Did I ever tell you about the time I ran for student body president at the University of Nebraska? No? Well, I did. In fact, I did on multiple occasions. It started out as a joke, actually. I was walking back to campus late one night, probably after spending a few hours at the Zoo Bar or Horsefeathers, and I saw a bunch of people in line for tickets for a concert (it wasn't the Bruce Springsteen line in 1984, I was in that line but that's an entirely different story). Being the smartass that I've always been, I walked up, started shaking hands and started telling everyone my name and that I was running for student body president.
A few weeks later I was encouraged by a roommate who was involved in to formally announce my election bid, which I did, by standing up on our kitchen stove and announcing that I wanted everyone in the house to write my name in on the ballot in the upcoming election. (Just to be clear - the stove was not on at the time, but holy crap was it hot near the top of the room. I nearly fainted from the heat of having so many people crammed into our house.)
Being a non-Greek, there was no chance of being elected, but I didn't have to buy a beer for the next few weeks. The next year, we got a little more formal with it, but maybe I'll talk about that later. It's a long offseason. One thing I know - I might not have even done as well as Craig James, but it didn't cost me near as much to get destroyed and I had a helluva lot of fun in the process.
"It's self-absorbed people who are worried about how it affects their circumstance or their league rather than what's best for college football who would want to do that," Saban told SECSports.com. "It's not what's best for the fans because they've made it very clear what they want it to be."
All coaches do a certain amount of sucking up to their perspective fan base. All of them. (I think. I'm still trying to figure out where Bo Pelini has done his sucking up. Maybe it was by showing up and replacing those other guys and winning games because that's all that really counts.)
Of all the coaches out there that suck up, I don't think anyone does it better than Nick Saban. If that guy retires from coaching in the next few years, maybe he'll run for public office.
And what's ironic about Saban calling anyone else self-absorbed? EVERYTHING.
BostonHerald.com - Alfonzo Dennard will plead not guilty tomorrow
Patriots rookie cornerback Alfonzo Dennard will plead not guilty during his arraignment tomorrow morning on a charge of third-degree assault of a police officer, according to Lancaster County District Court spokeswoman Lorraine Harre.
Dennard recently agreed to a four-year contract with the New England Patriots. Interesting that there was no plea bargaining on this one, or maybe not since it involves the assault of a police officer. I've done a lot of student things in my life, but at no point did I ever contemplate hitting an officer of the law, so I don't know how that works. They have badges and guns, for crying out loud.
Big 12 Expansion: Why Texas Is Unlikely To Be Interested - Burnt Orange Nation
Texas isn't betting its stakes on being a big fish in the biggest pond; it's betting its stakes on being the biggest individual fish it can possibly be. And that's a crucial point to keep in mind when evaluating whether Big 12 expansion is something Texas is likely to embrace.
Peter Bean is a Texas homer, but he's a pretty fair-minded Texas homer. He's smart, and he understands as well as anyone how Texas thinks, so when he writes an article on the 'Horns perspective on conference alignment, it's best to pay attention.
Kentucky 'got screwed' with seeding in baseball tournament – USATODAY.com
"Apparently with the way the system works, I'm actually excited we just got into the tournament," Kentucky catcher Luke Maile said sarcastically, visibly fuming. "I know that people that are in baseball, that actually play the game, are pretty dumbfounded. But obviously those aren't the people that make the decisions."
Kentucky baseball is all up in arms because they think they got screwed out of hosting a regional in the NCAA tournament. Instead, they'll be traveling to the Purdue regional.
Well, boo hoo. You want to know a reason they didn't get a regional? Take a look at their baseball schedule, specifically their non-conference schedule. It's like you'd have to work to put together a schedule with that many cream puffs. Hell, at least Florida played Cal State Fullerton, and LSU played, uh.... well, hell, they didn't play much of anyone out of conference either, but they are LSU.
One thing you might try sometime if you're feeling bored. Take a look around the SEC at their baseball schedules and note how heavy their travel schedules are. Then go back and look at the Big Ten's travel schedule. Is it any wonder our conference is complaining?
Add to that the cost of travel for all these teams. The Big Ten spent a combined $14.13 million in 2011 on baseball while bringing in only $170,000. $2.23 million was spent on travel. If I get time, I'll get more into this, but it's worth knowing when you're talking about the competitive advantage warm weather teams have over cold weather teams in baseball.
A counterpoint to this might be that the Big Ten needs to draw more fans, but, honestly, how many fans do you think you're going to get playing baseball outside in late March in Indiana or Michigan?
Michigan recruit gets death threats after burning Ohio State letter
"I was up there and the fans were cussing me out and they were saying '(expletive) you' and stuff like that while I was walking through the mall," Tuley-Tillman said. "It wasn't like in my face. They were like saying things and then would power walk away. One of them actually threw something at me, but it didn't hit me. So, that's how it started."
That Michigan recruit that burned his Ohio State letter has received death threats. I find this to be a heart warming story if only because it makes me happy that the South hasn't cornered the market on bat shit insanity when it comes to overreacting to the actions of a teenager.
2012 Big Ten Football Championship Odds: Michigan Wolverines Favored - Pregame.com
Odds to Win the 2012 Big Ten Football Championship
Michigan +200
Nebraska +250
Wisconsin +285
Michigan State +800
Penn State +1200
Iowa +1500
Illinois +2000
Northwestern +3300
Purdue +5000
Indiana +6000
Minnesota +8800
Ohio State NA
I don't know what this web site is, but I know I like our odds a lot better than most. Interesting the drop off so far between Wisconsin and the rest of the conference.
University of Nebraska Hacked - eSecurity Planet
The University of Nebraska recently acknowledged that a breach of its Nebraska Student Information System may have exposed personal information on more than 650,000 students, parents, employees, alumni and applicants. The Nebraska Student Information System contains Social Security numbers, addresses and grades, as well as personal and financial information on parents of students who applied for financial aid.
My first thought upon seeing this was being shocked that the University of Nebraska has information on 650,000 people. Reading further you find that the information goes all the way back to 1985. Ouch.
So far they say there's no evidence that anything was downloaded. That's important. And that the information doesn't include bank account information, at least for non-employees. And no credit card information. That's really important. If you're really worried about it, there's more information available at the Nebraska.edu/security web site.
The question remains - why would someone carry out a sophisticated attack against Nebraska's student information system? I know what you're thinking - to change grades, right? Well, it wasn't me. Changing my mediocre grade point average at this point in my career probably wouldn't help me so much. My son's grades (who did apply at UNL), well, maybe.
But if I were a current student and I was prone to carry out a sophisticated attack and hack a system, it'd be whatever the hell tracks parking tickets. Oh, I wouldn't delete them, I'd just re-assign to whatever guy I hated the most that day.
And that, in a nutshell, is why you don't want to piss off computer geeks.