BCS - Not If You Lose, It's When You Lose

With the many, many flaws of the BCS scoring system, the one that really sticks out to me is how much the human element is taken into account with the polling formula. And, as we see year after year, when it comes to human rankings, it does not matter if you lose a game, it matters when you lose a game.

If Ohio State had lost to Washington early in the year and then ran the table and finished with the same 11-1 ranking, they would easily be ranked #3 in the nation in all polls. LSU would probably still get the nod at the #1 spot because of the timing of their loss and there is no denying that an undefeated Kansas deserves a #2 spot.

Ohio State deserves to be the #3 team in the nation just as much as West Virginia and Missouri, but because Ohio State lost late in the season, they immediately dropped the standard 5-7 spots in the polls. Once you fall, you can climb your way back up with losses ahead of you, because, they like you, will fall 5-7 spots. Lose early in the season though and you’re all set for a championship run. Lose late and you’re doomed.

This is reason for a playoff system alone. Regardless if it’s Ohio State that gets burned or Arizona State for losing late in the season or the many teams that have felt Ohio State’s pain in years past.

Additionally, Ohio State takes a pounding about their schedule, but is it really about their schedule or the simple fact that they happened to lose a game last year. I’m amazed at how many people are still in shock that Ohio State lost to Florida last year and because of this one loss, they are determined to point all fingers at the Big Ten schedule as the reason for the high rankings and continued winning ways.

Why doesn't West Virginia get this same treatment? Who have they beaten of any significance this year? Check out their mighty schedule and tell me it’s stronger than Ohio State’s. You can’t! As of today, West Virginia has beaten no currently ranked teams.

Kansas is undefeated and I can’t argue with that, regardless of how weak their Big 12 schedule has been. It has been a cake walk for Kansas though. Not one team of significance on the schedule. A couple Iowa / Purdue types, but a non-conference schedule that makes Akron and Kent State look like national powers on Ohio State's schedule.

Being from the same conference, Missouri’s schedule was also no stronger than Ohio State’s. They did play Oklahoma though and got beat.

I’m excited about this weekend and next weekend’s games, as it will be interesting. But I’ll continue to be unsatisfied with this system, like everyone it seems, until there is a playoff in place. And of all conferences to blame, the Big Ten is definitely most to blame for no playoff system. That’s the conference with The Big Ten Network, correct? Bad decision after bad decision and the fans (where the money comes from) are the ones that suffer.

Cavs Win Friday On & Off Court

I'm not one to root for a player to get injured or one to applaud an injury when it happens. But, with the news Friday that Larry Hughes will be out of the Cavs line-up for at least four weeks, I had to crack a smile.

The injury comes as no surprise. A hang nail would put Larry on the shelf for two months. It's way past time for Danny Ferry to trade him for anything, even a draft pick in the 2010 season would work for me. Larry Legend he is not. The team plays 100% better when he is not on the court. I'm not sure where the Larry Hughes has gone that once played for Washington, but he has yet to show up in Cleveland.

He has never shot over 40% for the Cavs and this season is shooting a miserable 29%. It's not like he contributes in other areas either. No assists, no rebounding, no defense and the most selfish player on the court. He could be shooting 1 for 11 in a game and will continue to keep on gunning.

The Cavs front office had better get their act together and very soon. It's a shame to see the numbers that Lebron puts up without the victories to go along with it.

Makes some trades to unload pure crap, to free up some money and please do not sign Anderson Varejao. Sure he makes the crowd cheer every so often, but he isn't worth a dime when it comes to wins & loses - the only thing that counts.

AZ Republic Wipes Out This Morning

Congratulations to the Arizona Republic newspaper this morning. The two biggest sports events in the state, Arizona Wildcats hosting the #2 Oregon Ducks and Phoenix Suns hosting the Chicago Bulls, had zero coverage in the paper this morning because the games finished too late.

How does two games in your own market finish too late for news coverage? How does the Arizona Republic not save space for one of only 3 D-1 football programs in the state playing the #2 team in the country? I'm sure no one wanted to wake up and read about how the Cats put a whooping' on Oregon and crushed their National Title hopes. That's not big news, is it?

And newspapers wonder why they are losing readers!!!

These games didn't even go past midnight. We are not on the East Coast where it's understandable if a West Coast box score doesn't make the paper. This is the AZ Republic's market! There is no excuse for these games not having coverage.

Men and some women, in general, who actually still get print news wraps, wake up, hit the toilet and quick read as much as possible in the ultimate in multi-tasking. There isn't time to waste surfing the web for 15 minutes to catch the highlights of the previous night's games. We have to get to work. And once we are in the car and on our way to work, we have the radio to fill us in on the latest news from the current and previous night. Newspapers have, at most, about a 20 minute window to catch the attention of working readers. Once that opportunity is missed, their is no need for the fish wrap.

But hey, the AZ Republic had plenty of stories on Barry Bonds indictment to read. It's not like I hadn't heard all about that the entire day yesterday. Way to report on old news and miss the boat on the two biggest games taking place locally, with one being a huge, huge, huge win for a football program trying to become a power.

If I want this kind of coverage, I'll simply make the switch to the USA Today, which has better news all around. It does land on the doorstep at the same time as the Republic, since it is the AZ Republic that prints and delivers them.

Even D'Antoni Not Happy with Suns Fans

I take a lot of flack for my constant abuse of Arizona sports fans and finally I have a qualified, recognizable name that is in agreement with me. Phoenix Suns Coach Mike D'Antoni came out strong against Suns fans for their lack of enthusiasm at home games following the Suns victory last night over the Knicks.

Now, although I am a fan of Cleveland sports through and through, I support all of the area's teams as my NL or Western Conference favorites. And I have fun doing so. Phoenix sports are at an all-time high with every team playing at a great level and with each having gorgeous facilities.

My constant abuse is not because of hatred for the teams, but to serve as a wake up call to the millions of locals in this market. Yes locals! The city has been around long enough for locals to have great-grandparents, so it's about time to stop using the transplant fan excuse. There are millions of locals who are from here and live here.

I'll stop writing now, as I could go on forever on this subject. Instead, I'll let Coach D'Antoni do the griping. Click the link below for the full story:
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/1114sunsnb1115.html

"They boo us; we'll boo them." - Mike D'Antoni