This Week in the SWC

10/31 Schedule

Nebraska @ Baylor

11:30 cdt VERSUS

Southern Miss @ Houston

12:00 cdt Comcast Sports South

SMU @ Tulsa

1:00 cdt

Iowa State @ Texas A&M

2:30 cdt

Kansas @ Texas Tech

2:30 cdt ABC

UNLV @ TCU

3:00 cdt VERSUS

E Michigan @ Arkansas

6:00 cdt ESPN U

Texas @ Oklahoma State

7:00 cdt ABC/ESPN2

What's Behind all the NFL Blowouts

By REED ALBERGOTTI

One of the fundamental principles of the National Football League is that every team should have a realistic shot at winning every time it steps on the field. This season, that's not the case.

The strongest teams, like the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints, have looked unstoppable at times, while weak ones like the Detroit Lions seem exceptionally hapless. There have been six shutouts, the highest number since 1994, and 20 blowouts of 21 points or more, the second-highest number in the past 39 years. Even more troubling is that for the first time since the beginning of the modern NFL, seven teams have zeroes in their records, meaning they've either won or lost every game they've played.

According to team executives, agents and union officials, this season's results point to a larger truth about the league that has, until now, only been the subject of whispers. The engine the NFL uses to enforce parity—a cap on player salaries—has so many loopholes, they say, that it no longer prevents teams from spending drastically different amounts on talent. And while it's difficult to make a precise connection, there's evidence that this imbalance may be responsible for lackluster games.

"I don't know that the salary cap has made it a better league at all," says Bobby Beathard, the two-time Super Bowl winning general manager for the Washington Redskins. "It's a little bit of a mirage," says David Modell, the former president of the Baltimore Ravens.

The NFL says the salary cap works and that it has achieved its main purpose. "A handful of teams can't hoard all the talent," says spokesman Greg Aiello. He cites cases in which lowly teams have turned it around quickly. "That's why the Arizona Cardinals can go to the Super Bowl."

Exotic Concept

When it was first implemented in 1994, the NFL's salary cap was an exotic concept. In America, as in the rest of the world, the norm was that team owners with the most money could get an advantage by hoarding the best players. After the cap was announced, a spokesman said it would "create a level playing field for all the clubs."

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Long snapper Andrew Economos of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers seeks relief from the heat during a 24-0 loss to the New York Giants in Week 3.

In embracing the cap, the NFL's owners not only agreed to spending limits, they agreed to a salary floor (about 85% of the cap) that would prevent them from cutting back to generate higher profits. The players agreed to limit their own compensation, but were assured of earning a set portion of all the league's revenue.

For fans, as well as television networks and advertisers, this model of competitive socialism—a cost-controlled league where anything could happen on any given Sunday—was a seductive proposition. When the New England Patriots won the 2002 Super Bowl just one season after being among the dregs of the league, the cap's mystique reached an all-time high.

A 1994 Cleveland Plain Dealer column called it "an ingenious work of art that should be copied by all sports." A 2002 article in the Australian said the NFL's uncertain outcome every year was "a testament to the benefits of a strictly enforced salary cap." A 2006 editorial in the Economist called for soccer's English Premier League to adopt the same system.

As this decade progressed, however, the cap's greatest flaw came to light—it was vulnerable to its own success. As the NFL's TV contracts doubled and the value of its franchises crept above $1 billion for the first time, the annual cap number—the limit teams had to abide by—began to grow by as much as 25% per season. Teams started to realize that if they overspent in one season, the growth in the cap number would cover their excesses in the next one.

By 2005, Michael Duberstein, the former head of research for the NFL player's union, said it was clear that clubs were spending a lot more for players than the cap should have theoretically allowed.

"If there was a player out there and you were at the top of the cap, I don't know of an instance where you couldn't get that player," says Red McCombs, the former owner of the Minnesota Vikings.

