Coming into 2011 ESPN made the determination that they would market 2011 as the Year of the Quarterback. They had specific historical and current programming to be marketed with this as well as unveiling the new QBR rating system in an attempt to replace the less analytical Quarterback Rating statistic. What did they get in return? They got a season where two quarterbacks broke the all-time record for single season passing yards and a third crossed the 5,000 yard mark and was only 50 yards shy of the record despite playing four weeks with a broken hand. That would seem rather prescient on their part, if you want the truth. But if you look closely both at this season and (as a nice microcosm of the season) last weekend’s games it would have been even more prescient to have titled this as the Year of the Tight End.

Now it isn’t new this year to have tight ends as a more important part of the offense. This trend probably started its rise with Shannon Sharpe and Tony Gonzalez around a decade and a half ago (if you want to pin down a genesis) and then picked up steam with the likes of Dallas Clark, Jason Witten, and Antonio Gates (with Gates and Gonzalez as the “godfathers” of the new breed of Tight End that is more basketball player than football player). But this year was the eruption of what has been building at the Tight End position. Much like at the quarterback position, there were not one but two tight ends that broke the all-time single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end. Both of those tight ends (Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham) had more yards receiving at their position than the NFL leader in receiving yards, at ANY position, three different years in the 1980’s. Additionally 5 different tight ends led their respective teams in receiving yards while an additional 6 were second on their teams in receiving yards. That means that on over 33% of teams in the NFL the tight end was one of the two most important receivers on the team. In the cases of the two record-breaking quarterbacks, Drew Brees’ #1 receiver was TE Jimmy Graham, and not only was TE Rob Gronkowski the #2 target for Tom Brady, but TE Aaron Hernandez was his #3 target as well. So for a QB that threw for 5,200 yards, 2,200+ yards of that was to his two tight ends.

Last weekend in the Patriots game Gronkowski had over 100 yards and 3 TD’s while Hernandez had over 100 total yards, was the leading RUSHER on the team (and was only 15 yards behind Denver’s leading rusher as well) and had a Touchdown. They combined for 200 receiving yards, 61 rushing yards, and 4 TD’s. And that was only the 2^nd best Tight End showcase of the weekend. The New Orleans/San Francisco matchup was an amazing showcase of the importance of the tight end. The opposing tight ends (Jimmy Graham and Vernon Davis) combined for 283 yards and 4 TD’s including each of them catching a go ahead touchdown with less than 1:40 left in the game. They had clutch catches during those drives as well. It truly was a beautiful display. And with San Francisco and New England still alive in the playoffs it is very likely that the position will again play a key factor in who will get to the Super Bowl.

Alex Smith may not be a bust (a.k.a. the system matters…)

Alex Smith was the #1 pick in the NFL draft out of Utah and for the better part of six years the common thought has been that he was another QB that was great in college but it must have been the system he was under in college that made him good, because he just can’t cut it in the NFL. It wasn’t thought that the fact that he has had 7 offensive coordinators in 7 years with 7 systems might be an issue. It also wasn’t thought that if it was system driven in college then it’s possible it will be system driven in the pros. What we learned this weekend is that in a year where there was an abbreviated offseason and very little chance to work with him before the year, Jim Harbaugh and his staff were able to put in a system and work with Alex to strengthen his confidence and get him comfortable so that he could flourish. And he could not have flourished more than he did in the 4^th quarter of Sunday’s game. He threw for 1 yard shy of 300 with 3 TD’s, no turnovers, and a 28 yard TD run. He led 2 go ahead drives in the last 5 minutes of the 4^th quarter.  He made the right decision time and time again. Jim Harbaugh had called him a Pro Bowler earlier in the year and he sure looked like one on Sunday.

