Hulu with Live TV

Since I cut the cord in early 2011, I've tried several different ways to get certain content on TV. Sports is what I'm talking about.

I like college football. When I cut the cord in 2011, I waited until after the college bowl season was done. I had purchased a Roku in 2010, but kept cable until after football season because there was no other way to watch the games from home.

Thankfully, that's no longer the case. For sports, I've tried Sling TV ($25/month for package and add-on with all ESPN channels), DirecTV Now ($50/month for package with all ESPN channels), and PlayStation Vue ($45/month for a package with all the English language ESPN channels). Best price is Sling TV for what I want.

Right now I'm trying a different service: Hulu.

Okay, it's the Hulu with Live TV service. That's Hulu, but with Live TV. Which puts Hulu as another service similar to Sling TV, DirecTV Now, and PlayStation Vue.

Hulu is normally $8/month. That's been serving as my "cable service" since 2011. Recently, they added a Live TV service. It's $40/month. Not an additional $40/month, but it works out to an additional $32/month.

On the face of it, it still looks like Sling TV is a better deal because Hulu and Sling TV together totals $33/month ($8/month + $25/month) as opposed to $40/month. But things are never that simple.

All of the live TV services has problems. They're buggy. They will buffer a lot. It's nearly impossible to watch a game on any of those services, in my experience. So, I use the service to authenticate against the ESPN app (or the WatchESPN app, depending on the platform). The ESPN app is much more stable for live streaming than those live TV service apps.

As for what channels these services offer, here's a chart provided by Roku. It has a few flaws, such as the same channel listed twice (ESPN2 vs ESPN 2, TCM vs Turner Classic Movies, etc).

So, for now, it's $7/month more for Hulu with Live TV vs Hulu and Sling TV. But, I get two streams with Hulu Live TV vs Sling TV's 1 stream (unless I want their $40 four-stream service). I also get more app authentications.

For your purposes, is Hulu with Live TV a good deal? I don't know. I will say that it offers support for more apps than Sling TV does. The downside is Apple TV-related. Sling TV supports Single Sign On, while none of the other services support it.

I may keep this one. This is the first service to threaten Sling TV's position as my go-to service for accessing sports.

Making college football great again

I'm a big fan of college football. I suppose that's only natural. Georgia is a football state, and the major universities in the state are football schools. High school football is big in the state. Even ESPN named Valdosta, Georgia as Titletown, USA because of its success at high school football.

So, football matters to me. Not so much the NFL, but college football. And I don't like what's happening to college football. It's still fun to watch, so that's a good thing, but I'm seeing it go down a bad road, and they need to fix it. Start with the bowl games.

The Bowls

To start with, there are too many bowls. There used to be just one: the Rose Bowl. They count the 1902 Tournament East–West football game between Michigan and Stanford as the first Rose Bowl game, but it really started with the second game, in 1916. It's been played every year since.

Other bowls came along later. There were some small bowls that only lasted a single game, and others that lasted less than 10 years. But some stuck around longer. In 1935, the Orange, Sugar, and Sun Bowls debuted. 1937 saw the first Cotton Bowl game.

By 1937, we had the long-time "Big Four" games -- Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Cotton -- plus a minor bowl with staying power, the Sun Bowl. And, of course, several one and done games. But more long-lasting bowls followed.

The Gator Bowl was first played in 1946, while the first Tangerine Bowl (now the Citrus Bowl) kicked off in 1947. The Liberty Bowl was first played in 1959, as was the now-defunct but long-played Bluebonnet Bowl. The Peach Bowl debuted in 1968. 1971 saw the first Fiesta Bowl. The Independence Bowl began in 1976, and the Holiday Bowl in 1978.

In the 60 years after the first regularly-played Rose Bowl, there were 12 regularly played bowls. In the 40 years since then, that number has grown to 40.

There are 128 Division 1-A/FBS teams. With 40 bowl games, that means 62% of the teams go to a bowl. Even the NBA and NHL only have 53% of their teams in post-season.

Once again this year, every .500 team gets a bowl. And, again this year, some teams with losing records (five this year) get to go to a bowl. A bowl game used to be a reward for a great season. Now, it's little more than a participation trophy. The solution is simple: fewer bowls means it's a bigger, more meaningful reward for a successful season. Cut the number of bowls in half, to 20. I'd be happy with only 15 bowls. It would make going to a bowl a big deal, as it should be. But, and you'll see why in a second, I'll settle for 20 bowl games.

