And that's the way the syndicate rolls

I'm currently in trial down on the island and my brain is fairly fried by the time I sit down to work after putting my girls down for the night. I had a picture of the sun setting over Galveston Bay that I was going to run but, for some reason, my phone has decided not to make that photo available at this time. Ditto for the shot of sunset over Pearland (admittedly not as cool).

Some night in the upcoming week, LSU and Alabama will play (once again) in the "national championship" game staged by the B(owl) C(artel) S(yndicate). Now, if memory serves me right, LSU already beat Alabama this season. And, it seems to me, that game took place in Tuscaloosa.

So what happens if Alabama wins the rematch? Does that make them the best team in the country all of a sudden? Wouldn't LSU have an argument that nothing's been decided? Isn't a loss at home worse than a loss at a neutral site? And what about that little detail that Alabama not only wasn't good enough to win their conference, they weren't even good enough to win their division.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma State beat Stanford the other night in the desert. Oklahoma State beat more ranked teams this season than Alabama. Oklahoma State beat more teams with a winning record than Alabama. Oklahoma State didn't play a lower division team in order to pad their record this season - Alabama did.

What was the difference between the two teams this year? First, Alabama lost at home to LSU while Oklahoma State lost on the road against Iowa State just a couple of days after the coach of the women's basketball team, and one of his assistants, were killed in a plane crash. Think that might've played a role in how a bunch of teenagers played that night in Ames? Second, Alabama began the season ranked higher than Oklahoma State. That was an advantage that the Cowboys could never overcome.

And that brings me to my final point - it's ridiculous that a preseason poll can determine who plays for the national championship at season's end. The voters decide where to rank a team based on how well they played the year before and how well the voter thinks they might play this season. This is college football - not the NFL - and teams undergo drastic change from season to season. Alabama's team this year was a different team than last year's Crimson Tide; and the same applies to Oklahoma State. But this faulty logic is now the basis for Alabama getting an undeserved invite to play LSU while Oklahoma State can only watch.

Coogs done in by a weasel

Kevin Sumlin is the latest weasel coach in college football. While his charges, the University of Houston Cougars, were preparing to play in (perhaps) the biggest game in school history, Mr. Sumlin was working on his exit strategy from Cullen Boulevard.

The Cougars had just completed the first perfect season in school history and were hosting the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles for the C-USA championship. One more win and a trip to lucrative BCS bowl beckoned.

And then the unthinkable happened. The Cougars were blown out in a game in which they were heavily favored. The win sent the Cougars tumbling to a second-tier New Year's Day bowl in Dallas. Instead of millions pouring into the school's coffers, UH will be lucky to break even.

While the players are taught to play to the final whistle and to never give up on the ball, Mr. Sumlin had no problem quitting on his team and hooking up with Texas A&M, who had just fired their football coach after losing to Texas on Thanksgiving night.

In the days following the Cougars' loss, I kept waiting to hear the announcement that Mr. Sumlin was taking his talents elsewhere. I even had a conversation with a friend of a friend who works at UH and he was thinking the same thing. There is little doubt in my mind that Texas A&M already knew that Mr. Sumlin would accept the coaching job when they fired Mike Sherman -- after all, the Ags had been forced to settle on Mr. Sherman after prospective coaches quit answering their phones when Dennis Francione was fired.

You can't serve two masters, Mr. Sumlin. You had a job to do - and while you were supposedly doing it you were working on your next job. You owed it to your players to lead them onto the field against Southern Miss. Only you were thinking about yourself - placing yourself above the team.

You are a weasel, Kevin Sumlin.

Just win, baby

The Longhorns win the final installment of the Lone Star Shootout. And forever's an awfully long time.

Texas Fight, Texas Fight,
And it's goodbye to A&M.
Texas Fight, Texas Fight,
And we'll put over one more win.
Texas Fight, Texas Fight,
For it's Texas that we love best.
Hail, Hail, The gang's all here,
And it's good-bye to all the rest! 

(YELL) 

Yea Orange! Yea White!
Yea Longhorns! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Texas Fight! Texas Fight,
Yea Texas Fight!
Texas Fight! Texas Fight,
Yea Texas Fight! 

As for the Aggies... they'll be going from the 'Horns younger brother to the SEC's little b----.

$o much for tradition

So tomorrow marks the end of an era. Tomorrow is the last time the Longhorns and Aggies will play in the foreseeable future.

