Every Day Should Be Saturday: FanPosts

MSECU Radio: Heisman Edition

2013-05-24T03:56:25Z

Welcome back to the second episode of MSECU radio. I'm joined by Alli, Christopher Hondros, Jokastrength, Billy, WaltonLoads, and alexanderkotov to discuss the wide world of life. We talk the recently released Heisman odds and all of their shenanigans, as well as which team seems to beat the snot out of our favorite teams. We also take some time to talk about our favorite teams that we don't have any ties to. Jokastrength also provides some details on Fearless Leader's special night out last weekend. Finally we have a special appearance from Erik T for his Grumpy Cat rant.

As always you can click the link below to listen, or listen on iTunes by searching for MSECU Radio.

MSECU Episode 2

As always you can click the link below to listen, or listen on iTunes by searching for MSECU Radio.

MSECU Episode 2

2013 a special year for rivalries

2013-05-21T03:44:34Z

Some of the biggest and best college football rivalries have already been broken up by conference realignment. Oklahoma vs. Nebraska and Pittsburgh vs. Penn State come to mind right away. While I'm happy to say that it appears both of those rivalries will be making a come back in the near future, there are other outstanding rivalries that have become rare due to ever-tighter conference schedules.

The 2013 college football season is a special one in this regard: there are 3 sets of 3 rivalries which will all be played this season. Two of them will go into storage after the season is over, while the 3rd has one year remaining.

Michigan State / Notre Dame / Michigan

Miami / Florida / Florida State

Georgia / Clemson / South Carolina

Perhaps you know of some other 3-team rivalries which will be played this Fall - if so, why not share them by leaving a comment below?

Michigan State / Notre Dame / Michigan

Miami / Florida / Florida State

Georgia / Clemson / South Carolina

Perhaps you know of some other 3-team rivalries which will be played this Fall - if so, why not share them by leaving a comment below?

Poll

Which of the soon to be dormant rivalries will you miss the most?

MSECU Radio: Inaugural Edition

2013-05-10T03:39:58Z

Welcome to the first episode of MSECU Radio. We have a packed episode for you, where I am joined by Kbuts, ZZR, Erik T, Alli, and Chris for a fun discussion about college football and a few other things. We talk about the current EDSBS Charity Drive, Andy Staples Top 25, and let Erik go on a rant about wine and hockey, and finish things up with our experience at our Worst Home Game Ever.

Our RSS Feed is also here http://msecuradio.podomatic.com/rss2.xml

Apologies for the weird background noise, and we are working on getting the podcast on iTunes but until then you can go here to listen in.

Our RSS Feed is also here http://msecuradio.podomatic.com/rss2.xml

Apologies for the weird background noise, and we are working on getting the podcast on iTunes but until then you can go here to listen in.

Atlanta meet-up - 17 May, 7 pm, H. Harper Station

2013-05-09T22:04:51Z

That is all.

Additional filler text:

Punch Bowls

Velvet Goldmine: encanto pisco, smith & cross overproof rum, pineapple syrup, velvet falernum, lime

AWP 290 Punch: bourbon, rum, peach, mint, sugar, lemon, house-made ginger beer

Philadelphia Fish House Punch: jamaican rum, brandy, peach whiskey, maraschino, green

Cadet Punch: rye whiskey, oleo-saccharum, bitters

Drafts:

Crispin Cider

Paulaner Pilsner

New Belgium Rolle Bolle

Sweetwater 420

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier

Anchor Steam

Goose Island Honker ’s Ale

Boston Beer Co. Grumpy Monk

Ommegang Gnomegang

Wild Heaven Invocation

Bell’s Two Hearted Ale

Terrapin Mosaic

Dogfish Head 60 Min IPA

Guinness

New Holland Dragon’s Milk

That is all.

