Buzz Blog

I don't exactly know what we're fighting against, but I'm going to take part in the Bowl for Kids Sake 2008 this weekend. The theme of the event to help Big Brothers Big Sisters is "Superheroes" and I guess that means I'm fighting for kids, apple pie and the American way.

My colleague, Leland Gordon, is captaining this year's team. He writes far more eloquently about the fundraiser.

I know it's a little late in the game, but if you would like to make a tax-deductible pledge before the event -- Please click here.

I'll do my best to post an update after the event Saturday.

Posted by Ryan Olson at 01:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Louisiana State University and Ohio State University are duking it out tonight for the national college football championship in New Orleans. This season showed more than ever that the Bowl Championship Series is a flawed system.

Some gripe that two teams with one and two losses shouldn't vie for the championship. I really didn't have a problem with how the BCS game was determined until after this year's season of upsets and constant turnover in the rankings.

In a season that didn't make a lot of sense, the series of equations and computations that the BCS uses to determine the rankings didn't really add up either. Perhaps, it's a matter of the old programming axiom GIGO -- "Garbage In, Garbage Out."

It didn't start with the BCS, the bowl system that preceded it is a little goofy. A Yahoo! Sports commentator pointed out earlier that college football doesn't need the bowls, but it's in the best interests for the bowl organizers to keep the system.

Ultimately, the BCS and the bowls are an incomplete fit for college football and an unsatisfying conclusion to what is usually a fun season of sports.

The current system is like a Waldorf salad -- full of great tastes like apple and walnuts, but then topped off with mayonnaise. After this year, a better recipe is needed.

Posted by Ryan Olson at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm not going to make it habit of writing about sports on this supposedly entertainment-oriented blog, but I just watched the Chargers eek out a two-point win over the Colts. Although I'm a Chargers fan, I'm flabbergasted how the San Diego team managed to prevail over Indianapolis.

After watching some of the game, I really think it wasn't really the Chargers "winning" as it was the Colts "losing."

The Chargers offense didn't light up the board too much. The Chargers scored all their points in the first half and most of them came from special teams in the form of punt returns. The Chargers were there to be sure, taking advantage of some opportunities and putting up stops, but it seemed like the Colts were in the driver's seat.

If Indianapolis was driving, they were lost for much of the first half. The Colts first-half performance wasn't great -- quarterback Payton Manning threw far too many interceptions. He ended up with six for the night.

However, Indy righted course and Manning and the rest of his dinged-up team went on to put up 21 unanswered points. They were a field goal from winning the game, but the kick went wide right.

It was the Colts kicker that missed. Although the Chargers got the ball back, they didn't reach a first down to put the game away. They had to punt on fourth down and gave the Colts 26 seconds to try and score. The ball was in the Colts' court before Manning threw his sixth interception as the horn sounded.

From what I saw, the door was wide open for the Colts to win. By the flukiest of flukes, the Chargers were declared the winner.

Posted by Ryan Olson at 08:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I keep an eye on things going on in Atlanta. That's why I was interested to learn that the Georgia city is in line to receive a new WNBA franchise.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, there will be a contest to name the team. I wonder what it will be. Aside from baseball's Braves, most Atlanta teams are named after fierce birds -- Falcons, Hawks, Thrashers, etc.

If they're going to follow that trend (and WNBA team names often mirror those of their NBA brothers), what is this team going to be called?

My colleagues were bouncing bird names around, but none of them sound right. It would be cool if the phoenix was involved because of the mythic bird's connection to the city, but it's unlikely because of the city of the same name.

Posted by Ryan Olson at 10:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)