Bowl Eligible

Generally speaking, teams should have to win at least 8 games in order to be invited to a bowl. I would have contingency plans for there not being enough qualifying teams, but with an 8-win threshold, the chances of that are small. And, I would make an exception I'll discuss in a minute.

That would be a big deal for some schools. LSU, for instance, wouldn't qualify this year. Bet they'd find a way to make up weather games in the future.

Okay, that exception. If a team won its conference, it's bowl eligible. And, if a team plays in a conference championship game, it's bowl eligible. For conferences that don't have championship games (this year, there are two), the top two teams would be bowl eligible. That would level the field among conferences, give all conferences two automatic bowl bids, not just the ones with championship games. And that alone could create the 8-win exception. This year, the Sun Belt's co-champions are 9-3 Appalachian State and 7-5 Arkansas State. The Red Wolves would get a bowl, while some 8-4 teams wouldn't. Those 8-4 shouldn've won their conference.

Finally, I would could all wins as wins, even if it's against a 1-AA/FCS or Division II school. Leave it up to the bowls to determine the value of those wins.

Playoffs?

How do playoffs figure into all this? Under my 16-team plan, first-round losers would still be able to go to a bowl game. Or, the bowls could sign on to host a playoff game. The quarter-finals could be around Christmas week, where currently, some bowls are already playing. Today, bowls host the semi-finals. Let four bowls host the quarter-finals. And, the first round, if they wish. I don't care.

Under the current 4-team playoff setup, it wouldn't change a thing. Bottom line is, no matter what -- current plan or my better plan -- there's no adverse impact.

Objections?

You may have an objection. I'm willing to listen. But if the objection is "wah wah wah my team doesn't get to go" then I really don't care. Also, "But, but, but, bowls!" Don't care.

Not everybody goes to a bowl. Not everybody deserves to go. It needs to mean something.

Other than the bowls? Well, there are some rule changes I'd like to see. We'll talk about that another time. Let's get rid of the Participation Trophy Bowl games and we'll fix the rules another day.

College Football Playoffs as it should be (2016)

There are some fans upset with the College Football Playoffs, and rightfully so. There are more than four teams that have a legitimate claim to a spot in the playoffs, and there are only four playoff spots.

Penn State won the Big Ten, winning their last 8 game of the regular season including knocking off Ohio State, but was left out of the playoff picture.

The Big 12 champion, Oklahoma, won its last 9 games, including three wins over ranked teams, and went unbeaten in their conference.

Western Michigan did everything they could do, winning all 12 regular season games plus their conference championship, scoring 40 points or more in a game seven times. (For those that wish to discount the Broncos, remember the 1984 BYU team, who did less than this year's Western Michigan.)

The solution? The very solution I've been promoting for a decade.

A 16-Team Playoff

The champions from each conference take up the top ten slots of the 16-team playoff, and the field is filled out by the highest ranked teams that didn't win a conference. The seedings would be set by a playoff committee, much as the current College Football Playoff is done, and as Division 1-AA/FCS does.

For my purposes, I propose the NFL model, in which conference champions are the top 10 seeds, and the non-champions are the lower seeds. The point of that would be that conference championships matter. I'm sure Penn State and Oklahoma would agree, as would others.

Had this been in place all along, the recent spate of conference jumps to improve playoff positions wouldn't have happened. The increasingly inaccurately named Big 12 and Big Ten conferences might actually have meaningful names.

The Field of 16

1. Alabama (Southeastern Conference champion)
2. Clemson (Atlantic Coast Conference champion)
3. Washington (Pac-12 Conference champion)
4. Penn State (Big Ten Conference champion)
5. Oklahoma (Big 12 Conference champion)
6. Western Michigan (Mid-American Conference champion)
7. Temple (American Athletic Conference champion)
8. San Diego State (Mountain West Conference champion)
9. Western Kentucky (Conference USA Conference champion)
10. Appalachian State (Sun Belt Conference champion)
11. Ohio State (Big Ten wild card qualifier)
12. Michigan (Big Ten wild card qualifier)
13. Wisconsin (Big Ten wild card qualifier)
14. Southern California (Pac-12 wild card qualifier)
15. Colorado (Pac-12 wild card qualifier)
16. Florida State (Atlantic Coast Conference wild card qualifier)

The first two rounds would be played on campus of the higher seed of each matchup. Number 1 hosts number 16, number 2 hosts number 15, and so on. Some of these games will be great. Others, not so much. But that's how post-season matchups sometimes are.

