The SoapBoxers

2012 may be over, but football, both college and professional, are still in the 2012 season. The Pros still have weeks of playoffs to go, but the college ranks will be finishing off this week with a Monday night, crowning of a national champion. This week, let focus on College. So how did the season go? The experts fawned over the SEC all year. It turns out that they were correct. The SEC leads the rest of the conferences with 5 bowl wins and one more chance in the championship game. The ACC, Big XII, Pac 12 and USA all came in with 4 wins. The SEC and Big XII put 9 teams into bowls with the Pac 12 putting in 8 bowls appearances. So who did not do as well? The Big Ten and Big XII both had 5 bowl losses with the MAC having a chance to join them on Sunday night. The Big Ten number is skewed since the two best teams in the conference were not bowl eligible. This forced lesser teams into stronger bowls.

Even now, the experts are talking about the rankings next year. Obviously, the SEC will figure strongly in the predictions and rightly so, but all trends change. A few years ago, the Pac 10 was the best, before that the Big Ten. All these things cycle, although some conferences drift to the bottom never to return. Just two years ago, Notre Dame was on the ash heap of history, but now they are playing in the national championship.

There are also people complaining about the conference realignments. This is a natural part of the sport as each school positions for the best possible financial return on their programs. The demise of the Big East has most of the experts (who are east coast centric) upset, but even in their own analysis, they show that this is an evolution. The Big East is 34 years old (founded in 1979) and was not a football conference until 1991. Teams have come and gone constantly, some by choice such as West Virginia, and some were voted out such as Temple.

These same reporters did not shed a tear when the Southwest Conference evaporated, a conference that included a three time national champion in football and contenders in basketball (men’s and women’s). The Southwest Conference was exceptionally stable, with seven members staying from 1923 to 1991 (when Arkansas left for the SEC), before it dissolved in 1996.

Other conferences such as the Big Ten and Pac 10 have been even more stable, while the SEC has been on a steady growth path to the fourteen teams that now make up that conference (expect this to grow to sixteen for the first super conference). The SEC started in 1932 with ten of the current teams as part of that line up. They had lost three teams by 1966 but gained two in 1991 and two more in 2012. The Big Ten started in 1896 with six of the current teams, adding two in 1899, one in 1960, one in 1990, one in 2011 and two more will join in 2014. University of Chicago dropped out in 1946. Expect the Big Ten to expand to sixteen teams as well to make a second super conference. The Pac 12 started in 1915 with four of the current teams, adding and losing teams to stabilize at eight teams in 1928. Two schools were added in 1978 and two more in 2011. Expect the Pac 12 to become the Pac 16 to become a third super conference,

One conference that has changed dramatically in the last three years is the Big XII. This conference was created from the Big 8 and the Southwest conference when the SWC folded. When two teams left a couple of years ago, the experts were calling for the dissolving of the Big XII and the creation of a super conference based on the Big East. That was interesting in that the Big East at the time only had a couple of teams that could be considered good, while the Big XII still had at least three if not more high quality football programs. Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri and Texas A&M have left with West Virginia and TCU joining. Comparing the impact of these gains and losses based on bowl performance shows that it is pretty much a wash for the Big XII. Two of the teams that left did not make it to bowl games, the other two were one loss and one win in their bowls. The two newcomers both made it to a bowl, and both lost.

Sitting at a total of ten teams, the Big XII does not seem to be in a position to become a super conference, but they could by scavenging from the Mountain West, MAC and WAC. If the political questions could be overcome, the ACC and Big East could merge to become a super conference, but there is some bad blood between those conferences as far as membership goes.

Next year, the NCAA will try a playoff of the top four teams to make sure that they are crowning the true champion. Some of the experts have stated that there should be automatic bids for positions in that playoff. Such predetermined matchups are for elites who are afraid to lose their position to a better team. The four slots should be filled by the four best teams of that year. I do have an opinion beyond what the NCAA has posted. I think that any member of that group must be the champion of their conference. I state this to avoid another same conference championship like happened last year, or the whining that got Texas into the Rose Bowl in 2004 (and I am a Texas Alumni). If you don’t win your own conference, how can you claim to be one of the best teams in the nation?

If super conferences do come into being, a playoff would be inevitable. There are currently 124 schools in the NCAA Division 1 FBS. If there were 7 super conferences of 16 teams each, 112 of these teams would be filtered down to 7 champions. An 8 team playoff would pit these champions against each other and 1 non-super conference team that was qualified based on record (this would allow independent teams like Notre Dame and Navy to have an opportunity to play for the championship). Will it happen? I think so. There is so much money to be made, all of the universities will be drawn to it. The traditional bowls will never go to the wayside, it is too good of an excuse to party and for northern teams to have a warm holiday.

