A Landmark State Law

For the first time in the history of our country, a state-wide law has been passed allowing the ban of race-based logos and mascots from sports teams.  The state is Wisconsin, and the law has been brewing for some 30 years.  In it, people may submit formal complaints to the state.  If the complaint holds up, the offending school could face fines of up to $1,000 a day for continued use.

Read more about the law here.

What does this have to do with my Braves?

The National Congress of American Indians last challenged the use of Native American mascots 42 years ago. The use of Native American names and images are still widely used by high schools and colleges for sports teams. And then there are the professional teams; the Blackhawks, Indians, Redskins, Chiefs and of course, our beloved Braves among others.

Per the article, some think this law has ramifications beyond precedent:

For decades, Native American civil rights groups have called on these teams to change their names. They've had little success. But Dave Czesniuk, of the Boston-based group Sport in Society, thinks the Wisconsin law may turn out to be a game-changer.

"I think what's going on in Wisconsin is exciting, and it's a true sign of real change," he says. "You know, social responsibility is on the rise, even in the ranks of professional sports and the corporate level."

Czesniuk says attitudes have changed since the 1970s, when an estimated 3,000 schools and colleges had Indian mascots. He says the key to making the case is teaching team officials and fans how they perpetuate stereotypes and hurt some Native Americans.

The argument, and in my opinion the case with the Atlanta Braves is that we are in fact honoring the tradition and heritage of "braves" rather than demeaning and harming a race of peoples.  But what does a white guy from Alabama know about that?

The Blackskins

Here's a litmus test for racial sensitivity and it's usage: swap out the race. How long would the Washington Blackskins last? Our history is rich with failure in regards to racial equality, but with each generation prejudice and memories fade into history.  Have we as a country made amends to the Native Americans?  Probably not, but is this how we do it?  Generically re-branding sports teams?  

Note: please discuss, but I urge you to offer the same respect and consideration that you desire and expect to receive.

Lets double dip in victory after Mark took home the big hardware.  Alabama plays host to the #5 Purdue Boilermakers at Coleman, ESPN2.  Alabama goes for the second top 25 upset of the year after dropping then ranked #15 Michigan 68-66.

9:00 PM ET, December 12, 2009 Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, AL

Let's see if Alabama Men's Basketball Coach Anthony Grant can keep our guys playing above themselves and push the Boilermakers to the brink.

Looking at Week 12's BCS Standings I was surprised to see no less than 6 teams able to tout an undefeated record.  I thought this can't be common so I took a look back at previous Week 12 standings since '02.

Here's what I found:

The likely expectation here is that 4 of this season's undefeated teams will remain undefeated right up until the 'bowl selection' week of the BCS. Such a jam would match only 2004's Auburn and Utah getting left at the alter.  

Boise State has been undefeated at this point 4 of the last 8 seasons - but this year marks their highest BSC ranking save for the rankings after the win over Oklahoma in '04.  Even so, they're not even sniffing distance from the BSC title invite, what do the Broncos do?  If they had beaten Oregon last week instead of the beginning of the season what would that mean for their ranking?

RTR beat the Mocs!

Edit: Added high school stats to the table (where available), removed Fanuzzi.

Let me first apologize if this has been bludgeoned to death already, but I haven't seen it.

With all of the turmoil (love it!) in the plains due to a little quarterback controversy earlier this season, I've often wondered about the Tide's direction for next year.  Just to state the obvious, we're going to be losing a solidly consistent (finally) senior quarterback who has been an outstanding game manager, committing few if any big errors this season.  He hasn't been a game changer, but that's not what we have needed this year.

So for 2009, where do we go?  Below is our probable 2009 quarterback corps:

Obviously, the current notables here are McElroy, Jackson, Fanuzzi, and possibly Darrah.  Last but not least, incoming true freshman A.J. McCarron.

Granted, we haven't had enough 'free' game clock where Saban could throw these guys out there for experience, nor would he want to burn certain red shirts for players like Jackson.  But as far as I know, McElroy is the only available quarterback who could start next year that has seen any game time.

So the questions are thus:  With what little we know about our quarterback options for 2009, who is the starter? What is the depth chart?  Is Jackson a play-maker but also prone to error, or do we stick with a JPW-like 'game manager' in McElroy until one of the freshman steps up?

Vote! Discuss!

ed. - bumped from the fanposts. stat wonks what!

NJBammer's article Rushing D, Scoring D got me thinking.  And please don't bust my berries over how I spend my lunch break!

There might be a statistic formed here called "defensive effectiveness" which, quite obviously states how dependent, or rather, how much of your success is dependent on your rush defense.

As suggested by NJBammer, I took a look at both Rushing TDs and Rushing Yards Per Game, sorted and ranked both, averaged the ranks, and compared them to BCS standings.

via www.automotivesys.com

Legend: 

BCS - BCS Rankings
TD/YPG - Average of "Rushing TDs Allowed on Defense (Rank)" and "Rushing Yards Per Game (Rank)"
D.E. - Defensive Effectiveness
D.E.R. - Rank of Defensive Effectiveness

The way I interpret this stat is that it basically says "how much of a role has your relative defense strength played into your success this season".  For a team like Florida State, their defense has been nearly the entire reason for their current success.  FSU's defensive statistic rankings greatly outweigh their offensive statistic rankings.  On the other hand, a team like Oklahoma with a -42.5 D.E., meaning their poor defensive rankings relative to their high overall ranking shows us that their offense has been their reason for their success thus far.

Ideally I think the closer to '0' D.E. you are, the better.  This would indicate a rushing defense that is as strong as the rest of your team.