The First Round Matchups

Florida State at Alabama
Colorado at Clemson
Southern California at Washington
Wisconsin at Penn State
Michigan at Oklahoma
Ohio State at Western Michigan
Appalachian State at Temple
Western Kentucky at San Diego State

Personally, I don't like the rematches, but in the larger scheme of things, it's more than made up by being a better overall system. At the end of such a field of 16, there should be no doubt about who the champion is.

The losing teams in the first round would still be bowl-eligible. The bowls could bid for the rights to have a playoff-quality team. The second round would follow the same format as the first, with the highest remaining seed hosting the lowest remaining seed, the next-highest remaining seed hosting the second-lowest remaining seed, and so on.

The third round would be the final four, played much as the four-team CFP is today. The championship would follow, as it does today.

Some have been critical of this plan over the years. Too complicated, some say. But it's really nothing more than the ten conference champs at the top, and the best of the rest filling it out.

Cubs?

I don't know what to say. For the first time in my life -- heck, for the first time since 50 years before I was born -- the Chicago Cubs are World Series champions.

I kinda like that. And I kinda hate that.

I like the story of finally breaking free of the demons of the past and reaching the top. From that standpoint, it's wonderful.

But, it's not just "the Cubs." It's "the Chicago Cubs." Chicago. And I hate Chicago.

Why? Well, name some people from Chicago. Barack Obama (in his adult life). Hillary Clinton (bron there). That right there makes it the most awful place in the United States.

Now, sure, there are good people from Chicago. And for them, I'm happy.

Truth is, I was cheering for the Indians. Yes, that's an American League team. But, I don't like Chicago, and the Indians have a history of baseball in the Columbus area. The Columbus Indians and Columbus RedStixx of the 1990s were Indians affiliates. And, then, blog buddy Don Surber is an Indians fan. It would have done him good to see his Indians win the World Series for the first time in his life.

Oh, well. Maybe next year. My Braves don't look like they'll be competing in the Fall Classic.

World Series

I've never been to a World Series game. I've not had a lot of opportunities to go, since I don't live near any teams that actually play in the Series. Well, often, anyway.

I've established before that I like baseball. A lot. But to go to a World Series game, I'd only pay to go if it was a team I followed. And that's the Braves. Now, to be sure, the Braves have been to the World Series. Both trips while in Boston were before I was born. One Milwaukee trip was before I was born and the other was a few months after I was born. Of course, I wasn't following baseball that year, and if I had been, I wouldn't have cared if a team from Milwaukee went or not. I'd have probably been following the Cardinals or the Reds. Most people from Georgia followed one of those teams before the Braves moved to Atlanta.

Anyhow, when the Atlanta Braves made it to the World Series, it just wasn't financially feasible to go. I couldn't afford it. So, I've never been to a World Series game.

I'm not excited about this year's matchup. Sure, there's a lot to be excited about, but if it's not my team, I really don't care as much. But, the fact remains that either the Cleveland Indians will break a 68-year World Series championship drought, or the Chicago Cubs will break a 108-year World Series championship drought.

Before this year, the Cubs hadn't even been since 1945. The Indians have been and lost three times since their 1948 victory, most recently in 1997 and 1995.

Either way it works out, it'll be a big deal. Even before it started, though, it's a big deal for Jim Schlegal, a World War II vet who attended the Cubs' last series (a 4 games to 3 loss to Detroit) in 1945. CBS Sports reports that someone heard about family attempts to raise money to send him to a game and made it happen:

CNBC host Marcus Lemonis has given Schlegal two tickets. So Schlegal will get to see another World Series in Wrigley Field, 71 years after he saw his first one.

[Tip: Diane Meyer at Respublica]

The series moves to Chicago tonight, and Schlegal will get to see his Cubs play. Good on all the parties involved in making that vet's dream come true.

