Bobref

There is hardly a political question in the United States which does not sooner or later turn into a judicial one. ― Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835)

I don’t even know if they still exist, but their hockey team used to be the Barons, obviously glorification of an elitist class system that was the closest thing to slavery. And Cleveland State is the Vikings. Don’t get me started on those sexist bastards!

My comments in green.

The point remains: trade him and get a Herschel Walker-type haul. Let him go UFA, and you get nothing.

I think the most I’ve heard Schefter say is that Rogers “doesn’t want to play with the Packers.” I don’t recall him saying he wouldn’t. But what I don’t understand is what the Packers could possibly be thinking. Rogers plays this season and then becomes an unrestricted free agent? When they could have traded him this year for multiple starters? Or after next season for multiple starters/1st round draft picks. Now they’ve got all their eggs in the 2021-22 basket. And then he leaves and they get nothing. Doesn’t make sense to me.

And then there’s this: https://saturdayblitz.com/2021/07/25/college-football-realignment-what-does-the-acc-do-next/ Notre Dame, Penn State would make sense in the ACC What will happen to ACC football in the midst of what looks like another round of realignment in college football? How about adding Notre Dame and Penn State? College football seems on the cusp of another major realignment. How will the ACC respond to the reported power moves made by the SEC? This past week it was reported Texas and Oklahoma were going to make a move to the SEC. This set off a chain of speculation across the college football world. Questions abound from what a new 16 team SEC would look like to what the remaining eight members of the Big 12 would do to is this only the beginning of super conferences? The ACC certainly is not immune to this latest potential seismic shift in college football. Some have speculated the conference could be raided itself for teams. While possible, it seems unlikely with the ACC’s grant of media rights running through 2036. If a school left, their media rights would still remain with the ACC. Despite a nice contract with ESPN and the ACC Network, the ACC remains at the bottom of the Power 5 in media rights revenue. In the last couple of seasons, Big Ten schools on average earned about $20-25 million more than ACC schools. The expansion would allow the ACC to renegotiate their contracts and needs to be seriously considered by the conference. The first school that is a no-brainer to add is Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have been the forbidden crown jewel that some conferences have been trying to add for years. The Big Ten flirted with the Irish in the past but the school ultimately decided to keep its football independence. In recent times Notre Dame is partially aligned with ACC football. The Irish would get to keep their independence but they do have five scheduled football games a year versus ACC football teams. Last year during the pandemic Notre Dame was a member of the ACC for the odd season but it worked and the conference got two members into the College Football Playoff for the first time. Also, the ACC media rights contract does state that if Notre Dame does join a conference before 2036, it must be the ACC. It will be a hard sell to finally get Notre Dame to join a conference but what a coup it would be for new conference commissioner James Phillips. How much more of a coup would it be to pull in another big football program? This is where Penn State comes in. ACC should target Penn State? I can already hear the naysayers on this. No way would the Nittany Lions ever leave the Big Ten, the richest conference in today’s landscape. The 30-year marriage of Penn State and the Big Ten has had rocky moments but overall has been a success for both parties. The keywords in the above paragraph are “today’s landscape”. If both Notre Dame and Penn State were to join the ACC, that’s another huge seismic shift. It would certainly give the ACC leverage to renegotiate their media deals. The money would likely increase significantly, putting the ACC in the upper tier of media rights. While Penn State has built some rivalries with Big Ten members, their biggest long-time rivals are in the ACC. Playing rivals Pitt, Syracuse, and Boston College on the regular again is rather enticing. Of course, playing Notre Dame and Miami would be fun along with adding new matchups with Virginia, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina. A move like this would leave the Big Ten hanging. Adding a school from the remaining eight Big 12 schools would not carry the same weight as the Nittany Lions. All of this is highly speculative and of course, is unlikely to happen. It is fun to formulate different scenarios with college football realignment. If the ACC could pull off not one but two major additions in Notre Dame and Penn State, they would likely leapfrog right behind the SEC in regards to money and power.

Or the defending national champs?

If we’re talking about football, Oklahoma State is no “reject.” They would immediately challenge Wisconsin in the B1G West, as presently constituted.

There’s so much drama going on in places like Green Bay and Houston that we might not recall that the NFL season is upon us. Great story lines developing. One of them is the Bucs’ quest for a repeat. Don’t bet against this guy.

Define the scope of “all.”

This reminds me of watching the Berlin Wall come down. Once the first few bricks come out, the rest follow at an accelerated pace.

Wait until this plays out in the NFL, and someone has to forfeit a game because of COVID protocol originating with an unvaccinated player. All his teammates will lose their game check, too. How do you think that will go down in the locker room?