Additional filler text:

Punch Bowls

Velvet Goldmine: encanto pisco, smith & cross overproof rum, pineapple syrup, velvet falernum, lime

AWP 290 Punch: bourbon, rum, peach, mint, sugar, lemon, house-made ginger beer

Philadelphia Fish House Punch: jamaican rum, brandy, peach whiskey, maraschino, green

Cadet Punch: rye whiskey, oleo-saccharum, bitters

Drafts:

Crispin Cider

Paulaner Pilsner

New Belgium Rolle Bolle

Sweetwater 420

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier

Anchor Steam

Goose Island Honker ’s Ale

Boston Beer Co. Grumpy Monk

Ommegang Gnomegang

Wild Heaven Invocation

Bell’s Two Hearted Ale

Terrapin Mosaic

Dogfish Head 60 Min IPA

Guinness

New Holland Dragon’s Milk

EDSBS Icypuck Random Number Generator Glorious Challenge

2013-04-28T19:30:19Z

For our hockey fans here at EDSBS, I set up a group for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff bracket challenge. Considering this is the Stanley Cup Playoffs, your bracket will look way worse than your NCAA March Madness bracket when all is said and done. The group can be found in the link below. The password is pinkkanejersey. This should be a pretty fun little thing for us puckheads as we have some bragging rights in addition to clogging up every nighttime thread with hockey talk on a college football blog. Hey, it's better than talking David Stern's league stuff, amirite? Umm, still gotta get over 150 words, so umm let's put up the link here before we digress to more mumbo jumbo

http://playoffschallenge.nhl.com/playoff_challenge/leagues/2783?locale=en

Okay, you've basically got 2 days to get your picks in because of the playoffs starting Tuesday Night, but this should be a fun time! Yay hockey!

http://playoffschallenge.nhl.com/playoff_challenge/leagues/2783?locale=en

Okay, you've basically got 2 days to get your picks in because of the playoffs starting Tuesday Night, but this should be a fun time! Yay hockey!

An Open Letter to EDSBS Management

2013-04-19T18:17:12Z

Dear Sirs (and Madams, not always sure if Aunt Stabby is still considered management):

As this dreadful off-season has rolled on and the news is all bad and hard to watch, I have a question. Why are we no longer treated to the weekly Fulmer Cup-dates. Did Brian step on his member and disable himself? Are our football players becoming increasingly well behaved? Or is it because Bama's in the lead and you don't want to give us another National Championship to claim?

Seriously, the fact that there were no weekly updates made the end of tax season even more hellacious than usual.

It's time for a Big Board update - thanks.

Sincerely,

BamaTaxMan

Dear Sirs (and Madams, not always sure if Aunt Stabby is still considered management):

Seriously, the fact that there were no weekly updates made the end of tax season even more hellacious than usual.

It's time for a Big Board update - thanks.

Sincerely,

BamaTaxMan

SEC loses dominance in obesity rankings

2013-04-11T15:36:17Z

Everyone knows that Alabama and Mississippi lead the nation in ~~oversigning~~ overeating, right? The obesity rates are astounding, and science shows those fat pigs are just waiting to catch the diabeetus.

Hold up.

New research from UAB (Go Blazers) shows that the East South Central region (AL, MS, TN and KY) actually finished fifth out of nine regions. Who came out on top when it comes to the widest middles?

Hold up.

the West North Central part of the country, which includes North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, is the fattest area — with a 41 percent obese population.

That's right. The upper Midwest.

Why the discrepancy?

It turns out that the previous assumptions were based on studies using self-reported data, and the East South Central region was the least willing to lie:

“Asking someone how much they weigh is probably the second worst question behind how much money they make,” [public health researcher Dr. George] Howard explained. “From past research, we know that women tend to underreport their weight, and men tend to over-report their height.”

Howard said as far as equivalency between the self-reported and measured data sets, the East South Central region showed the least misreporting.

“This suggests that people from the South come closer to telling the truth than people from other regions, perhaps because there’s not the social stigma of being obese in the South as there is in other regions,” Howard said.

Turns out Catlab was on to something.

Podcast Details

2013-04-11T13:56:51Z

Alright folks, things are moving forward for a commentariat podcast. The next step is to come up with a name. Based on one of the threads, I have a poll below of the top names. Please vote for your favorite, and if you really like another name put it in the comments. If you want to vote for one in the comments just rec it and I'll count recs as votes.

