Oklahoma State gambled millions that its boosters would die...and lost.

And on the advice of good ol' T. Boone Pickens, no less. This is one of the worst things I have ever heard. These guys are like the auburn of the Big 12 10 9? whatever. The college football world should be even more thankful that these clowns didn't make it to the BCS championship game last year. That's for the big boys, not the inept wannabes of the world.

Division I Universities Plan Massive New Sports League

This article speaks of a "secret" meeting of the presidents and chancellors in Dallas last Sunday. Among the programs involved are Southern Miss and our Todd's beloved UAB. Curiously, there's no mention of Troy State.

Didn't I read something back in early December about a possible "superconference" consisting of a lot of these mid-majors? What would have to happen for such a league to be affiliated with the BCS?

Off-season conference shuffling FT...WTF.

It's after 9:30 and nobody has done a Random 10?

Since it's Christmas Eve eve, I give you 10 random Christmas songs.

1. O Little Town Of Bethlehem - Kavin Hoo

2. Away In A Manger - The Cambridge Singers (directed by John Rutter)

3. I Wonder As I Wander - The Cambridge Singers (directed by John Rutter)

4. Jingle Bells - Harry Connick, Jr.

5. Mistress For Christmas - AC/DC

6. An Angel Came Down - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

7. All I Want For Christmas Is You - Tony Bennett and the Count Basie Big Band

8. Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me) - Elvis Presley

9. Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground) - Chris Tomlin

10. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Aaron Neville

Bonus Christmas Chune: Deck The Halls - Mannheim Steamroller

Roll Tide and Merry Christmas, y'all.

No disrespect intended to North Texas.  I was out late and I'm trying to keep from paying for it too much in the morning (sitting at the computer, drinking water).  Oh to be young again.  At any rate, y'all know the drill.  Here's mine, from the laptop with everything on it:

1. Somewhere Out There - Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram
2. Snuck Into America - Bob Rivers
3. The King of Country Western Troubadours - Unknown Hinson
4. The First Noel - Trans-Siberian Orchestra
5. Silver Bells - Mannheim Steamroller
6. Gangland - Iron Maiden
7. Run To Me - Cowboy Mouth
8. We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions - Queen
9. Sing, Sing, Sing - Chris Tomlin
10. Goodbye & Good Riddance to Bad Luck - AC/DC

Well, hat was certainly random...

This blog post by Joe Posnanski raises an interesting perspective on the topic of paying college players.  I'm inclined to agree with his hook:

And that led to the words that form the heart of this piece, words that, I have to say, surprised me: “College athletics are NOT about the players.”

Personally, the players don't matter to me as much as the team.  Even the best players are only around for four years at most.  So would paying them really be justified?  I think Posnanski hits the nail on the head when he says:

Ask yourself this: What would happen if tomorrow every single player on the Auburn football team quit and re-formed as a professional team called the Birmingham Bandits. Who would go to their games? Anyone? How much would those talented young men get paid?

Ask yourself this: What would happen if all the ACC basketball schools dropped their players and replaced them with Division II talent? Would North Carolina-Duke suddenly play in empty arenas?

Ask yourself this: Say the first, second and third All-America Teams in college football tomorrow went into the NFL. They just left. How many fewer fans would the college games draw? How many fewer people would watch Texas and Tennessee and Iowa?

What do y'all think? I know the pay-for-play argument has been beaten to death here, but I think this perspective could open up a different discussion.

Over the weekend, I was reading through the front page and I noticed a headline on the right side (the "Latest NCAAF Headlines from SB Nation") that said "We have 2 or 3 Cam Newtons."  I clicked on the link, and was taken to Track 'em Tigers.  This was my first visit to TET.  Although I was dismayed, I read through the post (some gibberish from their toothless wonder) and then perused the comments.  What I found there was pathetic.  They appeared to be written by shallow simpletons and al.com posters.  There was nothing of substance, and it wasn't even amusing. 

It was in that moment that I came to truly appreciate the guys who run Roll Bama Roll.  By and large, this blog is kept clear of rumors, stupidity, and aubsession--whether through the iron fist of our Beloved Dictator, or the trial by fire that new posters sometimes get from our regulars.  Keep up the good work, gentlemen (and ladies).

It's 10:30 AM and nobody has started the Random 10 yet?  Guess I'll go ahead then.

1. Hard to Handle - The Black Crowes

2. Love Hurts - Nazareth

3. Be The Woman - Unknown Hinson

4. Step That Step - Sawyer Brown

5. Born Country - Alabama

6. Jeremy - Pearl Jam

7. We Can't Love Like This Anymore - Alabama

8. Doxology - Eric Schrotenboer

9. Got You Where I Want You - The Flys

10. You Wreck Me - Tom Petty

Bonus track: Club Can't Handle Me - Flo Rida

A little too much country for me today.  Not sure what's up with that.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Wow, it's after 9 a.m. and nobody has started a Random 10 thread.  So here's mine:

1. Rosa Parks - Outkast
2. Take It To Da House - Trick Daddy
3. Majesty (Here I Am) - Delirious?
4. Tennessee River - Alabama
5. I'm In A Hurry (And Don't Know Why) - Alabama
6. Wake Up Time - Tom Petty
7. The Unforgiven - Metallica
8. Face To Face - Alabama
9. Limelight - Rush
10. Man On The Run - Cowboy Mouth

And a bonus track for A-Day:

11. Lola - The Kinks

The headline on the Drudge Report says "Mormon college basketball star kicked off team--for having sex..."  Apparently Brandon Davies "violated the school’s honor code provision that prohibits premarital sex."

