Why the BCS and the NCAA are the most ethical and fair sports governing authority in the world

Actually, they're not, but when you compare FIFA to the BCS, the BCS is run by saints.

I mean, really.

NCAA is inconsistent with its punishments, and when it actually punishes people, it does so for the most stupid things (students selling their own jerseys is a huge no-no, apparently). The BCS obviously favors the big-name conferences and big-name schools. People talk about strength of schedule, but Oregon's in the championship game, and their SoS is only marginally better (by maybe one team) than Boise State's. The ACC get an automatic bid and their best team these last couple of years is more inconsistent than the value of the Mexican peso. The Big East gets an automatic bid and I'm confident that team for team, the MWC and C-USA could run roughshod over that conference.

It's all about money. It's all about TV deals. Notre Dame is also a BCS-qualifying team and they've been at BEST mediocre these last few years.

It's all bout money!

But no matter how many schools and students get gipped by the NCAA or by the BCS...they're still pinnacles of ethics and integrity compared to FIFA.

FIFA is corrupt. FIFA is broken. FIFA is a Europhile organization more interested in filling the coffers of a select few people than it is about making World Cups enjoyable, or hell, making football in general enjoyable. It's been happening for awhile.

2002 had the worst refereeing EVER (even worse than 2010), 2006 let the cheating and diving Italian team get past Australia (clearest instance) in a dive worthy of Olympic gold.

On the road to 2010, you had the French get into the World Cup with a handball that Ray Charles could've seen from his grave.

During 2010, oh man, so many instances- Coulibaly denying the U.S. a clear goal, the referees at the England-German and Mexico-Argentina playoffs (Mexico also got a goal stolen from them in the opener against the host country), Paraguay magically not getting booked in their 1st round game against Japan even though they confused football with kickball, etc.

And FIFA allowed it. Referees weren't suspended, and the only people that were barred from the stadiums were a group of very attractive Dutch cheerleaders because they were advertising Bavaria, a beer that directly competes with Budweiser, the official FIFA beer of the World Cup.

The only justice in the cup came when both Italy and France were granted early exits from the cup, thanks to Mexico and Slovakia.

And JUST when you have hope for the future, JUST when you think that maybe, just maybe, FIFA will repent and not do something mind-numbingly stupid...

Russia and Qatar are selected as the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts.

Again...what the hell?

You think that FIFA would have learned the lesson with South Africa when it comes to having host nations that a) are perennially underwhelming teams and b) don't have the facilities for it.

Let's talk about Russia first.

WHAT'S IN FRICKING RUSSIA?

Seriously. Why there?

Repressive government? Check.

Mafia ties? Check.

Tourism? Boring.

Russia, in its entirety, is pretty. It has nice forests and lakes, and...well, what else? Just like South Africa. There was NOTHING there. FIFA wants to give it to a country that never had it before and that's fine, but make sure that people will want to go. Even if I lived in Europe, I'd think twice about taking a train to Central Russia. Give to SPAIN/PORTUGAL! They were second in the bidding, have better stadiums and better cities to be at in the summer! Really.

BEACHES, PEOPLE!

BEACHES.

SUMMER TIME.

BEACHES.

Belgium/The Netherlands was also a likely contender, but it'd have been a possible repeat of Germany 2006. And England, wow, I really feel bad for them, they had the infrastructure, but not the team. I'd be willing to bet money that England will not even qualify for the 2018 World Cup, and after the way they played in the WC, I don't think they deserve to, either.

And they have proud teams, too. I hate the Portuguese crybabies as much as any honest, God-fearing man, but they field a good team. So does Spain, even though if you look closely, it's actually the Catalunya national team. Russia...not so much. The Soviet Union USED to be a good team, but the Russian Federation, let's see...since 1994, they've qualified for two cups, and exited in the group stage in both World Cups. Mexico may not be the best team in any given World Cup, but at least we've reached the knockout stage, and at least we've tried and gone down swinging.

