Thanksgiving in Chicago

Got to visit family in Chicago for Thanksgiving and watch Noah play in a couple games there.

Bedlam

Walked around outside OSU stadium here in Stillwater before the annual Bedlam football game between OSU and OU. I typically root for OU but this year they were down and OSU had a great team.

Eskimo Joes

If College Football had a Playoff...

It's definitely time to implement a playoff system into D-1 college football.

There are 3 scenarios that could play out this year, which is a bit interesting. The final (c) will likely be the ideal situation for future consideration (similar to the NFL set up).

a) The Top 6 teams (switched around a bit to make things interesting):
    (1) LSU v. (4)Stanford/(5)Oregon
    (2) OSU v. (3)Alabama/(6)Arkansas
   And what we get is most of these games have been played! LSU moves on to the championship game (Oregon beat Stanford, LSU beat Oregon in the regular season). All we need to see is OSU/Alabama for the right to play LSU in the national title game.

b) Take what we have now:
   (1) LSU v. Oregon/Wisconsin (ROSE)
   (2) Alabama v. OSU/Stanford (FIESTA)
   Play the Monday games (Jan 2) with the winners going on to New Orleans to play in a FINAL FOUR atmosphere Saturday afternoon/evening. Then, just like basketball, the winners meeting up as already scheduled Monday (Jan 9). Exciting? yes! Crazy? Of course!

c) The top 4 conference champions (highest ranked) + 2 'wild cards' (next two highest ranked teams)

Seed the 4 conference champs in order of rank:
1. LSU
2. OK-STATE
3. Oregon
4. Wisconsin

Wild-cards:
5. Alabama
6. Stanford

*First and second round games cannot contain teams from the same conference unless impossible.

Play the first round the next week (Dec 10 this year)
Oregon @ Alabama
Wisconsin @ Stanford

Play the semi's the following week (Dec 17)
Wisconsin/Stanford winner @ LSU
Oregon/Alabama winner @ OSU

The championship game is played in bowl format 3 weeks later at a neutral site. The other 4 teams can still participate in new years' bowl games (2 or 3 weeks after previous game).

Maximum # games possible (Oregon and/or Wisconsin) = 16 (2 more than each team is will play this year). Still time for student athletes to take finals, enjoy Christmas, etc. Award ceremonies during this time can be worked around.

Taylor Swift in Concert

Yep, I went to see Taylor Swift in concert in OKC. She put on a pretty good show! I sat in the lower bowl in the handicap section with my own seat.

Me and Taylor

Grand Finale

Latest Travels

Utah

Helped my sister move into the dorms at BYU. Went on a new hike.

Washington DC/Annapolis, MD

Another trip to the east coast for work.

What a Crazy Summer...

It's September and time for college football! I love the summer, but my goodness, it has been way too hot here. Record heat. Little rain. But a few good storms. School has started back up. I'm not coaching high school volleyball this year. Sad. I did go out to Utah, yes again, and helped move my sister into her dorm room at BYU. 14 years ago when I started there. Time goes by way too fast.

OK Storm Clouds

A variety of photos I've taken lately (with my phone) ...

(more to come)

August 8

Spring into Summer

A few more recent adventures...

Back to Utah
San Antonio-Houston
(General Conference)
Heidi's OK visit
Jo Graduates BHS
Dallas USAVB
Utah again!

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And the NCAA Tourney (BYU @ Denver and New Orleans)...

Sweet Sixteen