Being thankful during a down time

It's Thanksgiving Eve, and although I have a ton to be thankful for this past year, it's partially offset by the concern I have for what's going on in journalism, especially the newspaper business.

Here are some of the closing stock prices from today:
Tribune 16.09
Gannett 8.28
NYT 7.25
Scrips 2.88
Belo 1.93
Media General 1.95
McClatchy 2.02
Lee 1.00
Sun-Times 0.06
Gatehouse 0.04
JRC 0.008

To put it into perspective, after 13 years I left Gannett in 2003, when the stock was hovering somewhere around 90. Yes, 90. That's not a typo.

Which reminds me, I am SOOOOO thankful I cashed in my 401K, because a lot of it was in Gannett stock (yea me even with the huge tax hit, but I used the money to survive while beginning my book ventures).

Anyway, sometime over the next two weeks Gannett is going to lay off 3,000 employees, and I'm probably going to know more than a few of them. What a horrible way to go into the holidays, but my thoughts and prayers are with those who are stressing out about what December may bring.

What are the odds?

I'm going to backtrack a moment here because, well, I can, and because Steve Spurrier is one of my favorite people to quote in college football.

Remember this quote from last week's coaches teleconference?
“A lot of people don’t think it’s going to happen, but I sort of believe it will happen if President-elect Obama pushes it hard enough. It would be very interesting, but I think there’s a chance it could happen. Maybe it’ll take four years or so, but I think there’s a chance.”

So what are the odds? I'm glad you asked.

According to BetOnline.com, the chances of it actually happening during his presidency are 9-to-4.

Granted, I don't gamble, so I can't really get into how good that is, but if Vegas is taking odds, you have to admit there's something to all this.

“We have playoffs in every sport in the world, I think, except (FBS) college football,” Spurrier said. “I used to say, ’How can we be right and everybody else be wrong.” ’

Hey, that was my idea ...

So I walked into the office Thursday and one of my colleagues, Aaron Suttles, said, "Hey, did you see Stewart Mandel stole your idea about sending a book to the President-elect?"

What?
Really?

Here's what he wrote for the SI.com mailbag (the link is at the bottom):

I have requested that my publisher send you a copy of my 2007 book, "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy That Reign Over College Football." (Incidentally, if anyone from the Obama staff is reading this, we could sure use your help with an appropriate mailing address.) The first chapter describes in detail the deeply entrenched stalemate that exists among college football's various power-brokers, resulting in the current, admittedly flawed BCS system. It is a situation with which you are presumably all too familiar.

In the book, I compare college football's eternal postseason debate to "... the political stalemates of Capitol Hill. You have your congressmen (the conference commissioners and athletic directors), your senators (university presidents and chancellors), your lobbyists (the bowl games, the smaller-conference schools), and your fundraisers (the television networks), each exercising their respective influence on the decision-making process while at the same time seeking to protect their own best interests."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/stewart_mandel/11/19/cfb.mailbag/index.html

What can I say, great minds think alike.

Stewart, if any of your people are reading this, here's what you do: Send it to his Senate office, which will remain open for another month or so and aid with the transition. The address is: United States Senate, 713 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510-1305.

I encourage you to mail it yourself if for no other reason the look you'll get at the post office for sending something addressed to "President-elect Barack Obama."

The pros and cons of a playoff

Anyone who doesn't think the debate over a playoff in college football isn't going heat up after President-elect Barack Obama's suggestion for a eight-team format may be fooling themselves.

"A lot of people don't think it's going to happen, but I believe it will happen if President-elect Obama pushes it hard enough," South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said. "Those running college football will have to respond to, 'Why not? Why not an eight-team playoff?' It would be very interesting to see those top eight teams play it down.

"We have playoffs in every sport in the world but college football. How can we be right and everyone else is wrong?"

However, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino doesn't see it that way.

"I think he ought to call us so the head coaches can figure out how to get the price of gas down," he said, adding that he was kidding.

"I think it's a good system now," Petrino said. "We play a lot of games and miss a lot of school and do a lot of extra things to make sure we keep our players eligible. It's not something I believe in."

Said Alabama coach Nick Saban, who is in favor of a plus-one format: "We certainly appreciate the President's interest, that's for sure, and it's nice to have someone that's leading the country that's interested in college football."

FYI, for those who care, I found out that the President-elect's Senate office will be open for 60 days after his resignation. A copy of the book will go out in Thursday's mail.

Anyone know how to get a book to the President-elect?

I'm not about to turn this blog into a political forum (we have enough of those), but President-elect Barack Obama isn't backing down at all about his statement that he would like a college football playoff.

"If you've got a bunch of teams who play throughout the season, and many of them have one loss or two losses, there's no clear decisive winner. We should be creating a playoff system," he told 60 Minutes reporter Steve Kroft.

Obama would like an eight-team playoff, four more than what the SEC is plugging.