Another flaw in the cap system is its complexity. To give teams flexibility to cover for injuries and trades and to keep some of their star players, the cap wasn't based on the dollars teams actually deposited in the bank accounts of players that season. It also factored in other payments the team had made earlier or would have to make in the future.

To manage their payrolls, teams hired "capologists" to find new ways to interpret the rules and to push actual spending up or down based on the owners' wishes. Agents say teams looking to spend less—or more—than the minimum have found loopholes.

A person familiar with the finances of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers says that last season, the team signed two free-agents, running back Noah Herron and defensive end Patrick Chukwurah, for contracts that totalled $25 million. Under the rules of the salary cap, the Buccaneers were charged that full amount for the players. But to actually earn that money, each player had to, among other things, block six punts apiece—an exceedingly difficult prospect. In the end, neither player ended up taking a single snap. Mr. Herron was paid $157,000 and Mr. Chukwurah $71,000, although the team's salary-cap number reflected the full value of their contracts. Tampa Bay, which ranked among the lowest teams in spending last season, has lost all six of its games. Tampa Bay and NFL officials declined to comment.

The Vikings Surge

On the other side of the ledger, teams that want to spend more than the cap allows have found ways to do so. This season, the Minnesota Vikings have surged to an unbeaten start after putting on one of the league's biggest spending sprees. According to people familiar with the numbers, the Vikings spent $7 million in cash over the cap last season to get free agents like defensive end Jared Allen. In the off-season, the team picked up quarterback Brett Favre for $12 million.

Last season, six teams spent less than the league's official salary minimum in actual dollars, while 13 teams spent above the maximum, according to a person familiar with the matter. This season, the spread between the league's biggest payroll and the smallest was a whopping $66 million, enough to cover Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning's salary six times over.

While it's not clear how much a team's actual spending translates to wins and losses, a person who has seen these figures says that some of the NFL's better teams, the Vikings, the New York Giants and last year's champions—the Pittsburgh Steelers—have been near the top of the pile in actual spending while two of its worst—the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are at the bottom.

The NFL says the cap is strictly enforced, and that the teams are working within the rules. Mr. Aiello, the NFL spokesman, says the loopholes in the salary cap system were meant to give teams flexibility, all the money teams spend—or don't spend—is "all accounted for at some point."

As the league enters the last year of its collective-bargaining agreement with the players union, the salary cap's fate is uncertain. If the league's owners and the players don't agree on a new contract soon, the salary cap will disappear next season.

Some people think the league's competitive disparities will only increase. Others say they're willing to bet against that. Joe Mendes, who worked as a capologist for the Washington Redskins, says ultimately, money alone will never win a championship. It's "culture and personality of the franchise," that matters.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704224004574489773943949070.html

But, Doesn't Science Make Scripture Obsolete?

The debate that exists between science and religion has become a heated debate in our lifetime, even amongst some Christians and Churches. The Austin Stone started it's new expositional series on the book of Genesis last week (which obviously paints the first picture of God's Creation) is what has me thinking about this subject a lot lately. I've always wondered why it has to be one way or the other, why couldn't science be complimentary to scripture? The book of Genesis and the concept of creation is so much more than just something to be analyized, it's the language of God that says "I love you".

With that being said, I found a Sermon from Dr. Joel Hunter in Orlando, Florida that talks about this exact issue.

http://www.northlandchurch.net/media/doesnt_science_make_scripture_obsolete/

There is a really good intro for the first 5 minutes, but after that fast forward to the sermon, which is around the 25th minute.

2009 Southwest Conference Standings

In this world, the excitement of the Southwest Conference is still alive and well! I will be updating the standings and results on a weekly basis.





10/24 Schedule:

Arkansas at Ole Miss

Arakansas -17

Ole Miss - 30 F

#15 Oklahoma State at Baylor

Oklahoma State - 34

Baylor - 7 F

University of Central Florida at Rice 2:30 p.m.