January is Football Euphoria

The Bowl Season is nearly complete. The office confidence pools are wrapping up, and more of us are looking forward to the BCS Title Game between Alabama and Notre Dame. The NFL playoffs start this weekend and there are a bunch of intriguing match-ups as well.

Hopefully Santa dropped off that new large flat screen LED TV for you to take in all the action from the warm and friendly confines of your home.

Wildcard Weekend!

Adrian Peterson (Photo credit: Mike Morbeck)

The NFL games start off with a rematch of last week’s battle of Minnesota and Green Bay. This match up puts arguably the best two players at their position, Aaron Rodgers and Adrian Peterson, against one another yet again. How many weeks can Peterson carry the Vikings? I would have thought they would have slipped out of the race a long time ago, but the fact they are here at all speaks volumes to their coaching staff and well…Adrian Peterson. Weather forecast for the Frozen Tundra…not exactly frozen, but upper 20’s with a chance of snow.. Will that hurt the Pack’s passing attack?

Pack get revenge as it is too tough to beat a team in back to back weeks. Packer  27, Vikings 17

Houston and Cincinnati. It seems like just a few weeks ago (and actually was) that Houston was in the driver’s seat for home field advantage for the entire playoffs. Now they have to play a first round game against red hot Cincinnati. The Texans are better but you never know…Who Dey? Dey are going home early. Texans 21 – Bengals 20

Ray Lewis (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

Indianapolis Colts play the Baltimore Ravens – this one to me is a toss-up, the Colts have played well, and Baltimore is the model of inconsistency. This is the Last Hurrah for Ray Lewis. Will Flacco find some magic? Ravens in a close one. Baltimore 23 – Indianapolis 21.

The final game on the slate is maybe the most exciting. Two rookie quarterbacks face off as the Seahawks face the Redskins. To me, this game is three factors, 1) it is at Washington, 2) Shanahan is a way better coach than old cheatie Petey C. and 3) RG III ! Gimmie the Skins 28- Seahawks 17

Back to School

I said earlier this year in more than one article that Alabama was clearly the superior college football team. I mean they have the deity of all college coaches, Nick Saban, at the helm. Alabama is so great in the eyes of all of the television announcers, ESPN, ABC, FOX, CBS, and all of the sportswriters in North American that 2 of the last 3 quarterbacks to pull off the Herculean task of beating Alabama have won the Heisman Trophy (our condolences to the LSU Quarterback tandem, but the voters couldn’t find reason to vote you for Heisman in 2011 as you only scored 9 points in a win).

Alabama has superior defense, the Tide has the more experience quarterback, and is clearly the superior team.

Notre Dame on the other hand was the recipient of a quick whistle against Stanford on a 4th and goal play, and used the voodoo doll to ensure that Pittsburgh’s kicker Kevin Harper kept shanking short field goal attempts.

Yep no way Alabama loses this game.

Go Irish!!!!

Until next time, stay classy Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

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Staying Patient

It has been awhile since I wrote about our building our first new home. Most of you likely expect that it is completed.

Truth is, our contractor is quite a bit delayed, and we were originally supposed to move into our new home around Thanksgiving. Now our new completion date is likely closer to March of 2013.

They Call Them Apartments, But They Are All Together.

Not Johnny’s apartment building

You might recall my last article when I wrote about the neighbor below, with a tolerance for noise that borders on that of a 97 year old librarian. Actually no incidents since then for my family, but he did go off one night on the neighbors next door to him – his wall banging reminiscent of a Sasquatch trying to tear down a campsite.

The biggest complaint of living in the small space with the entire family is that it is hard enough being cooped up inside during the winter months, but even harder when you are six years old…just ask my son.

The advantage is that living in the apartment has allowed for my wife and I to pay for a new bedroom set and a sound system for the house – – – just based on the money we have saved in making a house payment vs. the lower rent payment. So while we have still spent money, we have instead spent it on some items we really wanted for the new abode.

Earning For Our New Keep

Speaking of money, the best thing we did is have a performance clause built into our contract. What this means is that if the house is not completed by a certain date, then we, the purchaser of the new home, get the final price reduced by a stipulated sum of money for each week, or month, the house is delayed.

I am sure there are a bunch of possible ways that a couple building a home could set this up with their contractor, and each situation is different. I would strongly recommend doing this if you are looking to build a home. This offers some guarantee that your construction will be done during the allotted time, and if not…at least you are being financially compensated for having to wait. Our builder had this built into our contract, and since things are delayed, it is now a benefit in terms of final value we will pay when we close on our new home.

