Random Rumblings

• As I write this, I’m flying Jet Blue to Vegas and if you’re asking “why the hell is he blogging when he has satellite TV?” the answer is simple: My screen is broken. I’m the only guy on the plane not watching Boise State.
  
  Anyways, I’ve come to the conclusion that the guy sitting next to me meets all five of the requirements to becoming a UFC fighter.
  
  !) Shaved head with a goatee. Check
  2) Be over 200 pounds. Check
  3) Drink Budweiser. Check
  4) Be very pale. Check
  5) Have tattoos that cover your arms. Check
  
  The strange thing about this guy is his choice of music. He’s blasting his iPod (apparently UFC guys think college football is for pussies) but the only song I keep hearing is that “To the left, to the left” song. Now everyone has their quirks, but this guy is supposed to be a Bud-drinking badass, the type of guy that refers to everyone as “boss” or “chief” and he’s listening to Beyonce.
  
  You tell me who the pussy is.
  
  Then again, I’m the one with Jonas Brothers tickets tomorrow night at MGM.
  
  
• At this point, the BCS’ approval rating makes George Bush look like JFK, but one guy loving the arguments caused by those faulty computers right now has to be new Big East Commissioner John Marinatto. Because everyone is so caught up arguing who should play for the National Title, no one seems to be paying attention to the fact that Marinatto’s league (Note – he doesn’t actually take over until July) is about to send a very undeserving team to a major bowl.
  
  And believe me, only calling the Big East undeserving is like calling the Knicks only mildly interested in LeBron James. If you asked the staff of Cincinnati’s student newspaper to pick the teams to play in BCS games, they’d opt for Ball State over the Bearcats any day
  
  If you ask me, the biggest disgrace about the BCS is that contract stipulations decide who gets to play and who gets shut out of the major bowls just as much as any computer. No matter how deserving, the Big 12 is restricted from sending a third team to a BCS Bowl game because the barely mediocre Big East is guaranteed a slot.
  
  But you won’t find too many people complaining about this mess; no one has time. And that’s just how Marinatto likes it. For Big East football, no press is the best kind.
  
  
• While I’m at it, Marinatto has another issue on his hands, this time in basketball, the conference’s crown jewel.
  
  The league is expected to place at least eight teams in the NCAA tournament this season and is widely regarded as the best in America, but it also is home to Rutgers, which lost to St. Bonaventure and Lehigh in consecutive games and Providence, which is only the second best team in Rhode Island.
  
  Couple that with the miserable St. John’s program and irrelevant ones like Seton Hall and South Florida, and you start to realize that there almost as many really bad teams are there are good ones.
  
  Thankfully, the Big East won’t be judged by its weakest links.
  
  
• There is a loud drunk girl on the plane (she’s not hot) and she keeps telling her friend she needs to find a black man in Vegas. An “Obama man,” she says. I think UFC guy is going to spear her.
  
  I wonder what his fight music is.
  
  
• Stephon Marbury once said he’d like to play in Italy after his NBA career is over. Now it looks like that statement could become a reality sooner than anyone thought.
  
  That is, until Mike D’Antoni decides to place a call to the old country and get Starbury blackballed.
  
  
• I’ve never hidden the fact that UConn basketball is the one team I truly care about, so by extension, I’m a huge college basketball fan. But I have to admit, I can’t blame fans for not filling the gyms for any of these preseason tournaments. The games have been hard enough to watch on television.
  
  Every team lets the shot clock run down and then throws up a wild, low percentage shot. I think a lot of people downplayed the extended 3-point line, but it looks like it’s going to be an issue for even the best teams (see UConn).
  
  
• Well, as I might have mentioned, I’m in Vegas now and won’t be posting until Tuesday or Wednesdays. Check back then for an updated podcast and all new posts!