2019 Death to the BCS Playoffs: Fast Forward

We're starting to see something of a return to normalcy now. The Stanley Cup Final is complete, the NBA Finals are underway, the MLB Playoffs are about to begin... and football is more or less in full swing. The NFL has gone on with minimal hitches, and the FBS is starting to get back to normal as some conferences are already playing and others are coming back soon.

This would normally be where I'd be announcing the 2020 Death to the BCS Playoffs. Problem is, given the way the schedules are set up, with different conferences starting later, I don't think it's a fair year or a good year to do the Death to the BCS Playoffs. Fortunately, I still have the 2019 bracket to go through!

I built this bracket out way back in December, when the word "pandemic" wasn't on anyone's mind, North Central was coming off a huge upset of Mount Union en route to a national title, and I was in the midst of a long basketball layoff. Teams were not in on my simulator in time to do the playoff in real time like I had for the first few years, but now that they are, and we're in full swing of football, it's time to attack this again.

You can view the official bracket, which will include final scores when we're done, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play some football!

2020 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 4

The coalition marches on as we approach Week 4 of the NFL season!

We ended up regressing to the mean a little bit in Week 3; after hitting on eight of our first ten consensus picks, we went just 2-3 on those games last week. You can view how we've all picked in relation to each other here.

On a micro level, I took three of five disputed games from Adam last week to narrow the deficit to a single game in the standings. We're also starting to see a little bit of a split between the top and the bottom of the standings. Whether this is a part of what Adam has deemed The Great Reversal or not remains to be seen.

Once again this week Adam and I disagree on five games out of 15. Let's get to it!

2020 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 3

The coalition returns as we prepare for Week 3 of the NFL season!

We got joined by another random person, so the group now has seven people in it, though they are not counted among the standings here for the purposes of the contest. You can view how the original five of us have picked in relation to each other here.

As for where we're at, Adam and I split our six disputed games last week, keeping him with a two game lead on me for the column. Most of the group has done really well, thanks in large part to us getting off to an outstanding start on consensus picks. I've gone hero a group-high seven times, having won three of them, which is partially why I'm falling out of it, but the rate is the best in the group so far.

As we move on to Week 3, Adam and I disagree on just five games. Let's get to it!

2020 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 2

Week 1 is in the books, and with Week 2 on the horizon, the coalition returns to work!

It was a good first week of action on the whole for most of us. Our group was even joined by some random person Sunday afternoon who's now in first place, but since they're a random person they don't count.

Among the coalition, hero picks were plentiful; nine of the 16 games last week had someone go hero, five of those nine were mine. I only got two of them, part of why Adam took six of our ten disputed games for an early lead. You can view how we've picked in relation to each other here, again taking into account that the random person who joined our group is not counted as part of this.

Hopefully the rust of both picking games as well as column writing gets shaken off this week, as Adam and I disagree on only six games out of 16. Let's get to it!

2020 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 1

Damn, it feels good to write this again.

I've done a number of series on here, but this one has been and probably always will be my favorite. I remember always reading and enjoying Bill Simmons' old weekly NFL picks columns, and that inspired me to start a picking contest for this back in 2012 when COAS was in its infancy. My friend Adam Quinn joined the contest in 2013, and became the weekly co-contributor in 2014. In the six seasons since, we've split wins with me taking all the even years and Adam all the odd years. That means, if the pattern holds, I'll get my crown back this season. But, ya know... 2020.

We have much of our crew back for a followup 2020 run. My brother-in-law Joe returns for another go, as does my old WONC friend, Bulls blogger, and 90's Youth Life podcast host Geoffrey Clark. Finally, back for his second year of this is Joe's uncle Jim. The five of us will make our picks every week, but typically only Adam and I will write unless I need someone to fill in for him.

As in years past, I will be tracking how we pick in relation to each other, with Adam's and my picks on here being the official ones and hopefully lining up with what gets picked on ESPN. You can follow the group (and I think up until kickoff tonight, join through this link) here. In our first round of the 2020 season, Adam and I disagree on a whopping 10 games out of 16.

And so dear friends... once more unto the breach.

2020 NFL Preview

 

Fear not, Confessions of a Sportscaster is back from hiatus!

The COVID-19 pandemic threw a huge monkey wrench into the world of sports that... I'm still not totally over. I kind of feel bad that I haven't written anything since feeling compelled to address a race issue on North Central's campus, but for a long time there wasn't anything to watch except for old sporting events. Then the NBA and NHL set up some bubbles and got started, which I took in some of.

But now the NFL season is upon us, and by some miracle (and largely timing of everything) the season appears to be going on as planned, with the only difference being a ton of empty stadiums for the time being.

So it's time to get back into the swing of things. With the college football season largely in shambles even though some FBS conferences are playing on as if nothing is happening, this means we won't see a 2020 Death to the BCS Playoffs, though I still have to simulate through the 2019 iteration. I have ideas for a pseudo-Tournament of Champions for the Death to the BCS Playoffs of the past that, time permitting, I may try to undertake. But more importantly... the COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em contest is back for its ninth season as I try to maintain even year magic and retake my crown from Adam.

So with that in mind, I need to power through some NFL previews. Last year I condensed the eight posts, one for each division, down to two. This year I'm cutting it down to one and cutting back because I haven't paid a ton of attention to preseason training camps, and without preseason games or anything, it's hard to get a read on some things. But even so, I'm willing to put my neck out there and make predictions that almost certainly will go wrong.

When "We Are NC" Goes Wrong

I try to avoid most of the political, controversial stuff here on Confessions of a Sportscaster. But this transcends politics and, while controversial, is something I feel like needs to be said.

I've touched on the anthem protests once before, and I've written some criticisms about a rival institution. The latter one raised an important point for me: you can't bring up the speck in your brother's eye without first removing the plank from your own eye. So today, I attempt to remove said plank.

And to do so, I need to refer back to the former post above. What I neglected to bring up back in May of 2018 was the plight of Mynk Richardson-Clerk. Richardson-Clerk is a 2020 graduate of North Central College and, in 2017 and 2018, a member of North Central's women's lacrosse team. So why, if she was a 2020 graduate, did she forgo those last two years of eligibility? Was it a loss of passion for the sport? Lack of playing time, or replacement by other players? According to Richardson-Clerk, it was a pattern of despicable behavior by teammates, coaches, and administration.