Will the host country get out of the group stage in this World Cup?

South Africa was not so lucky (neither were the rest of the African teams).

Now let's talk 2022.

When I say Qatar, you think desert, you think oil, and you think Middle East.

"World Cup" is probably not something you think about, unless you're thinking of a sentence like the "Why the hell is Qatar hosting the World Cup?"

That's a question I asked myself, too, when one of my friends texted me saying that FIFA pulled the greatest troll ever and I realized what had happened.

First, let's talk location.

Qatar.

You're playing in the 100+ degree-weather in the middle of summer in the desert, in stadiums that haven't been built.

Really?

If anyone out there thinks oil money had nothing to do with it, let me know, because there's a bridge in New York I'd like to sell you. FIFA should have looked away from the piles of oil money and looked at things as they were: It won't be an accessible World Cup. WHO WANTS TO GO TO THE DESERT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER? If it's winter, I'm not thinking, "Well, gee, I'm sure being in Siberia right now would be just peachy!"

SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS.

Last I checked, the region wasn't exactly very stable. Qatar is one of the more progressive countries in the Middle East, but that's not saying a lot. It's still ruled by a single monarch and its laws are theist laws.

FIFA is asking for trouble, and I'm not even talking about terrorism, because as far as that goes, Qatar hasn't exactly been a hotbed for terrorism. But still an area controlled by Islamic law suddenly flooded with fans from Latin America and from Europe won't be very stable for long. And let's just say that Europe hasn't exactly had friendly relationships with the Muslim world this last decade. If there's 'outfit rules' at stadiums, FIFA might well have on its hands a bloody riot.

Some could argue that holding the World Cup in Rio is also highly unstable but...it's Brazil. I think that the violence in the favelas will be placed on pause for that entire month and then resume afterwards.

But people would at least want to go to Brazil, I'm sure.

And as far as the Qatari team....IT HAS NEVER EVEN GONE TO A WORLD CUP. South Africa's not the greatest team and not the best team in Africa, but they've gone to World Cups before it was their turn at least, and even though they've never made it to the knockout stage, their performance has been decent.

Qatar is ranked 16th in its conference and 113th in the FIFA rankings. Let me tell you who else is on that list:

1. Australia

2. Japan

3. South Korea

4. Iran

5. Saudi Arabia

6. Bahrain

7. China

8. Jordan

9. Oman

10. Iraq

11. UAE

12. Kuwait

13. Uzbekistan

14. Best Korea

15. Syria

16. Qatar

Outside the top 3, do any of those countries scream 'football powerhouse' ? Nope.

You could argue the same thing about CONCACAF, but CONCACAF, in comparison, is much smaller, AND half its members are tiny little islands.

It's going to be a slaughter, but I know FIFA's going to find a way to get Qatar at least some goals.

Football-wise, I don't see it happening. No matter what conference you can name, if the team's in the top 8, they would slaughter the Qataris on the pitch.

The United States was a much better choice. They have the stadiums, they have the great summer weather, they have the sights, they had everything. Even if football is not big in the United States, those stadiums would have been FULL. 'Soccer' is a steadily growing sport, and by the time 2022 rolls around, a lot more kids would have decided that football wasn't the best choice when you can do a lot more as a soccer player WITHOUT the average career lifespan of 4-5 years (and post-career pain for about 50 years). At the rate the NHL is going, I foresee a near future where it becomes a niche sport and soccer replaces it and makes inroads into the ground held by basketball and football.

Another thing, who DOESN'T want to come to the United States?

Attendance won't be an issue, 'things to do' will not be an issue, TV viewing would not have been an issue, but no..FIFA dropped the ball (ha) essentially flicking a huge middle finger to the United States.

It sucks, it really does. I love soccer/football with a passion. It's a sport I grew up in, it's a sport I can actually play (recreationally), it's a sport I breathe, and I wanted that cup to be held in the United States because it would have been awesome to go see a game, ANY game, at Texas Stadium.

