Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

For the first time in 35 years the Cardinals are in the playoffs and it looks like they'll be 8-8 when they finally do reach the post season. While they could have made the last two games at least competitive. Minnesota I can live with, after all it was during the "you have got to be kidding me!" weekend. But in New England today they came into a buzzsaw of a blizzard. After not seeing so much as a snowflake for the past 25 years they were forced to play in Foxboro stadium in a driving snow storm. While many will state that its all apart of the advantage of living in a certain place, it is all subject to mother nature and that is all an advantage over the opposing team. Especially when the teams come from the west coast.

There are several ways to even the playing field as it were. Such as forcing all of the teams in the colder climates to have dome stadiums. Climate controlled indoor real turf fields can be easily maintained and would be like playing outside. But I know that none of that will happen. Too many purists think that the game of football should be subject to mother nature. I also agree that there have been some interesting games played in severe weather.

So, for the teams that are in the west or in warmer climates they should also take advantage of their environments. Arizona should schedule more games during the months of September and October at home when there are still triple digits. Have the games in the middle of the afternoon during the hottest parts of the day. Open roof, pipe in more heat and make sure the team has trained in that sort of situation. It makes just as much sense as going 3000 miles to the east just to face something that you can't possible practice for unless you live in the east. Why do you think the Patriots, Giants, Steelers, etc. are so tough in December and January? In at least 5 games on Dec. 21st the temperature was well below freezing.

While the teams in the east and to the north are not making exceptions to the other teams that they are playing, Arizona spends months trying to create a playing field that will control the elements and allow both teams an equal shot. So, in hopes of shedding some light on an overlooked subject, I hope that the Cardinals learn something from these losses. I hope they remember just how when these teams could have let up and put in the second and third string players, they kept their proverbial foot on the gas and ran up the score relentlessly. Schedule the games in the desert, in the middle of the day. Channel more heat on the visitor side. And just when the opposing team has become dehydrated, that is when you run up the score to 50+.

Play to your strengths as much as you can. Just like today when all the Patriots had to do was run the ball 40+ times and stack the box because they know that you can't throw the ball like you're accustomed to. They are not going to apologize for it. They are going to take that natural advantage and the win. Play their game. Use what God has given you in this heat advantage. Demoralize the other teams and make them cringe at the fact that they even have to play a preseason game in "The Valley of the Sun".

Once again, thanks for reading this far. I was so ticked off when I saw the golden boys of the NFL get yet another concession and help from the elements as well as the referees. Next week will be Christmas and I'm planning on writing on the Suns, why we should ALWAYS say Merry Christmas and many others. Have a very merry Christmas and here's to the post-season for the Cards!

Dreaming of the perfect Bowl

For the 29th year in my life it is once again bowl season. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. I haven't always been a follower of said season but once you're in you're in for life. Through my friends in high school and my Buckeye father I was introduced to the beautiful game of college football. For countless Saturday afternoons, when the leaves were finally beginning to turn colors my father and I or with my friends, we would watch the great players like Eddie George, or Jake the Snake Plummer, or Pat Tillman doing all the little things that made him great. At the end of those regular seasons you always remember, without a doubt who the best team in the nation was. Even with great teams such as these there was the championship game that decided it all.

Flash forward to the present. Teams are now more equal in terms of recruitment, athleticism and coaching. Every week, at least for this season, it seemed like there was a new #1 and they would stay in that position for less than a week. It seems like any given Saturday the definition of the best team would be redefined. Not only did the best teams in the nation face off almost once a week, it was near impossible to come to a clear conclusion who the best of the best is.

We have been given the BCS and I don't need to go into what that stands for, for there are many acronyms (most of which are inappropriate for our younger readers). But the fact is is that we do have it and its not going away anytime soon. Its in place to determine which teams play which and in what bowl said teams will face off in. Now for a while I thought that it was based solely on a computer and how it saw the nation of college football. How wrong I was. Just like everything else in the world, the human factor plays a bigger role in this than we originally assumed.

The problem with this system is too many biased and political factors are allowed to cloud the rankings week in and week out. As I've said earlier, the field has been narrowed almost to nothing. We all know that any team could be number one. Instead of blaming it all on the computer they should change the way the rankings are established. An unbiased committee needs to be established to take in all of the teams and even out the little factors that the computer leaves out. Like not allowing Boise State to be in a higher bowl after having yet another undefeated season. Or (as much as I hate to admit it) selecting Ohio State as an "at-large". Or putting Utah against a much tougher Alabama.

There are many, many people that feel that the bowls should be done away with. That there should be a playoff system. I've heard numbers from an eight team playoff system to a 64 "March Madness" system. While I do like a tournament feel to the college football system, I think that eliminating the bowl system is a terrible thing to do to athletes who sacrifice so much for almost nothing. When teams work hard enough that they make it to a high bowl then they are rewarded with amazing gift bags for each player. For amateur athletes who are not allowed to receive compensation for their hard work, these bowls are like their championship super bowl. SWAG!

My solution to all of this is to keep the bowls. Reward those players and schools for hard work and giving us great entertainment. But add a plus one or a mini four team playoff, if need, to determine who is the best of the best. Not limited to any conference or regular season schedule. If there is more than one team still undefeated after all the bowls let them play for it all. A few years ago we would have seen Florida against Boise State. A great game would have made an unbelievable season even better.

For a first blog this might be too long. If you've read this far you're either related to me or a sadist. Either of which I thank you for taking the time to read this rambling. I hope my opinions and reasoning have been clear. I'm not writing to impress people or even try to turn some heads. This is how I feel, what the world looks like through my eyes. Probably more often than not, this blog might reveal my real, true to life man crush I have for STAT (Standing Tall and Talented, aka Amar'e Stoudemire) and the Phoenix Suns. I've come to grips with that fact and I am embracing it. Remember, it's all good. I'm out like the Spurs should be as national champs ever!