Nothing cohesive today. Just some pieces to link and comment.
The only local story, a puff piece on the brothers McKillop.
Matt Hayes is getting bad information if he truly thinks the Pitt-Penn St. Rivalry game will happen with a 3-2 deal. Home-and-home or nothing.
If you think Pitt’s “Quest for Excellence” is being a little rough with the mandatory donations, it’s nothing when you see how much you have to donate, just to get a parking pass near BC’s stadium.
The parking situation for Boston College home football games continues to defy imagination. Fans thought things might improve after the college bought 43 acres of abutting land from the Archdiocese of Boston.
If anything, things have become more bizarre.
To be considered for a spot in the newly acquired parcel, season-ticket holders must donate at least $500 to the school.
Donors at the $1,000 level will be considered for the on-campus Commonwealth Avenue parking garage.
Most donors at the $2,000-or-above level will receive outdoor parking with full tailgating privileges.
Then it gets expensive. From the letter sent to season-ticket holders from the athletic administration: “We anticipate that donors at the $5,000 level or greater will receive first choice of parking.
“Donors at the $10,000 level will have an opportunity to receive a reserved parking space (excluding Shea Field).”
When you make it that expensive to tailgate before a football game, you are only creating hostility, late arrivals, and no-shows.
An intriguing fantasy set-up to re-shuffle the BCS Conferences.
In order for real revolution to happen in college football, there has to be a way to preserve the integrity of the regular season, and conference realignments have to be settled once and for all. Most importantly, every D-I team deserves the right to come into a season dreaming of a chance to play for the national championship.
Below is a plan for realigning the conferences to form six leagues of 12 teams. There should be an eight-team playoff for the national title which means the national title teams will play three post-season games. For those who’d complain about missed class time, ask the men’s basketball teams how much time is being missed this March.
…
National — Six Big East programs would remain with Rutgers being moved to Independent status. The Mountain West division would take the best of the WAC teams and merge with some of the best Mountain West programs. UNLV is the toughest call as Wyoming or San Diego State could also get the final spot. Because of the market, the Rebels would get the nod. Remember that market size and TV share is as important as how good the program has been.
Big East — Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virginia
Mountain West — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, New Mexico, TCU, UNLV
Notre Dame would be placed in the Big 11, and the Pac-10 would expand with BYU and Utah
Also a little annoyance for me, because I was toying with a similar concept and going to make it into one of the offseason posts. Guess that’s why you need to blog quickly at times.