You see, Texas A&M, that university that prides itself on "tradition," decided to walk away from the Big 12 and join the SEC beginning in 2012. For those of y'all like me, who grew up watching the old Southwest Conference, it's hard to comprehend. The Aggies are walking away from tradition for a few dollars more. The joke will be on them when the bills for sending the women's soccer team to South Carolina or the baseball team to Florida on a regular basis.

The SEC sold the Ags a bill of goods. Let's be real, there aren't any kids from Georgia or Tennessee or Alabama who are clamoring to move to College Station to play football. What the SEC wanted was unfettered access to Texas recruits. Currently the only SEC school that does much recruiting in Texas is LSU - but they're practically family.

When the Big 12 damn near imploded a year ago, A&M was one of the schools that benefited the most as the exit fees paid by Colorado and Nebraska found their way into the coffers in Austin, College Station, Norman and Stillwater. A&M signed off on that deal knowing full well that UT was going to launch the Longhorn Network. So, using the LHN as an excuse for leaving for the SEC is a canard the A&M administration figured their loyal followers wouldn't question.

And now the nation's third longest rivalry is coming to an end. And it sucks. I grew up with this game. Often times Thanksgiving dinner was scheduled around it. Before my oldest daughter was born I took my wife up to Austin to watch the game. My oldest daughter's been to Kyle Field twice to watch the 'Horns beat the Ags.

Here's hoping the 'Horns send the Ags running off with their tails between their legs.

Hook 'em!

Say it ain't so, Joe

It is time for Joe Paterno to step down.

In title he's the head football coach at Penn State University. In reality he hasn't coached a football game in years.

The scandal involving former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky gets more sordid by the day. For those not familiar with the tale, while at Penn State, Mr. Sandusky headed up the Second Mile Foundation which sought to help at-risk youth. Children in the program were taken to home football games and given tours of Beaver Stadium.


While heading the foundation, Mr. Sandusky allegedly engaged in improper conduct with several young boys ranging from fondling to sexual assault. The most infamous of the assaults occurred in 2002, after Mr. Sandusky had left the coaching staff. A graduate assistant walked into the locker room and witnessed Mr. Sandusky sodomizing a young boy.

No one stopped the attack. The graduate assistant ran out of the locker room without confronting Mr. Sandusky. No one called the police. Mr. Paterno referred the matter to the athletic director, Tim Curley, who informed Senior VP for Finance and Business, Gary Schultz. Apparently someone spoke to Mr. Sandusky and told him not to bring kids from the Second Mile onto campus.

Yep. That'll stop it right there. Let's not notify the police that a former coach is raping young boys. Let's just take away his access to the stadium and let him do his nasty business somewhere else. After all, the last thing we want is to drag the university into a sex scandal.

That plan doesn't seem to have worked out too well.

Mr. Schultz and Mr. Curley have since been indicted for perjury for lying to a grand jury investigating Mr. Sandusky. Mr. Sandusky has been indicted on 40 counts related to his actions, including corruption of a minor and sexual assault.

Joe Paterno was under no legal obligation to contact police. But Mr. Paterno holds himself out as a molder of young men. He has been celebrated for "doing it the right way" at Penn State.

But, as Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock notes:

At age 75, Paterno sought plausible deniability from the allegations of criminal behavior inside the Penn State locker room of his 30-year employee. Rather than immediately demand that Sandusky appear and explain himself, the world-famous molder of men passed the responsibility along to the athletic director, who has far less real power than Paterno. Paterno could have done a helluva lot more. Rather than call the police, Paterno seemingly gathered as little information as possible and slipped back into his JoePa facade.

Now there are questions about just what the graduate assistant told Mr. Paterno that evening. Maybe he didn't know the extent of what Mr. Sandusky was doing. But Joe Paterno was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions. He was the face of the program.

But, when it came time to make a decision on whether or not to do the right thing, he punted. He chose not to deal with the situation. He delegated the responsibility to the athletic director - his boss in title only. Just as he has delegated coaching to his staff.

Joe Paterno should have resigned from his post years ago - back when he was actually coaching and not sitting with a pair of binoculars in the press box. But the time for resigning with honor has passed. It's time the university fire Mr. Paterno.

It's a sad end to a career. It's a permanent stain on his legacy. He had the chance to help his old friend. He had the opportunity to prevent other children from being harmed. He failed miserably on both counts.

