My self-imposed official cutoff for my favorite albums of the year was Thanksgiving, so I’m in the process of determining what my favorites list this year will look like. Anyway, look for that in a couple of weeks, probably mid-December. And I’ll probably post my favorite books list around the same time.

Therefore, this album won’t be on the list, as I downloaded it just last night, so I guess it goes into my 2008 pool.

I was checking out a friend’s blog earlier this year and noticed his “now playing” list (which still hasn’t changed months later). One of the discs he listed was Funnel Cloud by the band Hem. I liked the clips I heard of it and put it in my eMusic “save for later” list. Six or eight months later, it’s finally risen to the top. Very good stuff, unlike much of the stuff I listen to and quite a nice departure. Here is a live clip of the track “Not California”, although it is not high-quality and doesn’t do justice to the album version. Check out Funnel Cloud.

Nutt to Ole Miss

I was fine with Houston Nutt leaving Arkansas. I’ve already said it was time to go, and I think everyone knew it, even Nutt himself. But I was more than a little surprised that they allowed him to go directly to another SEC school, especially the closest to Fayetteville, and one that will allow him to easily recruit the same players he would have at Arkansas. I don’t think it was a bad move for UA to let him go (or, ask him, perhaps), but I do think it was poor judgment to allow him to stay in our backyard at Ole Miss.

Interestingly, there are now four coaches in the SEC who’ve coached at other conference schools: Tommy Tuberville (Ole Miss, Auburn), Steve Spurrier (Florida, USC), Nick Saban (LSU, Alabama) and now Nutt. Not often you see movement like that, although only Tuberville and Nutt have gone directly from one to the other, with Spurrier and Saban taking a less direct path by way of the NFL. Also interesting are continued rumors of Arkansas’ interest in Arkansas-native Tuberville. I like Tommy and would be fine with him in Fayetteville, but it still strikes me as unlikely. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

We don’t need no stinking Badgers!

Duke looked impressive against Wisconsin last night, which, of course, thrilled me. More balanced scoring, with five players in double-figures again, and a 20+ point win over a top 20 team with a lot of size. This was another test against a team with size, where Duke is deficient, and they again passed with flying colors, especially in rebounding. The Badgers, however, were not as athletic as the Devils, which is where Duke really killed them. I hadn’t seen Wisconsin play and wasn’t sure how deserving they were of a #20 ranking, but Duke really played great and never really let them in the game from the beginning. Now I’ll be interested to see them against a team with both size and comparable athletes. If they can succeed there, it’s going to be a great year.

They still have a couple of early season tests coming up before conference play, both on neutral courts, when they meet Davidson this weekend and Pitt in a couple of weeks. I’m hoping they’ll remain undefeated heading into their first conference game on January 13 vs Virginia. I was overly optimistic last year, and so I’m trying not to get too excited just yet, but this team is clearly well ahead of where last year’s team was at this point, and with more talent. Therefore, I’m finding it almost impossible to avoid getting just a little pumped about the rest of the season. I still say that all of those rejoicing at their alleged demise last March are going to be a little disappointed this year.

The Golden Compass

CT has published a collection of emails received in response to their questioning the different responses by Christians to last year’s The Da Vinci Code film and the upcoming release of The Golden Compass. Here’s one I thought was worth repeating:

Am I worried about this new book infiltrating the brains of my three little ones? Not really. What I am more concerned with is the more subtle, soul crushing attacks of materialism in our culture that leads my kids at the ages of 5 and 3 to already tell me almost daily what possessions they want to acquire. I am more concerned with the ease and comfort that we live in that may anesthetize them to a need for the gospel. I am more concerned with the reality that they are daily exposed to a Dad that loves them desperately yet regularly falls short of perfection. I pray they will learn to look to Jesus when I fail them. Don’t get too worked up about this one, people. We have bigger fish to fry, spiritually speaking.

I understand a lot of the concern from parents. However, as other responders suggested, I don’t want to completely shield my kids from things that might challenge their beliefs or cause them to ask important questions about spiritual matters. I feel that we must question what we believe and not blindly accept it. My beliefs have changed many times over the years due to questioning and studying various aspects of my faith. I hope my kids will do the same.

And, as the comment above suggests, there are many other dangers out there that fall into the “bigger fish” category, many of which have become commonplace in American Christianity. I’m far more inclined to believe that things like safety, comfort, materialism, greed, selfishness, nationalism, apathy and many others all pose a much greater threat to Christians in this country than Philip Pullman ever will.