I'd like to see blog buddy Don Surber celebrate a Cleveland victory, since I don't have a dog in the fight. But if the Cubs win and a World War II veteran gets to see his life-long team celebrate, I'm okay with that.

Football weather

A hurricane

There's a storm coming.

Oh, I'm not talking about when things finally come to a head and the revolution comes and 3/4 of the politicians are lined up against a wall. Yeah, that's coming. But I'm actually just talking about the weather right now.

Some hurricane is bearing down on the southeastern United States. And, since that's where I live, I'm impacted. And maybe you are too.

But, what about this storm? Well, it's gonna hit somewhere in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, or something. But we've had storms before.

Matthew is a Category 4 storm as I write this. What it'll be when it hits the U.S. mainland I don't know. But, I'm not too worried.

You know what we call hurricanes around here?

Football weather.


[The YouTube]

I was at that game. I'm a season ticket holder for Georgia Southern, and, if they were playing in Statesboro Saturday, I'd be at the game if my nephew wasn't getting married. But he is, and GSU is playing Wednesday night in Arkansas anyway, so no football in the rain for me this weekend.

If you're out in the storm, stay safe. Take a canoe with you if you must. Have fun, but be smart. Or not totally stupid.

31

I'm not a fan of horse racing. Or any kind of racing, actually. Still, sometimes, you see something and are amazed. And, that amazement stays with you.

This afternoon, there's a misspelled horse named American Pharoah that is trying to become the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. And, if he wins, good for him. And some of you young kids might remember it years down the road. But, it'll be hard to beat the memories caused by a three-year old named Secretariat back in 1973.

Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby, the first race in the Triple Crown with a record time of 1:59.4. How fast was that record? Well, it's still the fastest Kentucky Derby ever. The second fastest Kentucky Derby time? Same race. Sham came in second at 1:59.9 which is faster than the second-fastest winning time of 1:59.97 by Monarchos in 2001. (I just won you a bar bet. You're welcome.)

In the Preakness Stakes, there was a problem with the clock. There's no doubt that Secretariat won the race by 2½ lengths over Sham, but a problem with the clock threw a question over the time. The previous record (since the race lengthened to 1 3⁄16 miles in 1925) of 1:54 was set two years earlier by Canonero II. Secretariat's time was given as 1:55, but that was immediately disputed. CBS entered the argument by showing tapes of both the 1971 race and the 1973 race in a split-screen, and proved that Secretariat beat Canonero II handily. It took a while, but the official time is now 1:53, and that record still stands. (Sham's time would work out to 1:53.4, the second-fastest Preakness, if you want to win another bar bet.)

The clincher in how great a horse Secretariat was had to be the Belmont Stakes. That race was lengthened to 1½ miles in 1926. And the record set in 1973 still stands. But, it wasn't just the time of 2:24 that's amazing. It's how that horse won it.

If you weren't around in 1973 to see it on TV, thanks to the magic of the internets, here's your chance.


[The YouTube]

The actual margin of victory was 31 lengths. How far is that? Well, more than you can put in a camera at a horse race in 1973. Think about it like this. You and a buddy find a football field. You stand on the goal line. Now, have your buddy walk out to the 17 yard line. No, the other 17 yard line. Cross mid-field and keep walking. That 17 yard line. Got it? That's right about 31 lengths.

I don't know anything about horse racing. But I know I saw something special that day. Maybe there'll be another Triple Crown winner this afternoon. Maybe not. But, there may never be another Secretariat.

College football playoffs 2014 (done right)

For several years, I've been saying that the NCAA needs a playoff for Division 1-A football. Apparently, the NCAA agrees with me ... to some degree. They finally dumped the horribly flawed BCS for a horribly-flawed 4-team playoff.

My plan would work, and it answers all the questions and controversies that have arisen over the BCS years.

My plan has sixteen teams in the playoffs. Each of the ten conference champions get a slot, and the remaining slots are filled with teams selected by a committee. The committee also seeds the teams.

My preference is that conference champions get the top ten slots, with the wild card teams filling slots 11-16, much as the NFL does. This adds weight to winning the conference. If a wild card team from the SEC feels they should be ranked higher than, say, the Sun Belt champion, then they should have won their own conference.

