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...but is anyone listening? or watching?

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/n ... &type=lgns

Great article...

Heck, look at the conversations at AGS about the poll. How many posters actually see each other play? It is all about reputation. I remember, after the pre-season poll, I ranked the Griz 10th and got an e-mail from Coulson asking me what I knew to rank the Griz so low? I will say that AGS posters are more open minded about teams as the season moves on moreso than any BCS voter is.

putter wrote:Heck, look at the conversations at AGS about the poll. How many posters actually see each other play? It is all about reputation. I remember, after the pre-season poll, I ranked the Griz 10th and got an e-mail from Coulson asking me what I knew to rank the Griz so low? I will say that AGS posters are more open minded about teams as the season moves on moreso than any BCS voter is.

I got one of those e-mails as well, but from Ralph. The 2nd week, I ranked Western Carolina 25th in my poll. My reasoning was:

1- Western was 2-0
2- The top two teams in the nation were 1-1 (ASU, JMU)
3- Apps lone victory was against Jacksonville, a team comparable to the two teams WCU hasd defeated
4- IT'S the 2nd week of the season! Who the he!! knows who's decent at that point after the top 5-10 slots
5- It's the 25th slot....who cares?....we seed 16 teams/ 8 at-larges....

Got the e-mail questioning whether I really wanted to do that like that one vote was going to discredit the rest of my poll.....

Appaholic wrote:

putter wrote:Heck, look at the conversations at AGS about the poll. How many posters actually see each other play? It is all about reputation. I remember, after the pre-season poll, I ranked the Griz 10th and got an e-mail from Coulson asking me what I knew to rank the Griz so low? I will say that AGS posters are more open minded about teams as the season moves on moreso than any BCS voter is.

I got one of those e-mails as well, but from Ralph. The 2nd week, I ranked Western Carolina 25th in my poll. My reasoning was:

1- Western was 2-0
2- The top two teams in the nation were 1-1 (ASU, JMU)
3- Apps lone victory was against Jacksonville, a team comparable to the two teams WCU hasd defeated
4- IT'S the 2nd week of the season! Who the he!! knows who's decent at that point after the top 5-10 slots
5- It's the 25th slot....who cares?....we seed 16 teams/ 8 at-larges....

Got the e-mail questioning whether I really wanted to do that like that one vote was going to discredit the rest of my poll.....

Wouldn't you like to have nothing better to do in your life?

Appaholic wrote:

putter wrote:Heck, look at the conversations at AGS about the poll. How many posters actually see each other play? It is all about reputation. I remember, after the pre-season poll, I ranked the Griz 10th and got an e-mail from Coulson asking me what I knew to rank the Griz so low? I will say that AGS posters are more open minded about teams as the season moves on moreso than any BCS voter is.

I got one of those e-mails as well, but from Ralph. The 2nd week, I ranked Western Carolina 25th in my poll. My reasoning was:

1- Western was 2-0
2- The top two teams in the nation were 1-1 (ASU, JMU)
3- Apps lone victory was against Jacksonville, a team comparable to the two teams WCU hasd defeated
4- IT'S the 2nd week of the season! Who the he!! knows who's decent at that point after the top 5-10 slots
5- It's the 25th slot....who cares?....we seed 16 teams/ 8 at-larges....

Got the e-mail questioning whether I really wanted to do that like that one vote was going to discredit the rest of my poll.....

I got a similar e-mail the first time I voted. I never bothered to vote again.

Don't stop now, Appa...

Here's the problem...

After spending seasons trying to find cable/staellite plans that cover opposite coast/small school games...and having no luck...I've resorted to looking for games on the 'net. Problem is, most schools don't stream their games unless they are under some license agreement with CBSSports or ESPN, and both sell their plans for hundreds of dollars for a season pass, which even then doesn't cover all the games. Basically, all the cable/satellite/inet companies who market plans lie through their fv(cking teeth to make the sale, then once the sale is made you find out there are so many gaps/exceptions to their coverage, the plan's almost worthless. As an alternative, you can buy game by game, at $9.95 each, which if you do 3 games each week will run around $300-400 for the season, and you typically wouldn't want to run multiple games simultaneously since you're paying $10 per game (I run three computers on Sat., usually Big Sky TV, a "pay" game, and one audio stream...which works pretty good, but the audio really doesn't allow you to assess the team.
Now, here's why the rant. I'm just like the guys in the poll...I don't like ranking a team in top 10 unless I've seen them play against a solid opponent to see how well they perform. I could give a friggin f if "Bill" or "John" or Lt. Lanny or any other pundit thinks Furman's got a good team this season. In my book 9 out of 10 times, that's a homer eval. not worth anything.
Back to the issue of coverage...