Also if you are interested in participating in the podcast, send me an email at blewis593@gmail.com. This will make it easier to develop an email list to hash out details of recording.

Poll

What should the Commentariat podcast be called?

MSECU Radio

19 votes

Live Hive

13 votes

PAAAWWWLLLcast

8 votes

The 5th Circle

0 votes

Roll Damn Podcast

3 votes

Church of COTG

3 votes

FCC Radio - Fuck Clemson Commision Radio

3 votes

ASC Radio - Anti-Syracuse Conspiracy Radio

0 votes

The Algonquin Kids Table

3 votes

52 votes | Poll has closed

EDSBS Meme Bracket, Round of 32, Match 5

2013-04-09T15:00:23Z

(Author's Note: I'm aware Match 4 was skipped. It will come later this week.)

The following was found in an abandoned Citgo station in Ardmore, Oklahom, scrawled on the walls in a mixture of blood, feces, and Skoal.

Duteronmy 6 DO NoT PuT THE lord YOUR GOD to the teST

Moments of sanity are fleeting. Memories fly away like so many errant Jason White passes.

BOO

MERSO

MOOBER SNR

You’ll never know a day like November 8th 2003. Maybe your wedding day comes close. Maybe your first child. Maybe there’s a heaven and that will do it. But on this earth you will never know a day.

Boooommmmeeerrr

Oner

Rapture means lifting up. Elevating.

The arc of the ball was more beautiful than the angels. Every pass was like a divine gift direct from God.

SOOnER

You hug the man next to you. You chug a beer. You sing the hymn with the eternal choir of angels.

BOOMER SOONER

Some men pray when they’re at their lowest. Some at their moment of supreme ecstasy.

Do not tempt the Lord your God.

Words are so easy to say and so hard to mean. You pray and you beg God “let me hear nothing but that song ever again.” BOOMER. Every first down every touchdown fill me with the joy of this moment and play it again SAM play it forever never let me hear another song.

DO NOT TEMPT THE LORD YOUR GOD.

Sometimes your prayer is answered and that's the worst that could happen.

BOOMER SOONER

Nights and days blur together. Nothing but an unending, eternal cacophony repeating again and again and again and again.

SANITY SLIPPING. DO NOT TEMPT THE LORBOOOMMERRR

SOONER.

Tell my wifeI SOOOOOONER

BOOMER SOONER

I can’t go on.

BOOMER SOONER BOOMER SOONER BOOMER SOONER BOOMER SOONER

DO NOT TEMPT THE BOOMER YOUR SOONER

BOOMER

SOONER

(Author's Note: I'm aware Match 4 was skipped. It will come later this week.)

The following was found in an abandoned Citgo station in Ardmore, Oklahom, scrawled on the walls in a mixture of blood, feces, and Skoal.

Duteronmy 6 DO NoT PuT THE lord YOUR GOD to the teST

Moments of sanity are fleeting. Memories fly away like so many errant Jason White passes.

BOO

MERSO

MOOBER SNR

Boooommmmeeerrr

Oner

Rapture means lifting up. Elevating.

The arc of the ball was more beautiful than the angels. Every pass was like a divine gift direct from God.

SOOnER

You hug the man next to you. You chug a beer. You sing the hymn with the eternal choir of angels.

BOOMER SOONER

Some men pray when they’re at their lowest. Some at their moment of supreme ecstasy.

Do not tempt the Lord your God.

DO NOT TEMPT THE LORD YOUR GOD.

Sometimes your prayer is answered and that's the worst that could happen.

BOOMER SOONER

Nights and days blur together. Nothing but an unending, eternal cacophony repeating again and again and again and again.

SANITY SLIPPING. DO NOT TEMPT THE LORBOOOMMERRR

SOONER.

Tell my wifeI SOOOOOONER

BOOMER SOONER

I can’t go on.

BOOMER SOONER BOOMER SOONER BOOMER SOONER BOOMER SOONER

DO NOT TEMPT THE BOOMER YOUR SOONER

BOOMER

SOONER

Poll

Who should advance to the Sweet Sixteen?

