Why the BCS is better for College Football than a Playoff system.

In comparison to the rest of the sports world, there is a very unique system for determining a championship team in the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) segment of American Collegiate football. This system is despised by just as many people, maybe more, than even the last US president. But I am here to make a case as to why the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) is important to college football as opposed to just going to a playoff system. I will illustrate the advantages of the BCS over a playoff in several points below.


The BCS makes the regular season more important

This is probably the easiest argument to make. No one can dispute the fact that by not having a playoff in the FBS division of college football, the regular season becomes the playoff in effect. If you win all your games, you will have a chance to play for the national championship. Now there are certainly exceptions to this rule unfortunately, and I am not here to argue that the BCS is perfect. Its a shame that "lower-tiered" conferences are often left out due to schedule strength, but this is a huge part in determining whether a team is worthy of a premier bowl or even a shot at the national championship. You can't argue that a team such as Boise State that may only play one or two great teams and a mediocre conference schedule is more deserving than a team who plays great teams throughout the season.

There is also the potential for a log-jam of teams that may be just as deserving to play in the BCS championship game that may be left out, like Auburn who went undefeated in 2004. A lot of people point to the 2004 season as a perfect example as to why the BCS is flawed and must be replaced. I will argue in subsequent points below that the BCS is not the only system that would fall to these unique situations. For now, suffice it to say, that the BCS makes every single game during the regular season the most important game of the season... until next weeks game.


Bowls are unique and special (Tradition)

College Football is steeped in tradition, from great rivalry games like the Red-River Shootout (Texas vs. Oklahoma), the 3rd Saturday in October (Tennessee vs. Alabama), Army vs. Navy, or the Civil War (Oregon vs. Oregon State). Games like these make the regular season enjoyable, even if your favorite team is not really in contention for a bowl game, or championship. And who can dismiss the unique trophies that go along with these special contests like the Paul Bunyan Axe, or the Little Brown Jug, or the Iron Skillet.

The bowl games themselves are part of this unique tradition in college football. Statistics for most consecutive bowl game appearances and most bowl game wins are just a part of college football lore as any of the rivalry games and trophies. The bowl games pit teams that would normally never play each other during the regular season for one last hurrah before the seniors must hang up their cleats. Bowl games are about money, sure, but they also look to make the most intriguing matches between opponents to help sell tickets. And isn't that what we all want... the most intriguing matchups? Lower-tiered teams get the chance to prove they have what it takes to beat the big-boys in a one game winner take all opportunity. Because let's face it 9 times out of 10 Boise State is not going to beat Oklahoma. But in college football, upsets are celebrated, and in the one game take all format of the BCS Championship Game... the upset potential is even with the favorite's chances of winning.


Bowls allow more teams to travel and enjoy the experience

This ties in with the previous points in that with the plethora of bowl games, more student-athletes get a chance to travel and enjoy a working-holiday for a hard season. Let's face it, 99% of teams are not good enough to win a championship no matter if you have a playoff or the BCS. The players are not professional athletes. They put in incredible amount of time and effort to get better during off-season workouts, spring and fall practices, and the actual game weeks themselves. But never forget that these people are students first. Most of the players will go on to become professionals in other fields, not necessarily the sport they play. The bowl game experience is a great way to say thank you for a great season. Or it's a way to let the fans have one last chance to see that all-conference player who will be hanging up his cleats since it's his senior year. The student-athletes deserve a last hurrah. Only the Bowl system can provide this.


Playoffs can never have enough participants

This is where the playoff system would have a problem that makes them just as poor a choice to crown a national champion as the BCS. Unless you start with a 119 team playoff, you are not giving someone a fair chance to go on a run and win the tournament. If you have a 4 team playoff... the 5th best team is left out in the cold and is not given a fair shot. It is the same with 8, 16, 32, or whatever your level of participation for a playoff system is. The argument that a team who is in 3rd place in the BCS standings is unfairly left out of the festivities is the same argument as that 5th place team who would be left out of a four team playoff. In either system someone will be left out with a valid case as to why they should be in. In the BCS system, the whole course of your season is taken into account. Lots of teams lose early in the season only to become contenders again by getting better throughout the season. This emphasizes the whole season as a body of work and goes to strengthen the first point above.


BCS makes Sports Talk shows relevant

A lot of playoff proponents argue that the true champion is determined on the field in a playoff system. That may put a few teams’ fans minds at ease. In fact only the teams that get in the playoff (see the point above) have a chance to "prove it on the field". In the BCS system, there is plenty of fodder for speculation throughout the season, and especially once we get near the end of it to discuss and argue who should be so deserving of a one game winner take all contest. This keeps the phone lines humming during weekly or daily sports talk shows on radio. Television sports shows garner incredible viewership to see how a lowly team that would normally not have anything to do with your favorite team performed... as it's all relative. As a fan you want to keep up with the teams that your favorite team beat or lost to, as the strength of schedule component to the BCS makes every game important... even those that your team didn't play! This continues to feed into the big business of college football as a brand. Perform a simple search on Google and you will find a bounty of fan sites and blogs devoted to your favorite team. Quite simply, the BCS is big business to the sports coverage media.