UCF - 49

Rice - 7 F

Texas A&M at Texas Tech 6:00 p.m. *

Texas A&M - 52

Texas Tech - 30 F

#9 TCU at #16 BYU 6:30 p.m

TCU - 38

BYU - 7 F

SMU at #17 Houston 6:30 p.m. *

SMU - 15

Houston - 38 F

#3 Texas at Missouri 7:00 p.m.

Texas - 41

Missouri - 7 F

*denotes a conference game

Post Game Reaction: Oklahoma

Beating Oklahoma is sweet as nectarine. For those fans who don't view Oklahoma as our biggest rival, you are as strange to me as the concept of buying organic food in bulk. The outcome of the game was all you could ask for. It was neither beautiful nor decisive, but when Texas beats Oklahoma for the second straight year -- and fourth time in the last five -- there is much glory to go around. We have a fire-breathing coaching genius directing our defense, a QB that will take a Last Temptation of Christ style beating and keep playing on, and a team with heart and guts. We’re 6-0, have won 4 of the last 5 against OU and have completely reversed the tide on "big-game" Bob. It took someone special to break the "Mack can't win the big-one" curse, but Mack has adapted to the changing times and has figured out a way to save his big-game coaching image at Texas. So the question must be asked; has the curse not been broken, but meerly only contained and released north of the Red River? (Anyways, that's a story for another day).

As for the game itself, I couldn't sumarize my feelings of the game better than how this person described it: "I’m proud of our team and their effort and the majority of our staff who aren’t sitting dumbly in the excrement of their own smug self-satisfaction. In an alternate universe, Greg Davis is employed as Process Manager Grade 3 at the Port Arthur DMV. This is the guy who goes on break when you’re next in line and sits staring at you at his desk slicing up an apple during the noon hour rush knowing full well that he could take a longer break one hour from now when no customers are in line. Longhorn fans who still carry his water are Gunga Dins of irrationality"(scipio tex).

I fail to see how there can be anything other than disappoint about, and condemnation of, Greg Davis' performance on Saturday. Not only was his actual game plan and actual play calling a disaster, but the manner in which it unfolded betrayed his fundamental misunderstanding of his own roster of players, generally; his quarterback's strengths and weaknesses, in particular; the Sooners' defensive roster; and a feasible path to even modest success.

That he did not blaze the Sooners for 30 or more points is not the concern; it was the way that he bumbled through 40 passes at 3.2 yards per attempt and 6.0 yards per completion that give his critics an armory of weapons with which to blast him. The final box score shows Texas with 40 pass attempts and 40 rush attempts, but a proper accounting of the plays -- setting aside the 4 sacks and several scrambles -- reveals a mere 29 genuine attempts to rush the football. In the first half, Texas picked up 66 yards on 11 rushes (or 75 on 10 if you dismiss the speed option); in the second half, Texas rushed for 98 yards on 18 attempts. (BON)

Greg Davis both misunderstands his personnel and has demonstrated a failure to strategically adapt thus far in 2009. Colt McCoy is a better quarterback than he was as a sophomore, but his limitations are at this point, I think, unassailably established. He is not good enough -- either as a passer or a runner -- to beat defenses all on his own. He is a very good quarterback, with helpful feet and useful accuracy, but he must be a complementary component of a larger strategic vision. He cannot be the centerpiece. He is not, as some hoped after last year, as good as Vince Young in his own way.

If Texas wants to book a trip to the Promise Land (Pasadena) or even it's nearby suburb of a very good season (Big 12 Championship and Fiesta Bowl) the defense/special teams will have to lead the way because the offense simply can't be trusted. Texas is basically an elite SEC defense/special teams paired with a Mountain West offense. One that can win a lot of football games, but you’ll need a management strategy for your ulcers. Let's hope that the "new" Mack Brown, the one with an ipod, is willing to adapt to the changing season and prove that his team hasn't played near their best game yet.



Stats gathered from Burnt Orange Nation

Cold Winter ahead for the South?

