Why it's a Bad Idea For Oregon to Join Big Ten

College Football is going through a massive change in it's system and I don't think its very good for the game. In 2012, a term called super conferences was thrown out there and at the time the understanding was that the SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Pac 12 would all have 16 teams in each one day. This would set up eight divisions of eight teams. 

The College Football Playoff has significantly altered what is and what will be happening. With the power five setup, it leads to at least one conference being left out every year. I actually believe that Georgia who didn't make the CFB in 2018 was a better team than Oklahoma and gave Alabama a better game than Oklahoma. 

These quirks will work themselves out when Oklahoma and Texas bolt to the SEC in the coming years. USC and UCLA will pave the way for more madness in conference musical chairs. 

The Pac 12 isn't dead. I think the problem with the conference has always been the talent has been really well distributed and the different atmospheres on the road make it hard to run the table. Perhaps it will be easier to run the table without the LA schools. 

Adding a Nevada and San Diego State seems enviable. That would at least keep Bill Walton's favorite conference come sinking like the Titanic. 

From a non football point of view. Trying to invite a Gonzaga, St. Mary's Drake and Northern Iowa could make the Pac 12 an even better basketball conference. 

Oregon going to the Big Ten is my worst nightmare. For one, an 18 team conference would almost make
the conference  have a independent feel to it. Teams would barely play half the conference and Ohio State would only visit Eugene every four years if that. Some years, you would miss too many of the good teams for 11-1 to make the playoff and other years the gauntlet of a schedule would be too hard to finish 11-1. 

Best thing that any team can do is have a flashy offense and run the table and let better teams get upset at a night game on National TV and have the door open wide for you. It worked out well for Cincinnati last year. 

USC is making a money move. The schedules will be too crazy for them to go 15-0 anytime soon. 

/Unfortunately, other teams will make similar moves and this is about to get ugly. 

My Side Hussle

 Over my time since graduating high school, things have changed quite a bit. I have gone from part time student to full time student, unemployed, under employed, full time work to now mid-life crisis. 

When I wake up at 6:20am everyday to get ready for work, I feel like I'll be in the cycle forever. The advice that I have always been given was never to move to a city without a job. This advice really worried me because sometimes people with disabilities don't have the same opportunity to get the jobs that their peers desire. 

I want to create a Financial Literacy course that covers important topics that aren't covered in school or other places. 

Also, life coaching and career planning along with activates for young adults to keep them meeting friends and active in the community.  

 How will this happen? That I'm not sure. I've struggled with time management lately and it is killing me. 

Here is my unfinished website of what I want to accomplish in life/business. I will need a CEO type person that can guide me in the right direction and get this project legally registered. 

https://www.dvmhelps.com/ 

Please feel free to contact me at 604-825-0532 if you want employment. 

I look forward to hearing you. 

Has Canada Fixed Their Problems from Years Past?

 It's been six years since Canada fell to France at the last chance tournament for the 2016 Olympics. Since, FIBA has rebranded everything and has almost made the Olympic Tournament insignificant. They main focus is intended to be the World Cup which happens in a four year cycle. 

How did we get here? Massive lack of commitment from top players around the world forced this change. The system that mirrors FIFA's international break is intended to end tournaments where teams were playing eight games in eleven days. Instead, FIBA designates three or four weeks in a year where teams will play two games a week. Games are played in each country which briskly adds to the travel. 

Has it worked? The short answer is yes however we haven't seen increased commitment from the countries top players. Canada only had three NBA players last week when they capped off a 6-0 Semi Final stage with a 113-67 win over the Virgin Islands. The NBA doesn't release their players for the November and February windows so that handcuffs many teams and gives other teams an unfair
advantage. 

Some teams have 3-5 NBA players and a big drop off after that and therefore can't field as strong as a team as they would like. In contrast, other teams have no NBA players and can have their A team. 

