Unafraid Anonymous Emails #9

It’s Wednesday and the best ever #Unafraid Anonymous Emails are here. This is a time where you all can send in all your questions and comments without fear. Anonymity is guaranteed!

Send all your anonymous email questions to unafraidshow@gmail.com. And I will answer them. 
Make sure to share this post so everyone can enjoy!
Follow #UnafraidShow live daily on Periscope, YouTube, or Facebook for alerts!
 
On to the emails:
The level of my social skills is very low. I want to date more but I think I sent off the wrong messages. I’m sure a guy from my building has a crush on me but I don’t think he wants to make any more moves because he’s afraid I’ll reject him. I see him every day when we are out walking our dogs. It’s 2017, as women, I guess I should be okay with asking him out myself, but I think a man should ask a woman out. What can I do to get his attention w/o looking desperate or thirsty? I thought I was dropping hints when I always ask him a question when I see him.
GEORGE: There are a couple of things that could be happening in your situation.
You are not sending the “come get me you man you” messages you are wanting to. Or he’s like most men who just miss some of the signs and signals women try and throw up.
For most of my life, I believed that the man, “got the woman”. He some kind of way through his looks, charm, persistence, or infinite wisdom got a woman’s affection. Yea well, Danisha opened my eyes to the secret lives of women. They regularly and intentionally do things to get a man’s attention that we men believe is just an “organic” interaction. I’m not talking about the obvious stuff like bending over or asking for help with something she clearly knows how to do. I’m talking about sending flowers to herself on Valentine’s Day so men see it and feel some kind of way type stuff.
He could just be a guy who is not confident in his abilities to talk to you.
The moral of the story is: be proactive. Ask him to go to coffee or for a smoothie. That is innocent enough that you don’t look thirsty, but forward enough to give him a little confidence boost.
My boyfriend posts naked pictures of himself online. Am I wrong for wanting it to stop? His justification for it has always been it helps him express himself and embrace his sexuality. To me when he gets hundreds of comments from both men and women telling him what they’d like to do to him- that feels almost like cheating to me. Am I just acting like a crazy jealous girlfriend? Or do I like have a place to ask him to stop? (we’ve been dating for 2 years so this is not a like a new thing)
GEORGE: You cannot ask that man to stop posting naked pictures of him online. He has been doing this for 2 years that you know of. If you get off on posting naked pictures online, who knows how many women have screenshots of this dude.
The reality is your boyfriend has no plans on doing anything great out in the world. His choices have made it so he can’t do anything notable or accomplished in almost any profession. This naked flixx are bound to come out an sabotage his career.
Your best bet is to get a new boyfriend, get with the program and expect nothing great out of him, or wait it out and hope he wants to change and seek therapy.
So there’s this neighbor that lives next to us that I’m almost certain abuses his dog. I’d hear him yell at the dog all the time, the dogs always slouched and looks weak, and one time when I and a few friends were walking and the dog was in our way, the owner grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the way. I have no clue man, either this is paranoia. But who should I contact about this?
GEORGE: I don’t like nosey neighbors. I am typically a mind your own house, don’t worry about mine kind of person, but I don’t see a scenario where I could be ok knowing the neighbor is abusing his dog.
My first order of business would be to talk to the man. Calling the authorities on people feels extreme when there could be extenuating circumstances surrounding what you saw.
If he is beating or torturing his dog then you may want to call your local Animal Services branch. They will for sure get the problem solved for you.
I am getting married in a few months. Currently, I have three roommates, one of them I really dislike. He appears to want to attend the wedding but conversely doesn’t care about me very much nor my fiancée. However, not inviting him results in an awkward situation because we have the same friend group (for now) and by the time I am married we will have lived together for almost a few years (by random assignment). After I’m married I’ll be able allowed to have my own place. Also, we work together and have to see each other semi-regularly even after I move out. Is there a way to avoid inviting this guy?
GEORGE: Weddings are expensive. They are much too expensive to be inviting people you don’t want there. You are incurring food, seating, and alcohol costs for every person’s attendance. I don’t know what you do for a living, but you have multiple roommates. People with multiple roommates typically don’t have a lot of extra disposable income. That’s just another reason to leave homeboy out of the wedding.
The reality is he probably doesn’t want to waste his Saturday at your wedding any more than you want him there.
I would talk to him and let him know straight up that he does not have to go and that your feelings will NOT be hurt. He will likely be hesitant to admit that he doesn’t want to go. As soon as he realizes that there will be no hard feelings, he will be relieved and decline to attend.
Why aren’t I getting matches on Tinder? No matter how many times I swipe on tinder, I don’t get any matches. Why?
GEORGE: Either your profile picture or bio suck! It can’t be because of looks because there is somebody for everybody on Tinder… At least that is what I hear. Change the picture immediately. Make sure it’s not too close up on you. There is nothing more creepy than a profile picture that’s zoomed in too much.
I bet you didn’t have a friend read your bio before you posted it. It probably contains some “red flags”. You can’t tell everybody all the weirdo things you do upfront. They have to see the good parts first so they can overlook the fact that you wash your hands 28 times per day, or that you are a grownup who likes to do Civil War reenactments on the weekends.
The last “dating app/site” I used was Black Planet. That was in college around 2001, but I guarantee things haven’t changed at all. So yes, I’m an expert at this. Lol.

