WoolyBully

Is "conceptual" something we had the intern draw up based on what we told her the rest of us talked about over lunch? 'cause just the phrase "conceptual" is pretty nebulous. Just how close to the finished product does it have to be: "OK, let's say the orientation is east-west, and uh...let's say, seats around thirty-thousand, and...ok, let's add a couple of elevations. There. There's your placeholder. How's that. Just something to think about."

Just inching ever closer to confessing in open court that college sports is the college sports business.

So, if it's AI - does that diminish the essence of the material being presented? Wedged in between Old Dominion vs Western Kentucky and Arkansas State vs Northern Illinois. Did the article say this was a 'must see' or is this one of the ones we can skip?

I'd watch it.

Not the least bit surprising.

A text version: https://newsadvance.com/sports/college/what-12-team-college-football-playoff-would-have-looked-like-in-23/article_fa0f6a9a-2925-5e27-ac76-eed04316fe6b.html

OK, kids...let me re-phrase this: U of SF is not now, has never been, and I'm just guessing will not be in the foreseeable future - a landing strip. Whether you're an old coach looking to ease into the abyss, or a young coach in need of something on the resume other than that summer you managed free-throw camp, U of SF is where you find yourself. Face it. We have a team. We've had a team. But we never built anything. You don't want to look at the graph and see spikes every twelve years. You want that graph to level out at - or above - .500 with some measure of regularity. I'm not talking perennial NCAA appearances, just level out. How many coaches do you think say "****, I'd like to coach at the University of South Florida! Forget this Duke, Purdue, Creighton and Villanova business. I'm going someplace where I can build it from the ground up (fifty years into the project)!" Yeah, yeah, I know those programs wouldn't extend an interview to some of the coaches we consider, but the point is, we should probably not complain about the results when we see the ingredients. What'd you expect? Maybe that's being too harsh. Maybe I should say that we've built the bare minimum of a program to continue to compete. Are we happy with that? Why shouldn't we be happy? What's not to love about hoping (oh yeah, that's the word) that we might make it past the first round of our conference tournaments? Sure, there's no reason we couldn't have our Dusty May moment. We just have to keep buying lottery tickets and hoping that this guy is all-six-numbers.

That's the tough part. It's almost like Florida State is in based on a technicality. Yeah, you're undefeated...yeah you're the conference champion...yeah, the precedent thus far has been P(x) champion preferential treatment, but there's that hygiene issue. Sans QB you're a tad malodorous. How do you quantify the top four teams when there are around six teams that could make a subjective argument for inclusion?

We complain about recruiting, which stems from coaching. So, given our half-century-plus of data to review, what coach WANTS to coach at USF? Isn't USF really just an apprenticeship for where you want to be? We're not a destination. It fills up a few lines on your resume. As for recruiting, what would make you want to play at USF? Is it the economics of proximity, so you can be close to mom and dad, and they can come watch you play? Is it an easy program to get playing time and pad some stats (assuming the talent to do so) before transferring out? It's very much Catch-22. Do you have to get a top tier coach to come here and rely on his body of work (USF aside) to reel in recruits of a higher caliber? This is alarmingly complex, and if there was a quick fix, we would have done it at some point during the previous half century. It's like we're that guy at the roulette table looking at the tote board: "Hey, it's been black for the past seven spins, it's gonna be red next time! It's due! All on red! Clickety-clickety-clickety...thirty-three. Black. Place your bets!"

Texas beat 'Bama who beat Georgia, so the hierarchy of one-loss teams would look like Tejas is in. Other participants would be Michigan, Washington, Florida State ... all undefeated teams. Nothing wrong with no SEC representation in the last year of the current four-team configuration. Next year, not an issue.

Well, now that's certainly odd. Where have I heard that before?

Mr & Mrs Bullheaded (Matt & Lorraine Harbert), Emily VanDusen (Mrs LakeBull), Cindy Robinson My compact car was unavailable at the El Paso airport, so this is what we were wheeling around in. In the interest of the rental company I field tested the off road functionality of this vehicle. OK, check out the very nice parking lot. And there, to the right, that brown trailer looking thing? That's the indian casino we happened across.

Well, that's the business in 2023. If you're not a member of the club, you're relegated to Wayne's World Streaming Service.

Yes, in my experience random people do bite it. Almost relentlessly. Day in, day out. Wait. What were we talking about?

MagicJack (St. Petersburg) Bowl '08: Went to this one with @bullsmania mainly to see a football game played inside the Trop. We watched some of it but spent a lot of time just walking around the place, sipping beer, and seeing how many times we could use the phrase magicjack in a double entendre connotation. We debated as to whether we should amble down 'bout the Seminole Hard Rock post-game, but settled for heading back to our respective ranches. Not overly memorable...magicjack aside.