According to AccuWeather.com's Chief Meteorologist and Expert Long Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi, winter will be centered over an area from Maryland to the Carolinas as a fading El Niño results in the stormiest and coldest pattern in recent years.

Bastardi predicts the current El Niño will fade over the winter and will probably not have as much of a role in the overall weather pattern as one would think during a typical El Niño year. In July, Joe was the first to talk about how the fading El Niño will play a role in the winter forecast. This fading El Niño pattern will lead to a stormier and colder winter in the southern and eastern United States. While the El Niño is fading this winter, other factors are pointing to a winter very similar to that of 2002-2003.

A colder, snowier winter would mean added snow removal efforts, more travel delays and extended school closures, especially for the southern schools where snow and ice is predicted.


Northeast and Mid-Atlantic

The areas that will be hit hardest this winter by cold, snowy weather will be from southern New England through the Appalachians and mid-Atlantic, including the Carolinas. Areas from Washington D.C. to Charlotte have had very little snowfall the past two winters. This season these areas could end up with above-normal snowfall.

Northern areas, including Buffalo, Boston and Maine, have been hit hard the past couple of winters, but will see normal snowfall with temperatures slightly below normal this winter.

However, the traditional lake-effect areas of western New York may see local variations of heavier snows. Bastardi adds that while these areas will have a normal winter, the areas farther south that have escaped from the snow and cold the past couple of winters will see the worst winter conditions in the form of snow and cold.

Cities such as New York, Boston and Philadelphia could get up to 75 percent of their total snowfall in two or three big storms.

While some parts of the Appalachians did have harsh winter weather in the form of ice last year, this winter could be one of the snowiest since 2002-2003, when up to 80 inches fell in many places. Snowfall totals this year could reach between 50 and 100 inches in the Appalachians.

Last winter, the usage of salt was way up because of the number of ice storms. Salt supplies could be compromised again this year for state and local road crews that battle the winter weather. On the other hand, ski resorts could have a great year with plenty of powder for skiers.

The storm track that could develop this year will bring storms into Southern California, then across the South and up the Eastern Seaboard. That track will lead to the normal amount of nor'easters from Cape Hatteras to New Jersey.

This type of storm track will differ from that of the past two years, when storms tended to take a track farther west from Texas into the Great Lakes. That track into the Great Lakes brought unseasonably mild weather to the major East Coast cities, keeping them on the rainy side of the storms.


The South

The track this year right along the Eastern Seaboard would put the major cities on the cold, wintry side of the storms. Areas form Atlanta to Charlotte could have several snowstorms this year, which is something that this region has not seen in a while.

The Interstate 20 corridor from Dallas to Atlanta will be a strike zone for ice and snow, given the storm track and proximity to cold air. By the end of the winter, people from Dallas to the Carolinas could say "Wow, we had snow this year!" said Bastardi.


Midwest and Plains

The Midwest and central Plains could get a break this winter, given that past couple of winters have been cold and snowy. Places such as Chicago, Omaha, Minneapolis and Kansas City may have below-normal snowfall and could even average a bit milder than past years.

However, Oklahoma into Texas will be where the cold will lead to ice and snow, and it is not out of the question that snow and ice are as far south as College Station and San Antonio, Texas.


West and Pacific Northwest

A warm and somewhat dry weather pattern is expected from the Pacific Northwest into the northern Plains. The typical barrage of winter storms that hit Seattle and Portland may not occur this winter, which would lead to below-normal precipitation.

The core of the wet weather will be south of San Francisco into southern California and the Southwest. While some people across Southern California fear the El Ni intense rains, mudslides and flooding as seen this fall.

For example, Los Angeles could have 110 percent of normal rainfall and the Sierra and Southwest mountains will have the normal amount of snowfall which is good for skiers.


The Olympics

The Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, from Feb.12 to 28 could be impacted by the lack of snow and cold weather this winter. It is possible that a dry and mild pattern will develop very near to or during the time of the Olympics.

http://www.accuweather.com/news-weather-features.asp?#extremes

Thanks, Mom!