Here is how the playoffs -- the playoffs done right -- would have shaped up this year.

Top ten seeds are the conference champions.

1. Alabama (Southeastern Conference champion)
2. Oregon (Pac-12 Conference champion)
3. Florida State (Atlantic Coast Conference champion)
4. Ohio State (Big Ten Conference champion)
5. Baylor (Big 12 Conference champion)
6. Boise State (Mountain West Conference champion)
7. Marshall (Conference USA champion)
8. Northern Illinois (Mid-American Conference champion)
9. Cincinnati (American Athletic Conference champion)
10. Georgia Southern (Sun Belt Conference champion)
11. Texas Christian (Big 12 wild card)
12. Mississippi State (Southeastern wild card)
13. Michigan State (Big Ten wild card)
14. Mississippi (Southeastern wild card)
15. Arizona (Pac-12 wild card)
16. Kansas State (Big 12 wild card)

Some of the matchups would be great. Others, yeah, not so much. And, yeah, we end up with a third Arizona vs Oregon matchup. We also get a Marshall-Georgia Southern matchup, which won't top the TV ratings ... outside of Huntington or Statesboro.

Look at the whole package. Winning the conference means something; you get an automatic bid and a better seeding. Really good teams aren't penalized by having one bad game (or a good close loss) that knocks them out of contention. And, if Northern Illinois or Georgia Southern ran the table, who could argue that they aren't the best team?

What the NCAA is giving us this year is better than the BCS. If that was in play, we'd have a single game of Alabama vs Florida State, based on polls and computer rankings. But it's not as good as this plan.

One day, this will be the great idea that some suit in the NCAA comes up with, and he'll be hailed as a genius.

Traditions

Erk Russell

I'm in full, old man, get off my lawn mode. And, it's a college football team that set me off.

First, some background. You may already know that I'm a fan of the University of Georgia. My daughter went there (and she was a cheerleader) and I almost went there. But I didn't.

However, a little closer to my home town in southeast Georgia is another college, Georgia Southern University. Back then, it was Georgia Southern College. And, they didn't have a football team. But, that would change.

In 1981, Georgia Southern announced the hiring of Erk Russell as head coach. Russell had been defensive coordinator at the University of Georgia for the previous 17 seasons, but accepted the challenge of starting up a football program from scratch. The school had no football facilities when Russell was hired. In fact, they didn't even have a football. The Athletic Director had to run across the street to the K-Mart to buy a football as a prop at the press conference to announce Russell's hiring.

Georgia Southern did things simply back then. They got old yellow school buses from the Bulloch County school system to take the team to games. And in those games, the Eagles wore simple white pants with no stripe down the leg, simple blue jerseys at home and plain white jerseys on the road with no stripes on the sleeve, and blue helmets with numbers on the side. Old fashioned, simple football uniforms. And the reason is because they were the cheapest available.

Turns out, though, that you don't need fancy buses or fancy uniforms to win. Georgia Southern won the Division 1-AA national championship 1985, their first of three under Russell, and six overall. And they did it while wearing cheap uniforms and riding yellow school buses to games.

Today, and for several years, Georgia Southern has been able to afford a lot more. This season is their first year moving up to Division 1-A, officially called Division 1 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision), and they've kept the traditions.

This weekend, though, they're kinda ticking me off. They're showing off some new uniforms to be worn special for homecoming. And they have the nerve to call it "Traditions."

Traditions?

I know all the cool schools do this crap. But, it's crap. At least, to a traditionalist like me. I hate it when schools come up with gimmicky uniforms. You know what kind of gimmick I like? Winning.

It's a great tradition, too.

Winter Olympics Primer: Bobsleigh

You may not be aware, but the Winter Olympics are still underway.

Apparently, there's more than Curling going on. There's also skiing. Not water skiing, but skiing on snow. And there's a lot of that. And, there's Bobsleigh. Some calls it Bobsledding. The Olympics call it Bobsleigh.

The four-man bobsleigh competition is the top of the various bobsleigh events. There's two-man. There's women's competition. But, the big deal is the four-man bobsleigh. The competition begins soon, and the medals are awarded this coming weekend.

In preparation, we're offering another primer on Olympic events. So, with a little Help! from our friends, we'll explain the four-man bobsleigh competition.


