My Solution to BCS and College Football Playoff

I have always wondered why college football can't seem to solve the problems of the BCS and a true college football national champion. I understand that the money involved with what seems like a thousand bowl games is part of the problem. I wanted to do some research and the first thing that sticks out is how the names of the Bowl Games have evolved into sponsorship driven cash cows... In 1981 the names of bowl games were: Rose, Cotton Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, Peach, Hall of Fame, Bluebonnet, Gator, Sun, California, Tangerine, Holiday, Independance, and Garden State. Fast forward to this years bowl games, and you will notice that the fruit has been eaten, and most of the corporate sponors have nothing to do with football fans: Little Caesers Bowl( i guess the $5 pizza is profitable), Meineke Car Bowl, Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl, AdvoCare Independence Bowl, Eagle Bank Bowl(I wonder if they got TARP moeny), Champs Sports, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl( this one at least ties back into the game) Brut Sun Bowl( i guess you can smell good while on the football field), Fed-Ex Orange Bowl( the only thing orange is the Ex in the logo), Tostitos Fiesta( great tie in, but where is the salsa?), Insight Bowl, Chick-fil-A Bowl( formely the Peach, i guess they do eat more chicken), Capital One( what's in their wallet?) Konica Minolta Gator Bowl, Papajohns Bowl( that makes 2 pizza bowls), Autozone Liberty Bowl( car parts?)

Well I have done what the NCAA and BCS experts haven't been able or willing to do. I have developed a formula to create a true National Championship, and college football playoff, and still keep all the stupid bowl games in tact. Here is the solution:

1) Hold a 16 team college playoff. Automatic bids go the 11 division 1 conference champions.

2) 5 at-large bids ( a team must have at least 8 wins to be eligible for an at-large spot

3) A selection committee ( similar to the basketball march madness selection committee)

4) the selection committee will pick the at-large teams, and seed the tournament field

5) the playoff would run for 4 weeks

6) a total of 15 games would be played. The games would be bowl game tie-in, and would rotate every other year as which bowl games hosted the playoff games.

7) the other bowl games would continue to happen( think NIT post-season basketball tournament for the teams who don't make it to March Madness.

here is what the bracket would look like:

First Round

1. Alabama vs 16. Troy in the Papajohns Bowl in Birmingham, AL

8. Ohio State vs 9. Georgia Tech in the Outback Bowlin Tampa

5. Boise State vs 12. LSU in the Gaylord Music City Bowl in Nashville

4. TCU vs 13. Iowa in the Meineke CarCare Bowl in Charlottee

6. Florida vs 11. Penn State in the Autozone Liberty Bowl in Memphis

3. Cincinnati vs 14. Central Michigan in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, AL

7. Oregon vs 10. BYU Las Vegas Bowl in Las Vegas

2. Texas vs 15. East Carolina in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio

Elite 8

winner of Alabama/Troy and Ohio State/Georgia Tech play in the Sugar Bowl

winner of Boise State/LSU and TCU/Iowa play in the Orange Bowl

winner of Florida/Penn St and Cincinnati/Central Michgan play in the Rose Bowl

winner of Oregon/BYU and Texas/East Carolina play in the Fiesta Bowl

BCS Final Four

Sugar Bowl winner plays Orange Bowl in netural stadium on East Coast

Rose Bowl winner plays Fiesta Bowl winner plays neutral site on West Coast

BCS Championship Game( like site of Super Bowl)

The Day After Christmas

Merry Day After Christmas,

I think the most telling day of the holidays is the day after Christmas. Why you ask? Because you learn what toys, clothes, gifts your kids liked most. What left-over food you will be eating from yesterday's Christmas Dinner( Usually, in my case it is ham sandwiches, and macaroni and cheese). I reflect of the gifts that I gave, and the ones I received. I want to see if my wife will wear any of the new clothes that she got, or will she just tuck them away in a dresser drawer or closet? I did spend most of last night reading a wonderful book... " The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown( he wrote the books DaVinci Code Angels and Demons, that was made into the movies starring Tom Hanks). Anyway, more on this book, I stayed up until 5am reading the first 200 pages... so far this book is a classic thriller! I can't wait to finish it.