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that he apologized to his teammates.

I know this is wrong, but upon seeing that headline, I couldn't help but think of that Lonely Island song.  I think he should have sung this song to his teammates before giving his apology:

The Lonely Island feat. Akon - I Just Had Sex

All Longhorns, All The Time

Yesterday ESPN and the University of Texas announced plans for a 24/7 UT channel.  Apparently it will show 21 hours of Longhorn sports coverage, and "up to three hours a day of non-athletics content, including 'musical performances, plays, and documentaries by faculty members and students...'"

I wonder if this is a good idea, and whether the NCAA might think that it gives Texas a recruiting advantage.  If I remember correctly, that question was raised about the HBO documentary A Cinderella Season: The Lady Vols Fight Back (about the '97-'98 Tennessee women's basketball team).

I know I will be pulling hard for South Carolina tomorrow night, and I think it's safe to say that will be the case for most of us here.  My rationale is this: I'm sick of the plow-pushing fambly and $cam nonsense, and I want the 'Cocks to put an end to it.  I'll go a step further and admit that if a berth in the BCS NCG weren't on the line, I might not be such a big USCe fan right now.  But that's the way it is this year.

I'm interested to hear, though, if anybody here will not be rooting for Cackolackey tomorrow.  If not, what's your justification?  It's OK, you're among friends.

I've had an idea for a couple of years now, and with the advent of social media I think we might be able to get it done.

I've never liked the idea of booing the visiting team, with the exceptions of tennessee and Alabama Polytechnic Institute.  However, I think whenever the Tigers/eagles/whatever take the field this year, we should make fun of them.  How, you say?  Two words:

Barnyard noises.

That's right--moo, cluck, oink, neigh/whinny, and bleat at the top of your lungs.  But not when they run out of the tunnel (we should be cheering for our own guys at that point.)  But once those vile, evil quarterback-buyers take the field, we should turn it loose.

I've created a facebook event called "Moo the Barn."  Join it, and send it to your friends who are going to the game.  There's still time to spread the word to most of the 100,000 Tide faithful.

Of course, the downside is that this could backfire and make them feel right at home...but I don't think that will happen.

I’m a lifelong Bama fan and a two-time graduate of the Capstone.  But I grew up in the southeast corner of Lee County, about half an hour from the ugliest village on the plains.  Being that close, of course there were plenty of booger-eating Teagle fans (although, rest assured, there are plenty of Crimson Tide faithful in the area, too).  For years, I have tried not to hate the plow-pushers.  I figured that hating them gives them a measure of equality that they don’t deserve.  I thought that we should just feed their inferiority complex, so I decided just to laugh and ridicule them at every turn.

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and why they'll have a hard time figuring out who leaked the information about his academic dishonesty:

Someone in another thread alluded to students signing a waiver pertaining to the release of academic records.  What actually happens is that a student signs a release form that makes certain individuals eligible to receive otherwise private information on the student's grades. (The student indicates these individuals on the form.)

This release allows the institution's personnel to divulge private information about the student's record.  However, any employee of the institution who has the proper clearances can also access this information, since it is necessary for us to do our jobs. Certain elements (like academic or non-academic misconduct) may not be available to all users of the student information system; however, rest assured there are plenty of people at Florida who, if curious, could look up Newton's records if they so desired. However, it would be impossible to track that user down unless they were the only user to view Newton's records in the past six months or so.  Considering all the hoopla about him in the media, I'd be willing to bet that half the people at UF with access to the relevant records have looked it up.

A UF employee may well have leaked this information, but they'd obviously be risking their careers (as well as subjecting themselves to legal action) if they came forward with documentation to back it up.  Since Florida is obviously not going to release the actual records, this may the last we hear about young Cameron's cheating in the classroom.

However, given what else we know of his character, I have no problem believing that he was academically dishonest at Florida.  I'd sure like to see some actual documents, though, like the laptop theft police reports on The Smoking Gun.

...according to a recent study by the National Collegiate Players Association.

NCAA Forces College Athletes to Pay

Scholarship shortfalls are different from one college to the next so it is important for recruits to consider how much they are expected to pay at each school.  The range of out-of-pocket expenses for a "full" scholarship student-athlete is $200/year to $10,962/year depending on the college.

I thought this was relevant, in light of some of the past discussions here about whether players should be paid.  We come in sixth in the SEC, with an average shortfall of $3,065.

The section on the methodology of this study doesn't detail exactly what constitutes these additional costs (beyond room and board, tuition/fees, and required textbooks), so it's difficult to say just how valid their conclusions are.  Still, it will come as a surprise to may that what we commonly refer to as a "full ride" doesn't actually cover all of a student-athlete's expenses.

Up, Up and Away

The NCAA just released its annual report of athletic department spending and revenues.  Only 14 D-1 programs turned a profit in 2008-09.  Unfortunately, the report doesn't name the programs, but rest assured we are one of the 14.  They paint a pretty bleak picture for the rest of college athletics, though. 

It's nice to know that we don't have to worry about being able to fund athletics here at the Capstone.  I wonder, though, what the future holds for the rest of college football, if the economy continues to struggle and more programs continue to operate in the red.  We're currently on the forefront as far as facilities, academic support, etc. (all of which have an impact on recruiting).  If other programs continue to falter financially, they won't be able to keep up in the arms race of facilities and recruiting...which sounds like a long-term advantage for us.