THE Blog©, Presented by Coca-Cola©

Reading ESPN.com Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber’s columns makes me wonder if ESPN is becoming the Wal-Mart of sports.  As soon as they entirely control the market (FOXSports is the Kmart of the shopping wars), will they ever have decency?  Granted, journalism doesn’t have sweatshops.  But being the sole provider of all things sports news can provide a giant of an influencer to millions of unsuspecting prey.

(I’m sorry, but I know for a fact that I’ll inadvertently provide shopping references where they don’t need to be, but I also know that I’ll be too lazy to delete them later.)

December is supposed to be about football.  The playoffs start in three weeks, and the Super Bowl takes place in seven and a day.  College Football Bowl Season, (Because you can’t just have a big day of bowls, which if they can’t make a playoff system, would provide for one extremely hectic day, one that would make for good (and bad) TV.)  Baseball’s Hot Stove has stretched to the point where I don’t care anymore, and I won’t until mid-March, because I don’t care where Teixeira goes, I could care less about Commissioner Selig’s brainchild, the World Baseball Classic, endless talking about the Yankees and their quarter-million arms, and especially anything about how next season will turn out.

This is coming from a more biased point-of-view, but when all but one ESPN columnist pretty much says that the 2009 Milwaukee Brewers will be as good as the ones from the 90s (Thank you, Buster Olney), something tells me that their opinion about things nine months from now is worth more than what’s actually happening now.  Oh, wait.  There isn’t.  Maybe they should figure something out about that.  

(This really only works for sports that ESPN actually likes to cover, by the way.)  A good idea is to take a sport’s columnists, and give them one of three distinctions: senior columnist, junior columnist, and analyst.  This would ultimately bring about the beginning of a distinction between columns and analysis.  The senior columnists, preferably 3 of them, get their twice-weekly column (They get Sunday off) with no length limit and can provide me with 313 reasons to read different points of view.  3 receive the “analyst” distinction.  They work in 8-month shifts, giving us two at any one time (One goes March-October, July-February, November-June).  This way, we don’t get too many redundant opinions on the same topic.    The rest are junior columnists, and they only are writing from the day before day one of preseason (The day of the first exhibition game, NFL fans) to the 7th day after the final postseason game (The Super Bowl, not Pro Bowl, NFL fans).  That’s the only time they’re needed.

Some of you don’t like that idea.  That’s your choice.  It’s just an idea.  I’m not saying it’s the right one.  But let’s refocus again.

I wonder how uncontrolled the 10 PM and Midnight SportsCenter really are.  Schreiber did a column a while back about how ESPN gives more time to those sports they put billions of dollars in (NFL, especially, but also MLB and College Football/Basketball) than the other sports (Soccer, Hockey, Tennis, Golf (Tiger Woods excluded), etc.).  Starting January 1st, I will attempt to tape the Midnight SportsCenter and find time to tabulate the amount of time alloted to each sport, and then figure out the coverage ESPN gives it in game-time programming.  I’ll have to adjust the figures for playoffs and such, but the NFL playoffs also faces the NHL, NBA and the MLB Hot Stove.  So, I’ll leave it alone.

I’m tinkering with ESPN’s new beta site, which I can do for free because I’m already an iNsider (Thank you, the Mag).  It’ll take a while to get used to (Like I needed to when I switched from Internet Explorer to Apple’s Safari, for the better), of course.  But it seems to work.  My biggest beef right away was that I would need to type in ombudsman into ESPN search or go through an extensive race of clicking links to get to Schreiber’s columns.  But, to my surprise, they put that under the Columnists tab as a quick link (I was surprised of the Columnists tab to begin with, mind you).  The flow seems to be better, the scores are more streamlined, and I do like the site in general.  I’ll need an adjustment period, but I think that this change will improve the site.  When I still had FOX Sports as my homepage, their overhaul made the site worse.  I didn’t want my feature headlines changing every three seconds, and I didn’t want my articles to take forever to load because they were the special graphic kind that you could only view a tiny bit at a time (like a Top 10 thing).