"It would add three extra weeks to the season," he said at the conclusion of a wide-ranging interview. "You could trim back on the regular season. I don't know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I'm going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do."

The BCS' response was predictable.

BCS coordinator John Swofford said in a statement: "First of all I want to congratulate newly elected President Obama and I am glad he has a passion for college football like so many other Americans.

"For now, our constituencies -- and I know he understands constituencies -- have settled on the current BCS system, which the majority believe is the best system yet to determine a national champion while also maintaining the college football regular season as the best and most meaningful in sports."

Swofford added: "We certainly respect the opinions of president-elect Obama and welcome dialogue on what's best for college football."

Book signings

This photo kills me. It's from Gump 4 Heisman, http://www.gump4heisman.com/my_weblog/, in regards to a mock 70s-style ad campaign for Alabama football. Too funny.

Last night I had a book signing at Waldenbooks in Jasper, and want to thank everyone there for having me. Saturday I'm doing two signings before the Mississippi State game, 1 p.m. at the Bryant Museum, and 3 p.m. on the Quad.

I'll also be at the "Pep Rally" signing at the Barnes & Noble in Huntsville on Dec. 12.

If you can't make it, today I'm heading to Birmingham and signing every book I can find. Seriously.

A controversy that just won't end

With the college football season entering the home stretch, the topic of titles is obviously on everyone’s mind.
That’s titles, as in both conference and the big one.

We’ll go in order.
Unless either team falls apart, Alabama will be facing Florida in the SEC Championship game, which will likely remind many people of the conference’s inaugural title game at legion Field in 1992.
“It would be an interesting matchup,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said Wednesday. “Certainly a contrast of styles offensively. One is more predicated on a power running game and play-action and the other is predicated off speed. Defensively, both teams are very fast, very solid in what they do. They play very hard. Both teams’ special teams are outstanding.
“I’d flip a coin on it right now.”
As for the national championship, many high-profile coaches are aligning themselves with the SEC, which actively supports a four-team playoff.
“I haven’t got the slightest idea what the BCS … is it the BCS or the BSC? I don’t know,” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said during a press conference this week. “They are going to do what they are going to do and it won’t make any difference what I say or comment on.”
Southern California’s Pete Carroll took it another step, saying the BCS “stinks” after the Trojans (7-1) dropped from fifth to seventh in the BCS standings after crushing Washington 56-0 for their third shutout in four games.
“What is the criteria of the process?” he asked reporters Tuesday. “Is it to pick the team that has the best season, that has the season that you like the most and feel best about voting for? Or is it the best team at the end of the year, the team that would win a playoff system if you did have it?”
For those who don’t know, here’s a quick look at how the five BCS bowls are aligning, featuring the champions of the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC conferences, along with four other selections, with no conference getting more than two teams.
Unless teams qualify to play in the national championship game, the champions of various conferences are contractually obligated to play in the following games:
Orange Bowl: ACC;
Rose Bowl: Big Ten and Pac-10;
Fiesta Bowl: Big XII;
Sugar Bowl: SEC.
For each bowl that loses a team to the national championship game, they get to select a replacement before the other bowls. The bowl losing the No. 1 team selects first.
Afterward, the bowl played on the date nearest to the national championship game, this year that’s the Fiesta Bowl, has the next selection, followed by the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl.

By the way, the person who really put the spotlight on the national championship again was none other than Barack Obama, who had a pretty big week.

“I think it is about time that we had playoffs in college football,” Obama said Monday on ESPN. “I’m fed up with these computer rankings and this and that and the other. Get eight teams – the top eight teams right at the end. You got a playoff. Decide on a national champion.”

Yes, another one done

Obama in, Fulmer out, and the Crimson Tide No. 1. It's been an interesting couple of days, with me in Baton Rouge early for Saturday's game between Alabama at LSU.

More Cajun food for me, so no complaints.

While watching the election results I finished all the preliminary work on the Ohio State handbook, which will be coming out next summer. All that's left is a week updating and editing at season's end, and then it's off to my publisher.

That leaves Oklahoma and Texas. Funny, I was thinking the Longhorns might make a serious run here for the national championship, and still might, so I decided to hold off on that edition until next month. So it's Sooner time for me. Hopefully I can get it done in November despite the distractions that come with covering the top college football team in the land.

At least this week.

