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The moment has arrived.  Bracket-mania 2011.

You may remember last year Bracket-mania was started so my friend Lane & I could keep up our daily conversations about college football after she moved to Atlanta.  We succeeded.

Lane would consider year 1 as a success since she walked away with the jackpot.  Pretty sure my dad & I both see it as a failure.  Pick the sure winner, or go for the upset? That IS the question...

Sooooo, here are the rules.  Some modifications from 2012 + some improvements:
- Every week you'll pick the winner of the games played by the Top 25 teams.  For every game right, you earn 7 points (Touchdown!)  For every game wrong, you lose 3 points (Field goal by the other team) and if you pick all 25 games correctly, you'll get an added 2 points for the week (Safety)
Please Note: In 2010, no one got a safety throughout the entire season.  Something to strive for.

- You also have to be a follower of this blog in order to sign up.  (Probably should have started with that, no wonder I only have 14 followers..........)

- You also have to be serious.  For real, you'll get kicked out.  We've done it before.

Action items for YOU:
1. Look to the right and click on "Join this site."  Do it now.
2. Either comment on this post or email Lane or me if you want in.
3. Wait for the most exciting email of your fall to come around August 15 in preparation for week 1.
4. Pay in. Easy.

Another one bites the Dust

You can't make this stuff up, people.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6769894/ncaa-places-georgia-tech-yellow-jackets-four-years-probation

 *Credit: espn.com

The dog days are overrrr

Umm, is there going to be college football anymore?  I'm starting to think that all of it is so out of control that they're going to just remove all programs from all schools and start from scratch.

On top of the disaster going on with Ohio State, ESPN is reporting that they're still investigating Auburn from last years' Cam Newton situation.  This means we're looking at another potential forfeit of a National Championship.  OSU already forfeited the Rose Bowl from last year (along with all of their wins, which includes a win over Michigan.  That hurts Buckeyes...maybe more than anything)

Maybe I'm over-reacting, I'm just really starting to wonder what is going to whip these schools and programs into shape and bring this sport back to the glory that I know it can be.

That's all from the podium.  Look for Bracket-mania 2011 rules and regulations to come out in the next week or two.  It's going to be bomb this year!

ESPN Classics

Last year when I moved in with best roomies ever, we were appalled at the fact that SOAP Net wasn't part of our Cable plan.  How else would we watch 90210 reruns on repeat Saturday & Sunday mornings?!?  Then one night, the Verizon Fios Fairy came and we woke up to "Breakfast in Bed" - the greatest invention since Saturday morning cartoons.  Now we can get our fix of Brandon, Brenda & the gang every week.

If I could ask the Verizon Fios fairy for one more thing, it would be to grant us ESPN Classics.  Why isn't this part of the normal cable subscription?  It's a channel dedicated to playing all of the GREATEST games of all time! All....day......long!   Instead, I have to sit at home in jealousy while my dad emails me about everything I'm missing.

This past weekend, while celebrating this amazing country I love so much, I heard the the familiar sound of Kirk Herbstreit's voice.  I rushed into the family room to see what this could be.  Oh, just the 2010 National Championship game.  Auburn vs. Oregon in all its glory.  Don't most families sit around watching old National Championships together? No? Just mine?  

Want to know what came on after that? The 2009 Rose Bowl with Ohio State and Oregon.  You know the one...it's the one where all the punk Ohio State players sold their rings for money and took down their entire football program with them.  Surely this is why it is now part of the ESPN Classics programming.

It did get the wheels turning though - we're so close!  Just a month away.  But it feels like there's so much to do to prepare.  Super Fan & I need to get the 2011 Bracket up and running.  I need to decide which games I can get to this year.  I need to start researching teams to see who will be this years' upset.  

I think a personal day is in my near future...

The weather is thick, hot and stifling - Check.

Pryor is officially leaving Ohio State - Check.

Teams are starting to announce game start-times - Check.

Winding down to the home stretch before College Football season starts.

Just saw the LSU/Florida game has a 7pm start time, which means I'll see a night game in Death Valley.  

Now, what other games will I go to this year?  That's the next question to address!

And the winner is? No one.

Here it is.  The posting all 5 readers of this blog have been waiting for.  After months of controversy in Columbus, Jim Tressel resigned as head coach as Ohio State.  REM said it best people, Everybody hurts.

Where to begin....

Hopefully by now everyone knows how I feel about students & coaches accepting special benefits and not being punished for them.  I feel the same way about it when its' my own team, so I admit, they (you know, "The Tainted Five") deserve their punishment and then some.