Each team consists of four men, stacked like cordwood atop a sled. One wears a top hat.


The team must navigate down a hill of snow, all together.


It is permissible within the rules to lighten the load, allowing the team to increase speed, if you can ring the lasso of the Overhead Mad Scientists with the foot of the man on top.


If successful, the top man dangles overhead, allowing the other three to pick up speed.


When the rope breaks, he rejoins the others on the sled...


...and they continue downhill until they fall over.


When that happens, they mount skis, and finish the course by avoiding umbrella-carrying snowmen.


As they approach the end of the course, the lead snowman, with an umbrella flamethrower...


...lights the team's ski poles on fire.


The team then reaches the end of the course, and orders a ticket to London. First team to Heathrow wins.

Enjoy the rest of the Olympics.

Winter Olympics I would watch

[The YouTube]

Winter Olympics Primer: Curling

Curling is a popular sport that nobody understands. What I mean is nobody understands why it is popular. Perhaps we can Help! Here's your Guide to Curling.


Play begins when the team's Mad Scientist -- don't let these technical terms confuse you, just follow along -- hands the next player (called the "Lead Guitarist") the Fiendish Thingy.



The Lead Guitarist takes the Fiendish Thingy and runs forward...



... then slides it down the ice toward the other players.



The goal is to knock over the player with the French-looking shirt (called the "Drummer").



If the Lead Guitarist fails to knock over the Drummer, he and another player (called the "Lead Singer") tackle the Drummer...



... dragging him across a red line to where another player (called the "Bass Player") is positioned.



The Fiendish Thingy then blows up...



... at which time the team locates the White Cliffs of Dover. First one there wins.

Now, you'll be able to enjoy Curling with a firm knowledge of the rules. I'm glad we could Help!

Viewing Michael Sam: the difference between the Right and the Left

Here's how conservatives see Michael Sam:



Football player for the SEC East champs.

Now, here's how liberals see Michael Sam:



Homosexual.

And that is the difference between conservatives and liberals.

Not a competition

Some of you watched the Super Bowl last night.



I watched old episodes of Doctor Who.



I win.

Remember when men used to play sports?

Major League Baseball plans to change the rules so that catchers won't be able to block the plate, and runners can't target the catcher.

You know the deal. Runner on the base path heads for home. Outfielder throws to the plate. Catcher stands just down the third base line to grab the throw and tag the runner out. Collision at the plate.

That's baseball.

Remember this?

July 14, 1970. Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. The All-Star game. The National League had tied the game at 4 with a three-run bottom of the ninth. Now, it's the 12th inning. The Angels' Clyde Wright is pitching in relief. He had thrown a no-hitter a week-and-a-half earlier and was in the middle of a 20+ win season. He got the first two batters, then the Reds' Pete Rose and the Dodgers' Billy Grabarkewitz hit back-to-back singles, putting runners on first and second. The Cubs' Jim Hickman then singled to center, and the Royals' Amos Otis fired the ball to the Indians' Ray Fosse who was behind the plate. The ball was just to the third-base side of the plate, and Fosse was in position to take the throw. Rose hit Fosse, who wasn't able to field the ball, and scored the winning run.



Those that were watching the game on TV that night -- me included -- will never forget it. That was a classic baseball moment.

Fosse was hurt on the play, but continued his career until 1979 when a different injury ended his career. He made it back to the All-Star game the next season, and won two World Series rings with the A's in '73 and '74.

Rose was later banned from baseball for gambling.

But that was in the 1970s when players played that way. 1980s too. That's when men -- hard playing men, real men -- played baseball.

Today, we have a commissioner who thought a tie All-Star game was a good idea, because it was late and people were tired. They had played 11 innings, after all.

No, it was no longer the 1970s when a 12th inning collision at the plate was how an All-Star game ended.

And now, the ladies that run Major League Baseball will make sure that never happens again.

I'm thinking they'll start pitching underhand soon. And ban spikes on shoes. High heels will be okay.

A job for Obama

After January 20, 2017 -- a date which can't come soon enough -- Barack Obama will be in a position he's placed millions of Americans in: he'll be out of a job.

But, he has his eyes set on a new job already: he wants to host SportsCenter.

Now, some people laughed when they heard that. But consider: he has the qualifications.

