Mountain West Non Conference Football Games for '08

The college football season is almost over and only two MoWeCo teams have yet to play their bowl games. The conference's teams are 3-0 so far in the bowl season. Here is a look ahead to the '08 non-conference slate for teams in the conference with the games scheduled at this point.

** UPDATED: now complete for non-conference as of THR 2-7-8 **

AIR FORCE: 8/30 SOUTHERN UTAH; 9/13 @ Houston; 10/4 NAVY; 11/1 @ Army

BRIGHAM YOUNG: 8/30 NORTHERN IOWA; 9/6 @ Washington; 9/13 U C L A ; 10/3 (FRI) @ Utah St

COLORADO ST: 8/30 v Colorado @ Denver; 9/6 SACRAMENTO ST; 9/20 HOUSTON; 9/27 @ California

NEVADA-LAS VEGAS: 8/30 UTAH ST; 9/13 @ Arizona St; 9/20 IOWA ST; 9/27 NEVADA

NEW MEXICO: 9/6 TEXAS A&M; 9/13 ARIZONA; 9/20 @ Tulsa; 9/27 @ New Mexico St

SAN DIEGO ST: 8/30 CAL POLY; 9/6 @ Notre Dame; 9/13 @ San Jose St; 9/27 IDAHO

TEXAS CHRISTIAN: 9/6 SF AUSTIN; 9/13 STANFORD; 9/27 @ Southern Methodist; 9/27 @ Oklahoma

UTAH: 8/30 @ Michigan; 9/13 @ Utah St; 9/27 WEBER ST; 10/2 (THR) OREGON ST

WYOMING: 8/30 OHIO; 9/13 @ New Mexico St; 9/20 BOWLING GREEN; 11/8 @ Tennessee

Its good to see thirteen games already scheduled with teams from BCS conferences and six of those game to be played at the home stadiums of the MoWeCo schools. New Mexico is to be commended with home games scheduled against Texas A&M and Arizona. Unfortunately, five games are scheduled against FCS Division schools which will earn no respect from around the nation and from college football fans.

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Assassination of Bhutto to Widen War in Middle East

The tragic and senseless assassination of Benezir Bhutto in Pakistan on Thursday 27 December is a huge blow for making progress and establishing democracy in the Middle East. I believe the assassination was done by operatives working with the approval of the Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf, and this may be substantiated in time. I look for an increased and visible US military presence in Pakistan very soon as chaos and anarchy will be the order in Pakistan as the current dictatorship falls. Al-Qaida has been waiting for the opportunity to seize greater power and influence in this part of the Moslem world and the door just opened today for those terrorists. It is truly a sad day for peoples everywhere with the death of a voice that would have meant peace and progress for a nation that has been errant in many ways since its creation 60 years ago.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/122707.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/27/AR2007122701521.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/27/AR2007122700986.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2007/12/27/LI2007122700810.html?hpid=topnews

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

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My 2008 MLB HoF Ballot

These are the players whom I believe should be elected to and inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY (one of the five places I most want to see and visit still). Year refers to the number of years on the ballot.


Brady Anderson (first year on ballot) : NO
Harold Baines (5.3 percent in 2007) : YES (Year 2)
Rod Beck (first year on ballot) : NO *
Bert Blyleven (47.7 percent in 2007) : YES (Year 11)
Dave Concepcion (13.6 percent in 2007) : YES (Year 15: Last Year)
Andre Dawson (56.7 percent in 2007) : YES (Year 7)
Shawon Dunston (first year on ballot) : NO
Chuck Finley (first year on ballot) : NO
Travis Fryman (first year on ballot) : NO
Goose Gossage (71.2 percent in 2007): YES (Year 9)
Tommy John (22.9 percent in 2007): YES (Year 14)
David Justice (first year on ballot) : NO
Chuck Knoblauch (first year on ballot) : NO
Don Mattingly (9.9 percent in 2007) : NO (Year 8)
Mark McGwire (23.5percent in 2007): YES ** (Year 2)
Jack Morris (37.1 percent in 2007) : YES (Year 9)
Dale Murphy (9.2 percent in 2007) : YES (Year 10)
Robb Nen (first year on ballot) : NO
Dave Parker (11.4 percent in 2007) : NO (Year 12)
Tim Raines (first year on ballot) : YES ***
Jim Rice (63.5 percent in 2007) : YES (Year 14)
Jose Rijo (first year on ballot) : NO
Lee Smith (39.8 percent in 2007) : YES (Year 6)
Todd Stottlemyre (first year on ballot) : NO
Alan Trammell (13.4 percent in 2007) : YES (Year 7)

* I would consider Beck for election at some point in the future, perhaps by 2015.

** I think McGwire should be in the HoF, but I will wait for ten years before voting for his induction.

*** Like McGwire, Raines made some questionable at best personal choices while a player, deciding to use cocaine while in position of being a role model for millions of youth globally and then being convicted of this as a federal crime in a federal court. I will wait eight years before voting for him for induction.

I predict Gossage, Rice, and Dawson will be elected this year. Electees will be announced on Tuesday 8 January 2008 at 12Noon MST. The electees announced on that date will be inducted into the Hall on Sunday 27 July 2008 in Cooperstown, NY along with the five electees previously chosen by the Veterans Committee: Dick Williams; Billy Southworth; Walter O'Malley; Barney Dreyfuss; and, mistakenly, Bowie Kuhn instead of Marvin Miller. This is Dave Conception's fifteenth and final year on the ballot. It does not look like he will get elected so after a five year wait he will be eligible once again for consideration at that time by the Veterans Committee. Rice and John are on their penultimate ballot.

The '09 ballot includes Mark Grace and Rickey Henderson whom should get elected and the '10 ballot includes Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, and Fred McGriff whom should get elected. In 2011, the ballot will include Jeff Bagwell and John Franco.

And of course it is also time to start discussing Pete Rose. His accomplishments as a player make him worthy in spite of his deep transgressions as a manager. At some point he should be made eligible for election, perhaps in 2015 or after a new commissioner takes office. If Rose has his eligibility reinstated at some point in the future, the same step must be taken simultaneously or previously for "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, who also should be in the Hall for his accomplishments as a player as history and research has largely exhonerated him of any participation in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal posthumously.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hof08/index

http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/index.jsp

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Hall_of_Fame_balloting,_2008

http://www.hofmag.com/content/view/938/190/

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071125&content_id=2307150&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

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