1. COTG

88 votes

9. Oklahoma Band Only Knows One Song

14 votes

102 votes | Poll has closed

EDSBS Meme Bracket, Round of 32, Match 3

2013-04-04T14:34:16Z

When I was a young girl, my grandfather gave me a piece of advice I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. “Kissy,” he said, using the horrid endearment I would only accept from him, “Some days you’re NC State; some days you’re Florida State.” At the time, I’m sure I smiled and nodded, the way I often did when a parent or grandparent said something I knew was profound but I didn’t quite understand, but as the years and the football seasons went on, it took on almost a mythic quality, as if they were his dying words instead of an angry reaction to a football game. I even suggested to my father that the quote be used in his eulogy, which elicited nothing but a blank stare, a preferable reaction to Uncle Jack, who laughed and thanked me for lightening the mood. I wasn’t joking.

Some days you’re Virginia, some days you’re Georgia Tech.

The new bartender’s name was Eddie—not that he deigned to introduce himself to the girl sitting at the bar in the middle of the afternoon with no makeup and her hair in a ponytail. It must’ve been his first shift ever, because he had a small group gathered around him, sucking down free shots of Jäger like leeches draining a cow in the Amazon. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t in the friendliest of moods myself, a few days removed from the funeral, and I’m sure Eddie would have been plenty nice had I taken the time to introduce myself, but I wasn’t in the mood to make friends, just to coast on my regular status and drink until I couldn’t feel my face. Eddie’s look of hesitation when I ordered Buffalo Trace neat instead of one of the cutesy fruity drinks I’m sure a girl was supposed to order in his mind didn’t help my seething hatred. They were out of Buffalo Trace. He offered Jack Daniels instead.

Some days are a half-empty championship game that ends 9-6.

Panama City gets its share of spring breakers, but it doesn’t tend to attract the crowds in the middle of January like Miami or the Keys or even Tampa, so I was wholly unprepared for the group that entered the bar next. Three girls, of varying shades of blonde, in oversized sunglasses and bags carrying a rainbow of designer names, who had very likely woken up, spent three hours getting ready, and then wandered into the first bar that was open. The apparent leader of the group settled them in at the corner of the bar opposite from Eddie’s friends, just close enough to be that I could hear every insipid word out of their mouths. I ordered a double, and a Yuengling for good measure. Eddie rolled his eyes.

Some days you’re Miami, some days you’re Boston College.

My ball of misery was pierced by the Regina George’s high-pitched twang as she ordered her first round. “Hi!” (The exclamation point after every spoken sentence was clearly implied.) “I’m Katie, and this is Tricia and Aimee! We’re on winter break from Baylor!” Like the implied exclamation points, you could clearly hear the italics on the final word of the sentence, as if the word were some kind of invocation that would cause us all to fall in love with her. “Can we get three [something]-tini’s?!” This particular drink was lost on me, and apparently on Eddie as well, because he looked completely lost as he stared at the not-particularly-large selection of alcohol behind the bar. He stuttered uncomfortably before Katie came to his rescue. “Oh, if you don’t have cotton candy vodka then we’ll just take cosmos!” (Of course you will.) “That’s just the drink we always order back at our bar in Waco! Where Baylor is!” That word again, that inflection again. I downed my bourbon in a single, soon-to-be-regretted gulp, and met eyes with Eddie, giving him the best smile I could muster in order to get another drink. He looked at me, and went back to talking to the girls from Baylor(!).

Some days you’re Maryland, some days you’re Virginia Tech.

There’s that moment when you realize your physical ability to ingest liquor works at a much faster pace than your body’s reaction to said liquor. I’m used to a slow, progressive drunkenness, but this one just hit me out of nowhere, like a North Carolina State moment of competence. I sipped at my beer, trying to tune out the memories. The crippling sadness that was supposed to be cured by alcohol was being magnified.

“Baylor!”

I didn’t even hear the context, just the word. The rest of her sentences dissolved into a much of sounds, but one word kept cutting through, like a jackhammer.

“Baylor!”

“Baylor!”

