The ACC Accepts Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the Conference...What Should the Big Ten Do?

The news broke over the weekend and became official this morning that Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh were leaving the Big East and joining the Atlantic Coast Conference:

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6988468/acc-accepts-pittsburgh-panthers-syracuse-orange-14-team-league

It's inevitable that more dominoes are going to fall. As an example (although it isn't official yet) Texas A&M looks to be joining the Southeast Conference.

As a Purdue graduate, and an Ohio resident with a wife (Tammy) and daughter (Mallory) who both graduated from Ohio State, I am a huge Big Ten fan. My allegiances are with Ohio State and Purdue football, Purdue basketball and I root against anyone playing a Big Ten school, with the exception of Michigan. (can't root for the school up North)

The Big Ten currently has twelve members with the recent addition of Nebraska. With today's news, what should the Big Ten do?

They can stand pat. Twelve schools, two six-team conferences in football.

I believe they should add two additional members. That would make two, seven-team conferences for football.

Of primary concern to the Big Ten would be additional markets for the Big Ten Network. As a fan, I have some opinions about schools who would make sense from a competition perspective. Note, I can't speak to women's sports or the collegiate "Olympic" sports teams, so my opinions are really related to 1) football and 2) basketball.

Viable Candidates? I would have loved to see Pittsburgh (natural rivalry with Penn State), and maybe Syracuse added, but with both out of the picture, here is a my list of candidates to join:

Cincinnati
Iowa State
Kansas

Kansas State

Louisville
Missouri
Notre Dame
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Rutgers
Texas
West Virginia

Who would I like to see? With all due respect to the schools on this list, I would like to see Missouri added as my first choice. It brings big markets in St. Louis and Kansas City to the Big Ten Network, and adds a natural rivalry with Illinois.

My second choice? A close call between Notre Dame (adds another nationally followed school) and West Virginia (makes a lot of sense geographically).

Texas is intriguing, but too far away. If the Big Ten said "let's go with sixteen", I'd want Oklahoma to reinvigorate the legendary Oklahoma/Nebraska rivalry.

After a little thought, I would settle for this (if the Big Ten asked for my opinion); add Missouri and Notre Dame if they are happy with a fourteen-team conference. If they choose to go sixteen, bring West Virginia and Oklahoma into the fold.

What will they do? I would predict the addition of Missouri and Notre Dame.

What do you think? Pick the schools you would like to see join the Big Ten in the poll on the right side of my blog.

New foursquare Badge, The Baker's Dozen Badge!

Yesterday I had a desire for a salt bagel, so I stopped in at Bruegger's Bagels in Oakland, on the University of Pittsburgh campus on my way to a meeting.

Didn't know this badge even existed, but got it for checking in! Must have been my 13th bakery check-in.

foursquare Baker's Dozen Badge

Baker's Dozen

A bakers dozen of bakery visits! You must really love the fresh-baked goodness of baguettes and beignets. Why not reward yourself by curling up with a nice croissant?

Unlocked by jiresell on Fri Aug 19, 2011 at 12:12 PM at Bruegger's Bagel Bakery - Oakland in Pittsburgh, PA.

Movie Review - Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

I was in Pittsburgh this weekend visiting my Dad and my daughter Mallory who is beginning graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh.

After dinner Saturday night, my brother Tim and I decided to go see Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The early reviews had been good, and as a fan of the original Planet of the Apes series I was looking forward to seeing the movie.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is excellent. The story revolves around a scientist named Will Rodman, played by James Franco, who is working on a cure for Alzheimer's Disease. As it turns out, he has a very personal motivation for doing the work, as his father, Charles Rodman, played by John Lithgow (and very well I might add) suffers from the disease.

The company that Will Rodman works at uses chimpanzees for their testing, and Will early in the movie ends up adopting a baby chimp his father names Caesar.

Caesar, through circumstances I won't reveal here, turns out to be very intelligent and the movie follows his growth into an adult, intertwining his life with Will Rodman's continued experiments with the Alzheimer's drug.

The screenplay is very well written. As this is meant to be a prequel to the Planet of the Apes, the plot line of how the apes become dominant, along with how humans will succumb to the apes is revealed. My brother Tim noticed subtle references to the original Planet of the Apes series, which provides clues to future events in the inevitable sequels to the current form of the movie.

I enjoyed the movie. I particularly liked the fact that even though there is violence, the injuries (and yes some deaths) are not gory. In addition, the movie makes a statement on how man can discriminate against other men (or in this case apes) whom they consider inferior and how there can be a price to pay for that.

My only criticism of the movie is that I felt the computer generated image of Caesar was a little unrealistic looking. I believe the intent of the creators was to have Caesar's features be more human than chimpanzee, but I was uncomfortable with it.

I also should add that Freida Pinto (of Slumdog Millionaire fame) looks great in this movie, playing Will Rodman's girlfriend, Caroline Aranha.

This is a great movie, well worth a visit to your local theater. I also was very pleased when the famous line from the original Planet of the Apes (1968) uttered by Charlton Heston's character, Colonel George Taylor was once again spoken in this movie. Do you know the line I'm talking about?

I will let you discover it for yourself in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

My NCAA Bracket is F**ked Up!

At the beginning of the NCAA Basketball Tournament I had all hope for a great year in NCAA bracketology. I posted my picks for all to see with confidence rarely seen in picking winners.

OUT!

Now it's Monday, and my bracket is a mess. I am ranked in 1,305,406th out of over 5.9 million entries (78th percentile) on the ESPN.com Tournament Challenge, but small consolation as University of Pittsburgh and Purdue are now out, leaving me with only University of Connecticut and Ohio State left from my Final Four picks, and Ohio State picked as my winner.

Base on the teams that are left, here are my revised picks for the Final Four:

OUT!

Ohio State

University of Connecticut

Kansas (New)

BYU (New)

Finals:

Ohio State

Kansas (New)

2011 NCAA Champion:

2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Champions!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! NCAA Final Four Predictions

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I just can't help myself...I have to predict the NCAA Final Four!
I know I blew the Super Bowl and the Oscar's, but this time I'm prepared and ready.

2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four:
Ohio State
University of Connecticut
Purdue
University of Pittsburgh

Finals:
Ohio State
University of Pittsburgh

2011 NCAA Champion:
Ohio State!

Go Bucks!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Happy Birthday to Me!

You Say It's Your Birthday Na Na Na Na NaNa NaNa! (think Beatles)

Today is my Birthday! I'm 48 years old...

I won't dwell on getting older, but I'll use the opportunity to list the things I wish to happen for my Birthday:

I want my Daughter Mallory to have a successful academic career at University of Pittsburgh now that she has been accepted to graduate school there. Oh, and I'm very proud of her getting her Athletic Training degree at The Ohio State University this Spring!

I want to figure out how to get my son Brian to New York City! His dream is to live and work there...we're going to figure out how to get it done!

And soon my youngest son Michael will graduate from High School! I want him to find a college that fits his interest and makes him happy!

On a much less serious note...

I want a  2011 National League Pennant for the Cincinnati Reds!

And a 2011 Supporters Shield for The Columbus Crew!