Big Ten Media Day

I guess I can officially start getting excited about the 2006 football season now that the Big Ten has had its media day.

Some notable notes from the event:

• Paul Posluszny was awarded the Big Ten Pre-season Defensive Player of the Year
• Troy Smith (QB, tOSU) was named Offensive Player of the Year
• Ohio State was picked as the media favorite to win the conference, followed by Michigan and Iowa

Penn State also released its 2007 schedule, and all I can say is that someone must have looked at Kansas State's non-conference schedule over the years. I mean, come ON! Buffalo? Temple? Florida frickin' International??? Why would the athletic department DO this? Do they not understand that this kills the strength of schedule way more than losing Indiana and gaining Iowa helps it?? If I were JoePa, I'd be livid. To me this is purely a revenue decision. 3 cupcake home games means at least 90K fans in the seats, plus more in town spending their money. Is it too much to ask we have a couple good home and homes like ND? Even BC, Nebraska or one of the opponents from the independent days (USC, Miami) would be a welcome test. To be the best you have to beat the best, or something like that.

You know what would remedy this? A PLAYOFF SYSTEM. Teams wouldn't be out of the national picture, even with two losses. Teams now can't afford to play more than one good non-conference opponent for fear that their season would be ransacked before conference play even started. Because of this, I think fans are cheated. I would much rather watch the Nits play (and possibly lose) to USC, then to beat Buffalo 309-10 (official prediction, write it down). I loved watching the OSU-Texas game last year; it was a game that all college football fans had to appreciate. But, it meant that one team would be 0-1 after one game, guaranteed. Daunting proposition in a sport where if you lose, you better lose early...and then win out.

Oklahoma booted Rhett Bomar from the team today. Seems Rhett had a job at a local athletic department-friendly car dealership. He worked about 5 hours a week, and somehow made $18K a year. I know a lot of experts had OU in the preseason top 5. Guess this shuffles things a bit...

Ryan Howard continues to play outstanding ball. Last night, he hit is NL-leading 36th home run to give the Phils a 4-3 lead (and eventual 5-3 win) over the Cardinals. Looks like management made a rare good call by clearing way for Howard by trading Thome.

Speaking of management's good calls, can anyone tell me the name of any one of the players they got in the Abreu/Lidle trade? Mind-boggling.

It reached 100 degrees here today. Went running at 0730, and it was already 85.

Not much else going on...more after summer practice starts.

For the Glory...