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.

What Has Happened?

The last two weeks have been very hard to put into words. Two very beatable teams (Indiana and Northwestern) with one fairly embarrassing loss and a drop-the-ball win. A 7-3 (4-2) record that could, and probably should, be 6-4 (3-3). These games came after Iowa destroyed Michigan State, who was ranked #5 at the time. How can you beat the #5 team in the country pretty handily and then stumble against Indiana and Northwestern?

I'm starting to wonder if the Iowa coaching staff is starting to out-coach themselves. This football team has the most cumulative talent I have ever seen, yet they are 7-3 and have a very good chance at 7-5 (yes I am saying a loss to Minnesota is possible with the way things are going right now). Do I think 7-5 is likely? Not at all; I'm actually thinking it will be 8-4 (5-3) as I can't see Iowa beating Ohio State this weekend.

It's hard to say if the players aren't getting themselves motivated for these games that they "should" win (this shouldn't be hard) or if the coaches aren't preparing them to play. From what I have seen is that the coaches are not putting the team in a position to succeed. The offensive game plans have looked horrible, almost non-existent. The defense has looked tired and not motivated. There seems to be a huge lack of killer instinct, both from the coaches and the players. The special teams, even Ryan Donahue, have struggled all season long.

When one facet of the team is struggling it's easier to figure out the solution. When every facet is struggling it can be much more difficult. The past two weeks it has seemed as though Iowa's coaches did not want to show Ohio State anything on tape. The problem with that is we are 10 games into the season, what isn't already on tape? Now Ohio State can see where the weaknesses lie and how to destroy Iowa. Conservative play is fine, to an extent. You cannot be overly conservative and get your team out of a rhythm. Then again the Iowa offense didn't seem to have a rhythm in either of the games.

The defense has also been questionable recently. In the Wisconsin and Michigan State games the defense changed looks a lot, from a 4-3 to a 3-4. Against Indiana and Northwestern? Forget about it. What was especially troubling against Northwestern was the defensive alignment against a quarter back who is known for running. Typically you would leave at least one defender to spy on the QB. Instead Iowa rushed it's 4 linemen and dropped the remaining 7 into pass coverage. All Northwestern had to do was run all five receivers straight down the field and Persa could pick up 10-15 yards on the ground, and even run out of bounds. I'm no math expert but usually when 5 players are in the pattern you shouldn't need 7 to cover them. You can afford to leave someone to spy, especially with the zone defense that Iowa runs.

Last year Iowa won the close games because the team never had to go into protect-the-lead-conservative mode. This year Iowa is losing the close games because they are going into the protect-the-lead-conservative mode and is not able to come out of it when the game is on the line. Coming from behind forced them to be a little more aggressive and that is how you win football games.

Every year I get to a point when I think it's nice the season is almost over. This year I hadn't thought that, until now. I'm glad the last home game is this Saturday. I want Iowa to win but I'll be furious is if they come out on fire like they did against Michigan State.

He's The Boss

Late in the spring I caught wind of a special event coming to the Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines on November 13. Realizing what it was I checked the Hawkeye's football schedule and was relieved when it was an away game (not touching that at all). Buddy Valastro, of TLC's The Cake Boss, was starting a tour around the US and was going to be in Des Moines! Molly and I really enjoyed watching his show, and we do miss it now that we don't have the satellite dish. I thought it would be a great anniversary and birthday gift to get her tickets. It also coincided with the release of his first book "Stories and Recipes from Mia Famiglia" so, of course, I had to get that too. Molly is the decorator of the family so I knew this would be an amazing night for her.

I got on Ticketmaster's website the very minute the pre-sale started and was able to score two tickets in the second row of the center-floor section right on the aisle. When I gave her the tickets I said she had to go and she could choose anyone else to go with her, and I wouldn't feel bad if she didn't take me. Well she did choose me, and I had a great time.

