2010 Year In Review, Family Edition

My 2010 year in review for our family has been posted at http://www.offthecrossbarblog.com/2010-year-in-review/.

A Small Appology

When we were getting ready to send out Christmas cards it was decided to include our blog addresses with some of them so that our family and friends could keep up with us throughout the year. At that time this was my blog and the address was included with the cards. Well that has since changed. A few days after sending the cards I registered my own domain to use for my blog. From now on you can read it at http://www.offthecrossbarblog.com. I will post any updates on Twitter and Facebook. If you don't follow me on either of those sites you can check the blog occasionally as I probably won't post on a set schedule. I apologize to all of you who received the address to this blog. Please remember to check out http://www.offthecrossbarblog.com at the beginning of 2011 for my year in review!

My 2010 Wish List

My friend Matt at Wide Right (http://wideright3.blogspot.com) did a post outlining what he is asking Santa for this year. It got me thinking about my own wish list. Thankfully I’ve been pretty good this year so here it is:

• The Hawkeyes to not blow a 4^th quarter lead in the Insight Bowl. I don’t care much if Iowa loses as long as they don’t blow a late lead again.
• A vacation anywhere of my choosing to be used in 2011.
• My daughters to do well in school.
• Advance my career in some way.
• My car to survive another year.
• Have competitive fantasy NASCAR and NFL teams (my NBA team is doing very well).
• To attend at least one professional sporting event (not including I Cubs).
• Enough contact lenses to last me all year.
• Bunk beds for the girls (at least we already have that one).
• Make it through 3 or 4 5k races.
• New golf clubs and bag.
• More fishing trips and equipment.
• More opportunities to meet new people and make more friends.
• Continued good health and prosperity for my family and friends.

This is the season of giving; if you are in the position to give please give with a loving heart. Everything you are able to give to others is a blessing, even if it has no monetary value. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you may celebrate, and a Happy New Year. Here’s to a great 2011!

Be sure to check back on January 1, 2011 for a 2010 year in review.

Any Given Saturday vs Any Given Sunday

A few Sundays ago I was sitting on my couch doing what I enjoy on a Sunday afternoon: watching some Green Bay Packers football. A short time after I started to watch I realized that I am starting to enjoy the NFL more than college football. There was a time when this was true but lately I have enjoyed college football more. Fantasy football kind of killed my interest in the NFL since I had to pay more attention to other teams, some of which I don't like, than Green Bay. This year is different. I haven't cared that much about the other teams and have been able to focus on enjoying the games.

I realize that both the NFL and NCAA football are about the money. The difference is that the NFL players are about the money while the NCAA itself and the conferences are about the money. Sure the NFL as a whole brings in billions of dollars every year but they have revenue sharing in place so all teams get an equal cut. The NCAA doesn't have a universal revenue sharing plan in place and never will have one. It is getting to a point in the college game where the conferences, and NCAA, care about money and power. Schools are changing conferences to better themselves financially (see Nebraska, Colorado, TCU). TCU is also moving from a conference that doesn't have an automatic BCS bowl game bid to a conference that does have an automatic bid but, in my eyes, shouldn't (Big East). While I am a fan of the Big 10 it's evident that they want money and power. Expansion was a huge topic of discussion and they went out and brought in Nebraska, who has a very large and loyal fan base who will spend money. Nebraska will also help the conference gain advertising money for the Big Ten Network. This also comes into play during games, in my eyes. Every conference wants as many bowl-eligible teams as possible and the more in the BCS the better. When it becomes apparent that a team is on track to the BCS the conference will do what it can to get them there so that they are in line for more money. This is where the conference can help with outcomes of certain games. The conferences employ the game officials, thus they can tell the officials what to do. I realize this isn't always the case but I can see it happening. Look at how many times a team gets robbed of a win due to some missed or bad calls by the officials (I'm looking at the zebras from the Ohio St vs Iowa game this year). One thought I had was for the NCAA to employ the officials, as the NFL does, and have them travel and get paid by the conference they are officiating for on that Saturday. I decided that wasn't a viable option since the NCAA could still sway them certain directions. Watch the Big 12 title game this weekend. With Nebraska leaving for the Big 10 after this year I wouldn't be surprised to see Oklahoma benefit from some very controversial calls.

Another thing I don't like about the NCAA are the recruiting rules and how they aren't applied consistently. Recently Auburn quarterback Cam Newton has been investigated into his father asking potential colleges for money during his son's recruitment. This is an obvious violation. On Tuesday Auburn ruled Newton ineligible for the SEC championship game this weekend, but they promptly asked the NCAA for reinstatement. How does that work? You suspend him and then ask for him to be able to play? Well the NCAA obliged saying Newton was eligible to play stating while is dad DID ask Mississippi State for a large sum of money there is no way, right now, to tell that Newton knew it was going on. That seems a little fishy to me. I have very little doubt in my mind that Newton would still be ineligible if Auburn wasn't in the BCS title hunt or if another BCS school was right behind them instead of non-BCS TCU. The NCAA knows it will make a lot more money from Auburn playing in the BCS title game against Oregon than it would if TCU played against Oregon due to the size of Auburn's fan base compared to TCU's. I don't find it fair to any of Auburn's future opponents (South Carolina and who ever they play in a bowl game), TCU, or anyone who played Auburn this year if the NCAA is going to wait and rule on the investigation after the season. All this does is robs schools of potential wins. What if there was a 5-7 team that lost to Auburn during the season? They could have played in a bowl if they would have beat Auburn. That sucks for them.

The last thing I don't care for in the college game are players giving up (not leaving) on their teams during the season. You can ask them all you want and they will say they didn't quit mid-season but you can tell by their performance that they aren't playing as hard as they have in the past. I see this especially with seniors once they know they will miss their goals for the season. College is finite, you're there for a few years and then done, there is no more. NFL is finite too but it's more than 3 to 5 years for the most part, and there is no set time for you to be done. Yeah a contract may be ending but that usually makes players better so that they can get a good deal. I only remember a few players in the NFL that give up (see Moss, Randy and Haynesworth, Albert for recent examples) but the vast majority don't give up. Even when the team is out of the playoff picture they are usually fighting until the 60th minute of week 17. The only exception is when they are trying to get a top draft pick, which is over rated in my opinion due to the insane contracts but that's a different story.