cabiness42

You could very well be right, but I don't have that kind of time.

I don't think the big conferences ever envisioned the specific set of circumstances that happened this year: 1) ND got guaranteed a BCS bid by being ranked #1 2) Florida got guaranteed a BCS bid by being ranked #3 (though a second SEC team would have been picked anyway) 3) The national depth beyond the Top 6-12 teams is so weak that a 12-1 MAC team with a mediocre schedule was able to finish in the Top 16 and get a guaranteed bid. All of this meant that NIU got in and that in total, 9 of the 10 BCS slots were guaranteed and there was only one at-large selection left. Of course, the Fiesta Bowl can't pick Oklahoma to play KSU again, and Oregon had a much better case anyway, so Oklahoma got left out. Of course, there is only one more year of this system and beginning in 2014, one BCS bowl slot is guaranteed to go to a team outside the Top 5 conferences (Big East is getting demoted) no matter what their ranking, so there will be no more "stealing" of bids from the big conferences by the small conferences.

I just ran a correlation between strikeouts and runs scored for MLB teams in 2012 and it came up as -0.258, meaning that there is pretty much no correlation between striking out and scoring runs.

.299 OBP and .480 SLG vs RHP, which is mostly what he'd see as Flowers backup. Not bad for a backup catcher, if he will in fact sign for a backup's salary.

Didn't see a thread on this topic and didn't want to start a new one, so: Anybody else have any friends that are really into this December 23 end of the world stuff? I have one who is, and beginning on December 1 he is posting one location per day on his Facebook page that are supposedly locations that the "chosen" people can go to be spared from whatever is going to destroy the rest of us. The ones so far are: 12/1: 26.933N, 80.8W (middle of Lake Okeechobee) 12/2: 60.917N, 101.95E (middle of Russia, not really near anything)

Even as much as I defend the high BB/high K approach of Dunn as being a good one for him, I don't think it's a good idea to have two of them. You need to balance out Dunn with some level of contact, though I think the swing-at-anything-leaving-the-pitcher's-hand mentality of Ramirez and AJ goes way too far the other way.

The games mean so much because of money. The MAC gets $15M or something like that for getting into a BCS bowl and the Big12 loses out on that $15M by Oklahoma not getting in.

Rams and 49ers have played 149:34 out of a maximum possible 150 minutes of football in their two games.

That's an odd list of teams for a NTC. Lots of northeast teams, but then the Tigers and Giants are thrown in there.

5dimes.com is opeining at 9½, or 2.95 to 1 on the moneyline.

I notice you aren't telling the haters to dial it down a notch, just me.

I don't think you realize how bad Louisville is.

Louisville is worse than NIU by quite a bit.

Anybody who thinks ND is going to lose by double digits is welcome to PM me and put their money where their mouths are. Otherwise you're just all talk and all yellow. Also, NIU is not the worst team in a BCS Bowl nor will they lose by the most.

And Mississippi State at 21 or something like that. I don't know why he didn't go ahead and vote Kentucky 25.

I think the Bears should always kick on 4th down with a touchdown lead. I think the Colts, for example, should probably go for it.

Vanderbilt's final coaches' poll ballot: 1 Alabama 2 Georgia 3 Florida 4 Notre Dame 5 LSU 6 Oregon 7 Texas A&M 8 South Carolina

I think it was a stupid call. When you are a defense-minded team with a superstar kicker, you take the sure points. That said, I don't think Cutler is heaving the ball 50 yards downfield with 20 seconds left if the game is tied instead of the Bears being down 3.

My buddy at ND is telling me that they heard that 3 points difference in either of the polls made the difference between NIU being 16 or 17 in the final BCS standings.

It was enough to knock Jennings to the ground. How much does it take to warrant a call?

Florida State lost to NC State and beat Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech by less than a touchdown. I think NIU can certainly keep it close against them.

Well, if one side wants to make a legitimate point, then maybe they could try doing it without exaggerating the allegations.

I mentioned her depression as a factor in why she killed herself, and that in turn is why there was no chance charges could be filed. It wasn't meant as a character attack in any way, it wasn't meant as an attack against the truthfulness of her claims. I honestly believe he did what she claimed he did, but for any person, let alone a football player, the facts that exist aren't getting anybody convicted, or even sent to trial. But you are all trying very, very hard to set up a reverse standard, that somehow Notre Dame football players should be held accountable for things that you and I would never be held accountable for.

Fans say lots of things. And no, the university didn't just say "our bad" and that was that. They reached a settlement with the family, the family used the money to start a charity, and ND coaches and administrators have shown up to support the charity.

Expect to see Northern Illinois get voted mysteriously low on (or left off of) the ballots of the Big 12 coaches, resulting in NIU ending up 17th in the BCS Standings and opening a BCS Bowl slot for Oklahoma. However, if that does not happen, they will almost certainly go to the Orange Bowl. I don't see any way the Sugar Bowl picks them over Louisville.