So in a broader sense, the public should realize that most quarterbacks (and players in general)will only be great in certain systems. Joe Montana would very likely not have been the Joe Montana we know if he were not in Bill Walsh’s interpretation of the West Coast offense. It is very likely that Tom Brady would not necessarily have been as great as he is outside of New England. Sure there are some exceptions. I believe that Peyton Manning would succeed in any system. But take Brett Favre. Do you realize that the Falcons released him when he had been their 3^rd string QB? Green Bay proved to be right for him to really learn how to be a great player. I recently read Patriot Reign, where the author had 2 years of access to the Patriots’ front office in the early 2000’s. It makes perfect sense, but I was very interested to see that their front office personnel were never graded or critiqued on a player that they passed on in the draft that was great for another team. They believe that you cannot assume that that player would have done the same for the Patriots. What they are held accountable for are the players that they bring into New England that don’t live up to expectations. Fans would do well to factor that in when they evaluate/criticize/rant on sports radio/rant on message boards about decisions that are made by their front office folks.

Conference Championship Weekend

So now we have reached Conference Championship Weekend with one matchup that NO ONE predicted before the season and one that was plausible. San Francisco definitely seems to be wearing Cinderella’s slippers while the Giants are looking like a team that is walking the path they walked a few years ago when they got hot at the right time and hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. In the AFC you have a proficient offense and suspect defense on one side (New England) and a suspect offense and proficient defense on the other (Baltimore). While I find it hard to believe that it will be quite as exhilarating as last weekend, we should have a solid pair of games. So here are The Picks!

Guru’s Final Record: 24-11
Swami’s Final Record: 22-13

(Admittedly it’s easier to be a gracious loser when I still did well)

Ok, so what did we learn during the bowl season? (And I call it a season because it feels as long as an entire sports season).

• We learned that it is possible to go to a bowl game and finish the season 6-8.
• We learned that we were correct to assume that Stanford/Oklahoma St would be the best BCS game.
• We learned that we were incorrect to assume that the Michigan/Va Tech game would be the worst.
• We learned that when two great defenses collide you are perfectly happy when your kicker goes 5-7 on field goals.
• We learned that we should REALLY hope that the Plus 1 system being discussed goes through. This year that would have given us Alabama/OSU and LSU/Stanford in the semi-finals with the winners playing a week later. THAT would be must see TV.
• We learned that there really was no way to get the best title game matchup (Bama/OSU) under the current system.
• We learned that you can’t sleep on Georgia Tech’s wide receivers… once they get to the NFL.
• We learned that if you let Taylor Martinez & Tevin Washington throw100 passes against no defenders, they would still complete less than 50% of their passes.

And we learned a whole lot of other things, but the bowl season was so long we learned that the Swami has already forgotten many things that were learned.

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Now moving on to the football season that is still going on….sadly it’s clear that the Swami did have a good pulse on what makes the Falcons tick and thus was 100% correct that they would choke over by the Jersey shore. (Perhaps they should work on figuring out how to gain 1 yard). It’s also clear that the Swami was correct that there was a blueprint for beating the Broncos…it just turns out that the Steelers opted not to use it. KUDOS!

Now moving on to this week… it’s the Divisional Playoffs which means we get 4 teams that have been sitting for a week and it’s likely that one of them will choke. Our bet? It’s either Baltimore or San Francisco that won’t be able to shake the rust off.  Oh, and a nugget (courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel’s cousin Sal Iacono) that will make Cowboys fans feel ill… Tim Tebow and T.J. Yates each have the same number of playoff wins as Tony Romo! Congrats guys!

Now we should get to The Picks!

Happy New Year from the entire staff here at Random Thoughts Illustrated!! Nothing seems more fitting to kick off 2012 than to give you a blog post per day for the first two days of the season. You know, start off good and then tail off as the year goes… (kind of like some of my picks).

Anyway, what kind of prognosticator would make picks and then not revisit them to see how they did? The kind that cares about his own self-esteem! But since we all know the Swami doesn’t know what self-esteem is, he will boldly look back into his pre-season predictions and see how he did. (I’ll give you a hint…it ain’t pretty!)

