Chick fil-A press conference

[OldPhiKap]

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/599918...stion_is_moot/

[Reilly]

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/599918...stion_is_moot/

When my daughter was 2.5 or 3, she kept slightly banging the nursery bedroom door against the wall while I changed her little brother, making an annoying sound. The conversation ensued this way:

Me: "Honey, please don't bang the door and make that noise."
Her: "Why?" [another bang]
Me: "Because it's annoying, and not good for the door, and it bothers [dog #1]."
Her: "Does it bother [little brother]?" [another bang]
Me: "No, he doesn't seem to mind, but I mind, and it bothers [dog #1]."
Her: "Does it bother [dog #2]?" [another bang]
Me: "Well, [dog #2] is out with mommy right now at his class and can't hear you, so the question is moot."
Her (v. annoyed, and raising her voice): "The question is NOT moot!"

[jimsumner]

I have a pal who is in the athletic department, and without saying too may details, I can tell you that he is not a fan of the current bowl system. He says that the bowl selection process is super political, and that a bunch of bowls may call you and tell you how much they want you in their bowl, but say the same thing to a bunch of other schools too (so it doesn't really mean anything when a bowl calls you). And on the assertion that they had made this decision Friday... well, when I talked with my friend mid-day Sunday, he still had no idea (narrowed it down between to 3 bowls... El Paso, Orlando, and the chick-fil-a). So while its possible the bowl knew who they would select, they sure did not tell Duke until sometime sunday afternoon.

With respect to the Keeley tweets, I would trust her reporting more than the statement of the bowl ceo. Given how much time passed before Duke was notified, I would guess that there was some hold-up/dispute.

Keep in mind that Duke was only in the CFA if Clemson got the Orange Bowl spot. Any promises the CFA made to Duke were dependent on that. So, Duke wouldn't have known for sure Sunday until Clemson was locked in.

The bowl selection process can be a minefield. But Stokan has a reputation for being a straight shooter and I'm inclined to give him a lot of leeway.

[budwom]

Yeah, I hate seeing us get all wound up in this (myself included) when we should be enjoying
the bowl situation itself...however, the former reporter in me really really would like to know
what happened, or what Keely thinks happened. I have no dog in the hunt...but I don't think
it's unfair for someone to ask Laura what she was alluding to.

[Indoor66]

Does this discussion have any significance in any aspect of any part of any life? What difference does it make? We play in Atlanta.

[uh_no]

Does this discussion have any significance in any aspect of any part of any life? What difference does it make? We play in Atlanta.

duke men are off, duke football is off, duke women are off...we gotta talk about something!

the same argument could be made about, say officiating...one could say "what difference does it make, we're shooting freethrows"

but just because an event has happened doesn't mean people don't want to discus the causes that brought about the current state...

[Reilly]

Does this discussion have any significance in any aspect of any part of any life? What difference does it make? ...

"Nothing matters very much, and few things matter at all."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Balfour

(I learned that quote at Duke, from Reynolds Price, who said that quote and a photo of earth from outer space helped him to maintain perspective.)

To those of us who care about Duke football, and its place at the main table on Thanksgiving, it matters. When Cut talks about people laughing at the idea of Duke football winning championships, that matters to some ... when Cut talks about the Gameday crew yukking it up and saying nice things about Duke, but not *really* believing, that matters ... and when reporters put out there that a team we beat, and finished ahead of, might be selected for a more prestigious bowl over us for who-knows-what-reason, and intimates that we had to be helped into that bowl by politicking rather than football merit, yeah, it matters. As Stokan intimated, it's insulting to Duke and what Duke football accomplished. If there's something to the story, let's see it.

[throatybeard]

I scarcely knew who Ms Keeley was before this past week, but given how appalling the treatment of her has been by some parties in this thread, I'm certainly a fan of hers now.

[Duvall]

A report on the fairly political SEC bowl selection process.

The first bowl with a crack at Texas A&M was the Capital One Bowl, which had coveted the Aggies and Johnny Football in 2012. But the SEC, cautious to protect its top teams, wasn’t about to let South Carolina (10-2) slide behind Texas A&M (8-4), and the Gamecocks were Orlando-bound against Wisconsin.

The Outback Bowl in Tampa was next in line. Although its selection committee was intrigued by the idea of Manziel, that would have let LSU (9-3) slip to the Chick-fil-A or Gator. Since the Tigers played in Atlanta the season before, Stokan was likely to take a pass.

But the SEC office didn’t want LSU falling behind the Aggies.

“[SEC commissioner] Mike Slive worked very hard to get the Outback to take LSU,” Catlett said.

I'm sure things are different on the ACC side, though.

[OldPhiKap]

Thoughts and prayers continue for Brandon and his family. Does anyone have an update on Mrs. Connette?

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Thoughts and prayers continue for Brandon and his family. Does anyone have an update on Mrs. Connette?

Here's a blog which is updated from time to time. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nancyconnette

[Newton_14]

I have a pal who is in the athletic department, and without saying too may details, I can tell you that he is not a fan of the current bowl system. He says that the bowl selection process is super political, and that a bunch of bowls may call you and tell you how much they want you in their bowl, but say the same thing to a bunch of other schools too (so it doesn't really mean anything when a bowl calls you). And on the assertion that they had made this decision Friday... well, when I talked with my friend mid-day Sunday, he still had no idea (narrowed it down between to 3 bowls... El Paso, Orlando, and the chick-fil-a). So while its possible the bowl knew who they would select, they sure did not tell Duke until sometime sunday afternoon.

With respect to the Keeley tweets, I would trust her reporting more than the statement of the bowl ceo. Given how much time passed before Duke was notified, I would guess that there was some hold-up/dispute.

I think this was much ado over nothing and that Keeley (I do like her reporting) made a mistake. The only reason Duke was not officially notified until Sunday was because of the situation with Clemson. Clemson had to be ranked 14th or higher in the polls to qualify for a BCS Bowl. The Chic-Fil-A Bowl Director (a former NC State Basketball Player) stated adamantly that he told Swofford on that Saturday Night at the ACC Title game, that if Clemson was ranked 14th or higher in the new rankings that were to come out that next day (the Sunday in question), and thus got selected by the Orange Bowl, then the Chic-Fil-A Bowl was going to select Duke. If Clemson was ranked outside the top 14, the Chic-Fil-A was taking Clemson. The reality is that the Chic-Fil-A Bowl folks were set with Clemson or Duke as of the week of the Conference Championship games, and at that point had eliminated Miami and VaTech from consideration. As soon as the polls came out, Duke was notified. It could not be announced until 8:45, after the BCS Selection Show had aired. The Director went on to say that there was no way they were taking Miami or VaTech over Duke, given the fact that Duke beat both of them head to head, won 10 games, won the Coastal, and were ranked higher than both. People can make their own assumptions but I find that to make perfect sense and to be very credible. He was very ticked off about the tweets, said that they always allow teams to play their way into or out of their bowl, and not only did Swofford not pressure him to take Duke (they never even spoke after the conversation during the ACC Championship game) Swofford had never suggested/pressured/pushed for them to take a specific team in any of the years prior. Swofford knew that Saturday night it was either going to be Clemson or Duke.

Some Miami reporters/bloggers put out the bogus story that the Chic-Fil-A Bowl really wanted Miami, but Swofford pressured them to take Duke instead and unfortunately some folks, including Keeley, ran with that bad info. Thus the tweets.

I don't think politics or conspiracy had a thing to do with it personally, and again, I have nothing against Laura Keeley and like her reporting. She does a good job much of the time. I just feel she made a rookie mistake that she will learn from and move on.