The never-ending story in the SEC, and I don't mean Rocky Top

At the end of the 1998 season, I was fortunate to cover my first national championship, which turned out to be Tennessee vs. Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl. I had seen the Seminoles play a couple of times before (including the Orange Bowl against Notre Dame), but it was my first experience with the Volunteers.
After Tennessee won, and I struggled to get Al Gore to answer a question, I left Sun Devil Stadium with two things on my mind:
1) If I never hear the song "Rocky Top" again, that would be fine with me (talk about overkill).
2) How much job security does a national title provide?
If you believe some of the speculation coming out of Knoxville, the answer is apparently about a decade. The vultures are clearly circling both there and Auburn, even though Phillip Fulmer and Tommy Tuberville have been incredibly successful.
Last time I checked, both had been named national coach of the year. Tennessee was in the SEC Championship game last year and Auburn has won six straight against Alabama, right?
I jokingly suggested here once before that the programs may just want to trade coaches, but what the probably need the most are new offensive coordinators.
Nevertheless, fickle fans calling for their coaches' heads might want to take a peek at the rest of the league and realize how tough it really is.
They should then be careful what they wish for.
In many ways Alabama was incredibly fortunate to land Nick Saban, who is already a huge source of angst for both schools - after years of filling the void caused by the Crimson Tide's struggles. He's beating up on them in recruiting and in just his second year has the Crimson Tide at No. 2.
That, in turn, reminds me of Charlie McClendon. LSU's all-time winningest coach, with 137 victories, was fired in part because he couldn't beat Paul W. "Bear" Bryant, who won six national championships at Alabama.
It prompted Auburn's Shug Jordan to say: "You go by that and they'll have to fire us all."
It isn't fair to compare Saban to Bryant yet, but there's no denying Saban already has the competition concerned about the future, and the Tide's two biggest rivals reeling.
"In football and life, you've got to keep proving yourself," McClendon said. "If you're looking back, you're in trouble."

Some new, and some old

Most of you will notice the new look to the blog. I just felt like jazzing it up a little, especially since I seem to be attracting more hits of late. Hope you enjoy it, and please feel free to provide feedback (there's also some fun stuff near the bottom). FYI, the blue is a tribute to my alma mater, the University of New Hampshire.

That reminds me of something that pertains, in a way, to one of my books. Last week for my day job with the Tuscaloosa News I did a blog on whether a team from the Big Ten or Pac-10 should be viewed differently in the title chase because their conferences don't have a championship game.

What got me going on it was an online interview I did with a college football/sports journalism legend, Dan Jenkins, for a story I did on if Alabama is a legit contender (Note, I wrote the story before Alabama beat Kentucky. Here's the link if interested: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20081004/NEWS/810030213). Dan made the point, and I think it's a good one.

Anyway, here's the blog entry:

During a recent national television show about college football, one of the network’s experts was asked if in the unlikely event Texas, Alabama and Penn State were to all finish undefeated which would likely get the snub for the BCS championship game?
The answer given was incorrect, Alabama, because the person didn’t consider that the Crimson Tide would have to beat Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, Auburn and then win the SEC Championship game to finish undefeated. Granted, Joe Paterno would get some sympathy votes, but there’s almost no way that the Nittany Lions can leapfrog either Texas or Alabama in the BCS standings.
Here’s a better question, when are the voters going to wise up about the Big Ten and the Pac-10 and stop voting those conferences up?
“What we have entered into is a stupid BCS setup where the Big Ten and Pac-10 have an unfair advantage,” said Dan Jenkins, legendary sports writer and current historian for the National Football Foundation. “No conference playoff. Beat two good teams and sleepwalk past the infirm and go to the title game. The shame is that more sportswriters aren’t screaming about it. Loudly and consistently.”
Consider me a convert, especially this year.
Penn State’s lone Top 25 victory is against No. 22 Illinois (Sept. 27) – the same team that just lost at home to Minnesota. Still to go are at No. 12 Ohio State on Oct. 25, and No. 20 Michigan State on Nov. 22.
Meanwhile, Southern California could soon be a factor again if at least two of the top three undefeated teams lose. The only ranked team the Trojans will see is No. 25 Cal on Nov. 8
Compare that with the SEC, where Alabama has the clearest road to the national championship:
1) Obviously, it needs to keep winning.
2) If LSU loses to Georgia next week, the Tide could conceivably lose twiceand still land in the SEC title game. Otherwise, Alabama at LSU will essentially be a playoff game.
3) Win the SEC Championship.
Meanwhile, in the East the Nov. 1 meeting between Florida and Georgia has all the makings of being the deciding game in that division.
Something similar is going on in the Big XII, and if the teams keep knocking each other off like last weekend one loss will still likely mean a shot at the title.
“When you lose two games, you’ve really lost your right to considered a BCS champion in my opinion,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “To even be where we were was pretty wild. Just to have a two-loss team play in the game was pretty odd.
“I thought after LSU won our league I didn’t think we were going to get in (the BCS), period.”
Imagine for a moment that Alabama is undefeated heading into the SEC Championship, but falls to a two-loss team? Then what?
Never mind for now, the BCS has caused enough headaches for one day.

So what was the reaction to the blog? Well, not surprisingly I was called a homer and an idiot by some Big Ten fans, which caused me to laugh. Not only did they not know I've written a book about controversial national championships, but I'm originally a Big Ten guy from Minnesota.