But Jim Tressel?!???  The Vest?  Jimmy?   It hurts.  I love that man and love everything he did for Ohio State.  And the thing is, HE loves Ohio State and I have no doubt, whatever it is that "he did" - he did it for the Buckeyes.  I bet you he could tell you right now how many days there are until the Michigan Game.  He is a buckeye and always will be.

That's all I'm going to say about this.  Thanks for a great ride, Tress!

April Showers....

Contrary to popular belief, I didn't boycott my blog for the month of April simply to avoid the wrath of what is going on with the Ohio State football program.  But now that you bring it up, it would be nice if the old saying "April Showers bring May Flowers" would start to prove true.  

While at a wedding this past weekend, I was asked by a fellow avid college football (and Texas fan) what I thought of Jim Tressell.  My response was the same it has been and will continue to be until everyone (yes, EVERYONE, including those on the teams I follow) stop acting like total crooks and start taking things seriously.  College athletes are students that are getting a college education for playing sports.  It has been the same story since the beginning of time and for the love, can we just keep things innocent and right for their 3-4 years in college before they go pro?  I don't want to hear about, talk about it or think about it.

My only hope for right now is that come August everyone can begin to focus on the good things going on in this sport.  And if that means one of my teams needs to suffer with punishment, well, it is what it is.

At this point, I'd much rather continue to focus my attention on the new Duke & Dutchess of Cambridge.

Bracket-ology

Before things get too out of hand (This Florida/BYU game is a little too close for comfort) I figured all 6 of the people reading this would like to know how I'm netting out in my first bracket.

Rather than your typical red X's and yellow high-lighting, I opted for a much warmer combination of Purple for wins and blue for losses.  Makes it much more enjoyable to look at, don't you agree?

Read it & Weep

Yep, you heard it.  For the first time in my LIFE I have entered into the basketball bracket at work.  It's SUPER high tech.  All I remember about brackets is my dad driving around with all of his hard copy print outs of his 10 different brackets with marks in red where he messed up and teams circled that he picked right.

MY bracket is electronic and all I had to do was click on the name of the team I wanted to win (that's right, the team I want to win.  Surely you don't think I pick this based on who will probably win, do you?) and it automatically populates.  So cute.  And fun!

So here's my bracket - read it and weep.

Potential Awkward moments to come:

Sweet 16 - Ohio State vs. UNC - You know I'm a closet Carolina fan and I happen to live with an open Carolina fan.  Sorry Court, I'm buying Gracie an Ohio State bandanna!

Semi-finals - Although I picked Kansas to beat Florida, I might secretly be hoping Florida wins.  I would love nothing more than Ohio State to beat the pants off of them in the National Championship.

National Championship Game - It might become awkward the number of times I refer to this game as "the dance."  See, I've always called the football national championship "the dance" - which it isn't.  Now that I'll actually be watching, I'll be throwing this lingo around like it's going out of style.

Dare I say it?  I'm excited!!!

Turning a new leaf

Nope, you're wrong.  I'm NOT going to comment about Jim Tressell's suspension.  And I'm not going to comment about the possible allegations at Oregon.  I'm sick, sick, sick of all this mess.  It's ridiculous and terrible.

Instead, I'm going to make a very serious confession:

I. watched. a. College. Basketball. Game.

I mean, I REALLY watched it.  As in, went to my fave game-watching location in Richmond with my dad on Sunday (Love me some Home Team Grill) decked out in OSU gear, ate chicken fingers, drank Blue Moon and cheered.  I guess it also didn't hurt that Ohio State beat the pants off of Wisconsin...

There's a lot of fun things to consider when watching college basketball (a sensible championship system, weather-control, only 2 half's) but here are a few areas where I think it's lacking:

Camaraderie - There really isn't a "tailgating" scene in basketball.  It's winter, after all.  So, I think you miss out on all of the fun and smack-talk that happens before and after games.

Week-day games - Football games are on Saturdays (with a Thursday night game thrown in here and there...) Basketball games are mostly during the week.  For example, Ohio State plays today at noon. Um, hello?  I'm going to miss the game due to a little thing I like to call, work.  Fail on Basketball's part.

Number of games - I mean, 3-4 games a week is exhausting for fans!

That being said, I feel I've turned a corner in the fact that I watched an entire game and really enjoyed it.  I MIGHT even pay to be in a bracket this year....Come on, I said MIGHT!

2011 Tour of Stadiums

That's right everyone, things are starting to book up FAST!  

I just got the most AMAZING news that I'll be sporting purple & gold for one week this year at the LSU / Florida game in Death Valley.

I pretty much have the best dad on all of planet Earth.

Geau Tigers!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered.

Wednesday was signing day.  A day meant for all College Football fans to start looking forward to the new season 6 months in advance.

I'll be honest - I don't really understand the "grading" or "ranking" system for this.  I would love for anyone to explain it to me so I can continue my quest of being an all-knowing college football girl.