Congratulations Fans and College Football Committee: Ratings are… DOWN!

 
I wrote an article about a week ago about how the College Football Playoff committee set the game back 10 years by putting Alabama in the top four. Now, there is, even more proof to support my argument. College Football Ratings are down. As a fan and analyst, the answer why is crystal clear: Schedules. There are less and less competitive non-conference games every year. NFL ratings are already suffering from a competition problem (in addition to other important issues). The NCAA and conference leaders need to fix this problem before college football heads down that same path. Here’s where the networks finished for average viewership for this year’s CFB regular season:
CBS: 4.951 million viewers, down 10% from 5.489 million in 2016.
ABC: 4.203 million, down 18% from 5.097 million.
Fox: 3.625 million, up 23% from 2.951 million.
NBC: 2.742, down 3% from 2.814 million.
ESPN: 2.155 million, down 6% from 2.300 million.
FS1: 819,000, up 4% from 743,000.
(Source: Per Austin Karp Sports Illustrated)
Every network saw a decline in viewership except Fox and FS1. Fox bought the rights to the Big 10 network and swapped out viewers from ESPN’s family of networks. The bottom line is that fans are more frequently tuning out of not showing up to see their team get 2-3 free wins per season. They want to see good opponents showing up to the stadium so they get their monies worth. My wife and I have UCLA season tickets, yet every year we debate renewing them depending what the home schedule is. I know there are many people like me. These programs ask you to spend your hard earned money on sweatshirts, swag, and other merchandise, but most won’t schedule more than one good non-conference game. Nobody wants to see “insert favorite team” play Mercer, Citadel, Northern Colorado, or Southern Utah.
 
If we are all college football fans, why aren’t more people banging on the table demanding change like me? The game is changing for the worse and the playoff committee and analysts just sit idly by and pass this trash on to fans like it’s good football. Teams who play a weak non-conference schedule are rewarded with high rankings, and spots in the playoffs despite untenable schedules. There are only 13 Saturdays of regular season college football. No weekend should feature a mediocre schedule of games! What is it going to take to get more non-conference matchups like USC vs Miami, Auburn vs Oregon, or TCU vs Ohio State in the regular season?
 
Many people applaud Alabama for scheduling their annual neutral site game to open up the season. However, I’d argue that those games have hurt college football. Where have the days gone where teams have the balls to schedule a home-and-home series with another Power 5 opponent. Alabama hasn’t played a non-conference away game since Penn State in 2011. Here comes the “Nick Saban said Bama scheduled Mercer because no one else would play them” line. You really believe that USC, Penn State, or Wisconsin wouldn’t have rather scheduled a home-and-home series against Alabama instead of a neutral cite game? This is not an indictment exclusively on the Crimson Tide.
 
Think about this: Before their 2017 neutral site game against Michigan, Florida hadn’t traveled outside of the state of Florida for a non-conference game since 1991.
 
College football ratings will continue to fall as long as nothing changes. The question is, will the powers that be ignore this problem staring them in the face, or will they take decisive and immediate action to rectify the problem? It would be extremely simple for all Power 5 conferences to play nine conference games, two Power 5 non-conference games, and one game to give the little guys some money. This would fix the scheduling disparity between conferences, and provide fans with more inter-conference matchups to be interested in. If you go down the list of the top twenty-five most watched games of 2017, all of the games are either conference matchups or power 5 non-conference games.
 
Many people would argue that this schedule nonsense has been going on forever, it’s just the way of the college football world. I’d argue that the landscape of sports is changing right before our eyes. Every year, people get more and more options for entertainment, and mediums to consume them. Every sport now has to earn their viewers on an annual basis. The days of people just watching any old game just because it is on are over. Ratings will continue to decline as long as these horrible scheduling practices stay in place. These pitiful scheduling practices will remain in place until teams are penalized and miss the college football playoffs.
 

There is a foreseeable downside to more competitive schedules for Power 5 teams that I will acknowledge. There will be less 8, 9, and 10 win seasons for fringe teams. That means more of you will be demanding your coaches gets fired. Pick your poison college football fans. Do you want a better slate of games all season? Or do you want your team to have a chance to go undefeated?