For instance, I bet you thought the NBA team in Miami was the Miami Heat. Not so. Obama knows what no other person on this planet knows: it's the Miami Heats.

His bowling prowess is legendary. Not only did he bowl a 37 when he was running for president, after he took office, he compared his bowling skills to Special Olympics. That's the kind of skill and commentary that's missing from sports today.

Of course, he would bring a unique perspective to our nation's pastime. Not just the mom jeans, or his little sister pitching style, but his unique knowledge of Chicago's Kaminsky Field, which most residents of the Windy City don't even know exists.

Some of you say he has no qualifications to host SportsCenter. But, lack of qualifications didn't keep him out of the White House, did it?

What do you think? Is SportsCenter host a good fit for Obama? Or is there a better job out there for him?

College Football Playoffs 2013

Next year, the NCAA begins a 4-team playoff for the college football national championship.

This is in addition to the three other college football national championships the NCAA already has: Division 1 FCS (1-AA) on January 4, 2014 in Frisco, Texas; Division II on December 21, 2013, in Florence, Alabama; and Division III (the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl) on December 20, 2013, in Salem, Virginia.

Division 1 FBS (Division 1-A), finally gets a playoff of sorts next year. This year, it's still the BCS. And, as always, it's true that you can't spell BCS without BS. I don't know what to say about next year's "playoff" other than it's a half-ass attempt to get it right.

Here's what's right, and what I've been proposing for years: A 16-team playoff, consisting of a field of the 10 conference champions, with the highest-ranked non-conference champions completing the field.

The questions are how to pick the "wild card" teams, and how to seed the teams. Minor details. But, the major details are the 16-team field with the conference champs.

Now, how to pick the "wild card" teams? I'm gonna use the Coaches Poll. Or the BCS standings. They are close, but not quite the same, both in teams and in ranking.

First, the easy part: Here are the conference champs, who get an automatic bid:

Conference	Champion	Record	Coaches Poll
Atlantic Coast Conference	Florida State	13-0	1
Southeastern Conference	Auburn	12-1	2
Big Ten Conference	Michigan State	12-1	4
Big 12 Conference	Baylor	11-1	5
Pacific-12 Conference	Stanford	11-2	7
American Athletic Conference	Central Florida	11-1	15
Mountain West Conference	Fresno State	11-1	20
Conference USA	Rice	10-3	31
Mid-American Conference	Bowling Green	10-3	32
Sun Belt Conference	Louisiana-Lafayette	8-4	NR

Now, we add the "wild card" teams.

Conference	Team	Record	Coaches Poll
Southeastern Conference	Alabama	11-1	3
Big Ten Conference	Ohio State	12-1	6
Southeastern Conference	South Carolina	10-2	8
Southeastern Conference	Missouri	11-2	9
Big 12 Conference	Oklahoma	10-2	10
Atlantic Coast Conference	Clemson	10-2	11

I'd seed them by Coaches Poll, champions first -- kinda like the NFL does -- and match the teams up with Number 1 hosting Number 16, Number 2 hosting Number 15, and so on. And, I'd let the teams that lost in the first round still go to a bowl. The first-round losers will either be a conference champion, or a top 15 team. Most bowls would jump at either.

Here's the seeding:

Team	Qualification	Record	Coaches Poll
Florida State	Atlantic Coast Conference (Champion)	13-0	1
Auburn	Southeastern Conference (Champion)	12-1	2
Michigan State	Big Ten Conference (Champion)	12-1	4
Baylor	Big 12 Conference (Champion)	11-1	5
Stanford	Pacific-12 Conference (Champion)	11-2	7
Central Florida	American Athletic Conference (Champion)	11-1	15
Fresno State	Mountain West Conference (Champion)	11-1	20
Rice	Conference USA (Champion)	10-3	31
Bowling Green	Mid-American Conference (Champion)	10-3	32
Louisiana-Lafayette	Sun Belt Conference (Champion)	8-4	NR
Alabama	Southeastern Conference (Wild Card)	11-1	3
Ohio State	Big Ten Conference (Wild Card)	12-1	6
South Carolina	Southeastern Conference (Wild Card)	10-2	8
Missouri	Southeastern Conference (Wild Card)	11-2	9
Oklahoma	Big 12 Conference (Wild Card)	10-2	10
Clemson	Atlantic Coast Conference (Wild Card)	10-2	11

And, here are the first round games:

• Clemson at Florida State
• Oklahoma at Auburn
• Missouri at Michigan State
• South Carolina at Baylor
• Ohio State at Stanford
• Alabama at Central Florida
• Louisiana-Lafayette at Fresno State
• Bowling Green at Rice

Some really good match ups in the first round, and some really lame ones, under my seeding. But, seeding is a minor detail.