AFC East:  1 Playoff Team correct (Patriots); 1 Team Record perfect (Buffalo) and 0 teams in the right order; Biggest error – Off by 4 games & missed playoffs (Jets)

AFC North: 2 Playoff Teams correct (Ravens & Steelers); 0 perfect records and 0 teams in the right order; Biggest error – Off by 4 games and made the playoffs (Bengals)

AFC South:  0 Playoff Teams correct; 1 Team Record perfect (Titans) and 0 teams in the right order; Biggest error – Off by 6 games (Colts)

AFC West: 0 Playoff Teams correct; 1 Team Record perfect (Chiefs) and 0 teams in the right order; Biggest error – Off by 3 games & missed playoffs & Super Bowl (Chargers)

NFC East:  0 Playoff Teams correct; 0 perfect records and 1 team in the right order (Redskins); Biggest error – Off by 3 games & missed playoffs (Eagles)

NFC North:  1 Playoff Team correct (Packers); 0 perfect records and 2 teams in the right order (Packers & Lions); Biggest error – Off by 3 games (Packers & Vikings)

NFC South: 2 Playoff Teams correct (Saints & Falcons); 2 Team Records perfect (Falcons & Panthers) and 2 teams in the right order; Biggest error – Off by 3 games (Bucs)

NFC West: 0 Playoff Teams correct; 1 Team Record perfect (Cardinals) and 1 team in the right order (Cardinals); Biggest error – off by 9 games and made the playoffs (49ers)

So what does this tell you? Well, the Swami nailed the records of both teams he follows (Falcons & Chiefs) so it would appear that he has a decent pulse on them. 6 of twelve playoff teams correct mean that he’s as good as probably 50% of America. And the 49ers? Well, no one got that right. The NFC looks like it could definitely play out as predicted though. The Saints over Packers in the NFC title game seems like a real possibility. Now please ignore the AFC prediction… (Chargers over Jets).  You didn’t see anything…

Ok, so enough looking back, let’s look forward to this week’s games with The Picks!:

So what will 2012 hold for us? It’s unlikely to be as good as last season, but there are still some real treats to be had. You don’t have to look any further than Los Angeles to see the potential. Oh, not the Lakers… we mean the Clippers (or as has recently been coined – Lob City). The additions of Chris Paul & Chauncey Billups to the backcourt have certainly energized what could be the most highlight-friendly team of the year. Also, the beast that resides in Oklahoma City seems even more ready to rise up and go to the next level. Oh, and that Miami team…yeah, they probably got even better. So with all of that said, let’s take a look at how the Conferences will shake out:

 Ok, so I was going to predict every team and the number of wins, but even I lost interest…so for those not listed…sorry. All I will say is that the T-Wolves definitely seem to be improved, so hold your heads up Minnesotans! Now on with the playoff predictions!

Eastern Conference Playoff Teams:

Miami
Chicago
Orlando
Indiana
Atlanta
Boston
New York
Milwaukee

Western Conference Playoff Teams:

Oklahoma City
San Antonio
LA Lakers
LA Clippers
Denver
Golden State
Memphis
Dallas

Eastern Conference Finals:
Miami over Chicago

Western Conference Finals:
Oklahoma City over San Antonio

NBA Finals:
Miami over Oklahoma City

(For more Swami thoughts, feel free to visit him at www.facebook.com/SwamiCartledge)

The Swami’s Picks for 2011: 229-60 for a % correct of 79.2% – Decent, but probably not going to make SI or ESPN.com knock down the door with a contract in hand…

The Guru’s Take for 2011: 5-8 – After 3 years of the Guru winning, the Swami took care of things down the stretch to pull this one out and return to his winning ways.

James & the Swamette for 2011: 33-19 for a % correct of 63.4% – As preschoolers go, the kids are pretty good prognosticators.

So with that we wrap up the regular season and move on to the Bowl Season of picks. Now the official position of the legal department at Random Thoughts Illustrated is that you should by no means use these picks for any pools you are in (if you live in a state that allows that). I have no idea why they feel that way. Sure the Swami and Guru are both below .500 over the past two years combined, but past performance doesn’t have any bearing on future returns, right?! (Legal Department Disclaimer: Seriously people…these hacks make their picks in under 5 minutes almost a full month before the final bowl game… you want no part of these!) You should just ignore the doubters and trust that the Swami & the Guru will take good care of you!

Oh, and to spice it up this year, the Swami decided that instead of the bowls getting to choose their sponsors, he should get the rights. So with each game the Swami has applied his amazing marketing mind to find just the right pairing. So enjoy and be amazed by…THE PICKS!

