Semantics, Basketball news, and the blowhards on Capitol Hill (LOTD 7/3)

A bit of personal business to kick off the weekend, then we'll get to sports. First, yes, I have sold out. It's the 21st century, get over it (and visit our new sponsor, www.NotreDameTickets.com!). Second, shout outs to One Foot Down and Charlie's Nasties for some kind words. I love it when the Irish brethren point out TDS, and the favor is always returned.

Alright, on to sports. Yesterday we mentioned the ticket lottery, where you will surely miss out on getting USC tickets, instead getting tix to one of the other non-attractive home games (thank you, Kevin White). Ticket lottery results will be announced on July 8th, so I suggest you take all of those tickets you don't want, head over to www.NotreDameTickets.com, and trade them for USC tickets. You don't want to miss the game of the year, after all (alright, I promise I'll stop plugging now.)

More news from the official website: The Michigan kickoff time has been set. The September 12th matchup will be played at 3:30 pm, which is when it is always played, so I don't see the reason for building suspense. It will be an ABC game, and the only ABC game at that time slot, so it will be nationally televised. That gives every game on the schedule an official kickoff, with the exception of the Pitt game.

A couple of basketball notes: First, the Big East schedule has been released. We get Cincinnati, UConn, and South Florida twice, which is a pretty nice deal. Syracuse is played at home, as is Pitt, and West Virginia. Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, and Villanova will all be on the road. It's not a bad slate, certainly much better than last years.

Second, Notre Dame assistant Sean Kearney has landed the Holy Cross coaching gig. Kearney has been coaching for 22 years and has finally landed a head coaching job, getting to take on the Patriot League. Cheers to Kearney, I wish him the best of luck.

Okay, on to non-ND news. I was going to do a separate post on the whole BCS-Congress non-sense, but the holiday weekend is getting in the way. If nothing else, it gives me a chance to use my favorite label. So the political blowhards, led by Orrin Hatch, want to get some face time and are going to take on sports again. The distinguished moron from Utah is claiming is forming a subcommitted to look into antitrust issues, competition policy, and consumer rights.

As always, this is a huge waste of time (not to mention tax dollars). If anyone expects the BCS to change as a result... well, keep wishing. The problem is that I agree with Hatch - I'd love to see the BCS taken apart in favor of a playoff - but Congress shouldn't be involved in something so trivial when there are MUCH bigger issues at hand. Again, NOTHING WILL BE CHANGED, so the politicians get to parade around for sports fans, leading the crusade everyone wants to be fought, just not by them.

Oh, and how did the BCS respond? Lay off, or we'll go back to the totally wacked pre-BCS bowl arrangement system. So seriously, the BCS is better than the split-national champion system (where Michigan gets awarded a MNC). I want a playoff, but I certainly don't want the ridiculous system that was. A playoff will happen eventually, but Congress won't behind it, so.... SHUT UP CONGRESS!

Okay, I feel better now. Dr. Saturday's Matt Hinton has a story looking at the possibility that the NCAA will bring down the hammer on USC because, well, they haven't done it in a while. No major program has been hit with post-season bans since Cal in 2003, which is more than 6 years ago. TSN's Dave Curtis says,

"Watch out, USC. Some influential folks in the NCAA are yearning to hammer a school that has strayed from its rules on recruiting and/or academics... Circumstances have aligned, in official and unofficial contexts, for the NCAA to snap back at the increased rule-bending around the country. And what better way to send college football a message than to handicap one of the sport's flagship programs for the next few years."

I've been holding this position for a while. To reitterate, I think USC will get pounded; loss of post-season play, loss of scholarships, probation. This gives commenters a chance to lay down the cliched "I'll believe it when I see it," which is always fun.

Alright, that's all for today. There's a good shot there won't be any posting tomorrow, so have a great holiday weekend Blarneys.

Oh, and visit the great people at www.NotreDameTickets.com for all of your ticket needs. They really are stars of the internet universe, bastions of ticket haggling, the light on the proverbial scalping lighthouse, the apex of ........