My kids may never watch this film (although I might.) My son is too young, and my daughter would not be interested in this type of film anyway (she’s yet to watch the Narnia film from last year.) But if they want to someday watch it or a similar film, I doubt I will prohibit it. More likely, I’ll watch it with them so that we can then discuss it together.

Okay, that’s all I’ve got.

After the weekend games in college football, it continues to be apparent that the BCS is a joke. Despite some still defending this bogus system, more and more seem to be jumping on the “ditch the BCS/create a playoff” bandwagon.

There are probably many more I’m missing at the moment, but here are a couple of the glaring problems I see with this nonsensical system.

Losing early vs losing late

I don’t have a problem with Georgia, but they are currently #4 in the BCS. They are the highest ranked SEC team, and they are not even in the SEC championship game. Why? They didn’t even win their division. In one sense, you could say that the BCS system is working because, in my opinion, Georgia is probably playing better than any other SEC team right now. However, they have 2 losses. Why are they #4, and not another 2-loss team like Virginia Tech, LSU, USC or Oklahoma? Or, even more so, 1-loss Kansas?

Here’s why: Georgia’s most recent loss occurred on October 6th. The rest of those teams I just mentioned have lost since then. And, evidently, that matters. It’s not just that you lost. It’s when you lost. If you lose late, you drop regardless, and someone with the same record and a similar (or sometimes lesser) schedule than yours moves ahead of you because they lost before you did.

Another obvious issue is Kansas and Ohio State. OSU is now #3, while Kansas sits at #5. If Kansas had lost 3 weeks ago when OSU did, and OSU had remained undefeated and lost a game this past weekend, chances are Kansas would be ranked ahead of OSU. But they’re not. Because they lost Saturday. Both played a similar schedule that was probably a little lighter than most of the other top 10 teams, so I don’t buy any SOS arguments. The only explanation is that Kansas lost most recently.

And none of that addresses why 1-loss Kansas is ranked below 2-loss Georgia. Granted, Georgia has probably played a tougher schedule, and could very well be the better team right now. But taking that into account, I still think that some of the other 2-loss teams - particularly LSU who also played a tough SEC schedule and lost both of their games in triple overtime (as opposed to Georgia’s home loss to South Carolina and being embarrassed by Tennessee) - can make a case to be as high or higher than Georgia. LSU also beat another top 10 BCS team in Virginia Tech.

I fear I’m starting to ramble, and I’m certainly not trying to make a case for LSU. I’m just pointing out that any way you look at the BCS rankings, there are serious problems. Teams can always make a case against another team ranked just above them. And when it ends up being #2 vs #3, as is often the case, the system is questionable at best.

Conference championship games are unfair

This can go both ways. It can be good or bad. On the one hand, it can help to play a conference championship game. Last year, after the last week of the regular season, Florida was #4. The following week, after winning the SEC championship game, they jumped to #2. Michigan, one of the teams they jumped, had no such game. They were helpless to improve their lot with an extra game.

On the other hand, it can work against you. If there was no Big 12 game, Missouri would likely hold their #1 ranking and already have secured a spot in the national championship game. Instead, they still have to win another game, while a team like Ohio State can sit by and watch (and, if Missouri loses, advance into the top 2 and the title game.) *

If not every conference is going to have one, they are clearly unfair. They either allow a team to improve their standing while other teams don’t have that opportunity, or they force a team to play an extra game that could damage their standing and cause them to miss out.

I have other problems with these games, like the fact that it is often the case that the two best teams in a conference are in the same division. But, that’s for another day. When it comes to the BCS, these games are simply unfair - one way or another - to everyone.

Playoff solution is imperfect

So, what’s the obvious answer? Playoff. However, I’ve already heard several this weekend mention that a playoff system would dilute the importance of the regular season (John Saunders, I’m talking to you) and someone would still be left out.

Of course, this will not be a 64-team field, as in basketball, since there are far fewer football programs than there are basketball. This is going to be a small pool, and so the regular season remains important.

A positive is that one slip-up in mid-November won’t eliminate you from the opportunity of a national championship (while giving the opportunity to another team whose slip-up occurred in September.) Consider the current BCS. If you took the top 8 BCS teams and made a playoff, you have a pool of 8 strong teams, and they have to win 3 games to call themselves champion. Sounds fair and much more reasonable to me than the current BCS system.

And yes, a negative is that someone will whine. Whoever is #9, and probably #10, would want to stake their claim as a part of the pool. Just like #66 always whines in college basketball. My answer to that is: so what? Not everyone can play. And, again, that’s why the regular season still matters.