The show started with Buddy entering from the back of the auditorium. Since I had seen a promo video for his tour I knew about that and had Molly sit in the aisle seat. When he came walking down the aisle Molly was able to give him a high-5. That made her night right there. After giving an introduction Buddy started asking for any women who decorated or baked to come on stage. Molly was yelling and clapping and finally I told her to stand up. When she stood up Buddy pointed right at her! She was the first person picked! She didn't know what to do and I told her to get up there. He had 4 women on stage competing in a cupcake decorating contest. Molly had the pressure of decorating a cupcake with the best in the business looking over her shoulder and making jokes, all in front of 1,200+ people. Molly's didn't win the audience vote but I thought it was the best by far; she even had a lot of comments on it after the show.

After that Buddy had a few more contests with men and one with kids. He told stories of his family and how the bakery was turned over to his family and how the TV show got started. After the stories he decorated a cake while taking questions from the audience. At one point he took the un-decorated cupcakes and threw them into the audience. One of them fell on the floor and I yelled "5 second rule" to which he chuckled and threw it to me. I now call it the "5 second rule cupcake".

After the show he made his way to the art gallery to pose for pictures and sign autographs. We waited in line for around an hour but we got to him. Unfortunately the battery on my cell phone died so we were without a camera. Luckily a person in front of us offered us her camera and she will be emailing it to us soon. We posed for the picture and he signed our book and Molly's ticket. He even said to Molly "I hope this book inspires you" which she will keep in her mind forever.

The show itself was amazing and Buddy is an amazing person with all that he has done. The night couldn't have gone any better!

Marriage Rarity

This sort of weekend is rare when you are a married man with 2 young kids. Yes, I am all alone at home this weekend! Molly and the girls are heading to Minneapolis, MN to visit one of Molly's friends. We have all been looking forward to this weekend since the initial planning took place.

For me it's a weekend of "what do I want to do?" Of course I will be watching the Iowa game on TV tomorrow (luckily Green Bay doesn't play until Sunday night so that should free up time on Sunday afternoon), and I have to watch the day care tonight. Aside from those two things it's up in the air. I will probably spend some time learning some web development and I'll do some de-cluttering around the house. I also have a few things to do to the car if the weather is nice enough. Other than that I have nothing planned, not even food.

This trip is huge for Molly as she has never been out of the state on her own. Every trip she's taken she has gone with someone else. This time it's just her an the girls. It goes without saying that she will also be driving in a different state and bigger city on her own (she got to drive through Nebraska during our family vacation last year). She has been fairly nervous about this trip from all of the doubt in her mind and coming from others. I have said that she will be fine. We have a GPS and access to Google Maps and cell phones so she shouldn't have problems. I have already heard that they are in Minnesota so the tough part is still to come.

I know Sunday will be here before I know it and I'll look around and wonder where the time went. I'm not quite as excited to have the house to myself as I am for Molly to have this opportunity to help build some self-confidence. After this weekend I may be giving up the driver's seat a little more often on trips.

Painful Lessons

I was hoping to have this posted about a week ago but life caught up with me and it's a little later than I had hoped.

Early last week the National Football League decided to fine and suspend players for what accounts to too hard of a hit. There were already rules in place for hits to the head and hitting defenseless players, but they were only penalties on the field. Now the team will be penalized and the player will be penalized as well. I was anxious to see how the games would turn out this past weekend and no problems with the new rules have been publicized. Maybe this got it through the players' head that safety is key to their well-being.

At first it may sound like the NFL is trying to keep the offensive players safe and penalizing the defensive players who are paid to make the huge hit. In reality it's not protecting just the offensive player but also the defensive player. Using incorrect tackling form could hurt the defender more than the ball carrier. You are taught at a young age to see what you are tackling, this is done by keeping your head up. I also remember being told to put your head between the body and the arm so that your head doesn't make contact with anything.

I realize that players are ultimately responsible for their play on the field. However, coaches should share in some of the blame for the unnecessary hard hits that have been instilled in the game over the last few years. I realize that these guys are professionals and they shouldn't need to be taught the basics but when they think their body is a missile maybe some revisiting of fundamentals is in order. Maybe the coaches should also be penalized, outside of a game, if their team has repeat offenses of hard tackling. If they can't get their players to understand the safety they should be punished too. In the end the coaches are responsible for the players and what the team does. It's a team game and that should not be forgotten.