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us to all of you!

Yankees Trade Alex Rodriguez to Miami for Hanley Ramirez

Why the Yankees should do it:

1. It’s the Fountain of Youth. It is no secret that this team is getting older. This would be an addition of youth and someone that could be paired up the middle with Robinson Cano for years. It also adds more speed to the lineup which would only make them more dangerous.

2. It saves money. While we all think that the Yankees have unlimited resources, the reality is that they haven’t been a player in this offseason for the reason of money. The trade will free up between 10-15 million dollars a year for the next 3 years, and then possibly more contingent upon getting an extension from Hanley. I’m pretty sure the pitching staff could use that money.

3. It makes a move of Jeter much more honorable. The truth is that the Yankees are dying to be able to move Derek Jeter away from shortstop. The issue is that an icon’s pride can’t handle having to move due to diminished capacity. This trade makes it much easier. Jeter can volunteer to make a place for the younger Ramirez and move over to the now open position of 3B. It becomes much more about accommodating a great athlete than moving an old one. It helps everyone save face.

4. For all of the concerns about Hanley being a malcontent, I simply don’t see a way that he doesn’t fall in line with The Yankee Way when he’s surrounded by the guys in that locker room.

Why the Marlins Should do it

1. Bring the favorite son home. The Marlins have rebranded themselves this offseason as the Miami Marlins. They want to create a new identity as they also open their new home field. Who could be better for that than Alex Rodriguez? He is the favorite son of Miami. He still loves the University and spends time and money there. His jersey sales would be through the roof. Ticket sales would go even higher. He IS the Miami brand.

2. His contract is actually good. First, if the Marlins were willing to do what they have already done (Buehrle, Bell, Reyes) and still go after Wilson and Pujols then A-Rod’s contract wouldn’t be unheard of. And on the plus side, it also goes down each year for the next 5. So while he will likely diminish, as will the luster on the stadium, his contract gets less painful. It is also shorter than what they would have committed to for Pujols by half. That makes a fire-sale in 5 years very possible (if they were to hold to previous habits) without this causing any issues.

3. You get a gruntled Third Baseman. Hanley has flip-flopped like a politician on his willingness to play third base. He also caused some locker room headaches in years past. You get to ship that out and bring in a gold-glove third baseman who would be perfectly happy to line up each day with Jose Reyes to his left.

4. Milestones mean Ticket Sales. Alex has many more milestones to accomplish in his career and each of those will help keep a steady flow of fans into the brand new stadium.

Why Alex should Approve it

1. The truth is that he has exorcised his post-season demons and won a ring in New York. That hole in his legacy is gone.

2. He would get to hear his name cheered every day for the rest of his career instead of dependent on his performance.

3. Spring and Fall in New York weather vs. Spring and Fall in South Florida.

4. The celebrity cache of Miami continues to grow and that will satisfy that part of his personality.

I really am not arrogant enough to believe that I could step in and be a great baseball GM right away, but there is one thing I believe and that’s that this is the best idea I have seen for a trade in years. It benefits absolutely everyone involved. Which is why I’m sure it just won’t happen…

Icing (it’s not just in hockey anymore): Sure, there’s been plenty written about whether or not it should be legal to have coaches be able to call timeouts right as the opponent is going for a key field goal. “Icing” the kicker is the term. The theory is that a kicker will struggle to make the kick twice…or perhaps if he thinks about the importance of the kick he will choke. I’ve never seen the stats, but I think it fails more often than it works. Now what you don’t see every day is a coach taking a timeout right as his own kicker is trying to kick a 49 yard field goal. In fact I don’t remember EVER seeing that until Jason Garrett did it for the Cowboys. And guess what, he’s now 1 for 1 in icing his own kicker. Unbelievable. And to top it, he didn’t trust his guys (despite having 2 timeouts) enough to get them to try to get closer to make it easier on the kicker. (By the way, the Cowboy fan at my office really enjoyed all of the timeouts that were called when he was in the middle of talking this week). Of course that would only be magnified more if another team had a similar situation and handled it much better. Like…

