Just Ask the Axis, He Knows Everything

This is the first time I've linked to anything written by Robert J. Samuelson of the Washington Post, but he had a timely Op-Ed column yesterday on how the intense desire for success drives some people, in this case Bill Belichick, Marion Jones, and lawyer Robert Lerach, to discard legal and ethical norms.

I'll be leaving after class today for a weekend journey to the Key City for what is proclaimed as "The Greatest Homecoming on Earth". I'm not going to call the ACU Alumni Office liars, but it seems that they might be overplaying their hand to a certain extent. Granted, I love ACU as much as anyone, but let's start with a simple proclamation of "The Greatest Homecoming in Taylor County" or "The Greatest Homecoming in the Big Country" or perhaps "The Greatest Homecoming for a University That Produced JBL". Wait, scrap that last one. With that said, I look forward to seeing friends, family (this means you, Katie), and the always enjoyable Homecoming Parade. Dan and Connor, I'll be sure to fling a biscuit at a Sibling in honor of each of you.

Finally, I feel compelled to weigh in on Rutgers' win last night over the upstart South Florida Bulls by the score of 30-27. I realize that the Bulls were sitting (sorry for that terrible pun) at the #2 slot in the BCS, but I had a small measure of joy in seeing them virtually eliminated from the national title hunt. Call me evil names, call me a lover of the "evil empire", call me whatever you will, but I am a college football oligarch.

As much as I may dislike USC, Ohio St., Florida, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, I like college football much more when all of the big boys are doing well and prominently involved in the national title hunt. I know that some of you may feel very strongly that upsets and the rise of new programs is what draws you in each Saturday, but I'm drawn in by a sense of tradition in college football. I would rather watch years of Michigan-Ohio St., Texas-OU, and LSU-Florida matchups than an oddball matchup between college football outsiders like Boise St. and South Florida.

Perhaps I can enjoy a Cinderella March Madness run like George Mason's in 2006, but in the world of college football, I'm hopelessly tied to the past.