HBTD

Thoughts...

• Keep Russ around for good.
• Rennie Curran is unbelievable.
• Reshad Jones played a good game!
• It wasn't until Tech's last offensive play that it made sense that we didn't double team Thomas the entire game.
• Why does Demariyus Thomas have a B on his jersey? Or was that just Millen/McDonough incompetency?
• And speaking of Millen, when even that empty melon head suggests that SEC refs might have an interest in the game, there's a really bad image problem.
• And other than the Boykin jersey pull on an uncatchable ball (which wasn't a completely outrageous call) and the surprising overrule on the subsequent Dwyer rush, the refs were actually pretty good. I was amazed by how well the line call nailed the Jones INT out of bounds when Hill got hurt. I didn't figure it out in live speed twice and he got it completely right.
• The two participants in next week's ACC title game both lost this week to SEC teams which would be lucky to play in the Music City Bowl. Get your tickets to Tampa now!
• It was so good to watch Bobo continue call running plays on the second drive. So damn satisfying.
• Should we be upset that Drew Butler's non-appearance tonight may have cost him the Ray Guy Award? Probably not, right?
• Natural order is restored in this state. It's great to be a Georgia Bulldog.

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I love animals, and I have ethics, but

PETA, GFY.

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Allow me to reintroduce myself

Ain't gonna lie...

I'm coming out of a fog. A deep one. I've been crushed by my job the last year, couple years, who knows how long. Just haven't been able to be normal and happy with my life - and my life is actually pretty awesome.

But I'm changing jobs. Very excited about the new one. Better lifestyle, more opportunity to be myself, more of a chance to grow professionally.

Now, this space won't become the first thing I'm going to return to - I've still got a number of priorities ahead of this. But I'll probably be able to write a bit more than before.

So on that note, I instruct you to go watch the ESPN 30 For 30 USFL documentary, if just for the segment where Rick Neuheisel sings the Gunslingers' fight song. I'd embed it if I could find it.

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Do not speak of Notre Dame again

I know the perils of transitive results in college football. Matchups matter, other externalities may affect results, injuries can happen, etc.

But when it's a one week difference for comparisons, and a number of the externalities would normally work against the point you're trying to make, well, I'll make an exception.

One week ago, Temple (yes, TEMPLE, as in arguably the worst team in FBS this decade, the team that got booted out of the Big East even though all the good teams were fleeing, the team whose current senior class once was part of a 26 game losing streak, the team who opened this season with a home loss to FCS Villanova... that Temple) went on the road and beat Navy. Navy is OK this year, but not great. Temple is probably the biggest surprise of the season in college football, yes, but it was a close win by the Owls.

Yesterday, Notre Dame, at home, ranked and with an excellent chance at a BCS berth, loses to that same Navy team when Heisman wannabe Clausen took a sack in the endzone in the last minute of the game.

Just a couple of years ago, Temple was booted out of the Big East (the same Big East that allows Notre Dame to compete in most sports but allows Notre Dame to hoard their football cash and remain an independent). In 2006, when the current seniors at Temple were suffering through that 26 game losing streak, Temple had to play as an independent before the MAC would allow them to join. Only, unlike Notre Dame, Temple didn't have their own TV contract or preferential treatment from bowls.

Today, Temple can go on the road and do something that Notre Dame can't do at home. The Owls also have a better overall record.

So here's my modest proposal: Notre Dame shouldn't get a single benefit of the doubt - ever. No more BCS preferential treatment. Let Notre Dame be treated like all the other teams not playing in a tough conference. TCU, Boise State, Utah, Houston, BYU, Troy, Central Michigan, and yes, even Temple... all those teams have an objective, reasonable claim to a BCS bowl bid ahead of the Irish. Of course, only one of those teams can get a BCS bowl bid, while the Irish can play a cakewalk schedule, face no conference opponents (and the difficulty appurtenant thereto - you play the same team every year and they know your tendencies and have seen all of your film multiple times when scouting your other opponents), and can still waltz into the BCS with a good but not great record. ND can play after January 1 thanks to rules that apply to nobody else. While other teams would finish 3rd or 4th in their conference and go to a respectable bowl with a 9-3 or 10-2 schedule, the Irish get an 8 figure unshared payout.

Join a real conference, go undefeated against a real schedule, or just play by the same rules as the other minor football programs. Until the Irish do anything like that, no credit, no benefit of the doubt.

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