Packer Magic – Not a lot to say other than the Packers/Giants game was an epic matchup that went down to the wire and the Packers kept moving the ball once they were in field goal range to make it as easy as possible on Mason Crosby. It really served to highlight how bad the Cowboys game was mismanaged. (it is worth noting that the last team to go undefeated in the regular season won a 38-35 game against the Giants only to lose in the playoffs to those same Giants…)

Wash, Rinse, Repeat – Much energy was spent (even by me) on the BCS Championship rematch. So I’ll spare you… it happened this week. All we can hope is that enough momentum was gained to get a +1 approved where the top 4 play matchups in BCS games and then the top two play the following week. That is what the Swami has asked Santa for Christmas.

Taking my Talents to South Beach – The newly re-branded Miami Marlins fired the first salvos of the MLB Winter Meetings by adding two All-Stars, Shortstop Jose Reyes and Pitcher Mark Buehrle, to their already signed closer Heath Bell. The Marlins clearly want to open the new ballpark with a bang. (Side note: I get that they wanted to make the new look seem cohesive with the other Miami institutions like the Dolphins and Hurricanes, but I just don’t love the new uni’s). With near misses on C.J. Wilson & Albert Pujols, the Marlins barely missed turning making waves into starting a tidal wave of change in the National League.

Who’s in the Top 25?!: For the first time in modern history the Crimson from Harvard University broke into the Top 25 in basketball and played a meaningful game on national television (against UCONN). Apparently the Geometry professor is finally coaching the three point shooters. Kudos to the smart kids!!

Swami goes Wild!: It just seems like there should be a mention that the Minnesota Wild had lost 2 straight games before they were visited by The Swami. Since then, the Wild have won 7 straight and now are the #1 team in the entire NHL. I’m just sayin’!

NHL goes Wild: In a stunning move that seems likely to continue to build the momentum of the past few years, the NHL approved radical realignment that will move teams from 6 divisions in 2 conferences to 4 conferences geographically aligned as well as guaranteeing that every city gets to see every team at least once per year. I know not a ton of you love hockey, but take the Swami’s word… it’s a big deal.

HOLY COW!: Out of nowhere on Thursday the Anaheim (I refuse to call them L.A. of A) Angels came out of nowhere to sign the biggest name free agent pitcher and position player of this offseason in a couple of hours. They destroyed the Cardinals best offer by somewhere between $25-50 million dollars and gave Pujols the no trade clause that was worth more than the extra $25 million from the Marlins. And then the gravy on top was adding C.J. Wilson to a starting rotation that already boasted Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, & Ervin Santana. The Angels clearly don’t like losing to the Rangers.  Oh, and by the way, the balance of power in the N.L. Central just shifted. The Cardinals lose Pujols while the Brewers lose Prince Fielder. If I’m the Cubs I jump on the chance to get Fielder NOW.

NBA Goes Wild!: The NBA Players vote to ratify the new CBA… the Owners do the same. Before the owners leave the hotel word comes out that there’s a big trade involving Chris Paul that’s been agreed upon. The owners of various teams ignore the fact that it is a fair deal for all teams involve and pitch a fit and the commissioner makes a rash decision, bans the trade and in turn makes the owners look bitter an whiny about the final deal and weakens the team that the league is trying to sell. If that happens hours earlier, the players likely don’t ratify the deal. If they do it hours later, the owners probably don’t have the ability to pressure the commissioner. What is the outcome? National outcry and ridicule. Just when the NBA could gain traction with a fun and wild free agency period culminated with a Christmas Day tip-off, now they are just punching themselves in the face repeatedly for the whole world to mock. Brilliant!

Shame: Oh, speaking of the Brewers taking a hit… in what could be a black-eye for baseball as well (unless his appeal wipes the slate clean) the newly crowned National League MVP Ryan Braun just tested positive for a performance enhancing drug. That’s painful for all involved. The only possible positive is that everyone should have a good idea that Major League Baseball’s testing system is working.

