one crazy day

Hi. It rained here today. The north side of the city is under water. It started raining around 2am, lightened up around 4pm and finally stopped by 7pm. I left for work this morning at 7am and it turned into flash floods. Part of the highway use was shut down (unbeknownst to me) and I was stuck in traffic. Again. For 3 hours. I had flash backs of Christmas Eve. I was stuck on the same bridge, just in the north bound lane instead of the south bound. Ugh.

I got to work just as a coworker received a call from his teenage daughter saying that their house was starting to flood. He left right away, and couldn't get into his neighborhood because of all the water. She was rescued from the house by a boat. Let me tell you this... very few people in Oklahoma have flood insurance. Those who do, live near a creek or lake that is prone to flooding. Those of us who don't have flood insurance don't because the rates are outrageous and so much more expensive because of some stupid 100 year floodplain rule. Anyway, at last word, coworker and his family were safe and together.

In other news, I've been DYING to post about this whole Big XII shake up. I've been holding out my rant until a final decision was made. :::the following comments are my entitled opinions, you don't have to agree with me::: For the most part, that decision came today. It all started with frikkin Nebraska. They realized their days of being a Big XII powerhouse were over. They would never again be as powerful as OU or Texas. So, they put all their corn in their crybaby bag, and went off to the Big 10. *which is now a 12 school conference.* This created a whirlwind tizzy among the rest of the Big XII schools, and everyone panicked.

I think Nebraska just went to prison and bent over. I mean, recruiting in the Big 10 to go to Nebraska? Ha! That's the funniest thing about all of it. It's bad enough that they will likely only win 4 games. They are going to be the biggest joke of the Big 10, and I don't see them ever beating Ohio State, Michigan or Michigan State. Idiots. But, I'm not bitter. Much.

Then, the Pac 10 got a ridiculous notion to expand their conference to 16 schools, offering 6 Big XII the opportunity to join them and create a super conference. Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, OU, OSU and Colorado were the chosen ones. Shortly after Nebraska scurried off to the Big 10, Colorado announced its commitment to join the Pac 10. That makes sense geographically, and CU has long wanted to be part of the Pac 1o, so whatever. It worked out for CU. Great. I figured it wasn't long before the rest of the schools joined Colorado to create the super conference Pac 16, and my beloved Big XII would dissolve right before my eyes.

To all my Pac 10 friends, please tell me what were hearing around your parts, and whether or not you were into the idea of a 16 team super conference. I was mostly concerned with OU. I don't want to be Pac 10 anything. I like most of the schools and all, and the idea of being able to heavily to recruit in California was a huge perk, but all the other schools being able to recruit in Texas was an enormous downside. I get that the money for all of the schools would have doubled (and more than doubled for some) but money aside, I can't see the benefit of joining up with Pac 10. I mean, the chance to compete for a National Championship for OU (and Texas) would be greatly decreased. No good.

There was brief talk of OU joining the SEC. I liked this idea much better. It would make OU a stronger team in just a few seasons. We'd be forced to change the defense to compete with the strong SEC schools. OU's defense needs some serious improvement, and the SEC would have been the best opportunity to make that happen. But Texas was the school holding all the cards, and in a sense, the future of the remaining Big XII schools. If Texas decided to join the Pac 10, then the rest of the schools with the offer extended would most certainly follow right behind their decision.

In my opinion, the best case scenario would have been for the Big XII to remain united, and invite BYU and TCU to join the conference. Over the past few years, both schools have been excellent opponents for Big XII schools, and both have beaten OU. Tonight, I had a huge sigh of relief. With a new television deal with the Big XII commissioner, Texas declined the invitation to join the Pac 10. An hour later, OU made the same announcement, and 30 minutes after that, OSU followed suit. I haven't heard all of the details of the television deal, but from what I understand, each school will be allowed to launch their own network, (i.e. Soonervision, Longhorn Network) and pocket the profits. This means between 15 and 20 million dollars more per year for Big XII schools.

The HUGE down side to all of this, is the Big XII will inevitably become one of the weaker conferences in the BCS, perhaps on the same level as the ACC. Ouch. If 2 more schools aren't added, we will no longer be competing for a conference championship. Big XII recruiting opportunities drastically decline.

I wish our Troll were still around. I would love to here his thoughs on all of this crap.

So, who knows what the future holds, but right now, the Big 1o has 12 schools, and the Big XII has 10 schools. go figure.