’s largely based on biased human polls (which I’ll get to in a minute) and wildly different computer models that may or may not include the strength of schedule component. Mack Brown spent a week whining about being shafted by the system and a few AP voters bumped Texas ahead of California and into the Rose Bowl for the first time in history. And what did Cal do to deserve the hand? They went down to Southern Miss, and only won by ten points in a hostile environment, under an enormous amount of pressure. Did people somehow forget the last second miracle Texas needed to knock off Kansas in the second to last game of the regular season? I guess some AP voters consider the Jayhawks world beaters, and the Golden Eagles chumps. Is that right? Want to know which team won an (admittedly extraneous) bowl game this year? Maybe the AP turncoats thought they were voting in the basketball poll.

The Associated Press poll problems can mostly be attributed to regional bias. People can float all sorts of theories about the votes going against Texas this year, but when push came to shove, it was Texas writers that helped send Texas to the Rose Bowl. Isn’t it enough that one local journalist declares before each Texas game that he expects they will “run wild” over their opponent? Hell, the Austin television media usually ONLY reports college sports news that references the Longhorns. KVUE, our local ABC affiliate, discussed the new college baseball Top 25 poll in such a way the other night, that viewers must have been left with the impression that Texas was the only ranked team in the entire state. The truth? There are four. Any guesses as to what school the KVUE sports director attended?

The AP poll is a gleaming tower of ivory compared to the crime against humanity that is the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. Most of the coaches don’t even have time to watch a majority of the teams they are voting on, much less make judgments about their season based on more than win/loss record. It also doesn’t help that some coaches are ranking teams higher if they’ve played them that season, in order to make their own teams look better in the computer polls. Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops admitted in December that he’s been voting Texas #2 all year to capitalize on the strength of schedule component. The worst part is the complete failure of the coaches poll to even appear logical. A team can have the same record as another team in the same conference and division, and have lost to that team in a head to head match up, and still end up ranked four spots ahead of them in the coaches poll. Why even bother playing?

The basic flaws likely to be a part of any system do not excuse the miserable failure of the current BCS mess. There are three major and two non-major unbeaten teams, and the best we can do is one championship game selected by biased polls and contradictory computer models? A modified playoff seems to be the most sensible solution, but most college presidents won’t agree to an extended post-season until the money is right. Yes, they complain about their student athletes missing too many classes, but that’s bullshit, and most people don’t buy it anyway. When a deal can be reached that satisfies parties interested in both football and money, things will change for the better. Until then, we’re left with faulty polls, rigged seedings, and championships without a champion. In short, bowl season madness.

I wanted to talk briefly about college football, and my beloved Texas A&M Aggies. I don’t post about football very often on this site, but it’s safe to say that the half of my brain that isn’t thinking about politics is thinking about football. I’m not really thinking about much else, and that explains a helluva lot. I included that “helluva” so that you guys from far away places like China and Vermont can have a little piece of the Texas experience.

The Texas A&M football team had a great comeback year in 2004. Next month they will carry a 7-4 season record into a Holiday Bowl berth in sunny San Diego, California. You might be thinking, “7-4 isn’t all that great”, but you have to consider it in context. During Coach Franchione’s first year in 2003, the Aggies slumped to a 4-8 record that was their worst in twenty years. There were plenty of lowlights along the way, including a complete meltdown against the Okra-homa Sooners. They battled back this year under Coach Fran and had significant victories over Big 12 foes, including a great road win in Stillwater. They also narrowly lost to the #2 ranked Sooners by a touchdown. Most analysts agree that the Big 12 South is the toughest division in college football, and the Aggies more than held their own. Based on the number of returning starters, A&M should be ranked in all of the pre-season polls next fall, with a legitimate shot at taking the Big 12 title for the first time since 1998.

The Aggies lost to Texas last Friday during the annual grudge match that’s been all grudge and no match for about a decade. The Texas A&M-Texas rivalry is the 3rd most played in college football at 111 years, but it doesn’t always receive the same attention as rivalries like Michigan-Ohio State and Texas-Oklahoma. The main reason is that both teams are rarely good at the same time, whereas other major rivalries often involve national rankings and conference championships. Starting this year and going back to 1995, Texas has won 8 out of the past 10 games against the Aggies. Conversely, from 1984-1994, Texas A&M won 10 out of 11 games against the Longhorns. The modern Aggie-Longhorn rivalry is built on winning streaks. It might be more exciting if things were a little more up and down on an annual basis (like say, Alabama-Auburn).