Well Deserved: Well, at least for this year, we finally learned that the Heisman Trophy really is for THIS year’s performance and that it’s not a career achievement award. So we got the joy of seeing a good guy from a formerly inept football program elevate the program’s profile and receive his due. Robert Griffin III is the most efficient QB in college football, threw for 2 yards shy of 4,000 yards with 36 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions, and ran for over 600 more. He also took down hated rivals TCU, Texas, and Oklahoma in grand fashion. So congrats to RG3 and congrats to the voters for getting this right.

Yep…that was quite a week!

The Case for/against Alabama:

Best Loss – Clearly Oklahoma State’s loss is a far greater loss than Alabama’s. ‘Bama lost to the #1 team in the country who is undefeated, won the SEC Championship, and is playing for a National Title. And they did so in Overtime and did so without giving up a touchdown. This is also where many experts say Alabama passes the “Eye Test” of who looks better.

Ranking - Alabama has been ranked 2nd for the vast majority of the season and was ranked so the last couple of weeks leading up to the final poll. They didn’t do anything to change that.

Conference Championship – Alabama did not play the two best teams in the SEC East and they did not win the SEC West. They did not qualify to participate in the conference title game.

The Loss – Um… they already lost to LSU…and that was AT Alabama

The Wins – Victories over 4 teams in the Top 25 at the time the game was played. 0-1 against Top 10 teams at the time they played. Of the teams they beat, only 2 ended up in the Top 25 in the polls.

Non-Conference – Georgia Southern, Kent State, North Texas. Positively Bill Snyder-esque.

SEC Bias – The SEC has had the reputation in recent years for being the best football conference in America. This leads everyone out of the SEC to believe that this season came down to an SEC bias. The counter to that would be that the past 5 National Champions are from the SEC…so there probably is some merited bias.

The Case for/against Oklahoma State:

The Wins – Victories over 4 teams in the Top 25 at the time the game was played. 2-0 against Top 10 teams at the time they played. Of the teams they beat, 3 ended up in the Top 25 in the polls.

Worst Loss – The loss to an unranked Iowa State squad is the reason this is even being discussed. It should be factored in that this was a tough situation (odd night – Friday, road game, tragedy – 2 school coaches tragically killed). But in the end a 24-7 2^nd half lead should have been enough. Instead, a disjointed offensive effort led to a double-overtime loss.

What LSU Deserves – LSU has already beaten Alabama. If they face off again and Alabama were to win, what does it settle? They would be 1-1 against each other. LSU would be penalized for winning the wrong game of the two. It makes the equation even more clouded.

Non-Conference – Louisiana-Lafayette, Arizona, Tulsa (which ended up being played at 3:00am). Not amazing, but not cake-walks.

Conference Championship – Oklahoma State played every team in the Big XII and is the undisputed Conference Champion.

The Case for/against the System:

Formula – I honestly believe that this year the formula for calculating the BCS is at no fault in how this came out. If the two elements had been handled properly I believe that the right matchup would have happened. Now, my only complaint here is that there should be some sort of point bonus for winning your conference. That would at least make it where it’s not a disadvantage to appear in a championship game, and it would reward accomplishments instead of just perception.

Computers – The oft maligned segment of the formula actually would have actually paired LSU & Oklahoma State in the title game.

Human Voting Bias – Here is where things went awry. I believe, based on all I have read, that if voters had voted in a manner that was completely upright and honest we would have an OSU/LSU matchup and we would get to hear how much Stillwater hates Les Miles and vice versa. But instead, only a handful of voters across two polls, took this into their own hands and changed the outcome. Here are those I believe are to blame for what I believe is a disappointing outcome (NOTE: If all of these folks had voted OSU #3 and they still were behind Alabama, then I would be ok with the matchup in the title game. I simply don’t believe that would have been the outcome):

Gary Pinkel, Missouri – OSU #4. Hard to believe that intentions here were pure. All Big XII coaches voted OSU #2 (just as all SEC voted Bama #2), except the Tigers who happen to be leaving the Big XII for the SEC. Seems like kissing up to the new while spitting at the old.

Nick Saban, Alabama – OSU #4. Pretty self-serving to be able to give yourself an edge in this battle by bumping your opponent down.

Troy Calhoun, Air Force – OSU #5. Actually no ill will. He’s just undervalued OSU all season. He actually moved them up 3 spots this week.