What Are Hardest Decisions to Make?

I have had a few people ask me this one. I have heard horror stories from many people, and have had other people tell me there is no way they would ever build a house as they aren’t sure they could make all of the decisions.

I have never looked at this as a chore…instead I would tell you that it has actually been very fun and exciting choosing things for the new house.

But, what item has been the hardest thing to pick out?

We have brick on the exterior of our home, and let’s face it…you are never going to replace brick. So to me choosing a brick we liked was the hardest choice. I had NO idea there were THAT many types and colors of brick to choose from.

Next toughest for me is choosing the exterior color of the home. Actually this is not even decided yet, but we need to figure it out soon. The problem is I like about 25 different combinations, so it is more a problem on just deciding and sticking to one I like. Everything else has been pretty smooth – carpet, tile, countertops, lighting fixtures etc. It likely helps that my wife and I are on the same page on most every item, and I am sure it is a lot different for some couples. But for us, it has been pretty easy.

The only other thing other than exterior colors to still choose is ceiling fans, and interior colors. Well and the landscaping plan. Fortunately I have a relative that has a background in that field of expertise. He took some pictures and some site drawings from us at the holidays and will get back to us with some ideas on how to dress up the yard once the house is complete.

Just like everything else with the house, I can’t wait to see how that turns out!

Have a great 2013!

Until Next Time, stay classy Orlando, Florida.

“The Regulars Are Coming Out!”

From October 1774 through April 1775 the American Colonies were preparing for the worst. Americans formed companies, bought arms, stored up powder, and prepared for war if it was to come to that. Much effort was made to avoid more conflict but the British rejected the grievances of the colonies.

Governors loyal to the British reported the preparations but were unable to do anything about it. On April 18 1775 General Gage, commander-in-chief of British forces in the American Colonies, sent 800 soldiers 18 miles from Boston to Concord to confiscate American guns, ammo, and stores. Dr Samuel Prescott said “the regulars are coming out!” Then Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott spread the word across the countryside. This is the famous ride of Paul Revere.

It’s interesting that the ride of Paul Revere is so famous but the gun control aspect of the events is almost never told. England tried several times to confiscate guns and also banned the importation of powder to the colonies among other things. This is how tyranny behaves; this is how the Obama administration is behaving. This is why we have the Second Amendment.

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

The Second Amendment has two clauses. The first clause is about the militia. A militia is to be well regulated. The word “regulated” is often misinterpreted and wrongfully applied. If we look at Federalist Paper 29 it says:

…To oblige the great body of the yeomanry, and of the other classes of the citizens, to be under arms for the purpose of going through military exercises and evolutions, as often as might be necessary to acquire the degree of perfection which would entitle them to the character of a well-regulated militia…

Obviously ‘well-regulated’ doesn’t mean limited or restricted but it means a ‘degree of perfection’.

The second clause of the Second Amendment is about “the people”. This is the same group referred to in the First Amendment. The purpose is to guarantee the voluntary arming of citizens. The arming of citizens “shall not be infringed”. The right to bear those arms “shall not be infringed”. Federalist Paper 46 says:

…To these would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million of citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves…

Obviously citizens have a right to keep and bear arms, any arms the militia has. The framers of the constitution certainly intended for an armed citizenry and for it to act as an opposition to the militia if tyranny threatens our country. I’ve heard from many people that some guns only purpose is to kill. My answer is “so?” The Second Amendment isn’t about less-than-lethal weapons and it’s not about hunting either. It’s only about defending ourselves and our nation with the most lethal arms and ammunition we can afford.

Should citizens have so-called military type rifles? According to the Second Amendment and Federalist Papers the answer is yes. Realistically our military uses nearly every type of arms available to civilians. This includes shotguns, handguns, hunting rifles (Remington 700, etc), and even a hugely popular hunting rifle the Ruger 10/22. Obama’s big push to ban guns is a violation of our constitutional rights. Any gun ban is unconstitutional and disrupts the checks and balances intended by the constitution.

What gain could there be from a gun ban? Studies have shown that guns are used around 2 million times a year in self-defense. The harm a gun ban would cause far outweighs any benefit. The CDC lists guns 25th cause of death in America. Swimming pools, bicycles, and crossing the street are more dangerous than guns. FBI statistics show that more people are killed with knives than rifles like the one used at Sand Hook Elementary in Newtown Connecticut. FBI statistics show that more people are killed by fists and feet than by rifles. Nothing good comes from any gun ban. We have no reason to trust an administration that arms the drug cartel and al-Qaeda but aspires to disarm the People. Quite possibly a severe restriction of our rights might have the same effect as it did in 1775.