Being a coach is more than diagramming plays. It's about teaching young people how to handle adversity. It's about teaching discipline. It's about training young men and women how to lead. It's about showing that hard work and dedication matter. It's about preparing young people for the challenges they will face in life. It's about being an example.

Unfortunately for Joe Paterno, the time has come for him to be an example. Just not the example anyone saw coming.

See also:

"Penn St. scandal should force Paterno out," Jason Whitlock, Fox Sports (11/7/2011)

"With no explanation for inaction, Joe Paterno must go now," Andy Staples, Sports Illustrated (11/8/2011)

"If parting with Paterno, do it now," Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports (11/8/2011)

"Penn State said to be planning Paterno exit amid scandal," New York Times (11/9/2011)

Texas Fight!

I will be road-tripping up to Austin today with my oldest daughter for the UT season opener against Rice. This will be my daughter's first trip to Austin for a Texas football game. I can't wait to show her around the campus so she can get a feel for what football's supposed to be.

After the long hours and frustration of work, this is what life is all about. I will be such a proud dad as we walk hand-in-hand through the gate and up to our seats tonight. It's a night I hope she'll never forget.

Buried in a cover up

Jim Tressell is out as head football coach at Ohio State.

Faster! Faster! They're gaining on us!

The Buckeye football program is now under the NCAA's microscope for a series of incidents involving Maurice Clarett, Troy Smith and Terrelle Pryor. The most recent allegations involve players selling OSU memorabilia for tattoos at a local tattoo parlor.

When that story came to light last December, Mr. Tressell denied having any knowledge of the allegations. Thanks to Sugar Bowl officials, the players in question were allowed to suit up and play in the game, despite being ineligible.

As it turned out, Mr. Tressell knew about the allegations a year ago April (long before the 2010 football season) and, instead of forwarding the information to compliance officers at OSU, he sat on the evidence. In other words, as a result of Mr. Tressell's actions, OSU used ineligible players throughout the 2010 campaign.

Ohio State tried to get in front of the curve by suspending the players for the first five games of the 2011 season. Coach Tressell was later suspended for the first five games, as well.

But alas, as Richard Nixon found out, the cover up is worse than the crime. Had Mr. Tressell notified the school, or the NCAA, when he found out about the allegations, the players would have been suspended for four games and life would have gone on in Columbus.

Now the NCAA is taking a closer look at the program and Mr. Tressell's "ethics" at Ohio State and Youngstown State are being exposed. Coach Tressell dressed in a sweater vest and carried himself with a holier than thou attitude. In the end it was all a show.

But for a cover up, Ohio State may have had a down season in 2011 but they would be back again. But for a cover up, Jim Tressell would still have a job. It's likely that his coaching career is now over.

Taking things too far

I love college football. Other than the Super Bowl, I could care less what happens in the NFL. I'll take marching bands, cheerleaders, tradition and heated rivalries over the boring, staid No Fun League any day of the week (and twice on Saturday).

The Texas Longhorns used to have three bitter rivalry games a year: Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas A & M. Then the Hogs decided to run east with their tails between their legs so they could get throttled by Alabama, LSU and Florida year after year.

Crazy things happen with rivalries.  Downtown Dallas turns into a war zone every October when the Longhorns and Sooners tee it up at the Cotton Bowl. The Longhorns' mascot, Bevo, got his nickname after a bunch of Aggies branded him with the score of the game one year (13-0).

But out in Alabama, things got out of hand. A Crimson Tide supporter was arrested for poisoning the 130 year old Oak Trees at Toomer's Corner outside Jordan-Hare Stadium on the Auburn campus. For the past 40 years, Tiger fans have wrapped the oaks whenever Auburn nets a big win. That tradition may soon be coming to an end thanks to 62 year old Alabama fan, Harvey Updyke. Mr. Updyke called into a radio show and announced that he had poisoned the trees. He ended his call with "Roll damn Tide."

I'm not blaming what happened on Alabama fans. I have no dog in that fight. Rivalries can be fun. Most folks get it and understand that there's no actual hatred involved. It's all about the laundry. My team wears this color and they wear that color. There's no better example of what it's all about than 1999 when twelve students at Texas A & M were killed when the bonfire collapsed during construction. There was no hatred that day - just a friendly rivalry. The Longhorn band played a tribute to the fallen students and a somber mood carried the day. Everyone got it.



Alabama fans get it, too. Crimson Tide fans have raised over $38,000 toward trying to save the trees.

Mr. Updyke doesn't get it. I wonder if he even went to Alabama.