So, sure, the system isn’t perfect. There is no perfect system to determine who the best team is, and standards on who gets in are harder to come by than, for example, professional sports (where you have division winners and then base the rest on records and various tie-breaking criteria.) Still, it must be determined on the field. You can always question who deserves #8. But that seems preferable to deciding who deserves #1 and #2 only. You put 8 teams out there, and you have a (more) valid champion. Granted, Missouri or West Virginia - the current #1/#2 - could come out of a playoff as champion this year. But wouldn’t everyone be a little more satisfied if they had to beat, say, USC, Virginia Tech and Ohio State on the way?

Still the standard

Finally, one other important point: while it may be imperfect (as any system would be), it is also the standard. NFL. NBA. MLB. College basketball. College football in non-IA divisions. And practically every other team sport. They all decide their champions via a playoff/tournament. There’s only one that doesn’t. Division IA in college football.

So, I continue to believe more strongly each year that it’s long overdue to ditch the whole BCS/bowl system in college football and determine the champion the way everyone does.

Funniest crowd sign I saw this weekend, during the Alabama/Auburn pregame on ESPN:

I’m no AU fan, but that was pretty clever, I have to admit. Probably even funnier than this.

* There has also been the bizarre scenario where not even making it to your conference title game helps, as it did a few years ago when Nebraska didn’t even make the Big 12 game, but managed a slot in the BCS championship nonetheless (still a possibility for Georgia this year.) Or, even more bizarre, when Oklahoma was plastered by Kansas State in the Big 12 game and still went to the BCS title game, where they were easily plastered again by USC.

h/t to FanIQ blog

This was a first for me. I’ve never before seen a penalty called for “giving him the business.” Hilarious.

Maybe Les knows how to pronounce it now . . .

Kansas, you’re up…

Even if one owns the 14-DVD set of Monty Python’s Flying Circus (as I do), occasionally one might need a clip to share with others. While youTube is a great place to start, a co-worker sent me this page earlier today. It is even faster - cataloging all available sketch clips on youTube and providing the links. No searching. Just click on the sketch name.

I’m not sure if the author will continue to update as items fall off of youTube, but for the moment, it’s pretty handy.

And, here’s one of my all-time favorites - The Ministry of Silly Walks:

Downloaded a couple of new albums this weekend. (Can you still call them albums, especially if it’s all electronic now?)

First was Raising Sand by an unexpected duo - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. I wouldn’t have thought of these two together at all, but the result is a great album. After a few listens, it will almost certainly be somewhere on my year-end list of favorite music. There were only a couple of songs on youTube right now, but here’s the Mel Tillis-penned “Stick With Me, Baby.”

Also, check out this interview with Plant, Krauss, and producer T Bone Burnett.

The other was the newest disc from The New Pornographers. My downloads at eMusic refreshed and the first thing I pulled was Challengers. I liked their last album, Twin Cinema, quite a bit, but so far I am enjoying this one even more (despite that fact that most of the reviewers I read seemed to favor Cinema.) If you’re into well-done pop, check it out. Here’s the title track.

I also downloaded a couple of Christmas selections from eMusic as well: Wishing For This by former Sixpence singer Leigh Nash, and an earlier Christmas album by Over The Rhine, titled The Darkest Night Of The Year. I haven’t really listened to them yet (no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving), but I was pleased enough by the clips to download them and expect them to be worth it. (I also might try to get a copy of OTR’s newer Christmas disc, Snow Angels, which sounds even better, but unfortunately is not available on eMusic.)

I still have 45 downloads left. Any suggestions?

After another weekend of college football, I just have to ask. Seriously, does anyone want to play in the BCS championship game? Week after week, the top teams are dropping games, with Oregon and Oklahoma the latest to fall.

With the latest BCS rankings now available, West Virginia has moved up to #3, behind LSU and undefeated Kansas. The KU/Missouri game could determine who has a shot at the championship game. Clearly, if Kansas wins out, they’ll be there.

I don’t know how the numbers will work out, but I have to think that if Missouri beats Kansas this week and then Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, they would surely vault West Virginia and end up in the top 2 as well. Question is, will LSU finish out with only 1 loss? With Friday’s game against occasionally-dangerous Arkansas and a date with Tennessee or Georgia in the SEC title game, they aren’t a guarantee to remain #1.

Ohio State’s best hope seems to be for Oklahoma to beat the KU/Missouri winner in the Big 12 game, and West Virignia or LSU to drop one as well. Arizona State may not out of the picture, either, as a win over USC would help their case somewhat, but I’m not certain if that would be enough unless everyone ahead of them lost (excluding OSU, whose season is complete.)

Yes, I could go on and on, and yes, it’s really pointless until the games are all done. Still, it’s interesting to watch how this flawed system unfolds every year.