The past couple of A&M-UT meetings have resulted in lopsided final scores, but this year things were much closer. Texas won the game because of experience and better overall talent. It also didn’t hurt that they were playing at home. The talent gap between the two largest universities in Texas had been widening each year since the late 1990’s, before Coach Fran arrived in Aggieland in 2003. Judging from the recruiting wars that have taken place since then, it seems to have evened out, if not reversed in favor of the Aggies. Texas A&M currently has the fifth ranked recruiting class in the country according to the Rivals recruiting service. Although A&M never fell out of the top 25 in recruiting, the talent drop-off was often significant. At least one journalist believes that the tide will finally turn in the next few years, when the talent gap between the two schools is closed.

I’ll mention a few things about the game last week in case anyone else happened to watch it. How many times does ABC have to come back from commercial after a play has been run to realize that it’s a problem? If I wanted to listen to an announcer tell me what just happened, I’d turn off the television and listen to the radio. And enough with talking to other coaches on the phone (and enough with the photos). I’m not interested in hearing what other coaches have to say about the BCS, or the fairness of the rankings, during the most important football game of the year. How about paying attention to the game Bob Griese? If I wanted to hear meaningless platitudes, I’d catch the latest Bush press conference.

Gig’EM!

UPDATE: 12/05/2004
Because of California’s relatively poor showing against Southern Mississippi on Saturday night, Texas moved ahead of them in the BCS rankings and received a bid to the Rose Bowl. What does this mean for the Aggies? Well, instead of playing in the Holiday Bowl, the Ags bump up a slot and replace Texas in the Cotton Bowl against Tennessee. So, it’s good news…in a way. I might have preferred the Holiday Bowl to having something good happen for Texas. Maybe.

Electing to discover these truths for himself, Ricky Williams announced his retirement from the NFL this weekend. He had played only five seasons as a professional. Most of the news stories have commented that Ricky has always been different than the average player. In interviews he was thoughtful and articulate, but often painfully shy, and was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder in 2001. He often spoke of finding inner peace, and the latest reports have said that he plans on returning to the University of Texas to complete his degree in education and pursue further work with children.

Ricky spent the last two seasons as a Miami Dolphin, establishing team rushing records, and leading the league in 2002. The Dolphins were shocked to learn of his plans to retire. Stunned might be more appropriate. There are those in the media and on his former team that have labeled his behavior selfish, as the timing of his retirement mostly prevents the Dolphins from signing a quality running back in the free agent market.

For his part, Ricky told the press, “I’m finally free. I can’t remember ever being this happy.” Who could argue with that? As a player, he often shunned the spotlight and had interests far from the playing field. Should he have played half heartedly to appease teammates or fans? Would that have been right? Perhaps while determining “what is important” he realized that life is a gift too precious to waste being unhappy. Don’t many of us wish that we had the courage (or financial means) to make that decision? Questioned about his resolve, he responded, “I was never strong enough to not play football, but I’m strong enough now”.

Dave Wannstedt, head coach of the Dolphins, told the press that he tried to convince Ricky to come back to Miami to talk about things. Since Wannstedt’s job is on the line, and losing a star player could wreck the season, his behavior is not unexpected. It’s impossible to know how he really feels. Mike Ditka on the other hand, was Ricky’s first coach in the NFL, and he had more disturbing remarks:

“You’re destroying a great career. He’s a talent. To let all that go to waste doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Spoken like a true Neanderthal in my opinion. Not a single mention of how Ricky may feel, or what decision might be the best for him as a person. The only concern being that he not “waste” all that talent. It almost sounds like he’s talking about a racehorse.

Mack Brown, head football coach at the University of Texas, reminded me of the role college coaches play as teachers and mentors, and how sharply it often contrasts to their peers in the pros:

“When he asked me how I would feel about his decision, I told him I would like him if he had never played football. Giving up something you love to do is never an easy choice, and I respect Ricky for the thought that he has put into this. This is something he has considered for a long time.”

There are those that would define us by our actions, but that isn’t right. We are defined by our decisions. We can choose to live according to our own rules, without the approval of others. Have we failed if we choose a path that doesn’t maximize our gifts? Are our lives wasted?