To Summarize for you, here's the list of the Top 10 recruiting classes after signing day:

1. Florida State (ACC)

2. Alabama (SEC)

3. Auburn (SEC)

4. USC (Pac-10)

5. Texas (Big 12)

6. Georgia (SEC)

7. Ohio State (Big 10)

8. Clemson (ACC)

9. Notre Dame

10. LSU (SEC)

Legally playing football for Money

It's true.  There are football players out there who are ALLOWED to accept money (LOTS of money) to play football.  They're called "professional football players" and they play in this league that I think is called the NFL.  This is where you go AFTER college.  (And to those of you that it may not be clear, college football players are NOT allowed to accept money or gifts to play football.  Just want to make sure that's clear)

I crossed over and went to my first ever NFL football game.  Roommates and I headed up to Northern Virginia for Dad Weekend #2 to watch the Washington Redskins play the New York Giants.  It was....AH-MAZING.

Did you know you can drink beer inside the stadium in the NFL?  It's true.  You're allowed to pregame, and then you're allowed to still drink in the stadium.  It's awesome.


Beers in the Stadium.  By the way, our seats were awesome...

You seem to also be able get into fights in the stadium during the game and not get kicked out.  It's cool, but it also seems that drinking throughout the entire game leads me to do things like this:

This happened right after we started chanting, "Who hates the Giiiiiiiiaaaannnnts?"

Thanks to Caroline's dad, we were able to experience the game up close and personal.  I may be a little spoiled because I can't imagine sitting anywhere other than these seats for the rest of my life.

Did I mention we had great seats??

Have you ever been able to slap Eli Manning on the back for a job well done?  We have...

I can't remember if I've told you or not, but we were REALLY close to the field

A few lessons learned on the professional football front:

• Double check the game time the morning of the game.  Otherwise, you end up in the stadium parking lot at 11:30am for a game that doesn't start until 4:15pm.  When it's raining and sleeting outside, it makes for a cold afternoon.
• Double check the weather before going to the game.  Otherwise you find yourself in the Team Shop (or the "bookstore" as I liked to call it) purchasing Redskins gloves, hats, sweatshirts, socks and jackets.  I'm stocked up for next year!
• Take Monday off of work.  I'll continue to think college football is better because you have Sunday to recover.  In the NFL, you have no time to recover.  Your alarm still goes off Monday morning and you still have to go to work.
• Even though in the NFL you get a lot of chances throughout the season, it still sucks when your team loses.

Sadness / Anger from another Giants Touchdown

Q4 Status Update

Well, I seem to have done this two years in a row now. Clearly I need to work on my November time management so I find more time to blog during the most important time of the year in College Football. Since I did miss it, here’s my quick Status Report on all that went down in Q4.

October (See Tour of Stadiums Posts)


November
     • Defending National Champions, Alabama, lost to LSU
     • Texas added a few more losses to their belt and said goodbye to any sort of ranking or bowl game
     • Unranked, Northwestern, took down ranked Iowa
     • Once and for all, Boise State stopped kidding all of us and fell to Nevada

December
• Championship Central –
     o SEC Championship – Really USC? That was just painful to watch (sorry Matty, you know I always love you). Auburn took the title and packed their bags for Tempe
     o MAC Championship – Miami beat Northern Illinois. I’m sure most of you knew that since I’m sure everyone watched this…..
     o ACC Championship – Virginia Tech & Florida State always play each other tougher than anyone else. A sleet storm in Charlotte didn’t stop my beloved Hokies from quieting all those terribly obnoxious FSU fans who stole the Atlanta Braves cheer.
     o Conf. USA Championship – Another game I probably don’t have to tell you about since I’m sure you watched, but just in case, UCF beat SMU.
     o Oregon / Oregon State – Not a championship game, but this game was about as important as any other played this day. The Ducks prevailed and set their sights on their first National Championship dance


• The Heisman Trophy – Oh Cam. I’m so conflicted here. Yes, Cam Newton is a bangin’ Quarterback and deserved the Heisman trophy. I worry that this will be Reggie Bush part 2 in a few years, but let’s all hope he’s as honest as he says he is. The more pressing issue is getting this kid signed up for public speaking classes. I’m not trying to judge (too hard) but did anyone see that speech? Ah. Dagger.


 • The final Rankings -
     o National Championship - #1 Auburn vs. #2 Oregon
     o Rose Bowl - #3 TCU vs. #5 Wisconsin
     o Orange Bowl - #4 Stanford vs. #13 Virginia Tech
     o Sugar Bowl - #6 Ohio State vs. #8 Arkansas
     o Fiesta Bowl - #7 Oklahoma vs. Connecticut