While I understand Villanova and CP, etc... wanting to make a few bucks from a streaming vid licensing agreement with CBS, Yahoo or ESPN, that shuts down a huge share of "serious" global fans who then have to budget their time/money when selecting games. What's even more amazing is that some D1 programs (FCS) don't even have streaming audio OR video for some games, choosing to restrict coverage to local media outlets (AHEM!!!!!! PATRIOT LEAGUE!!!!!).

I think we all agree the BCS balloting is mostly full of sh!t, and quite frankly, so is the AGS pre-season poll. Since most FCS programs don't publicize injury report/recruiting/depth chart changes as a regular practice, it's left up to the "locals" to report those changes, and thread boards to post status and talent reports...which, again, is usually spun with homerism. My own "ethos" requires I see film before I make an assessment. I've seen teams stacked with sub 4.8 players who were busy jagging off or mentally writing their gf love letters play after play, or whose reads and angles were epically horrible. Ditto, players who had all the intangibles, but just not enough athleticism. Those things you need to see to understand. Also, how do THE COACHES react under pressure? A few years ago, I was watching a game and the losing coach's facial expression was beyond incredulous...long face, unresponsive, didn't move a muscle play after play, not talking, no involvement...and this guy had been a coach as some of the best programs in the nation...but choked beyond description...(and btw, was fired at the end of the season).

Ya gotta see it to know.

I doubt anyone who works in an AD's admin will ever read these boards, but it ISN'T HARD TO STREAM A GAME and would easily pay for itself in the long run through increased promotion/marketing. Every school has the cameras set up...just feed it into a streaming media server, and et voila...it's done. Hell, if they're worried about bandwidth, the servers even allow them to limit the number of logins, say to 50-100 registered users, that would preclude most commercial exploitation.

Until then...

Tman's 2009 Pre Season Rankings
1) Portland State
2) Montana
3) Weber
4) Northern Arizona
5) Cal Poly
6) Montana State
7) Eastern Washington
8) UC Davis
9) Sac State
10) Southern Utah
11) Idaho State
12) ...are there any more?

travelinman67 wrote:Until then...

Tman's 2009 Pre Season Rankings
1) Portland State
2) Montana
3) Weber
4) Northern Arizona
5) Cal Poly
6) Montana State
7) Eastern Washington
8) UC Davis
9) Sac State
10) Southern Utah
11) Idaho State
12) ...are there any more?

Hell, with that list, might as well throw San Diego onto that list! And then include McNeese, Texas State, UCA, SHSU, and the rest of the Southland and you've got yourselve a pretty good top 20!

AZGrizFan wrote:

travelinman67 wrote:Until then...

Tman's 2009 Pre Season Rankings
1) Portland State
2) Montana
3) Weber
4) Northern Arizona
5) Cal Poly
6) Montana State
7) Eastern Washington
8) UC Davis
9) Sac State
10) Southern Utah
11) Idaho State
12) ...are there any more?

Hell, with that list, might as well throw San Diego onto that list! And then include McNeese, Texas State, UCA, SHSU, and the rest of the Southland and you've got yourselve a pretty good top 20!

Texas...?? That's such a long drive, though...

...can't I just stick my head in the sand, be a homer, and pretend every team east of Denver isn't good enough to rank?

travelinman67 wrote:

AZGrizFan wrote: Hell, with that list, might as well throw San Diego onto that list! And then include McNeese, Texas State, UCA, SHSU, and the rest of the Southland and you've got yourselve a pretty good top 20!

Texas...?? That's such a long drive, though...

...can't I just stick my head in the sand, be a homer, and pretend every team east of Denver isn't good enough to rank?

'tis a free country, my friend.

AZGrizFan wrote:

travelinman67 wrote: Texas...?? That's such a long drive, though...

...can't I just stick my head in the sand, be a homer, and pretend every team east of Denver isn't good enough to rank?

'tis a free country, my friend.

Not while I'm on the board