Charlotte vs NCSU 2005: The Mrs. & I are checked into our luxury accommodations in scenic, downtown Charlotte. Tis the night before the game and there’s a knock on the door about eleven p.m. I peek out and it’s Mister Pizza Guy. I open the door and he hands me the pizza. I told him I didn’t order a pizza, and he says he’s just the delivery guy and this is the room and makes sure I’m “Mister Robinson”. I try to hand it back and he says he can’t take it back once the customer touches it. And he starts backing up down the hallway. I step inside and make a mental note that this is the lightest pizza in the history of pizza. Well, there’s a reason for that. When I open it, instead of a pizza, it’s a weapons grade size pair of red and black panties. We’re talking Ringling Brothers Big Top brand. There was also some sort of ‘Go Pack’ message on the cardboard. Quite the dilemma. NCSU trickery gone awry? Or…or…could this be miscreant behavior on the part of some Bulls fans, having fun at my expense. Turns out to be the latter. I’m not going to mention your name – but if you still lurk the board – you know who you are. More importantly…I know who you are! No need to confess. I have collaborating testimony and forensics back me up. @mutt @MikeG@bullsmania @LakeBull USF Vs. Oregon 2007: Very fun trip, as we went out a few days early and did some sightseeing. Took in dinner at Cattleman’s Cattleman's Steakhouse at Indian Cliffs Ranch (cattlemanssteakhouse.com) with some penners. Decided to head across the border to Juarez for some shopping with Matt & Lorraine Harbert, attended the Bulls Pen soiree the night before the game. But a few hours later, the chicken enchiladas made a return appearance. Debated whether to go to the game or not, but we toughed it out. Matt & Lorraine did some sort of USF related thing, while Cindy and I set out in the rental pick-up truck for Fort Bliss (Alumni) then on to White Sands & Alamogordo. Happened across an Indian casino that to me looked like a couple of doublewides welded together with a huge, paved parking lot, but we walked out with $200. Muy Bueno. @BULLheaded @LakeBull @Brad . Ran into a penner at the airport. I think it was @Joe. He flew in the morning of the game, cab to the stadium, cab to the airport after the game. Now that's dedication. On the plus side, we ran into some Oregon fellas in Vegas where we changed planes. Interesting chit-chat with those guys.

The students today are part of the second generation of Bulls fans. While the aged bulls wallow in the tar pits, it's up to the second generation to move ever onward and upward. Evolve. Conquer. Go Bulls!

If you're going to whine about attendance against perennial powerhouse like Temple, well shucks, pa ... these guys will definitely pack the house: NCAA 2023 DIV II Playoff Bracket ...and bear in mind that this is ONLY the playoff teams, not the rank-and-file opponents who make up the division, and whom we would have to play week in, week out. Go ahead. Pick who you want to play. And before you start penciling in how U of SF would fare, bear in mind that, DII allows 36 (three six) full or part time scholarships per year. Here's a handy worksheet to help you whittle down which Bulls stay and which ones get a cardboard box for clearing out their personal effects. https://247sports.com/college/south-florida/Season/2023-Football/ScholarshipDistribution/ It's spelled "Division II football in Florida", but it's pronounced "fold the program".

Which has been our bread-n-butter since inception. It's where we excel and where we exceed expectations with alarming regularity.

Hawaii Caveat: been there as well. Here's the thing; if you're gonna wing your way all that distance, you might want to INCLUDE the bowl game in your plans. What's that s'posed to mean? I mean that spending a week or so in Hawaii is a really great vacation, and the added bonus is taking in the game and the activities associated therewith. I wouldn't be inclined to just fly-in-fly-out and not do the tourist thingy. It's too much of a destination not to take advantage of it. Just my thinkin'. And speaking of Hawaii, decades past - during the Chris Iskra era - U of SF had the opportunity to get to Hawaii, dependent on ECU winning their game. We were watching it at Beef O'Brady's on Fowler and the Pirates ineptitude was on full display. Not only losing their game but thwarting a Bulls trip to Hawaii. All they had to do was win, and they didn't have the common decency to put forth just that little bit of effort. I have yet to send them a Christmas card.

I've just about had it with you and your "team player" attitude. The program needs to do whatever the minority opinion of TBP is at any given moment. You know this.

Yes. Checked baggage and boarding passes. Celebrate shaking off the past four years. Get some sort of reward other than driving across town.

Great win. Any win, given our recent history, is a great win. Yes, we beat a very bad team who will finish the season with but three wins. And it's great that we have six wins and are going to a bowl game. Now, do me a favor and put the microscope back on the shelf. Not once this year did we beat a team that finished with a winning record. If Navy beats Army, they'll be 50% just like us. We finished out the year mid-pack, up from the bottom in '22. Great, phenomenal improvement. I stuck with Vegas (-4.5), which even then would have been an improvement over '22. I can't see grading anything below a B, given every aspect of the program. But, that's just moi... That being said, this pretty much sets the bar for '24. Anything under .500 and it's 'sternly worded memo' time.

That got some airtime during the broadcast. Good story.