Sunday, November 9, 2008

Why am I smiling?

Despite the fact that it's 7:00 a.m. on Sunday and I've been awake for nearly an hour (thanks to my one-year-old, who decided to sleep in our bed last night but didn't want dad in there with her) I'm still sporting a big ol' grin today. Wanna know why?

Arsenal 2 - 1 Manchester United
BYU 41 - 12 San Diego State
Minnesota 6 - 29 Michigan
Utah 13 - 10 TCU
Cleveland 30 - 34 Denver Broncos
Chivas USA 2 - 3 Real Salt Lake (aggregate)


If I would have played all those results as a parlay at a Vegas sports book, I would have ended up with some serious coin, particularly on the Arsenal and Michigan results, two teams that are severely underperforming this year and had to have been considered underdogs. Of course, given my propensity for addiction, I don't gamble. But it's still fun to imagine.

Some might find it odd that I consider two rivals (BYU and Utah) both winning to be a good thing, but I attended Utah before graduating from BYU, so I cheer for both until rivalry week, when I side for BYU unless, like this year, Utah could clinch a BCS bid with a win. Plus I'm an avowed hater of the BCS system and believe that President Elect Obama was spot on when he said we needed a playoff while on Monday Night Football last week.

The BCS conferences are full of crap in thinking they are that much better than the so-called mid majors. The Big 12 and the SEC are the real deal this year. Coming out of either conference with one loss is an accomplishment. But the Pac 10, Big 10, ACC, and Big East are all weaker than the Mountain West. The MWC v. BCS results seem to bear this out (BYU v. UCLA, Utah v. Oregon State, Utah v. Michigan, Wyoming v. Tennessee).

When did the ACC and in particular the Big East become power conferences worthy of automatic bids to a national championship game, anyway? They're basketball conferences for crying out loud.

I really don't see why USC is ranked in the top 10 with one loss when they haven't played anyone good and lost to Oregon State. And Penn State was never as good as anyone thought they were. So they beat Ohio State--big deal. Ohio State stinks this year, too (of course if you ask me, Ohio State stinks every year). In fact, the Big 10 has been overrated for a long time (I would say since 1997, but more objectively since 2002), and I went to a Big Ten school.

Enough of the rant--I'm going to enjoy the moment. It will be fun to go to work on Monday wearing my Arsenal shirt, since one of our guests this week is a Man U season ticket holder. And dug, I thought for sure Minnesota would be able to claim the little brown jug this year, but looks like it's staying in Ann Arbor yet again.

1 comment:

  1. I notice you were careful not to go anywhere near the BSU 49 - Utah St 14...

    ReplyDelete