Random Thoughts on Football

- It's not second guessing because I thought it was dumb at the time. No one seems to be writing about it today and Michaels/Madden seemed to be OK with it last night, but when it happened the first time, I didn't understand why Mike Timlin went for two. The Steelers had drawn within 5, had all the momentum, and a ton of time left. The crowd was going nuts, the defense was acting possessed, and Ben Roethlisberger was absolutely on fire. If you have that little faith in your team, well... Coaches have never been able to figure out stuff like this (I remember Jim Mora trying to explain it when he was doing color commentary between jobs, and it remains one of the funniest things I've ever heard from the broadcast booth), and they probably never will.

- This won't come as a surprise to any college football fan, but this year's bowl season really sucked. And though FOX is giving it the old college try with their hypevertisements, I just can't get excited about Monday night's championship game. I suppose I'll watch it when I get home from work Monday night, but at this point I'm not even sure who to root for - probably the team that falls behind. I'll be pleasantly surprised if it's a good game, and I have a feeling that Ohio State will pull the upset (I think they're the underdog) because they've got such a chip on their shoulder about getting blown out in last year's title game. LSU was probably the most entertaining team to watch in 2007, but they endured so much drama in the Fall that I'm not sure any will be left for this game.

- Open memo to the Commissioners of the Pac-10 and Big-10: give it up, guys - let go of the tradition, and let's bring some great football back to the Rose Bowl. The stubborn insistence of the two conferences that the game has to exclusively feature their teams is an insult to the memory of the days when the game deserved the moniker "Granddaddy of Them All." Don't be like the RIAA and fight change just for the sake of overseeing a dying industry. Become part of the solution, and quit being part of the problem.