My final topic for the day is simply about coverage.  I don’t care how many times you can air the same opinion, or sound bite, or controversial question.  The first, and maybe second time is enough.  ESPN wonders why people hate them.  It’s this reason.  I didn’t want the Sabathia saga to be shoved down my throat.  If you need someone talking everyday about this, then you need to move on.  3 hours after CC signed with the Yankees, I didn’t care anymore.  I moved on.  How about you producers learn that?  Put a leash on your people.  Otherwise, they’ll never stop barking.

Filed under: Baseball, Basketball, College Basketball, College Football, Football, Sports, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

This is in fact my 3rd installment of THE Poll, but what’s really unsurprising is the fact that neither of the other 2 really lasted very long.  I’m one of those people that get sick of caring and stop.  I’m gonna try not to.  It’ll be hard, but I’ll do it.

And, for some reason, I switch it up every year.  Which is really weird, because normally I don’t have enough samples to see if they’re good enough.  I almost didn’t tweak it this year.  But a fit of genius led me to do so.  And I’m not open to changing it mid-season.  If there’s a ranking system I really like, it’s going in.  This way, it can keep adapting to become a super-rankings.

Now, without futher ado, here is the 2008-2009 Poll System Formula.
(This is not the Chorizo Interactive Poll; this is the final number you see.)
(Oh.  The ESPN/CBS Rankings actuall are 25% overall.  I just split it up 65-35 ESPN.)

ESPN Power Rankings ((26-#)/25)*.1625+
CBS   Power Rankings ((26-#)/25)*.0875+
AP     Poll    Rankings ((26-#)/25)*.1000+
Coach. Poll Rankings ((26-#)/25)*.1500+
CIP    Power Rankngs           (N/A)*.5000

Heh.  I just realized I trust 10 dudes more than a buttload of coaches and sportswriters.  And I didn’t give you the CIP formula because it’s a waste of space, and you’ll get confused, only because of it’s length.  It’s really not too complicated, I’m just lazy and it keeps a special sense of mystery to the poll.  Like the BCS computers.

I’ve decided to stop putting the stuff on pages.  It makes things a tad easier, and I’m all for easier.  Without much further ado, here is the preseason edition of THE College Basketball Poll©, Presented by Cherry Coke©.

(Warning-Duke’s game against Presbyterian is not counted, for obvious reasons.  They’re the only one to have played.)

New Teams

Dropped Teams

Conference Power Rankings
Big East  (7 of 16): 43.75%
ACC        (4 of 12): 33.33%
Big XII     (4 of 12): 33.33%
Pac-10    (3 of 10):30.00%
Big Ten   (3 of 11): 27.27%
SEC         (2 of 12): 16.67%
WAC        (1 of 9):  11.11%
Southern (1 of 12):  8.33%
C-USA     (1 of 12): 8.33%

Teams Receiving “Votes”, Presented by Sprite©
Ohio State (3.9%)
UNLV (3.0%)

THE Few Notes of Wisdom©, Presented by Fanta©
– Every single number, stat, and record is as it came out the second the AP and Coaches Poll came out.

– The previous category is based on where you were before the first game of that week.

–You must have a positive percentage to Receive “Votes.”

THE Shocker of the Week, Presented by Minute Maid©
There needs to be an upset first, dummy.

Filed under: College Basketball, Sports, THE College Basketball Poll©, THE Polls© | 1 Comment »

Here’s the deal.  I have school.  I have work.  I have homework.  I never know when I’m going to be able to or have the energy to release the poll.  That’s why both THE College Football Poll©, Presented by Coke Zero© (Week 2) and THE Football Poll©, Presented by Powerade© (Week 1) are both being released now.  I’ll try to release them on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively, but it’ll probably never happen all the time.  So, take a gander at both, and then watch your football games.  Time for the generic post.