These are just a few points to provide an argument that the BCS is the best system for determining a champion in college football. There are plenty more, and I may delve into them again in the future. As a final statement, I will say that the BCS is better than a playoff system because nothing keeps the tradition of college football better than a winner take all one game system that rewards an entire season of excellence from a pair of deserving teams. A playoff simply cannot encompass enough teams to be fair to those left out, and doesn't reward excellence throughout the season... only at the end of it.

So, what do you think?

The Top 10 Most Recognizable Sports Songs

Throughout the sports world, there are quite a few songs that get fans pumped up for a television or radio broadcast. Or just some that are great to get fans excited due to camaraderie. So it's pretty difficult to come up with a list of only 10 songs that spur a fan’s pandemonium. So I thought I'd take a bit of a turn here with this list and put in my top 10 list of most recognizable sports songs.

Certainly, this is a personal list. But I think I've covered quite a bit of ground with the choices below. I know some of you may disagree, or feel slighted because I didn't pick your particular team's fight song. Or you may feel that the list ignored your favorite sport. But that is what's so great about these lists. You can take what I've presented, and expound your own in the comments. If the participation is high enough, I may put in some polls, where you the fans can vote on whether some of my entries should be removed and replaced by a better more recognizable tune.

There are several categories of sports music, I think, one being broadcast television or radio themes. There are many to choose from, and I had to think long and hard whether to include one or not. Some didn't make the list because I felt it was too generic and cliché, such as the ESPN SportsCenter theme, or the NFL Films theme. I had to restrain myself in wanting to put in some that people from other countries probably wouldn't recognize. Though, I'm sure there are a few on my list.

Another category of sports music is the Fight Song. I understand that this where the fan and reader will probably have the most disagreement. That's why I wanted to go with the most recognizable list. Some fight songs are just incredible, but not very universal. Or a fight song is a reproduction of a commercial song, or a remake of an old classic song. I think Manchester United's (English Soccer team) "Glory Glory Man United" is a perfect example of this. Don't get me wrong... It's a great fight song, but it's a remake.


So without further ado, here is my Top 10 Most Recognizable Sports Songs:


10. "Rocky Top" (University of Tennessee fight song) - Ok, this is a total homer pick. I’m a huge UT sports fan. To non-fans of the Tennessee Volunteers, this is one of the most annoying fight songs in collegiate sports. But to a true fan, nothing beats 105,000 of your closest friends all yelling "Wooo" in Neyland Stadium. And how can you not like a fight song where it talks about moonshiners and tax collectors that just disappear?

Watch/Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKbOtWeAEnY
Purchase this song: http://www.amazon.com/Rocky-Top-Live/dp/B001C3E866/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1251166900&sr=1-4


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9. ABC’s Wide World of Sports theme – This is a classic, I remember watching this show as a kid, and it was a great way to keep up on some of the more obscure sports that you never got to see on television. This was before ESPN made sports coverage so ubiquitous. It’s not the catchiest theme, but the video that rolled with the theme made it one of the most memorable sports show themes ever.

Watch/Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8VPHUvCHHI


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8. "Get Ready for This" by 2 Unlimited – I don’t think any game played during the 1990s or the early 2000s went without using this song more during intermissions or openings than this song. The opening line, "Ya’ll ready for this" and the catchy early 90s techno riff would get even the most blue-haired live sports fan wiggling in their seats.

Watch/Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KUmAphvThQ
Purchase this song: http://www.amazon.com/Get-Ready-For-This/dp/B001DAKA6U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1251166684&sr=1-1


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7. "Notre Dame Victory March" (University of Notre Dame fight song) – Since this list is in reverse order, I’ll have to explain this song’s placement in the top 10. I really don’t like Notre Dame, or it’s fight song, but it is one of the most recognizable fight songs in all of collegiate sports. Now, I do consider the next pick to be more recognizable, but it has nothing do with fandom.
Watch/Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z5hKzDFE5A
Purchase this song: http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Victory-March-Live/dp/B001C3CP8O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1251166771&sr=1-1


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6. "Hail to the Victors" (University of Michigan Fight song) – I believe this to be the most recognizable fight song in all of colligate sports. But you may be wondering why (if you skipped ahead) that is when there is another one ranked higher. You’ll just have to keep reading, won’t you?

Watch/Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5p3HQfm5LI
Purchase this song: http://www.amazon.com/The-Victors-Live/dp/B001C3C3UO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1251166727&sr=1-1


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5. "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" (Written by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer) – This is easily the most recognizable song in all of baseball. This is typically played during the seventh inning stretch. Should it be higher on the list? I don’t think so. How about you?