David Cutcliffe, Duke – OSU #4. No ill will that is known. Seems that he favors the “smarter” school.

David Shaw, Stanford – OSU #4. Also self-serving. Knowing that Stanford fans don’t travel well and that they could get bypassed for a BCS at-large unless they landed in the top 4 gave him motivation to make sure they landed higher.

Doug Marrone, Syracuse – OSU #4. No idea.

Those were the coaches in question. Now the Harris Poll had even more questionable ballots. Here are the voters that voted OSU below 3rd:

OSU #4 – Sammy Batten, Dave Brain, Charlie Cavagnaro, Doug Plank, Harvey Schiller, Terry Shea, Fred Stabley.

OSU #5 – Craig Morton, Scott Johnson (In fairness… he ranked Stanford #7. The ranking of Boise State higher than Oklahoma State is baffling. He also had Oregon at #3), Jeff Van Note (Former Atlanta Falcon lineman…I was a fan growing up, but he should lose his vote. Wisconsin at #3 and Boise at #4),

OSU #6 – Derrick Mayes – Clearly he wanted Alabama in the title game.  And just to enforce his need to lose his vote, he left Georgia off his ballot completely.  George Wine – Clearly wants to champion the “little people”; he voted Boise State and Houston (who got DESTROYED in the CUSA title game) above Oklahoma State.

I will not question all of the #4 voters in the Harris Poll. There are arguments that can be made for Stanford at #3. While some may have intentionally done it to influence the outcome, without knowing them I refuse to speculate there.  The men that voted OSU #5 or #6 should all lose their voting rights. There isn’t a defense for that, especially when you see some of the teams that they voted higher.

So the reality is that I don’t think that the system actually failed this time… the integrity of men failed. Unfortunately, that’s actually a pretty fitting conclusion for this season.

P.S. to OSU fans:  First, a national commentator does not have to hate OSU or love the SEC to defend Alabama’s appearance in the title game. There are strong cases to be made for it. Their personal belief doesn’t make them a bad person (unless it’s Mark May). Second, don’t lose sight of how historically fantastic this year is. Your first outright Big XII title and first BCS appearance and Gundy’s first victory over OU all make this a spectacular year, and the matchup with Stanford could be the best bowl game. Celebrate these kids.

So how do both players and fans get ready for games of this magnatude? They get ready the same way… they crank up the music and get excited! So this week the interns at Swami the Magazine scoured the internet to pick some of the most used stadium anthems that get folks amped up and put them together with the game that they fit best with. We hope that you will crank up your radio/cd player/laptop/iPod with your favorite tunes playing and sit back and enjoy as Swami the Magazine gets you ready for this Regular Season Finale. It’s time for….The Picks!!

Until the Bowl Preview Edition….THE SWAMI!!

Tangent: I know this is a football column, but did anyone even notice what happened in Major League Baseball? In a year where the NFL had a work-stoppage and the NBA is in what appears to be a very long work-stoppage, Major League Baseball (apparently having learned their lesson from 1994) just signed yet another CBA extension. At the end of the new deal it will have been over 20 years since the last stoppage. Not only that, this CBA probably has more changes than any other recent deal other than the NHL’s post-lockout deal. The first sport in North America to add HGH blood testing… yeah, apparently even the players learned their lesson on PED’s. Two more playoff teams. Year-round interleague play. Moving a team from one league to the other. Expanded instant replay. And those are just some of the changes. I have bashed Bud Selig for years, but he deserves credit when it’s due. In the last 10 years I believe he has done a really good job (All-Star game = Home Field not withstanding). For more details, check out a summary of the deal here http://assets.espn.go.com/pdf/2011/1122/2011_MLB_CBA.pdf.

Ok, enough about that, it’s time to get back to football. This week’s theme takes us back to the greatness that is the Thanksgiving dinner table in all of its glory! So without further ado, get your appetite ready for The Picks!!

Until Next Time… THE SWAMI!! 

(Remember if you want the Swami’s thoughts on these games below, you can always check here on game day or check him out at www.twitter.com/torncartledge)