No.  The polls won’t be here.  Why?

I don’t really know.  Cuz I feel like doing it in those Pages.  To the right of my Post, you should see the link.  THE College Football Poll©, Presented by Coke Zero© Week 2 is under the title of the same name, and THE Football Poll©, Presented by Powerade© Week 1 is also under the title of the same name.

That’s where you’ll find it.

I’m just using this for tags.

That’s about it.

You are a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day,
Chorizo.

Filed under: College Football, Football, Sports, THE College Football Poll©, THE Football Poll©, THE Polls© | 3 Comments »

No.  The poll won’t be here.  Why?

I don’t really know.  Cuz I feel like doing it in those Pages.  To the right of my Post, you should see the link.  It’ll be under this Poll name, named “Week 1″.

That’s where you’ll find it.

I’m just using this for tags.

That’s about it.

You are a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day,
Chorizo.

Filed under: College Football, Sports, THE College Football Poll©, THE Polls© | 1 Comment »

Brett’s a Jet.

You know what that means?

I’m a Jets fan now.

Ever since the infamous “itch” was reported, Thompson and McCarthy had no clue.  They said “Rodgers is our quarterback”, and “Brett can be a backup.”  And ever since the itch, I’ve wanted Thompson and McCarthy run out of the state of Wisconsin.

I realize that you spent your entire offseason on the premise that Rodgers was the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers.  I also realize that you made irreversible decisions because of that.  But this is the NFL.

You’re supposed to make changes on the fly.  Brett does it all the time.  Remember that flip as he was falling?  I don’t think that was the playcall in the huddle.  Thompson should’ve welcomed back Brett with open arms, put Rodgers back at good ‘ol #2, and proceeded to remain in the NFL’s elite.

A former local sports radio host said on the air in a guest appearance that the Packers did the right thing, taking “two steps back in order to take three steps forward.”  That makes sense, if you are a rebuilding team.

This wasn’t that team.  They came off the NFC Championship.  I’m no genius, but isn’t that like REALLY close to the Super Bowl?  How can the be rebuilding?

I said it before: the NFL is the NOW Football League.  Ted Thompson doesn’t care.  He’d rather risk his job on an unproven, injury-prone 4th-year player who has never started a game in the NFL.  I’d like to see them run too, because no defense will only have seven men in the box.  It’s gonna be an 8-man front until Aaron proves himself.  And as a lifetime Packer fan, and 6-year Patriots fan (Yes, I know, but I’ve stuck with them, haven’t I?), and a converted Jets fan, I see the Packers fail to make the playoffs.

Minnesota wins the division, and the Giants/Eagles/Cowboys have the Quarterbacks to win.  That leaves Green Bay on the outside looking in.

Now, I hope that I’m way off.  I hope the Packers do make the playoffs and have a huge run.  But Green Bay doesn’t deserve it.  Not after the way they only looked after themselves.

If it wasn’t for Brett Favre, we’d be the Lions.  The perennial loser.  But Brett changed that.  We won.  A lot.  160 times, in fact.  That’s 10.7 wins a season.  That’s a lot.

Ted Thompson has turned this organization from the Green Bay Packers into the Ted Thompson Packers.  Let’s put a “T” on that helmet, why don’t we?  You can’t tell me that Ted isn’t putting a stranglehold on this team.

Next offseason, Driver will be gone.  So will Harris.  And KGB.  Maybe even Barnett.  Anything that smells of Ron Wolf and Mike Sherman.  Gone.  And where will we be?

Jets fans, of course.

J.

E.

T.

S.

Jets.

Jets.

Jets.

I’ll admit, it’s catchier than “Go Pack Go.”

Chorizo.

This is a private work.  Any use or redistribution of the article must be accepted by the original author.  No changes to this work in any way.  Any violator will receive retaliation on the author’s part.

Filed under: Football, Sports | 21 Comments »