Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Rooting Interest

I recognize that the BCS is soon to be relegated to history's dustbin (not to be confused with Ned's Atomic Dustbin - betcha didn't think you'd hear that band's name today). And since Wheelhouse Jerry's maddeningly rational arguments have sunk in over time, even as I've resisted them, I further recognize that the right thing to do in a situation like the one we face is to root for the outcome with the best entertainment value.



But old habits die hard, and we've got one final chance to enjoy the squirming discomfort of the corpulent glad-handers in garish jackets that have run BCS bowls for so long. It's really no skin off your nose, because you probably weren't going to watch the Orange Bowl, anyway. So do it for me, won't you? I don't ask for much.

I need you to root for Kent State.

Coach Darrell Hazzell's Golden Flashes beat Ohio University on Friday to cap a perfect MAC regular season and advance to the conference championship game against Northern Illinois. Kent State knocked off Rutgers on the banks of the Raritan on their way to an 11-1 overall record. Their only loss was a nailbiter at SEC titan Kentucky, who used an aggressive full court press to win by 33 in the second week of the season. I think we can all agree to forget that ever happened.

Heading into the MAC championship game, Kent State is ranked 17th in the BCS standings. According to BCS maven Jerry Palm, the Golden Flashes have more than an outside shot at moving into the top 16 with a win against Northern Illinois. And if that happens, Kent State would earn an at-large BCS bid, assuming they finish higher than at least one champion from an conference with an automatic BCS qualification. Since no Big East team even registers on the BCS meter at the moment, that's a fairly safe assumption.

You have the power to remove those shit-eating grins. Truly.
In order for Kent State to move into the BCS top 16, they need to win the MAC title game and have UCLA lose to Stanford while Texas loses to Kansas State. So I need you to root for those things to happen, too.

If you really want to go for degree of difficulty, you could pull for Georgia Tech to beat Florida State in the ACC Championship to set up a Golden Flashes vs. Yellow Jackets Orange Bowl. All those colors running together would roughly approximate the hues in the vomit an ESPN executive just choked back after reading that last sentence.

I think you all know what's to be done.

30 comments:

  1. Did you ... is that ... a captioned photo?! Teedge will weep with formatting pride.

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  2. first 'best music of 2012' list i've seen (courtesy of teej's boy @jamiemottram):

    http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2012/11/the-50-best-albums-of-2012.html.

    in related news, i'll be compiling a list of the top 10 best music of 2012 lists.

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  3. Don't waste your time. Just go here for every best of 2012 list imaginable.

    http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2012/11/2012_yearend_on.html

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  4. Speaking of music, http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2012/11/metal_as_fuck_guide.php

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  5. wiz play portland, nyk, miami, atlanta, golden state, new orleans, houston, lakers, miami, and atlanta before getting orlando on 12/19. could *easily* be 0-22 at that point.

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  6. You guys just need to wait for Day 12 of Gheorghemas! Then you get the real music lowdown of the year. What's with everyone being in such a rush these days? Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving and now this. God forbid someone releases an album in December! They'll be lost in a vortex black hole man without a country something or other conundrum!

    Patience, people. It's not just a GN'R song.

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  7. They forgot drinking bloody mary mix versus real blood. Or is that on the Death Metal as Fuck list?

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  8. Clarence, you working on a new recurring post, "Patience up your ass"?

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  9. Root for entertainment value and good games. Kent State in a BCS bowl is neither in my opinion. They'd be knocking out somebody like Oregon or Oklahoma from the BCS.

    Although that would open up the possibility of a Florida-Rutgers Sugar Bowl, which would be tough for me. And for Rutgers.

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  10. 9 of the 10 teams in the Big 12 are bowl eligible.

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  11. tulane, east carolina to the big east. how horrified is georgetown right now? they're getting crucified on the altar of lord football.

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  12. and old friend old dominion must be having some serious buyers remorse right about now.

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  13. Andray Blatche is one dumb motherfucker.

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  14. jerry, how 'bout you work on the megaconference and let me root for clusterfuckery in peace?

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  15. Teej - I heard 'Dray on with Holden and Danny mid morning. What a clownshoe.

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  16. I actually have a simple solution on how to handle the megaconference topic.

    Divisions are the new conferences. Back in the old days conferences had 8-10 teams. Win your conference, go to a big bowl game. Now divisions are 6-9(ish?) teams. Win your division go to a big game. Now you just have a loose affiliation with another division against whom you play 2 games/year.

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  17. Blatche has a good backup center for the Nets this year.

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  18. I'm with Jerry. Kent State would be the first non-AQ school to make the BCS without being undefeated. They don't merit this distinction. Nor do they deserve it.

    And Blatche has been good this year. Much, much better than my fantasy team.

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  19. i don't think they deserve it, either, but until i get an 8-team playoff, i'm rooting for clusterfuckery.

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  20. That was Rob's point, I believe. Personal sacrifice for the greater good -- though "good" can be subjective. That's what his pals in the IRA and al-Qaeda taught him.

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  21. That's not my greater good. And I don't care about what "Rob" wants.

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  22. kimchi and eggs for dinner. the wife is nonplussed by the smell.

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  23. interesting subplot in the ecu to the big east news - the pirates are only joining the big east in football. they've reportedly approached the...wait for it...caa about membership in all other sports. this might trigger davidson getting off the fence to join the caa, as well. and make odu look even dumber.

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  24. i will eat les miles' hat if he takes the arkansas job. no chance.

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  25. Hotel California -- warm smell of colitas... What the hell are colitas? I could Wikipedia it but I'd rather Gheorghe it. Anybody know without the help of the Internet?

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  26. Such an awesome song - such an awesome band. Why they aren't 10 times as popular I'll never know. Amanda Vanderpool

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