Random Bits of Randomness

 

College Football Playoffs

On this day of College Bowl games, I find myself sitting here wishing more than ever for a college football playoff.  In my perfect world, here's how I see it working, loosely modeled from the NFL playoff structure.

I propose a playoff consisting of 14 teams played across 4 weeks.

The NCAA Division I conferences with at least 10 members get automatic seeds in the playoffs for their conference champion. For 2010 that would have been 9 conferences, Big East, C-USA, Big Ten, ACC, MAC, SEC, Sun Belt, Big 12, Pac-10. 

So, for seeding in 2010, the top 9 places go to the 9 conference winners in order of BCS standing with the remaining 5 wild card seeds going to the highest rated BCS teams that are not conference champions.

Initial week of playoffs would be ordered as follows with the team matchups using 2010 seedings:

week 1 - Wildcard Round
A: 1 Bye (Auburn)
B: 2 Bye (Oregon)
C: 3 vs 14 (Wisconsin vs Michigan State) 
D: 4 vs 13 (Oklahoma vs Arkansas)
E: 5 vs 12 (Virginia Tech vs Ohio State)
F: 6 vs 11 (UCF vs Stanford)
G: 7 vs 10 (Connecticut vs TCU)
H: 8 vs 9 (Miami of Ohio vs FIU)

week 2 - Quarter Finals
1: A vs H 
2: B vs G
3: C vs F
4: D vs E

week 3 - Semi Finals
A: 1 vs 4
B: 2 vs 3

Week 4 Championship
1: A vs B

For 2010, the seeding works out as such:

1: SEC: Auburn
2: Pac-10: Oregon
3: Big Ten: Wisconson
4: Big 12: Oklahoma
5: ACC: Virginia Tech
6: C-USA: UCF
7:Big East: Connecticut
8: MAC: Miami of Ohio
9: SunBelt: FIU

10: Mtn West: TCU
11: Pac-10: Stanford
12: Big Ten: Ohio State
13: SEC: Arkansas
14: Big Ten: Michigan State

Just missed the playoffs:
15: WAC: Boise State
16: SEC: LSU
17: Big 12: Missouri
18: Big 12: Oklahoma State
19: WAC: Nevada
20: SEC: Alabama

We would get to see some interesting matchups and teams with less BCS/AP/Coaches Poll juice would get a chance to compete with the big boys. Some might note that there are only two conferences missing from the automatic seed, the WAC and Mtn West. I would prefer to see 2 extra wild card spots than to guarantee a small conference a seed.  The WAC and Mtn West could also merge to guarantee themselves an automatic seed and still provide for 4 wild card spots.

You could also get rid of the two bye games by making it a 16 game playoff, but I like the idea of rewarding 1 and 2 with a little bonus.  Then again, maybe 1 and 2 would rather play the game for additional revenue.  Regardless, I'd be ok either way.

I know I'd watch nearly every one of these games and care a lot more during the entire college football season.
Filed under: rant sports
 

TSA Nudie X-Ray Machines are Untested and Unsafe
This is an excellent article from the Seattle Times which outlines just how ridiculous it is that the TSA's claims these things are safe.

Basic premise...  the machines are untested, radiation is bad and the agencies the TSA claims have approved the devices have done no such thing.

It's a must read.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2013733774_scanners22.html

Filed under: news rant tsa
 

No More Fear

 Tim Bray wrote an excellent article regarding the fear based approach to airport security post 9/11. He explains what we really did to strengthen our security and that the rest is all unnecessary.  I agree with his assessment completely.  It's worth the quick read.

Filed under: rant tsa
 

Pain be Damned

 For those who didn't know, I suffer from Gout, a terribly painful attack where crystals form as needles in your joints.  For most people Gout forms usually in the big toe and, while intensely painful is generally a localized problem.  Gout for me is a much more widespread issue.  It affects my entire foot, ankles, knees and sometimes occurs in both feet at the same time.  When an attack is left untreated, the pain can persist for several weeks and during that time, I am unable to walk for a good portion of that time.  There are only a few medicines that can actually treat a Gout attack, and specifically for me, there is only one combination of two medicines (Colchicine and Indomethacin) that reliably works.  

And guess what...  The US government is taking away my pain relief and damning me to be bed ridden for weeks at a time.

Even though there have been generic forms Colchicine on the market for decades, the FDA has ordered a halt to all companies selling generics in order to give the exclusive right to sell to a single company (URL Pharma). That company, once granted the exclusivity, raised the price of a bottle from $9 to $485. As such, my insurance company now refuses to pay for the medicine. 

Do you wonder, much as I did, how the FDA gets away with granting exclusivity over a drug to a company, even one who did not discover the medicine?  

Apparently a Bush era law permits the FDA to sell exclusive rights for a drug to the highest bidder in order to pay for further testing on that drug. 

I hope I never have another Gout attack... or better yet, I hope the generics are still available in Belize!

-- A special thanks goes out to G.W. and his buddies at URL Pharma.  

Filed under: Personal politics rant
 

Concealing Tyranny

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/10/battle-between-cops-cameras_n_795295.html

If you can't defend your actions, the next best thing is to keep the reports of your bad behavior from getting out.  That's the theory behind our emerging police state in the USA.  We have a first amendment for a reason.

You can either fight tyranny via transparency or violence.  When you take away transparency as an option, guess what is left.

The outlook isn't good.
Filed under: politics rant
 

We live in a police state

 http://gothamist.com/2010/12/08/this_is_what_you_get_for_picking_up.php

And people wonder why I would ever consider leaving the USA...

We are losing our country to tyranny and I'm feeling a bigger sense of hopelessness each and every day.  What will it take before people finally stand up and fight back???
Filed under: politics rant
 

Michigan Sucks
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I just thought I'd get it out there just how much I hate the snow and cold.  I mean, look at what it has done to my poor dog!

Two more weeks and we move on to our next road trip destination.
Filed under: Personal funny rant
 

Model for standing up to the TSA

 http://noblasters.com/post/1650102322/my-tsa-encounter

This is a true American patriot standing up against the TSA's assault on the US Constitution.
Filed under: politics rant tsa
 

Something shady in New Mexico

As many of you know we are in the midst of a two month road trip to visit family for the holidays with our first stop being Michigan. Just now as we were driving through New Mexico we experienced the New Mexico State Police up to something shady.

The police have set up a checkpoint on I40 Eastbound just east of Albequerque.  They are stopping every single vehicle for what they are calling a "license and registration check". When it was our turn, they didn't check any documents but rather asked where we were going and looked in our windows.

After we were permitted to go, we noticed an area to the right of the road where several cars and trucks were stopped and several cops were inspecting them underneath, under the hood, inside and even in the seats... yes they had torn open one of the seats.

I don't know what they were looking for but I can only guess that they were using a bogus "license and registration check" to get probable cause for some other purpose.

Yet another example of Gulag style tactics to end around the 4th Amendment and our rights protected by the constitution.

Absolutely disgusting.

Filed under: politics rant tsa
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