Ideas

Happy New Year, my fellow readers... the old one went out fine and the new one...well, it is off to a raging start, let me assure you.  :)  Up to 610 on the list -- watched two shorter films:  "Why Man Creates" and an early silent that showed Native Americans in a fairly favorable light:  "White Faun's Devotion."  Both were...well, meh.  Alas, alack. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/31/business/high-tax-states-law.html

I get a kick out of shit like this, because, as we know, Democrats love it when someone else pays taxes, but never when they do it...  sort of like when I tell people complaining about the poverty in the inner cities that if they truly cared, they would sell their People's Socialist Republic of Cleveland Heights victorian or Shaker Square condo, give the money to the poor... and then move to Glenville/Hough/East Cleveland and buy a house there...thus boosting property tax collections, and of course income tax collections.  Most of these people, of course, never talk to me again, so this is actually double to the good, but...the principle still applies.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/scott-frost-tears-into-cfp-selection-committee/ar-BBHLV4P?li=BBnbfcL

I am of both schools here; yes, UCF should have been in the discussion, but they do suffer in terms of schedule.  Of course, it's not like the SEC is letting them in tomorrow, and, well, short of UCF playing OSU, Bama, Clemson, and Oklahoma -- on the road -- nor will they get in on their own.  The issue of course is how big of a playoff...  I secretly think (until now) people want the regular season and then a bracket of 1 to 119 or whatever the number of teams so people could bitch about OSU-5 playing KSU-114 or something.  More seriously... every other NCAA sport accepts both conference champs and wild cards (if you will) in the playoff and seeds them via committee; it seems to work in basketball... so why not here?

For one, there are ten conferences, so... a neat bracket is impossible.  You can't have too many games for the student athletes, either.  (Ha!)  Plus, in football there are independents, one of whom is sometimes good, and, more importantly, has a disproportionate pull on TV ratings.  On the other hand, you could do, say, 12, like the ACC; the first four teams get a bye, then 5 through 12 play, then you have eight teams... it is of course FIVE games to play, but I really don't think people mind all that much (save for the guys who get hurt).  This gives you two wild cards, so, of course, you could have the requisite arguments about who got jobbed...