Another aspect to the issue with big hits are the highlight films. You will never, ever see the replay of a text-book tackle more than once (and that's only because it's rare enough that the announcers break it down). However you will see a big hit over and over, not just during the game but on the highlight shows later in the day and it will pop-up all over the place in the weeks and months down the road. Can the media be punished? In reality they can't, but it would help if they stopped showing the replays over and over.

There will still be big hits in the NFL for as long as they allow tackling. The players need to realize there is a safe way to deliver the big hits, and they will be just as effective as before. The only difference is they won't be risking their health and the health of their opponent. It may be nice to be able to walk to your car in 2010 but in 2030 you may not be able to.

Progression vs Regression

First things first: I have decided to stop doing my post-game analysis of Hawkeye football games. To tell the truth I enjoy doing it but sometimes I don't get a chance until late in the week and by then the focus is on the upcoming opponent. I will say that I am not surprised at how Iowa's defense shut down Michigan QB/RB Denard Robinson. Sure Denard got over 100 yards rushing but his longest run was 12 yards. He was also knocked out of the game midway through the 3rd quarter (I did predict he wouldn't make it to the 4th). This game pretty much knocked him out of ABC/ESPN's Heisman contenders list (which he shouldn't have been on anyway).

As I watched the game last weekend I realized that Ricky Stanzi has been the starting QB for Iowa for 2+ seasons and he has gotten better with each season. This may seem like a simple thing but it has been the exact opposite for the last few years at Iowa. With Drew Tate and Jake Christensen it seemed as though the QBs actually regressed. Tate's best year came in his first year as a starter. The same could be said of Christensen (although his first year as a starter ended at 6-6 with no bowl game), but he lost his job to Stanzi in his 2nd year of starting. Fans were blaming the coaches for this, mainly offensive coordinator and QB coach Ken O'Keefe. Please realize that I'm not a big fan of how Coach O'Keefe has called plays in the past but his play calling has gotten a lot better since 2007. Before, his plays were too predictable and the calls wouldn't get to the huddle very quickly. Both of those have changed and the offense has improved because of it.

Back to the QB situation. In 2008 Stanzi took over after a few games and never looked back, causing Christensen to transfer to Eastern Illinois where he did start in 2009 and played fairly well. Stanzi led Iowa to a huge upset of #3 Penn St in Iowa City and seemed to have a ton of confidence in his own ability. In 2009 he got even better (outside of the interceptions) and only lost 1 game that he started (although he was injured and didn't finish). If he was going to follow the trend 2010 would be his worst.

Surprisingly enough it has been even better than 2009 was. He has thrown 1 interception, and that wasn't really his fault (the WR dropped a pass that was caught by a defender). He has made some very good decisions and has actually checked-off his primary receivers and is not staring them down either. So why can Stanzi progress while the previous two QBs regressed? It has to be the coaches right? No. Stanzi has progressed because of who he is and who he doesn't have around him. Stanzi is a film junkie. He will stay in the football complex long hours watching film so that he knows what to expect. Marc Morehouse asked him about his class load at this week's media day. Right now Stanzi is in 2 classes. That provides him with even more time to study film.

I'm sure that Tate and Christensen studied film but what they had around them affected them in a negative way. Tate was the step-son of a successful Texas high school football coach. His step-dad was always trying to help him out rather that letting him rely on the offensive coaches to help him with the offense.

Christensen is the son of a former NFL back-up QB, Jeff Christensen. There always seemed to be some disconnect between Jake and the coaches as Jeff seemed to be making a lot of decisions for his son. Instead of having Jake work with the team and watch film over the summer, Jeff set him up with some of his former NFL QB buddies to work on his mechanics. This took Jake away from the bonding time with teammates and affected the chemistry.

Are these concrete reasons as to why Tate and Christensen regressed? No, just my opinion. If you think about it it does make sense. Tate and Christensen had father figures who "knew" more than Iowa's coaches and they regressed. Stanzi is his own man and is listening to the coaches and he is progressing. Stanzi is coach-able, Tate and Christensen were not.