Put a 16-team playoff like this in place, and, whoever is left standing at the end, whether it's an eighth-straight SEC team, a team from the Sun Belt, or one of the other quality teams on this list, and you'll have a true national champion.

Gaying up football

I'm a football fan. Real football. Not that kickball they play over in Europe, Brazil, or some other God-forsaken place.

American football.

Now, don't get me wrong. That futball stuff they do in other, lesser places, can be fun. It's great for keeping a bunch of 5-year olds entertained while the dads hit on the single moms. Plus, when one gets kicked during all that running around and kicking, and the kid gets back up and knocks the bejeezus out of the kid that kicked him, you know he's now ready for real football.

But, some people like both kinds. Or say they do. That's like me saying I like my iPad and my Etch-A-Sketch. (Full disclosure: I have the Etch-A-Sketch app for my iPad.)

They're not the same thing. But, they say they like 'em both, and I'm not gonna call them liars. So, now what? Well, they've redesigned all the NFL team logos to look like futball logos.

Really.

Here's the logo for the Falcons (nearest team to me):



Here's the logo for the Jaguars (next-closest team, and closest to my home town):



That just doesn't say "football" to me.

Of course, I'm not really a fan of NFL football. I prefer the college game.

Unless they put my Georgia Bulldogs in those silly Power Ranger uniforms again.



I'd rather watch soccer.

Bully?

Last weekend, in Texas, the Aledo High Bearcats beat the dog snot out of the Western Hills Cougars. How bad? The 91-0 score knocked the Western Hills Website offline.

I hate it for the Cougars, but stuff happens. Sometimes you get your butt kicked. Even by teams that are playing second-stringers in the first quarter.

So, how do you deal with it? Well, if you're a cry-baby parent, you file a complaint accusing the winning team of bullying.

It's not bullying. It's football. Of course, I'm from Georgia. That's the same state where Georgia Tech is located. And Georgia Tech is the team that beat Cumberland 222-0 in a game one time.

Now, in that game, head coach John Heisman (yes, the guy they named the trophy after) was trying to run up the score. Earlier that year (1916), Cumberland used professional players in a baseball game against Tech (Heisman was also the baseball coach, as well as basketball coach), beating the North Avenue school 22-0. Heisman didn't like that, not one little bit. So, in October, he had the football team run up the score. They stopped at 222 points. Because the game ended.

That's football. It's not bullying.

Nobody wants to be on the high school team that got beat 91-0. But nobody wants to have their mommy run call the opposing coach a bully.

Maybe the Western Hills Cougars should file a complaint ... against whiny parents.

Would you Volunteer to go to The Swamp?

Any Volunteers?

So, whacha doin' Saturday?

How about some good old-fashioned SEC football?

Oh, and there's a girl included.

According to Fox Sports, University of Tennessee football fan Gary Yates has tickets to this weekend's game in Gainesville, Florida, between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Florida Gators. Tickets for him, his wife Brenda, her daughter Jessica, and Jessica's date. Only, Jessica's date backed out.

So, he went to Craig's List and put up an ad, trying to get Jessica a date.

He says his family, including his wife Brenda, is flying down for the game — and also using the trip to check on a retirement home they’re building in Punta Gorda. The "winner" of the ad will sit with him, Brenda and Jessica at the game.

Turns out, I've got other plans this weekend. It's my grandmother's birthday, so I'm heading to southeast Georgia. While there are some in the family that will skip an old lady's birthday to go to a football game in Florida, I'm not one of them. So, I'm not going after it for that reason. And maybe a couple more.

But, hey, you might want to give it a shot. The worst that could happen is you see a college football game.

Okay, maybe something worse could happen. But, at least you get a football game out of it. Be thankful for the little things.