Canada is fortunate that the quality that they have produced has also translated into the European leagues as well so we wouldn't have seen a drop off in production as we might have seen 15 years ago. Along with the likes of Puerto Rico, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico all don't have access to NBA players also for most of qualifying. Canada has benefited from this changed but is hindered once we get to the World Cup as the NBA players that Canada has don't have experience playing together. Canada is a confederation best 18-2 since the format was changed. 

Canada currently since 18th in the FIBA rankings and is poised for a better draw next summer in Japan. This is where things get interesting. Russia at 14th is banned for obvious reasons, Poland shockingly got eliminated from Euro Qualifiers and Serbia, Slovenia and Czech Republic are on the verge of not qualifying. 

Here is the pots from four years ago and Canada got hijacked a Pot 5 spot for I'm not sure why.

As you can see below, Canada should have been in Pot five instead of Iran. This would have likely given Canada a group of Spain, Turkey, Canada and Japan insted of their gauntlet that they went through in 2019. 

So the key question becomes, will Canada get hijacked into pot 6 again next spring? Canada is close to a Top 16 ranking as they only trail Venezuela and Brazil by just a few points. 

Just something to keep an eye on in the next nine months.   

Groups A, C, E, and G

Groups B, D, F, and H

Pot 1	Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 8
China (19) (host)(Group A) United States (1) (Group E)  Spain (2)  France (3)	Puerto Rico (16)  Turkey (17)  Dominican Rep. (18)  Venezuela (20)	Germany (22)  Czech Republic (24)  Poland (25)  Iran (27)	Japan (48)  Jordan (49)  Tunisia (51)  Ivory Coast (64)
Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 6	Pot 7
Serbia (4)  Argentina (5)  Lithuania (6)  Greece (8)	Russia (10)  Australia (11)  Brazil (12)  Italy (13)	Canada (23)  Montenegro (28)  Philippines (31)  South Korea (32)	Nigeria (33)  Senegal (37)  New Zealand (38)  Angola (39)

2022 NHL Mock Draft

 This is a really exciting day for the Vancouver Canucks fans. Gone our the days of us picking 5th overall and then waiting a full offseason to see what other messy situation the Canucks can get into. 

The 2020 season was ruined by Covid. That year was really fun for us and it's like we got a cliff hanger ending. 2021 was disapointing but because of the circumstances, I didn't want to overrract when we only played a quarter of the teams. 

Last year was tough to watch but was also a good reminder of how important every game is. we finished eleven games above 500. and felt good to get out of the rebuiled. This week is not a question of who the Canucks pick but rather where J.T. Miller goes. The Canucks can replunish their dry prospect pool with the right return. My asking price is a roster player, prospect and pick. However, if the pick is a 1st than the prospect could be a B level prospect. 

Would love to see a juicy return but not getting my hopes up. The qunity doesn't have to be there if the quality is. Think Bo Horvat trade.

My Top 15 mock draft is below as follows. This is by no means who I think each team needs as I'm not  an expert at what holes every team has but I'm ranking the players as best available. Will be fun in 10 years to revisit this blog post. 

Round one

#	Player	Nationality	NHL Team	College/Junior/Club Team
1	Shane Wright		Montreal Canadiens
2	Juraj Slafkovsky		New Jersey Devils
3	Simon Nemec		Arizona Coyotes
4	Logan Cooley		Seattle Kraken
5	Cutter Gauthier		Philadelphia Flyers
6	David Jiricek		Columbus Blue Jackets (from Chicago)1
7	Matthew Savoie		Ottawa Senators
8	Kevin Korchinski			Detroit Red Wings
9	Joakim Kemell		Buffalo Sabres
10	Jonathan Lekkerimaki		Anaheim Ducks
11	Conor Geekie		San Jose Sharks
12	Kevin Korchinski		Columbus Blue Jackets
13	Marco Kasper		New York Islanders
14	Frank Nazar		Winnipeg Jets
15	Denton Mateychuk		Vancouver Canucks
16			Buffalo Sabres (from Vegas)2
17			Nashville Predators
18			Dallas Stars
19