Tag: 2004

Categories
culture life

Fixing the BCS Title Game


photo credit: avinashkunnath

It’s time to set the record straight on the difference between the best BCS football programs and the best non-BCS football programs in response to the ill-advised and self-serving comments of Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee. TCU did their part responding on the field by beating 11-1 Big Ten co-champion Wisconsin (from Mr. Gee’s own BCS conference) and people have noticed.

Mr. Gee’s claim was that the schedule in a non-BCS conference could not compare to the schedule in a BCS conference. The fact is that conference schedules account for only 2/3 of the season and that strong BCS programs rarely play a decent opponent outside of their conference. They’re too busy playing the “Little Sisters of the Poor”—either weak teams from weak conferences or teams that do not even play at the FBS level. (Of course there are some rivalry exceptions but they are a minority of non-conference contests among BCS programs.) Non-BCS programs spend most of their non-conference games playing the toughest teams that are willing to agree to play from BCS conferences.

Continue reading “Fixing the BCS Title Game”
Categories
National politics

The Election is Over

At the (earlier than expected) conclusion of this election season, I just thought I would add a thought in reaction to the ending. I hope that President Bush will be as gracious in his victory speach as Senator Kerry was in his concession speach. I hope that he talks about unifying the nation – as his opponenet did – but more importantly I hope the president follows such talk through with real action.

As for John Kerry, I think that he displayed real class in acknowledging when victory was out of reach and also in not buckling early while victory seemed remote but not impossible. I was prepared to wait for days while the provisional ballots were counted in Ohio. John Kerry made that possibility less disturbing by calmly allowing the process to proceed without crying foul or vowing to win at all cost or any other thing he could have done to make this election ugly. Before he cried for unity in his concession speach, John Kerry refrained from sowing dischord and thus displayed some of the qualities that make him a remarkable American.

My hat is off to this brave and determined competitor and citizen.

Categories
politics

The Beginnings of Unity

There are plenty of reactions out there that are bitter, angry, spiteful or haughty across the political spectrum. Here is a good example of a reasonable approach to creating healing and unity by focusing on now rather than dwelling on a past that we cannot change whether or not we would want to.

I hope to see more and more of the unifying, forward-thinking types of reactions across the net and across the country as the election drifts slowly out of our rearview mirror.

Categories
National politics

Longterm View

I have figured out the best reason to re-elect George Bush this year. I am under no pretense that everybody agrees with this idea, but I think few people have considered the unique opportunity that re-electing our current president provides for the American political system.

If George Bush is re-elected he will not leave any heir-apparent in the Republican party which would give moderate republicans four years to get to work in the effort of taking back their party from the extreme rightists that currently control it by the time that they have to hold a primary election to select their next presidential candidate – someone who is moderate rather than someone who is willing to talk moderate.

Before every presidential election the party that is not in control of the White House holds a presidential primary to choose their guy, but the party in powe rarely does that. If President Bush is re-elected both parties will be holding serious prmary elections – there will be no real incumbant in either party and moderates in both parties can make their voices heard so that we do not end up like this year without a good candidate on the ballot – that includes all the third party candidates.

One of the resons that I find it rather easy to write this before the election is because my vote is already cast based on geography. Because I live in Utah my vote will be counted for President Bush no matter who it is I would like to support. Perhaps I am trying to find a reason to support the vote that will inevitably be recorded for me in the electoral college.

Categories
National politics

Interesting Thought

I just had an interesting thought. I have been looking at our presidential candidates and what they have been saying and I just recognized a difference in the campaigns.

President Bush is running for the office of president of the United States. (Anyone reading that is going to say “Duh, what did you think he was running for?”) The interesting things is that I just realized that Senator Kerry is not running for the office of president of the United States (Now those same people are saying “I thought he was running for president of the United States, what do you think he is running for?”) he is running for the office of “Leader of the Free World.”

Is there a difference? Yes.

Which one should they be running for? That is for the voters to decide.

Categories
National politics

Some Real Issues

I thought this really shows the difference between “politics” and “issues” by highlighting some issues. I would add just one thing – if either candidate can give a simple answer to any of these issues I won’t believe him.

Thanks to David Anderson for bringing this to my attention on his blog.

Categories
National politics

Realistic

I enjoyed reading this editorial but whether it is the right thing to do or not I am sure that it is not realistic to expect president Bush to specifically condemn the attacks on John Kerry.

One of the major differences between those attacks and the ones aimed at the president is that the attacks aimed at the president were happening before John Kerry was even chosen as the Democratic nominee so nobody could say that he is orchestrating them. The complaint that George Bush is behind these attacks is unfounded. He does not need to be behind them to get people to attack John Kerry. The fact of the matter is that radical Republicans don’t like John Kerry any more than radical democrats like George Bush.

Categories
National politics

Running mates

While reading Maureen Dowd’s column (The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Are They Losing It? ) I began to think some old thoughts that I believed I had forsaken. When things started getting worse for the Bush administration I briefly flirted with the idea that the president would be best served by getting rid of the vice president and a few of his other hawkish advisors. Eventually I decided that it would be enough to get rid of the others and that the VP could stay. I’m rethinking that position. I would not blame Cheney for all the administrations problems as easily as Ms. Dowd does, but the only benefits that Mr. Cheney brought to the ticket in 2000 no longer apply. He was a face of experience in a rather novice administration. He brought a familiar face for the world, but that was a world at peace where America was fairly well respected. No matter how experienced any memeber of this administration is or isn’t now they will be judged based on the last four years. The world is no longer at peace and America is not nearly so well respected in the world as it was before. Neither of those things is strictly the fault of this administration (circumstances beyond anybody’s control played a part) but the fact is that the problem is worse than it could have been because of some poor advice from Mr. Cheney, among others. I think the best thing for the Bush re-election campaign would be to unload the baggage and start with a fresh VP.

For all the talk of a cross-party Kerry/McCain ticket, I think a Bush/McCain ticket would be a formidable sight next to a Kerry/Anyone Else ticket. John McCain is closer to the center than the president while Dick Cheney is closer to the right than the president. McCain is a known uniter and nobody doubts that he means what he says even if it is not popular. McCain could be a very trustworthy face next to Bush which would be a great step up from the controversy laden Cheney.

Categories
politics State

Utah Race Defined

Now that the republican primary is over I can say difinitively who I am voting for in the governors race. I have spent months looking at everything I could find on the candidates and so far as I can tell the least promising republican candidate just won the republican primary so I’ll vote for Scott Matheson.In Utah that is not quite as bad as voting for a third party candidate because the democrats still have a slim chance of winning. This is not a state where every vote counts. The majority is overwhelmingly republican so that nationally both parties have eternally roped Utah off as being a given red state.

Right now I am voting for a change in the political structure of the state. We no longer have political dialog, we are stuck with republican diatribe. There is no discourse here. I understand that a huge percent of the population share common values on the largest issues, but that has stifled the discussion on what seems to be the second tier issues where there is not as much uniformity of opinion.

Somehow the political atmoshpere here has to change so that presidential candidates do more than fly over Utah on their way to California and, if we’re lucky, stop for fuel occationally. We also need to have more diversity of opinion so that there can be real discussion in our state legislature because of the uncertainty caused by neither party having an overwhelming majority.

With the same rules as the US Senate a democratic fillibuster on a key issue would last only long enough to count the first 60% of hands as 80% of the legislature voted to end the filibuster. In truth we have a one party state in a two party nation.