Unless, of course, when Oklahoma and Texas give their formal notice the rest of the rats jump off the sinking ship and the Big 12 is no more.

Heard this morning that Big 12 conference bylaws would require: 1. 18 months notice for a team to leave the conference. 2. An “exit” fee of about $76 million per team.

Inevitably, the parties get together and negotiate new deal, based on the changed circumstances. It’s in everyone’s best interests that they make a deal. The pie is big enough for everyone. The year ND was in the ACC, they shared their NBC TV revenue with all ACC teams. It’s not like there’s a choice. Everyone knows the college football landscape is undergoing major changes right now. The rise of the Superconferences is inevitable. I applaud Texas and Oklahoma for being proactive and at least trying to get out in front of the change that’s coming.

And I think we have a winner! My concern is that in the game of musical chairs that is going to ensue, the Irish will be left standing. One school of thought is they need to position themselves now to join the conference they are going to want to be in when the music stops. That way, they have some choice (probably). The other school of thought is that just allowing chaos to happen will increase ND’s leverage, as any of the 4 “Superconferences” would want them. Whether that’s true or not, I can assure you there are many ND people who think that way. Do you think Jack Swarbrick being one of the committee of 4 that came up with the playoff expansion plan that guaranteed ND would never get a 1st round bye, no matter their record, sheds any light on his thoughts on the subject? Like it’ll never actually get implemented before big conference/NCAA issues render it moot? Hmmm…….

SF has opined since last March that Dr. Fauci is a brilliant bureaucrat who has the ability to spin both sides of the argument as the truth depending on the question or topic at hand. I have felt sooner or later he would get caught up in a situation like this where he was attempting to justify something questionable. (IMHO) In this situation before the Senate he realized he overplayed his hand relative to the funding Senator Paul is questioning, and his answer was a definite denial and a brazen rebuke of the Senator by telling him he doesn't know what he is talking about. Bottom line - Senator Paul may be splitting hairs on terminology, but based on the wording of both the definition and Dr. Fauci's previous testimony, he is correct, and Dr. Fauci knows it.

