At Tecmo Super Bowl Tournament, Hope Comes 8 Bits at a Time The first half of the 88 competitors arrive shortly before 10 a.m. on the first Saturday in March. We're meeting at the Badger Bowl, an old bowling alley four miles outside of downtown Madison, Wisc. It's a brilliant sunny morning, snow piles block out several parking places and dry ice cakes the black pavement. On the frozen lakes surrounding Madison, people play ice hockey, ice fish, and ice skate in brilliantly colored parkas that stand in stark contrast to the bright white snow reflecting in the sunshine. But we've not come to spend any time outside, inside we've all got serious work -- it's time for the world's largest Tecmo Super Bowl tournament.
Last spring I wrote an article comparing Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany to Lord Voldemort, the freakishly evil villain from the Harry Potter books. At the time I was inspired to write it by Delany's quick, harsh putdown of something Joe Paterno had said. What did JoePa say? He said that he thought the Big Ten should add a 12th team.
Delany called expansion "a back-burner issue" just 10 short months ago. Now, the most powerful man in collegiate athletics has sown fear, uncertainty, and doubt all over Division I. It's amazing how small of a statement was necessary to set off the Confrapocalypse.
Is Notre Dame, an institution that for the longest time did not accept invitations to bowl games (and not just in seasons in which it finished 6-6), an institution that for the longest time did not accept female students, and an institution that in football has been forever fiercely independent, finally beginning to seriously consider joining a conference?
On Tuesday in New York City, Fighting Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick met with a few reporters and conceded that, in terms of current conference realignment rumors, "You can each come up with a scenario that would force our hand."
Such a scenario has two overriding factors: money and brand relevance. Beginning this season ESPN and its partner ABC will have the television rights to the four BCS bowls and the BCS Championship Game through 2014 (ESPN will air the BCS title game from 2011-2013 and ABC, which will retain exclusive control of the Rose Bowl, will air the 2014 BCS championship game from Pasadena). As Disney influence over college football continues to expand, Swarbrick must consider how Notre Dame's exclusive contract with NBC to air Fighting Irish home games (which runs through 2015) impacts his program.
Currently, Big Ten schools receive $22 million annually in television money, according to a recent report on ESPN's "Outside the Lines." Notre Dame, through its contract with NBC, receives about $15 million. That's correct: Indiana and Purdue both earn nearly 50 percent more in television money than fellow in-state program Notre Dame, even though the Irish dwarf both schools in terms of national interest.
It didn't take long for a bowl game in the new Yankee Stadium to become a reality. It took even less time for the bowl to attract a title sponsor. The Dec. 30 game will be known as the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.
New Era's sponsorship deal will last for four years. The bowl's broadcast deal with ESPN will last for six years. The game is currently slated to match the third team from the Big East with the sixth team from the Big 12. With both those conferences currently stuck in Big Ten Expansion Purgatory the term "currently" applies. Those leagues may not be around much longer, at least in their current form.
It's bad form to bend the bill of your New Era cap, but if you plan on going to this game, you can figure on bending and unbending plenty of dollar bills. Last season Yankee Stadium concession prices verged on the confiscatory. Try $5 for a soda and $9 for a beer. The only good news is that the APR on the nacho financing is down to 7.9%.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- If anyone thinks Tim Tebow is greedy for charging $160 for his autograph, don't tell Lucille Tharpe.
"He's a good Christian boy who believes in my heavenly father," she said. "And I'd stand up and give them the back of my hand."
Lucille can't even walk, which sometimes happens when you're 95. But I firmly believe she'd arise from her wheelchair and smite anyone who said a bad word about her Timmy.
She didn't have to budge Saturday. Tebow held his first autograph session as a professional, meaning he could charge without the NCAA arresting him.
And boy, did he charge. To paraphrase the initials on one of Tebow's bracelets -- What Would Jesus Think?
I'm no theologian, but I think he'd be fine with Tebow cashing in. Jesus might have even paid $75 to have his picture taken with Tebow. (Hint to photo collectors: Tim would be the messiah on the left).
Is 
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- If anyone thinks 