“Baylor!!!”

One of the major myths of the movies is that a beer bottle breaks cleanly in your hand. I learned this by watching the blood spill onto the sleeve of my sweatshirt.

Some days you just flat-out lose to fucking Duke.

Unperturbed by my possible cut artery, I launched myself across the bar at Katie, spilling the unnaturally red “drinks” everywhere. I landed the first slap before she even knew what had happened, with a gladiatorial shout of “SAY BAYLOR AGAIN, BITCH!” I grabbed her by the hair and yanked as hard as I could, revealing dark roots where a fistful pulled out of her skull. “SAY BAYLOR AGAIN!”

Some days you’re Florida State; some days you’re NC State.

The details are lost to the bourbon and beer, but suffice it to say this wasn’t Katie’s first skankfight. She was kind enough to call off her friends when they tried to enter the fray, I remember that. In a flash of slaps and squeals, she was standing over me, a fistful of my unwashed hair in her hand.

“You say Baylor!” I struggled. She put her foot into the small of my back and pushed, threatening to pull out my entire ponytail in one swift move. “SAY IT.”

“Baylor,” I whimpered.

Some days you’re Georgia Tech, some days you’re Clemson.

Fuck Clemson.

Some days you’re Virginia, some days you’re Georgia Tech.

Some days are a half-empty championship game that ends 9-6.

Some days you’re Miami, some days you’re Boston College.

Some days you’re Maryland, some days you’re Virginia Tech.

“Baylor!”

I didn’t even hear the context, just the word. The rest of her sentences dissolved into a much of sounds, but one word kept cutting through, like a jackhammer.

“Baylor!”

“Baylor!”

“Baylor!!!”

One of the major myths of the movies is that a beer bottle breaks cleanly in your hand. I learned this by watching the blood spill onto the sleeve of my sweatshirt.

Some days you just flat-out lose to fucking Duke.

Some days you’re Florida State; some days you’re NC State.

“You say Baylor!” I struggled. She put her foot into the small of my back and pushed, threatening to pull out my entire ponytail in one swift move. “SAY IT.”

“Baylor,” I whimpered.

Some days you’re Georgia Tech, some days you’re Clemson.

Fuck Clemson.

Poll

Who should advance to the Sweet 16?

7. Baylor Skankfight

57 votes

15. ACC Wheel of Derp

70 votes

127 votes | Poll has closed

Commentariat Podcast

2013-04-04T01:50:42Z

Since there seems to be some interest in making/ listening to a podcast put together by the commentariat, for the commentariat, I wanted to get a fanpost up to discuss ideas/ see who all would be interested. The basic way we could do it is through Skype. Everyone calls in, and I can record it and then run it through audacity, put some funky music in, and then throw it up on podbean. Because of some of my ill-gotten gains from writing soccer previews for a betting site, I can host a podbean account that will let us distribute to the masses through a fanpost and pimping ourselves out like a Baylor student.

Basic idea would be to have 4-5 people each week/ every other week depending on what we want to do. This could rotate or be a set cast depending on interest. Since this is a college football blog we should probably focus on that, but with the offseason we can always get into exciting topics like ~~hockey~~, metric football, and FUCK CLEMSON.

I'm just throwing out a few basic ideas, but I'd like to get a bunch of feedback. Obviously we could have some fun with this, and maybe actually put something competent out. Yes, I know I'm grasping at straws, but I'm trying to reach the 250 word count needed to post one of these stupid things.

Unofficial EDSBS Meet-up Nawlins

2013-04-03T19:26:34Z

This is totally last minute, but here goes:

As a few of you know already, I'm going to be in New Orleans for a conference from this Saturday, April 6 to Thursday, April 11. I want to do a more informal meetup for those who can make it. I'm staying in the CBD on Camp Street, and my availability is pretty much any day but Wednesday. Sunday and Monday are the best days for me, but Tuesday also works (my poster session is from 5:30-8 PM).

Suggestions for a meeting place would be ideal, because frankly, i have no idea where the hell i'm at/going...