So the question that I ask today is, " what is your most memorable Christmas gift that you have ever received?( i before e except after c). Hum, I would have to say I was about 15 years old and I got an motorized Yamaha Scooter. It was candy apple red, and I had the helmet to match. Push button starter. this thing went about 40 mph to 50 mph. I loved it... But I still have the vivid image of my Dad on Christmas day trying to teach me how to ride it.... he didn't even make it out of the driveway at my house. I went running after him, I believe my sister was watching as well. I saw the crash, and he went tumbling off, and the scooter went skidding down the driveway. I ran after the scooter.... Mom had to come and attend to Dad's minor injuries. I was so pissed that my brand new scooter had scratches all over it! Mom and my sister just shook their heads, and giggled inside. I was not in a giggling mood!

Backyard Circus

Well, let me start by giving you some background on my kids. Audrey(5 years old) is technically the oldest, and Katie(5 years old) a short 5 minutes behind. Emma is the baby and is 2( she will be 3 in April). Audrey and Katie are identical twins, but there personalities are polar opposites. Audrey seems to be the more dominate personality. The one who is also the leader, suggesting things for Katie and Emma to do( or some would say commanding them to do things). Katie is more of the intellectual type, she seems to be the deep thinker of the bunch, but tends to also be the black cloud. I guess Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, would play here charter in a movie. then there is Emma, who is the anomaly. For those who don't know( this means an unusual person). My wife says it from all the Red Bull she drank when she was pregnant with Emma. This child wakes up at 6am sharp every morning, and it's go time for the rest of the day. I think Emma has a military career ahead of her.What is the funniest thing that I have seen my kids do? We took them to the fair this year at Shelby Farms, and somehow Audrey and Katie ended up being in the " Backyard Circus". Not only were they in it, but were the only 2 Kids in it. Emma being the anomaly, wanted no part of the fun. Didn't know that my kids could perform in front of a crowd. They surprised the heck out of me! I guess that is the beginning of many surprises!

Commercials I Like

Okay, so I saw this new NIKE commercial this morning, it's the one with the Kobe Bryant and Labron James puppets... This one was right in time for the Christmas Holidays featuring a puppet" Black Santa Claus" and the Rapping Reindeer "Blitzen". If you haven't seen it, please check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrCloH09wIc

Anyway, being a marketing guy, I really get into the stratgies and timing of the commercials. This one is right before the Labron and Kobe play on Christmas Day. Good work David Stern, you are a marketing genius. But I was trying to think of some other commercials that I remember from my childhood... so here is my top 5:

1) MARS BLACKMON- NIKE Michael Jordan commercial-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2ZuyW0ZFpA

2)Where's The Beef- Wendy's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug75diEyiA0

3) Kool Aid Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar6xC8KM-jk

4)Transformers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WssZjIsUIU

5) Mcdonald's- The Hamburglar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJxqcU-GvTw

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

So, Audrey & Katie's last day of school for the year was Thursday. They had a party at their school, and came home with all sorts of candy and stuff. The funniest thing is that Katie came home with a bag of Reindeer Food with a note attached: " Sprinkle this reindeer food outside on Christmas Eve night. The moonlight will make it sparkle bright. As reindeer fly and roam. This will guide them to your home." the food looks like dry oatmeal... Never heard of this reindeer food stuff, must be what they are telling the kids these days.

Also the kids love the website www.noradsanta.org
You can use GPS Navigation to track Santa

So I am starting a blog? Well, at least an attempt to start a blog. But what will I write about... Let's see, I live with my wife( Lindsay) and my three kids( Audrey, Katie, and Emma), all girls ages 5, 5 and 2.... I guess that makes for some interesting content. Oh, and my wife and pet cat are females too...