Watch/Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4-gsdLSSQ0
Purchase this song: http://www.amazon.com/Take-Me-Out-Ballgame/dp/B000QLP92W/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1251166623&sr=1-11


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4. "War Chant" (Florida State University/Atlanta Braves fight song) – Now this is an interesting pick. The War Chant is very simple, but it gets complete crowd participation. That’s why it’s so high on the list when it comes to collegiate fight songs (for Florida State), and high on the list for baseball. Honestly, I would put the number 5 pick higher on a list of the most recognizable songs of baseball. But because of it’s dual-use nature with Florida State (who did it first Braves fans, by the way), it gets a higher nod over Take Me Out To The Ballgame. This isn’t a true "fight song" in my opinion… it’s more of a chant. But it’s extremely recognizable.

Watch/Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2p2vjeLgXc
Purchase this song: http://www.amazon.com/Florida-State-War-Chant/dp/B001718S2S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1251166802&sr=1-2


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3. "Ole!" by the Bouncing Souls – Although this song isn’t a real fight song either… once again, it’s more of a chant. Billions of soccer fans across the globe definitely recognize this song/chant. I’m not sure where it began, but it probably started as the thing to yell as in Bullfighting. In bullfighting, the crowd would yell out "Ole!" as a sort of "bravo" or vocal cheer when the bullfighter did something worthy. As a soccer chant, it can either be extremely uplifting or annoying depending on which side of the pitch you are rooting for. If you want to know why I selected the Bouncing Souls’ version of it, well, I just like it.
Watch/Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KABUQxllGbk
Purchase this song: http://www.amazon.com/Ole/dp/B0012QJYQC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1251166855&sr=1-1


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2. "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions" by Queen – No other pair of songs has done more for sports fans than these two. The "stomp-stomp-clap" of We Will Rock You is synonymous with sports, in my opinion. It’s got great crowd participation potential, and let’s be honest… it’s just plain fun. As for We Are The Champions, this song is the quintessential epic tune for a team that has just won a championship. And Queen is a band that deserves this lofty placement.

Purchase this song: http://www.amazon.com/We-Will-Rock-You/dp/B00138COL6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1251166511&sr=1-1
Purchase the other song: http://www.amazon.com/We-Are-The-Champions/dp/B00138ETJG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1251166511&sr=1-2


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1. "Bugler's Dream" Composed by Leo Arnaud – Nothing says Olympics or sports achievement quite like this song. It’s a shame that we only get to listen to this beautiful sports theme only every 2 to 4 years. I don’t think anyone can doubt it’s effect on people in anticipation of watching the finest athletes in the world compete.

Watch/Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IizWc4cJwbw
Purchase this Song: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0025TNFM4/


So what do you think. Make your opinion known in the comments!

Going to work from home!

It isn't everyday that you get great news... but sometimes fate smiles upon you. I've recently learned that I am allowed to work from home! The day job I perform is pretty much 100% phone support, so where I sit to perform that job is not of much consequence. Considering how high gas prices are though, I'm really grateful.

I heard through a secondary conversation with my boss that another co-worker had recently been part of a pilot program to work from home, despite being within driving distance. You see, it had been a policy before that you had to be at least an hour's commute one-way from a local office before they would even consider letting you work from home. I could understand that. But when I found out about this pilot, I had to speak up. A couple of months squeaking my wheel, and I finally got greased! No, not literally. Although....

It's kind of ironic that I will be working from home, supporting other folks who work from home. There are all kinds of perks that just roll out of my head. I don't have to worry if I have clean work clothes. Heck, I don't even have to wear clothes! I don't have to worry about getting up in enough time to take a shower, dress, shave, comb my hair, get breakfast, etc. I can just get up at 8 o'clock... log in... take my time in the morning. I can eat breakfast and lunch on my terms. I can take meaningful "breaks" with the missus. I might even be motivated to start working out again.

All in all, I'm really looking forward to this. I'm now just waiting on my VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) equipment to arrive, and I'll be all set. I'll definitely be making several posts about how my installation of my ViaTalk VOIP service went. Plus any types of configurations I had to do to get it reliable.

A clean start.

It's now pretty late on a lovely Monday evening. The grass is wet from from the new fallen rain. The dog is muddy from being outside. My wife is creating a logo and design for a company that she is creating. And I don't really have many complaints... well, except that both kids are still awake.

Nevertheless, I'm jumping into this full-tilt now. This weblog will be about my random thoughts, rants, reviews, and general mayhem. I do plan on making more focused weblogs towards my passions. But for now, this will serve as a signpost towards those to come, and a repository for my "out-of-bounds" topics.

I'm not going to do a look at me post, where I describe why I like long walks on the beach, and my sign to see if we are kindred spirits. If you become a regular reader of this blog, then you'll soon find out enough about me. As for now, please enjoy