So if you can make it and want to be involved, comment below. We'll all have a REAL GOOD TIME without Pitbull or Dr. Pepper. It would be pretty awesome to get to know the people we all think we know on the internet, or at least i hope so...

This is totally last minute, but here goes:

Suggestions for a meeting place would be ideal, because frankly, i have no idea where the hell i'm at/going...

Springball Proposal

2013-03-19T04:16:25Z

3 games on campus against teams that are not comprised of players from your own school's scholarship matrix (What a concept). Played on Saturdays only during daylight hours into early evening from roughly tax day to May 1st. No damn byes.

The rules in Bold because this is not a GIF. Sorry.

-Teams that have been to a bowl the previous season can only play NON BOWL teams the following spring. Non bowl teams can play each other (I believe it is roughly a 1/3rds vs. 2/3rds breakdown). Yes this means your AD will be on the phone Dec 10th or so but, let's be honest, he is paid enough to do this. Its the free market in action baby! And no you can't play your non bowl conference brethren or vs. versa. Sorry ~~Tennessee~~ Kentucky-no wait that was right as the Vols are much more centraly located(expect for recruits) in the SEC.
-At best the games count as 1 point whereas fall games count as 3. Or we can just put the spring record in parentheses for tiebreakers or ignore it like the NFL. Please don't get hung up on this as we already count/don't count FCS games. I can't tell anymore. These games are all FBS so it is a step in the right direction.
-5 weeks of spring practice expandable to 7 weeks or 2 weeks of a separate summer minicamp (that new ~~HS Grads~~ recruits can work in and you can locate anywhere if classes are not in session). Just like they do in basketball now so shove it NCAA.
-Every team either in the bowl group or the Non bowl (losers) must host 1 game on campus. There are no rules on traveling just the below leverage with the coaches.
-If/when you travel to another teams campus you get an extra week of practice that you can convert to a 2 week mini camp in June cutting your spring practice down to 4 weeks. Many will need to settle for this option to make the odd numbers involved in this enterprise work.
-If you travel to 2 games then you get another extra week of practice to use for that mini camp and preserve your original 5 weeks. Conversely you can host all three if you wish but you lose the 2 extra weeks of practice with no minicamp period. This leverages traveling vs just hosting all three games.
-One trip must be by bus only or extremely short substitute flight and not more then 7 hours travel time by road (stops not included) unless in certain western states where no one can cross more then 1 time zone. I would even allow one state over for Texas and neighboring states and some old fashioned neutral site games that are half way between for some old friends taken asunder by conference realignment (PSU/BC or Mizzu/everybody not in the SEC). This is really to save on disruptive travel in the middle of the 3 weeks. It is the 2nd road trip that you are free to move about the country.
-Each Coach handshakes on rules or apply a universal set of safety rules and officiating "experiments" for the spring that are being tested for use in the fall. 2 personal fouls on the same player DQ him for the rest of the game or the next game (Yellow card/Red card). (Coaches rules might also include QBs with red jerseys and no kickoff/punts/FGs.)
Redshirts don't count until the fall and guys in the draft who have not drawn a paycheck can play to show they have recovered from an injury (Basically you can play in 5 springs)
-TV is welcome to sign deals with individual teams for the games that are hosted on campus or the rights fall to the hosts conference. Whatever gets a good check to the guests to make up for smaller gate receipts. Hawaii will have to be a mess to figure out but we can cross that bridge.....

I look forward to this expeditiously becoming the order of things each spring as I have surely posted this in the most important place on the Internet for College Football matters. ;-) And put way more thought into it then anything you have seen on Bleacher report. Can't wait till they plagiarize this 3 years later.

Thank you

*PS note this minicamp idea is porn to Nick Saban which means he will ~~eat a Little Debbie off the floor~~ contemplate the image quietly but effectively while suntanning with the ducks on the dock. Thus there will only be one game at Bryant Denny. No more A-days either unless for charity on April the 8th or so.

The rules in Bold because this is not a GIF. Sorry.

