Beaker's Rants

One player wins me over...

2009-01-09T19:54:00.002-06:00

I have not been a big Florida Gators fan by any means. Now I did get into a debate with my nephew on facebook a few days ago, as he'd posted asking how Florida possibly could have a chance against Oklahoma. I seriously thought the Sooners would win, but I didn't think they were a world ahead of Florida either, and given the Sooners' performance in past bowls. So I'll admit it was fun to rib my

Pride

2009-01-02T08:00:00.002-06:00

Pride, in its proper place, can be a good thing.Maybe that's a lot of what I love about college football. The tradition, the history, but more than that the character that is part of the game, leave a sense of pride. I'm sure maybe it's just as true in about any other sport but perhaps just the influence of where I grew up, in a place where college football was everything, that becomes the

Great Football History Story

2008-12-08T10:30:00.001-06:00

While this has been my most poorly blogged season to date, I did give some time to the University of Buffalo when they were about to play Missouri for the championship. In my last post I referenced gettign to go to a Nebraska Oklahoma game, Turner Gill was the quarterback for Nebraska in that game. So I have a bit of an affinity for the Buffalo football program

My apologies to the fine folk in Oklahoma

2008-12-05T13:42:00.003-06:00

I know that at the moment the main page of the site is still showing Texas Tech as the reigning champs. Of course that changed when Oklahoma beat Tech, I've just been too lazy to change the site. Oklahoma being the current champ definitely has a level of nostalgia. Growing up in Nebraska, there was always that rivalry with the Sooners. I remember some great games, and great plays. I also

Good Effort by Buffalo

2008-09-24T07:40:00.002-05:00

Give credit to Buffalo for a strong effort against Missouri. For a team that most said wasn't supposed to come close, they hung in the game a lot longer than expected. I think it's a safe bet you'll be hearing more from them as time goes on.Missouri gets a break for this week, with their next challenge being at Nebraska. The championship game finally gets to Lincoln, which is pretty cool. It

e-mail from Turner Gill

2008-09-22T14:34:00.003-05:00

A number of times, I've sent emails to different members of the athletic department and coaching staffs of teams to wish them luck on their upcoming National Championship game. For the first time, I got a response.Turner Gill, head coach of the Buffalo Bulls, responded back "Hello Ron, Thank you for the kind words & the interesting way of looking at our upcoming Missouri game." Okay, it's got

Mizzou Buffalo may be closer than thought

2008-09-19T08:23:00.002-05:00

Okay, I have to say this to start. Buffalo Bulls. Buffalo Bills.... I'm not sure which came first, but you have to wonder if someone from one organization didn't get a little miffed when the other came out with a nicname so close to the other.That said, I'm a little more interested in this week's match than in most. Okay, maybe it's because I'm still chomping at the bit for a Buster Douglas

Great Start

2008-08-30T23:39:00.002-05:00

Missouri and Illinois were a great way to start the new season. While the game was never quite close enough to be totally suspenseful, it was a far cry better than the start of the past few seasons. Congratulations to the Tigers for their first successful defense of their National Championship.Next week will be an odd one, as Missouri does play but this is not considered a championship defense.

A time to celebrate

2008-08-28T23:02:00.003-05:00

This, my friends, is truly a time for celebration!!!For one, the Democrats are going home! Now, don't get too upset at me for that, if i were living in Minneapolis I'd be cheering the departure of the Republicans as well. When you've got this great little way of driving home from work, and then all of a sudden one day your little best kept secret of a road is jam packed with cars because they

R.I.P. Mzone

2008-08-21T21:31:00.002-05:00

Wow.Okay, you can tell by looking at this blog that I've been out of commission for awhile. It dawned on me just how long today...I sat down and thought, I wonder what's going on over at the MichiganZone... it's been awhile since I've been there, and with football season getting close they gotta have some funny stuff. And then I realized just HOW long it's been... The last post is 2 months

Thanks Sprint

2008-01-23T21:00:00.000-06:00

This blog has been pretty quiet especially through bowl season, which is pretty inexcusable for a blog on college football national champions. First off, congratulations to LSU on their BCS Title. Second, congratulations to the Missouri Tigers for their win over Arkansas to claim the Heavyweight Football Championship. Both championships are well deserved and earned.Now, to the point of this

Inconsistencies

2007-12-11T22:15:00.000-06:00

There are those who will look at the Heavyweight Football Championship as a joke. My buddy George likes to let me know what a stupid idea it all is and insists I get a life (though it's interesting he has nothing better to do with his own time than send derogatory emails complaining about stuff on a website).But it's interesting the inconsistency in the approach of some. There are those out

Manipulation

2007-12-10T19:19:00.000-06:00

By now, it's become clear to me that the most glaring weakness of the BCS system is the reliance on the polls as the major part of the criteria for determining the teams in the BCS championship game. More specifically, the problem with the voter element comes is that of poll manipulation. Rather than picking teams based on who they really think are the best, you have campaigning and blatant

So it IS George, and not Lynn

2007-12-09T00:39:00.000-06:00

Based on the comment received to the last post, it appears that it is, indeed, George. Same wit, wisdom and intelligence. Thanks for dropping by again George.Lynn, you must be so proud. And of course, Georges comments once again speak for themselves. I mean, who can expand on that classic stuff?

