12 Teams

First…Tuesday evening I had a disturbing medical “event.” I got up from my chair in the bonus room to look through the window to get a better view of the amazing and indescribable colors of an Arizona sunset. While standing at the window, I think I may have moved my head just 20 degrees or so to get a different view and, all of a sudden, I felt as if I took even one step I would fall down.

My wonderful wife helped me back to my chair. I did not feel even close to normal, whatever that is, until Thursday. (Of course, today I am dealing with another physical issue. I know it is said that it beats the alternative, but growing older can be most unpleasant.)

I have Meniere’s Disease, a poorly-understood condition of the inner ear that affects balance and hearing. While the acute stage of the “illness”–with full-blown “Code Red” vertigo attacks, intense ringing in the ear (enough so that the musical note C doesn’t sound like a C in that ear) and an intense feeling of fullness in the ear–has, thankfully, passed, the condition never goes away. Add that to the normal changes that occur with aging and I guess that can be an explanation for what happened Tuesday. It was a most frightening experience in the moment, however.

Second…the days of almost daily posting may be over. Readership has dropped dramatically in June, even accounting for no posts on 5 of the first 17 days of the month. I realize that posting less will cost me even more readers, but I think it’s time to begin to transition to the day when WordPress removes the Classic Editor option altogether and I stop posting, period.

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OK, the post title “12 Teams” refers to the revelation that the NCAA, less than ten years after adopting it, is seriously considering expanding the College Football Playoff (CFP) for Division I schools (sorry, I’m never going to call them FBS) from 4 to 12 teams.

This is the same organization that dragged its heels for years before instituting a playoff, foisting the ill-conceived BCS “system” on college football fans for 16 seasons from 1998 through 2013, inclusive. In my book on the greatest NFL teams of all time, the one The Wall Street Journal called without a doubt the best book of its kind ever written, I wrote that BCS stood for Bullshit Concoction System. I have also heard the humorous line that NCAA stands for Never Concede Authority Anytime. Just wait until the 12-team playoff brings billions in additional revenue to college football and players will have to get paid, finally.

I am serious when I write that I am convinced part of the motivation for expanding the playoffs is to make sure Notre Dame is in virtually every year, whether they deserve it or not. By the way, when was the last time “The Fighting Irish” actually won the “National Championship?” To me, Notre Dame is/are the Dallas Cowboys of NCAA football, incessantly hyped for no reason. By the way, the answer to the question is 1988, I believe. Oh, the Dallas Cowpokes have not won a Super Bowl since the 1995 NFL season and have also not even appeared in a conference championship game since then. America’s Team, my ass!

Even now, many college athletic directors are still worried about bowl games. I think the bowls are an anachronism and that will be even more true with a 12-team playoff. Only in this country, motivated by greed on one hand and political correctness on the other, can a 6-6 team be rewarded with a bowl game. One year, my “favorite” college team, Nebraska, was invited to play in a bowl despite a 5-7 record. They won their bowl, so they were a bowl-winning team with a losing record of 6-7.

I like the idea of playoff expansion and it seems as though it will really happen before too much longer. (Now if they would only get rid of their AWFUL overtime system.) Of course, I have neglected to mention that the numbing sameness of Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State having appeared in the four-team CFP virtually every season since its inception is very bad for interest in the sport, even if mini-dynasties have almost always been a part of college football. I am not exaggerating, by the way. Alabama has been in the playoff six of seven years and so has Clemson. Ohio State has been in four of seven years.

Notre Dame has been in the CFP twice although last year’s appearance was a result of “Golden Dome Blindness.” How have they done? After the 2018 season they lost to Clemson 30-3; after last season they lost to Alabama 31-14, a game in which Alabama averaged eight yards per play compared to 4.7 for Notre Dame. By the way, in this century the Golden Domers have played in six major bowls or BCS/CFP games. What is their record? 0-6 and the average score of these games was 37-15 with no margin smaller than 14 points.

If any of you are still reading and are college football fans I would like to read your views on playoff expansion.

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One good thing about an irregular posting schedule is that the post length can vary, also…

 

This Road and Track article titled, “Why Does Every New Car Look Like Every Other New Car?” really spoke to me. I highly recommend it; here is the Readers Digest version:

 

Global Consolidation

Fuel Economy

Packaging

People’s Thirst For Giant, Stupid Grilles

You, meaning the consumer who insists on the features that lead to the sameness

 

Here is a picture of a car, that of course is no longer being produced, that didn’t look like anything else on the road.

 

 

From newcars.com a picture of an Alfa Romeo 4C, produced from 2013 to 2020. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but at least your eye would notice this car. From the aforementioned article,

 

“Maybe it’s a Bimmer,” I said to the dog. “It kinda looks like one.”

It wasn’t. It was a Hyundai Santa Fe, which kinda resembles the Acura RDX, which kinda resembles the Volvo XC60, which kinda resembles the BMW X3.

 

Maybe one benefit of the eventual move to EVs is that styling can become more varied, maybe not…Have a good weekend.

 

#12Teams

#Meniere’sDisease

#CollegeFootballPlayoff

#NumbingSamenessOfCarDesign

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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