Beauford already did a fantastic job pointing out the idiocy of creating and crafting a perception and then simply repeating the process over and over again until everyone believes that perception (misguided or not) to be God's honest truth... call it a (warning: science content ahead) societal PCR (that's polymerase chain reaction) if you will. Pointing out the obvious and parentheticals aside, there's something else that often goes quietly unmentioned each year as the Big 10 sends its teams out to compete for the bowl season, and with a quick look at the bowl schedule, I think you'll get what I'm driving at here...
1. Champs Sports Bowl: Wisconsin vs Florida State in... you guessed it: Orlando, FL.
2. Valero Alamo Bowl: Northwestern vs Mizzou in San Antonio, TX
3. Outback Bowl: Iowa vs South Carolina in Tampa, FL
4.Insight Bowl: Minnesota vs Kansas in Tempe, AZ
5. Capital One Bowl: Michigan State vs Georgia in Orlando, FL
6. Rose Bowl: Penn State vs USC in Pasadena, CA
7. Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs Texas in Glendale, AZ
Now then, I'm not trying to make excuses, but do you think that maybe, just maybe, you'd hear it from folks in the SEC, Big 12, and Pac 10 if those matchups looked like this?
1. Wisconsin vs Florida State in Minneapolis, MN
2. Northwestern vs Mizzou in Chicago, IL
3. Iowa vs South Carolina in Kansas City, MO
4. Minnesota vs Kansas in Green Bay, WI
5. Michigan State vs Georgia in Indianapolis, IN
6. Penn State vs USC in State College, PA
7. Ohio State vs Texas in Pittsburgh, PA
I didn't exactly get a map out and make sure that these sites were equidistant for the new "home" teams, but you get the idea... I mean c'mon. Oh sure, warm weather, tourist attractions, blah, blah, blah... if you don't think it makes a difference when USC doesn't have to so much as do more than walk to the stadium while Penn State travels 2,500 miles (that one I did map...) then I don't know what to tell you.
Now then, just a few quick hitters for you on a Friday afternoon:
- Throughout all of this end of the year debate, I just can't get past one point: Penn State 45 Oregon State 14... USC 21 Oregon State 27... which team got all of the "what needs to happen for them to play for the NC" buzz? Yeah....
- Sam McGuffie has them Statesboro Blues. I certainly can respect his choice and wish the young man the best. I won't pretend to know all of his circumstances and issues that weighed into his decision. I still think he's going to be a heck of a player wherever he ends up. Losing a talented player, regardless of depth at the position, always hurts.
- Have you ever cared LESS about the Heisman? I mean I know the award has been in decline since, well for quite a while with the exception of Charles Woodson and Reggie Bush, but uh, this is a new low isn't it?
That's all, a hodgepodge I know, but that's how she goes.
Oh yeah, and the Meeeeeeechigan Basketball team takes on Eastern Michigan tomorrow at 4 pm on BTN, feel free to stop on by and join in on the open thread!
GO BLUE!