I. Date 2021 CONTROLLED FOOTBALL SCRIMMAGE RULES AND REGULATIONS Each football playing school may choose to participate in an inter-school controlled scrimmage on Friday or Saturday of Week 6 (August 13 or 14, 2021) of the IHSAA calendar. In the event of inclement weather, the scrimmage could be moved to Monday of Week 7 (August 16, 2021). Only one scrimmage shall be held by a high school. The scrimmage is considered a varsity interschool event. Junior varsity and freshman players may be utilized, providing that they have been included in the practices prior to the scrimmage and that their plays are included as part of the 150 minute time limit. There shall be no separate freshman or junior varsity scrimmages organized. Players must have full transfer eligibility to participate in the scrimmage. II. Contractual Agreement Schools who choose to participate in a scrimmage must schedule another Indiana team. Schools are implored to use good judgment and attempt to scrimmage against a team that is similar to their squad in numbers and skill level. There shall be a contract between the two schools which will include the location, time, and any financial arrangement between schools. Spectator admission into the scrimmage would be an option of the participating schools. Both schools must be in agreement with all financial arrangements prior to the scrimmage. III. Coaches Each team may have the head coach and one additional coach in the huddle and on the field during the scrimmage. All other coaches will be on the sideline, in the bleachers or in the press box. Each team shall have the opportunity to videotape/film the scrimmage. Scouting is not allowed at the scrimmage. With the permission of the coach of your scrimmage opponent, the videotape/film of the scrimmage may be exchanged with the first opponent on your regular season schedule. The purpose of the scrimmage is evaluating your own players. Coaches should communicate with each other prior to the scrimmage to script the number of plays for each unit. This should be done to assure players are competing against players of comparable talent level, and, that players do not participate in excess of the maximum number of plays allowed. IV. Players No athlete should be on the field for more than fifteen (15) consecutive plays without a 10- minute rest period. No player shall participate in any more than 48 total plays. Only those players who have participated in five days of full contact practice shall be allowed to participate in this scrimmage. Players must have full eligibility as transfer students to participate. Students with limited eligibility are not permitted to participate. V. Kicking Game Each team will have six kicking plays (i.e. kickoffs, punts or extra points). Fake punts, two-point conversions, etc. are not permitted. The coach of the team on offense shall determine how many of his team’s six plays will be devoted to the various facets of the kicking game. (For instance, a coach may choose to devote all of his team’s kicking plays to punting rather than including kickoffs and/or extra points.) On kicking plays, there will be live contact, but the kicker shall not be hit by a defensive player. On punts, there will be no punt return, and the receiver shall not be hit by a player on the punting team. The kicking plays are included in the scrimmage to allow teams to practice the kicking schemes and their downfield coverage. With less than two weeks of practice, kickers and kick receivers are too vulnerable to allow them to be subjected to live contact. VI. Time Schedule The maximum amount of time and maximum number of plays in a scrimmage is outlined below. VII. Officials A full crew of officials shall be provided by the home team. There will be a running clock. The scoreboard will be utilized for the game clock only. The 40-second play clock should be used. No score is to be kept. The only time the clock will stop will be for an injury. Officials should go through all signals, but the clock operator should not stop the clock for out-of-bounds, incomplete passes, penalties, etc. 1. Administer penalties without delay. If it is an obvious decision (i.e. clipping penalty on offense during a 20-yard run), do not waste time consulting the offended team; simply administer the penalty. 2. When an official throws a flag during a play and a penalty is assessed, the play still counts as one of the plays for that sequence in the scrimmage. Officials are responsible for seeing that the clock keeps running and that no more than the maximum number of plays are run. This is a very important point. Officials should not allow themselves to be coerced into allowing extra time or plays beyond the specified limits. Downs and distance may be kept. However, do not waste time with measurements for first down. Referees have good vision, and their judgment on first downs will be accepted. The scrimmage officials are responsible for enforcing the scrimmage rules. No one has the authority to supersede the official’s decision on any aspect of the scrimmage. 2021 FOOTBALL SCRIMMAGE TIME SCHEDULES OPTION A 20 Minute Warm-Up 15 Plays or 18 Minutes from -35 15 Plays or 18 Minutes from -35 4 Minute Break 12 Plays or 15 Minutes from +30 12 Plays or 15 Minutes from +30 4 Minute Break 6 Kicking Plays or 8 Minutes -40 Yard Line for KO & Punts AND/OR +3 Yard Line for PATs 6 Kicking Plays or 8 Minutes -40 Yard Line for KO & Punts AND/OR +3 Yard Line for PATs 4 Minute Break 15 Plays or 18 Minutes from +35 15 Plays or 18 Minutes from +35 Total Time for Scrimmage: 150 minutes (including warm-up & breaks) (96 plays maximum) OPTION B 20 Minute Warm-Up 15 Plays or 18 Minutes from -35 15 Plays or 18 Minutes from -35 4 Minute Break 10 Plays or 12 Minutes from +10 10 Plays or 12 Minutes from +10 4 Minute Break 12 Plays or 12 Minutes from +35 12 Plays or 12 Minutes from +35 Note: This scrimmage does not involve the kicking game in any way (i.e. punts, kickoffs, extra points). 2 Minute Transition Break [Entry of reserve players who have not yet played] 8 Plays or 8 Minutes Team A - RESERVES from -35 8 Plays or 8 Minutes Team B - RESERVES from -35 4 Minute Break 8 Plays or 8 Minutes Team A - RESERVES Yard Line of Choice 8 Plays or 8 Minutes Team B – RESERVES Yard Line of Choice Total Time for Scrimmage: 150 minutes (including warm-up & breaks) (106 plays maximum)

That was a JUCO playoff game at College of DuPage. After a bench clearing brawl precipitated by a play on my sideline, the R asked me where the out of bounds spot was, and I truthfully told him I had no idea. He told me to “Make something up … and make it look good.” The R was a guy named Tom McCabe, a long time R in the MAC.

I think in the years to come we’re going to see some shocking examples of this. There’s just too much money involved for it to be otherwise. It’s going to be the Wild West out there for a while.

There used to be something like this in the Summer in South Bend. 4 teams from the area: South Bend City, East, West, and a team of Michigan kids. They would play two games in a day. I arranged for our crew to go over there to work one of those games one year. I figured this would be a piece of cake, low intensity, no pressure way to spend a day during the off season. Midway through the first quarter we find ourselves in a bench clearing melee when one kid spit on another. The rest of the game was brutal, one personal foul or unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after another. My crew never let me forget that.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

I still don’t see Rogers playing for the Packers unless they make some sort of face-saving gesture that would allow Rogers to declare victory and go home - like fully guaranteeing the last two years of his contract … or even extending it. He seems to me to be a guy that would have a lot of trouble just walking back his statements.

Not a real question, either. By terming it an “extravagance,” you’ve pre-determined the answer. “Have you stopped beating your wife?”

From those who believe it is money well spent.