-Teams that have been to a bowl the previous season can only play NON BOWL teams the following spring. Non bowl teams can play each other (I believe it is roughly a 1/3rds vs. 2/3rds breakdown). Yes this means your AD will be on the phone Dec 10th or so but, let's be honest, he is paid enough to do this. Its the free market in action baby! And no you can't play your non bowl conference brethren or vs. versa. Sorry ~~Tennessee~~ Kentucky-no wait that was right as the Vols are much more centraly located(expect for recruits) in the SEC.
-At best the games count as 1 point whereas fall games count as 3. Or we can just put the spring record in parentheses for tiebreakers or ignore it like the NFL. Please don't get hung up on this as we already count/don't count FCS games. I can't tell anymore. These games are all FBS so it is a step in the right direction.
-5 weeks of spring practice expandable to 7 weeks or 2 weeks of a separate summer minicamp (that new ~~HS Grads~~ recruits can work in and you can locate anywhere if classes are not in session). Just like they do in basketball now so shove it NCAA.
-Every team either in the bowl group or the Non bowl (losers) must host 1 game on campus. There are no rules on traveling just the below leverage with the coaches.
-If/when you travel to another teams campus you get an extra week of practice that you can convert to a 2 week mini camp in June cutting your spring practice down to 4 weeks. Many will need to settle for this option to make the odd numbers involved in this enterprise work.
-If you travel to 2 games then you get another extra week of practice to use for that mini camp and preserve your original 5 weeks. Conversely you can host all three if you wish but you lose the 2 extra weeks of practice with no minicamp period. This leverages traveling vs just hosting all three games.
-One trip must be by bus only or extremely short substitute flight and not more then 7 hours travel time by road (stops not included) unless in certain western states where no one can cross more then 1 time zone. I would even allow one state over for Texas and neighboring states and some old fashioned neutral site games that are half way between for some old friends taken asunder by conference realignment (PSU/BC or Mizzu/everybody not in the SEC). This is really to save on disruptive travel in the middle of the 3 weeks. It is the 2nd road trip that you are free to move about the country.
-Each Coach handshakes on rules or apply a universal set of safety rules and officiating "experiments" for the spring that are being tested for use in the fall. 2 personal fouls on the same player DQ him for the rest of the game or the next game (Yellow card/Red card). (Coaches rules might also include QBs with red jerseys and no kickoff/punts/FGs.)
Redshirts don't count until the fall and guys in the draft who have not drawn a paycheck can play to show they have recovered from an injury (Basically you can play in 5 springs)
-TV is welcome to sign deals with individual teams for the games that are hosted on campus or the rights fall to the hosts conference. Whatever gets a good check to the guests to make up for smaller gate receipts. Hawaii will have to be a mess to figure out but we can cross that bridge.....

Thank you

Poll

Does this spring ball idea/manifesto work for you/your School?

Yes

1 votes

No

2 votes

Its just porn for Nick and no one else can have his precious-ROLL TIDE!

3 votes

Jesus now ND can beat Purdue in a different season

2 votes

8 votes | Poll has closed

Les Miles does the Harlem Shake

2013-03-19T00:39:03Z

This might be the best example of the Les Miles world that, whether you like it or not, you and I are all living in. You see, the Harlem Shake is basically dead. It had it's time in the internet limelight and lived a long fulfilling life and will spend the rest of it's time with us confusing the hell out of older people who still use AOL. Don't tell Les Miles that though. He likes this thing and he's going to do it his way. Now you may ask, why is this Harlem Shake video different from the thousands that waste space in the youtube universe? Simply put, Les Miles takes what should be a 30 second clip, makes it a minute long, features the extended cut, and still pulls it off. That is Les Miles.

A NOTE ON DEPRESSION AND SOCIAL MEDIA (BECAUSE I CAN'T THINK OF A BETTER TITLE)

2013-03-11T17:57:28Z

Chris Jones wrote a piece on Rebecca Marino, the 22-year-old tennis player who, in leaving the tour to deal with her depression, deleted her Facebook and Twitter accounts. Her explanation: ""Social media has taken its toll on me."

