College football as we know it on the line

by | Jun 6, 2010 | College Football, NFL Random Thoughts, We Forgot

I’m not smart enough nor do I have the time right now to understand ins and outs of college football’s Bowl Championship Series. If you do an archive search on this blog, which typically focuses more on the NFL than college football, you’ll see that neither my brother nor I like the BCS as it sits right now.

But I would guess neither of us would claim to be an expert on what conferences make huge chunks of money or whose teams have the worst chances of being selected for the big money bowl games.

I was intrigued during the last couple weeks, however, as discussion emerged about the possibilities of the Big Ten, which includes the University of Minnesota where we both went to college, potentially adding any number of teams from big name Notre Dame to up-and-coming Rutgers, to recent power Missouri to trying-to-re-emerge Nebraska.

But I’ve been hesitant to embrace the talks too much because when you follow college sports you know that A) the BCS sucks and B) there is always a money angle somewhere along the line.

Yahoo! Sports has a fantastic story describing one view of how the Big 10 fought off a “plus one” playoff format a couple years ago as part of a plan to get its own network up and running so it could now raid the Big 12 and become one of what could become three or four “super conferences”. (more…)

First preseason magazine hits the rack

by | Jun 1, 2010 | NFL Media, NFL Random Thoughts

The first NFL preseason publication, Athlon Sports Pro Football, hit racks around the country sometime over the weekend.

In the last few years I hadn’t bought Athlon. I thought they had traded the compilation of a lot of important news in exchange for being the first magazine on the racks. But this was Memorial Day weekend and I had some free time on my hands at the cabin of some relatives. So I decided to pick it up. (more…)

Super Bowl to New York – interesting

by | May 25, 2010 | Super Bowl

One of the first NFL playoff games I remember watching when I was little was the AFC Championship game in 1981 between San Diego and Cincinnati. The game brought the Chargers from California out to Ohio in January when the temperature was -9 degrees and the wind chill was -57 degrees.

The Bengals crushed the Chargers that day setting the stage for Cincinnati to roll into Detroit for Super Bowl XVI, where the San Francisco 49ers would win the first of their handful of championships.

Many famous NFL games have been played in cold weather. Dallas and Green Bay in the Ice Bowl also comes to mind. But none of those cold weather games have been the Super Bowl. The aforementioned Super Bowl in Detroit was played in the Silverdome. A decade later Minnesota hosted the big game in the Metrodome.

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Unenshring Lawrence Taylor?

by | May 11, 2010 | Hall of Fame

Few players in the last quarter century have been more gifted than Lawrence Taylor.

Few stars have been more troubled off the field as well.

Taylor has fought drugs, among other issues, and now he stands accused of paying a 16-year-old girl for sex.

Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN this morning had an interesting conversation about Taylor. I didn’t catch the entire conversation but the gist of it was this: Should he be unenshrined form the NFL Hall of Fame?

At the end of the day removing him from the Hall is highly unlikely, if not impossible. Mike Florio cites Peter King citing rules against using character flaws to determine whether a player gets into the Hall or not.

But are it presents an interesting argument. Should character be a consideration? Are there players you think are being kept out because of character flaws or issues they had off the field? Jim Tyrer is the player I’ve most often heard connected, at least loosely, with this theory.Are there others?

And, then the big one, if it were up to you, would Lawrence Taylor remain a Hall of Famer?

Photo by jacorbett70

Lawmakers introducing Vikings stadium options

by | May 3, 2010 | Business of Football

There are budget deficits and education reform measures facing the Minnesota Legislature during its last two weeks before adjournment but the Minnesota Vikings and the team’s efforts to get approval for a new stadium will at least be discussed, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Low construction costs and the short-term remaining on the team’s lease have lawmakers planning to introduce some options for taking care of the team. The press conference announcing several options comes just weeks after the Minnesota Twins opened Target Field to great acclaim.

There are plenty of obstacles to overcome before a Vikings deal becomes reality. But the team is getting more attention at the Capitol this year, despite huge budget deficits now and projected into the future, than it has in four years.