An Inconvenient Solution to Big East Expansion

No, really, does it ever get old to make fun of Al Gore?

Seen here telling the world that manbearpig is indeed real (thanks to the folks at South Park), his wooden yet passionate crusades, his irregular spasms of passion and energy, and even his exaggerated sighs in the 2000 campaign often make me laugh when I'm feeling down.

What I love the most, though, is his movie An Inconvenient Truth. While you can debate whether a movie which genuinely talked about his father's tobacco plantations in terms of climate change (?) should have really won the Oscar, it's really the title that is the best part of the entire movie, which is largely an extremely PowerPoint presentation (with some footage of melting icebergs) that, frankly, I seriously doubt many people actually saw. It's the quintessential "oh-yeah-I-saw-that" movie that nobody saw, since most people like to be on the side of reducing climate change, not denying that it exists.

Best of all, "An Inconvenient Truth" can be applied to, well, anything. It certainly seems to fit when trying to describe the current state of the Big East. For there is nothing convenient right now about the Big East - and any solution to its aspirations will need to be, um, inconvenient.(more)

Quietly, Lehigh Announces Game Times for 2011

You probably didn't notice it this week - heck, I didn't - but Lehigh posted their game times for the 2011 season.

All six home games will have a 12:30 kickoff time. No word, though, as to when the parking lots open and when they'll be open to pre-game tailgating. (more)

Tressel's Con In Plain Sight

In retrospect, Jim Tressel was just an actor. Just like Bill Cosby, or Randy "Macho Man" Savage - an actor, playing a part.

Wrestlers, of course, create bigger than life personas inside the ring of simplistic good-or-evil characters, often designed to deflect, like an illusionist, the reality behind what people were seeing.  That's the lot of the wrestler - and the actor.

And Tressel - seen here, back in his days as a I-AA national championship winner with some of his dominating teams at Youngstown State - was no different from those who make their living making it seem like they're someone else.

Whereas Macho Man wore crazy getups to make one doubt his sanity (in the ring), Tressel played the role of dad. A good, Christian dad, wearing suits and ties to games. Looking like a cross between Woody Hayes and Pat Riley. At once looking like a clean, quasi-militaristic vintage 1960's coach, exuding control.  He looked almost too much like the part of a head football coach.

Bill Cosby made a career in television wearing sweaters. Tressel seemed made his career wearing that red cardigan - making him look, well, respectable. It's almost as if seeing was believing. He looked like "dad" - so, how could he have done all those bad things they've been saying about him?

This Memorial Day, however, with the NCAA, Yahoo! and, finally, Sports Illustrated finally hot on his trail, the movie in which he made himself a starring role finally came to an end - as the ugly truths behind his success at Ohio State and Youngstown State finally came to light.

That guy that looked just like somebody's dad - wearing that tie and the red cardigan - sure as hell wasn't Mister Rogers. (more)