But sigh.

FIFA, I am disappoint.

There's two things I can honestly hope for:

1. That Israel qualifies for the 2022 World Cup and gets further in the tournament than Qatar does.

2. Blatter and Platini have nothing do with the selection, and the new chair realizes that the stadiums are not built on time and no matter how much the Sheiks have paid FIFA, Qatar can't host the cup and the United States has to be activated on short notice, which the U.S is perfectly able to do.

sigh.

In which our hero muses about luck, eagles, blessings, and law school.

What is luck?

Is it some sort of divine construct, or a divine vassal of that fairest mistress of all: chance?

Or do we make our own?

I went up to South Texas College of Law earlier this week. It was my first time visiting the school in over a year, and I got a more complete tour this time, and I was amazed at how much stuff can fit into a building. Classrooms, seminars, and a huge library that has areas to study for every type of student. I saw the cloister-like windowless rooms popular at UT-B, as well as more open areas kissed by appropriate amounts of sunlight. My favorite part? The little park right outside the sixth floor. It's a big balcony with trees and tables, with a view to the downtown Houston skyline.

Oh man, I can't wait.

But I started out talking about luck, so here's where it starts to come in. My tour guide (who probably had better things to do at the admissions office) told me that the Spring 2011 entering class had ninety students, which is four times less than the Fall 2010 entering class.

Ninety students.

When I chose to reapply to South Texas College of Law, I applied with a little hesitation. Law schools that take Spring admission are few and far between, and of the five or six that do take Spring Admission, only two were realistic possibilities for me: Baylor and South Texas.

But I got in. I was one of 90 students that got into a competitive law school in a competitive semester.

Luck? Nah. I deserved AND earned that spot.

When I finished with the things I had to do with the financial aid office, I headed back downstairs to the lobby, where there's an entire wall with framed pictures of the faculty, their universities, and a little quote that they like.

One of them had the following quote:

Though youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
those who hope in the LORD
shall renew their strength.
They shall mount upon wings like eagles;
they shall run and not grow weary,
they shall walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:30-31

It just so happens that that quote is one of my favorite quotes from the Bible (granted, the version I like better says 'they shall soar upon wings like eagles' but the meaning is the same). Another interesting thing about this quote is that the morning that I received my LSAT scores, I had updated my facebook status to read: "He raised me up, on eagle's wings."
Because He did. He's raised me up, and raised my family up. I am very thankful for this.

One of the comments from my friends read simply: Isaiah 40:31, and ever since that moment, part of the passage has rested neatly and openly on my facebook profile.

Lucky coincidence?

I believe I am blessed. Some call these blessings luck, and some would call this luck a blessing.

In cases like this, I consider myself blessed to be lucky AND lucky to be blessed.

I've faced a lot of disappointments this year, but everything happens for a reason. My living arrangements, for example. I was lucky that my friend Leo had cousins attending South Texas College of Law, I was luckier still that they were able to find a 'roommate wanted' flyer on campus, and I was even luckier that said person needed a roommate for that precise semester.

And lucky me, he's a pretty cool guy, too, and a semester ahead of me in the same law school.

I have a lot to be thankful for, and I vow that my thanksgiving to all those who supported me will be expressed through my own success in law school and beyond.

I know my blog posts are sometimes lofty and laced with optimism that doesn't seem to mesh well with the fierce nature of what law school IS as compared to what I think it is...but, I don't care.

I know I'm going to suffer.

I know there'll be times I'll feel like giving up.

I know that it won't be very peachy when the stress piles up, especially with a smaller, more competitive class.

I know that I will be far from home and to an extent withdrawn from friends and family.

But I welcome that. I welcome it with open arms because I know how close I was to rotting in mediocrity. I stared at the abyss long enough to realize that no matter how much a final or a particular class may affect me, it's nothing compared to the nightmares I would have faced if I hadn't gotten into law school. I know that it'll all be worth it when I start working.