Here’s what I think could help get rid of this nonsense: a BCS title game featuring West Virginia vs the KU/Missouri winner. If this happens, a lot of people will be complaining. Nobody believes these are the two best teams. That’s not to say they’re unworthy - they would have done all that is asked of them, all they could do, and by the system itself, be deserving of the shot at the title. But if they are the last 2 standing, people will (once again) suggest that the BCS is a failure. No LSU, no Oregon, no Oklahoma, no Ohio State. Two teams that nobody believes are the best, and frankly, nobody is going to be that interested in watching.

In other words, nobody will believe that, if there were a playoff in place, that these would be the two teams that would reach the title game. Regardless of whether or not it’s true, people would find it highly unlikely. This could very possibly cause more of an outcry than having 3 undefeated teams did a few years ago.

So, as one who despises the BCS system, I’m pulling for KU and West Virginia. No, I don’t really believe it will happen, but if it does, I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Nutt

The news here is that Houston Nutt may be on his way out. Stories are circulating that Nutt will be gone at the end of the season, and there are many people rejoicing at this possibility. Question is, if this comes to pass, who’s next? Who will replace him? I have no idea. I don’t even know where to start. But I have to think there search will be more difficult than it was in basketball. With the Michigan job apparently about to open up, and the Nebraska job most certainly to be open as well, I have to think UA has it’s work cut out for them. Particularly if Les Miles leaves LSU for Michigan. Which SEC job would you take - LSU or Arkansas? Yeah, me, too.

Perhaps I was a bit premature in claiming Alabama had hired themselves a real coach. If the Tide loses to Auburn (again) this week, they will have spent a whole lot of money and ended up with a very Shula-esque 6-6 record (worse than Arkansas, even.) Will the folks laying down palm branches last December be shouting “crucify him” next weekend?

I jest, of course. Saban will certainly be no Shula in Tuscaloosa as time moves on. But I’m sure a lot of Tide fans whose expectations were much higher are disappointed in how the season has unfolded thus far. (We feel their pain. Our season was supposed to be significantly different as well.) I’ve never been convinced of Saban’s genius the way some have (probably only because I don’t like him), but I do expect him to right the ship in time (and probably a very short time.) And, the season’s not quite done yet. A win this weekend would certainly make the Tide nation feel much better.

And, hopes of a Duke win at Notre Dame were dashed late in the first half yesterday, when the Irish broke a 0-0 tie with two touchdowns in the final 2:00 of the half. You know just how far Notre Dame has fallen when Duke fans are disappointed they didn’t pull off the win. Most years that was unthinkable. This year it was almost expected. Well, I guess Notre Dame isn’t the worst team in the country after all. Only the second worst.

And next year, they’ll probably be right back in the top 10 in the preseason poll.

One year after a 10-win season (in the midst of several seasons of mediocrity or worse), Alabama fired Mike Shula last year and hired themselves a real coach. Isn’t it time for Arkansas follow suit?

Incidentally, at season’s end, Nutt’s record over the past four years will be almost identical to Shula’s four years at Alabama.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

No, I’m not talking about the rapidly approaching Christmas season. College basketball season officially tipped off this week, and it is king in my sports world.

The road the the Final Four is already off to an interesting start. With college football seeing so many early upsets this season - the biggest shocker coming the opening week at Michigan - it shouldn’t be too surprising to see some “upsets” early on the hardwood where far more parity exists. Perennial Big 10 powers Ohio State and Michigan State decided to go ahead and get an early start, before the season even began, by losing exhibition games to Division II schools.

Then, the first major regular season upset (which some are comparing to Appalachian State’s September win in Ann Arbor) occurred at Rupp Arena, where another small school from North Carolina played giant killer. Granted, Kentucky wasn’t a top five team like Michigan’s football team was, but with all the hype surrounding Billy Gillispie’s arrival in Lexington, Kentucky fans certainly had to be shocked as they watched their beloved Cats lose a game by 16 points to Gardner-Webb at home. Apparently, G-W took control early in the game and kept it until the end. No reason, of course, for Kentucky to panic, but apparently they’re a little on edge if they’re booing the new coach in only his second game. (Yes, that’s right - UK fans were booing.) I have to think Tubby is in Minnesota having a really good laugh right now.

A new era begins for Arkansas tonight as Wofford comes to Fayetteville. I’ve mentioned before that I’m pretty excited that John Pelphrey has come to town to coach the Hogs. I’ve thought for several years now that Pelphrey would be at a major program before long, and with the Hogs returning talent, I think Pelphrey’s team is set up to have a great year. I understand they’ve been picked to win the SEC West. And, although I think Tennessee is the favorite for the SEC overall, I think by season’s end Arkansas will be challenging them for that title. February 13th will be an important game for both teams in Knoxville.