The dumbest concept....

2007-11-29T07:20:00.000-06:00

I've let that email sit a bit, and i do have to say, i still can't get over the fact that this guy is so concerned about me wasting time on an unrealistic concept and yet he's willing to waste time sending comments like this. Okay George -- I will assume you are George. If it was you who sent it Lynn, I apologize for the wrong assumption. But I guess the question is.... what exactly do you

Thank you George (or is it Lynn?)

2007-11-28T07:18:00.000-06:00

I got a great email yesterday. I'll admit I spent a lot of time trying to come up with snappy comebacks but decided that's a waste of time. I'll post the email right now, and I do want to respond to it because despite its tone it does bring up some good points that are worth responding to. According to a combination of the email header and the email address, I'm assuming this came from

The perfect weekend for this kind of season.

2007-11-25T00:02:00.000-06:00

What a weekend eh?Of course first and foremost, we got a new national champion out of the deal. Arkansas now takes over the throne, defeating LSU to become the new Heavyweight Football National Champion.And of course, the whole BCS game qualifiers got tossed around some more. Personally, I think it's an awesome college football season. I was pretty sure LSU would get beat either this week or

A sign of strength? Or Mediocrity?

2007-10-27T21:30:00.000-05:00

One comment I heard on the radio, in various forms, was 'even though they have 2 losses, I still see Florida as one of the top teams in the country.' Well, make that 3. Meanwhile, Kentucky, the #2 team in this mighty conference, loses to Mississippi. The Punditry would say that's a sign of strength, that the Southeast Conference has such a brutal schedule. Most of them would have you believe

Pundit Hypocrisy

2007-10-20T21:58:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to figure out what it is that has me all grumpy today whenever I listen to the experts and pundits, particularly in the 'World Wide Leader' on tv and on the radio. I finally figured it out. I think they're hypocrites. Probably the one that got me going the most was listening to one of them, I believe it was Mel Kiper (since I was working my real job at the time I didn't get a

Now that the BCS Standings are Out

2007-10-16T22:01:00.000-05:00

Of course there is a lot of discussion about whether South Florida can hang on to its top 2 position. The question being whether a 1 loss team like an LSU will catch up to them in the end.Because of the position that computers have in the BCS standings, a question some of the pundits should consider is, will Ohio State be able to hold on to their position. I'll say this now, if South Florida,

Break it down?

2007-09-08T12:44:00.001-05:00

With a great week of college football games coming up, I'm listening to as much sports radio as possible, watching TV looking forward to what people have to say. And I have to say, there's one phrase that drives me nuts as much as any: Breaking it down. Everyone uses it and it nauseates me. Breaking down this matchup. Breaking down the rosters. Someone was even going to break down a NASCAR

What Right Do I Have?

2007-09-06T20:35:00.000-05:00

I've sent emails off here and there lately making declarations such as Troy Trojans to play for National Championship. And the thought occurred to me the last time I did this, what right do i have to make such a declaration? Really, who am I to make such a declaration, after all I'm not in any position of authority whatsoever in the college football world. I'm barely a blip, if even that, on

Coaching blog

2007-09-05T20:39:00.001-05:00

Just a quick note, I got a note from the guys at College Gridiron Boss. They're off and running, with a lot more consistency so far anyway than this particular blog, but so far they've had some interesting takes. The idea of the blog is to focus more on coaching... so maybe they'll come around to questions like has Bill Callahan really earned his 3 year extension for 1.75 million dollars a

Is it proof?

2007-09-02T08:59:00.000-05:00

Appalachian State? For the first time ever, a non Division 1A team has pulled off a win over ranked team, and this was not only a ranked team, but one of the teams expected to be in the hunt for the BCS Championship game. Is this proof that anyone can beat anyone?Keep in mind that Appalachian State is not just anyone. They are the 2 time defending national champions in Division 1AA. I know, I

The Clock Ticks

2007-08-28T11:59:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'd love to put up something like the cool clock that Kanka's Sports Page has, I love that thing. Anyway, the new season is just days away. Woohoo!!I noticed an error on my main page that had been sitting there for far far too long. I had down that Florida's first title defense was supposed to be against Southern Mississippi. Instead it's Western Kentucky. That's a huge drop off from