It is probably a very, very good idea for someone dealing with serious depression to get offline, particularly if that person is a professional athlete with a ton of uninformed, unconnected inputs plugged into her social feedback machine. (I.e. not a true social network, but the hundreds of thousands of random followers that blip into someone's life with a terrifying, artificial familiarity granted thanks to social media.)

It is not a good idea, or even a particularly accurate one, to suggest that social media would force you to be anything but what you have to be in the rest of your life: careful, vigilant, and selective of what you listen to and consider to be of value. It's filtering, something your brain does naturally and Twitter and Facebook allow you to do specifically.

If Chris Jones feels "flatlined" by the internet, then I don't think he really understands it. He's a magazine writer, and a very good one. (Here, read this, and behold said talent.) He is not what I would call an "internet-first writer," meaning I don't know if he understands this salient point: the internet is not this separate, walled-off segment of your life, nor a rude bag of rabid bats thrown into your face every morning. It's exactly like life, but accelerated and with a weird emphasis on cat pictures.*

*Don't think life doesn't do this. One word: beetles. Way too many of them IRL, disproportionately absent online.

And here's the icky, horrid, and needlessly personal part : I am, and have, for the better part of my life in tidy five year-ish cycles, dealt with depression. Dealing is the right term. You don't fight it, because if you are the kind of person who suffers from depression, then you know you surrender the minute it shows up, and simply send distress signals to the appropriate people. They send meds, changes of routine, and patience. Then you wait for it to blow over, and just pardon yourself for the crying jags, long walks, and repeated listens of George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" over your headphones.

I'm just one data point, but the internet has never, ever exacerbated any of that for me, particularly regarding depression. If anything, it helped by giving the best data set in the world on the universal crap-to-gold ratio, i.e. that 90% of everything is crap, and that the 10% worth keeping is a matter of editing and careful curation.

That is something that from the start of this website, and further on into whatever it is I do now, has helped. It's not like I hear one asshole talking, because ten thousand of them at once are merely a statistic. If someone told me to stop writing--which three people, full-stop, in no uncertain terms, have done over the past eight years--then I disregarded it, since there are at any given time three people on the internet who believe anything. I've also disregarded compliments and praise, because that's just as misleading and poisonous in its own way.

(NOTE: This is excepting the time I got retweeted by Jackeé, because holy shit I want that on my tombstone. I am AWESOME for having that happen to me.)

If anything, being on the internet for 12 hours a day for the better part of three Presidential terms has made me way healthier mentally than at any point in my adult life thanks to that: filtering, and learning to deal with the constant river of shit flowing through your existence. You learn to auto-sift, to see a horrendous argument coming a mile away, and to quickly figure out who to deal with and who, in one sense or another, to block. To paraphrase C.T. Fletcher, your ability to shunt incoming traffic onto the onramp for Snap City gets very efficient.

That's not the case for Rebecca Marino, who learned the necessity of the block button the hard way, mostly because she is twenty-two and very depressed, and learning to deal with the biochemical hand she's been given. When she comes back--and she will, if it all works out--she won't have to be less sensitive. She will have to be more selective, something that only comes with time and experience, and that life would have taught her anyway. She'll have to value the voices and people she trusts more, and others less.

That, if done right, won't be a bad thing for her or anyone else. I hope she learns to do that, because when she's depressed and weak it could help save her life. I really, really hope she does, because not giving up entirely is so worth the payoff. I think that every time my children poop on something, or I get to cackle my ass off for an entire night of people I don't know making me laugh while I watch sports. Those would be people online, who, after all, are just people--bad, good, indifferent, sometimes too broken to fix, and sometimes too dull to give anything the courtesy of a gesture towards the door.

P.S. I didn't originally learn this from the internet. I learned it from one of the best movies about mental illness ever. If you pick up the phone and someone tells you to put a shotgun in your mouth, that line is out of order, and you'll just try it later, especially if you happen to be depressed, and out of order yourself.

*Don't think life doesn't do this. One word: beetles. Way too many of them IRL, disproportionately absent online.

(NOTE: This is excepting the time I got retweeted by Jackeé, because holy shit I want that on my tombstone. I am AWESOME for having that happen to me.)