And, of course, the one that matters the most - the Duke Blue Devils. Coach K and the boys tip off their season tonight at home against North Carolina Central, and I’m pretty excited about this year. After a “down year” by Duke standards (22-11 is a pretty good year for most schools), I anticipate a much-improved Duke team. Despite the loss of their primary inside threat in Josh McRoberts, and the fact that they are still young (mostly freshmen and sophomores), they have added one of the best freshmen in the country in 6′9″ forward Kyle Singler, who is expected to be their best player this year. It’s not often you hear people mention Larry Bird in describing a player, but Singler has had that honor. That’s a lot to live up to, but all signs early on seem to be pointing to him being a pretty special player. He won’t be Larry Bird special (who is?), but apparently he’s something to watch, and I can’t wait to see him play.

As for everyone else, Gerald Henderson, I hear, has improved his shot significantly, which will make him very dangerous. Henderson showed flashes of greatness last year, but his performances were inconsistent, and especially his shooting. If that indeed has changed for the better, he should be set to really shine this year. Freshmen Taylor King and Nolan Smith are expected to contribute a lot as well, and sophomore Lance Thomas’ inside play will be key, as will fellow sophomore Brian Zoubek’s (although he’s probably still not quite ready for prime time.) If upperclassmen Greg Paulus and DeMarcus Nelson can remain healthy, Duke should disappoint a lot of people who reveled in what they believed to be their imminent demise last year.

Carolina should still rule the ACC this season, and NC State is going to be very strong as well. Both of these teams will be a test for Duke’s primary concern this year - post play, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. However, I believe as March approaches, Duke will be right there with them at the top of the ACC. And that’s the way it should be.

We’ve won a lot of ballgames here and a lot of championships. I would not be coaching here if I didn’t feel like we could still do that. But we need to earn it every year.   - Mike Krzyzewski

Time to start earning it. Be Blue. Go Duke!

College football season ended a few days ago when college basketball season began, but here’s a few things I didn’t get to mention earlier this week from the world of college football, the NFL, and the NBA.

• Darren McFadden = the man. Very impressive 300+ yards put him back in the Heisman race. It was probably the South Carolina game last year where he started his run. If he could have an impressive game in a win over Tennessee tomorrow, he might take a few more eyes off Oregon’s Dennis Dixon, the current frontrunner.
• Navy over Notre Dame - Great game. Glad to see Navy end the streak. And, as usual, glad to see Notre Dame lose. I wonder if they’re starting to wish they’d given Ty Willingham a little bit more time. Funny moment during the Arkansas/USC game on ESPN2: the play-by-play guy (can’t remember who it was now) mentioned the game to Bob Davie, who was doing color, and Davie made some comment and kind of chuckled. I know he was really thinking, “Even I didn’t lose to Navy!”
• New England over Indianapolis - No, not college, but a much-hyped NFL game I tuned in for on Sunday. I rarely watch the NFL until the playoffs, but despite the hype, this was a pretty good one. Impressive comeback win by the Patriots. It seems hard to imagine them losing to anyone when they go to the other best team in the league’s home field and come out with a win. But, Indianapolis wasn’t supposed to lose a couple of years ago, and they didn’t even make the AFC championship game.
• I made no secret last year of the fact that I was not a Joakim Noah fan. So, obviously, this story made me laugh. After hearing the Chicago rookie’s assessment of the Bulls’ early season problems, Coach Scott Skiles had the following comment: “If I had just played my first game, I’d probably keep my mouth shut.” Priceless.

Moving from the sports world (more on college basketball in a later post) to the music world, a few offerings from this week…

Check this out immediately: a recent Josh Ritter concert recorded in Washington DC and available free at NPR. It is just tremendous. I dare you to download it and not listen to it over and over.

Also, I downloaded a copy of the album Living With War by Neil Young earlier this week. Young doesn’t really beat around the bush (no pun intended) regarding his feelings about the war in Iraq or the current administration. The songs are pretty direct. (Just check out this song and you’ll get the idea.) The songs are also very good, and I’m liking the album a lot.

Finally, from my newest download, Matt Nathanson’s most recent disc, Some Mad Hope. Not sure what is up with this video, but this is the first track from the album, “Car Crash”, for your listening pleasure. There’s also a video of Nathanson singing the song “Bulletproof Weeks” at Amazon (click here.) I’m enjoying this album more and more with each listen.