Before You Fire Your Coach: Take the Unafraid Coaching Test

 As of November 29th, there have been 15 FBS head coaching jobs that have come open. All but three of those jobs (Oregon State, UTEP, Mississippi State) came about because the previous coach was fired. None of these coaching changes were unexpected, but were they warranted? I would argue that the Arizona State and Texas A&M fires were premature. Thanks to social media, fans, and boosters that are screaming about wanting their coaches fired are now heard and more often than not get their wish granted.
With some coaches having large buyouts, there are obvious financial ramifications to firing a head coach. In addition to financial ramifications of firing the coach, there is often a lot of uncertainty when you don’t know who the next head coach is going to be. Many fan bases that have called for their coaches to be fired are learning a hard lesson. You may get your wish with your coach being fired, but your new coach may be from the “scratch and dent bin.” There are good coaches in the scratch and dent bin, but they aren’t perfect and have some unsuccessful times in their history. But you got what you wanted, a new coach.
It is abundantly clear that many schools do not make good decisions when it comes to deciding whether to retain or fire their head coaches. So I am here to help. I have come up with a simple, absolutely genius, and foolproof test to determine whether or not your head coach needs to be fired.
Unafraid Coaching Test
Every head coach needs to be reevaluated every season. It does not matter whether the coach went undefeated and won the championship or went defeated and zero games. You only need to answer two questions two know whether your coach needs to be fired or not.
Number one: Is there a coach that is guaranteed to take your job that is better than your current coach? Example: Clay Helton is the head coach at USC. He seems to be doing a good job, but anyone clearly would fire him if Chip Kelly or Nick Saban would replace him.
Number two: Is there still hope? Can your current coach go into the living rooms of 17-21-year-old kids and sell them and their parents on the fact that the future of your program is brighter than the past? Can you make them buy in, believe, and go all in with you?
If you can’t answer both of these questions in the affirmative, then you need a head coaching change. The Unafraid Coaching Test is a simple and foolproof test. If Athletic Directors and administrators answered these two simple questions every season, they wouldn’t consistently mess up their programs. This method of determining whether to keep or fire your coach is an easy explanation to the boosters and other influential people around your program. It will keep the waters from being muddied by people with personal agendas and faulty reasoning. When Athletic Directors and administrations listen to the mob of angry fans, they mess up their programs by firing a coach too prematurely, or they rely on their gut/pride and keep the coach too long.
The angry mob of fans and boosters change their minds like the wind; their opinions cannot be trusted in the short term. Think about this.  Early this season Auburn fans and boosters were calling for Gus Malzahn to be fired. Now, he has the Tigers sitting at #2 in the country and one win away from playing for a national championship.
Here are a couple of common questions I got when I explained this on #UnafraidShow:
What if the coach is winning, but he can’t recruit?
If your coach can’t recruit, then he can’t win long term. If he can’t win, there will be a loss of hope. When the loss of hope happens, fire your coach. Don’t fire a winning coach!
What if the coach recruits well, constantly goes 8-5 or 9-4, and can never get you “over the hump”?
This is clearly referring to Kevin Sumlin. If you can for sure get Jimbo Fisher who has won a national championship firing Sumlin is a good move. If you miss on Jimbo, you have ROYALLY screwed up. A coach who recruits well and consistently stays in those win totals is really close to breaking through. You will wish for him back two years from now.

Next time you get into a discussion about whether or not the coach of your favorite team needs to be fired refer to the Unafraid Coaching Test.

#UnafraidShow Anonymous Emails #7

It’s Wednesday and the best ever #Unafraid Anonymous Emails are here. This is a time where you all can send in all your questions and comments without fear. Anonymity is guaranteed!


Send all your anonymous email questions to unafraidshow@gmail.com. And I will answer them. 


Little twist this week. You guys have been enjoying #TheWifevsTheExpert. If you don’t know, it’s when DanishaDanielle (my wife) picks college football games against me The Expert against the spread. This week I decided to let her weigh in on the Anonymous emails. I give the best advice but she will tell you the “right thing”.

Make sure to share this post so everyone can enjoy!

Follow #UnafraidShow live daily on Periscope, YouTube, or Facebook for alerts!
On to the emails:
6 moths ago my brother and I bought 4 Hamilton tickets in Los Angeles. The intention was a date night with our wives. I put them on my credit card. They were going to pay me for them later. No big deal, he’s always good for it. About 3 months ago my brother finds out his wife of 5 years had been cheating on him with his boss. He promptly filed for divorce. Naturally, I’m pissed off at her. She’s begging him back and all that but he’s not having any of it. He’s proceeding with the divorce. The newest thing is that she still wants to go to Hamilton because the tickets are impossible to get (except inflated resale) and she was supposed to go. I told my brother don’t pay me for the tickets because it’s a gift, he’s going through a rough time. Now she wants to pay me for her ticket so she can go. My brother said it was up to me since I bought them. I really hate her ass for hurting my brother. My wife is unsure. Do I let her go or banish her with the lepers?
GEORGE: This is a tough choice for you. You can sell that one Hamilton ticket and pay for the whole night, or you can give it to the cheater and have to be around her all night.
Your brother knows whether he wants her to go or not. There is no way I would let my brother put this on me, so I could then be blamed later for it. He would have to make this decision. Since he’s strong enough to file for divorce, I’d assume he’s strong enough to weigh in with an actual opinion.
It sounds like your brother is basing his decision on how you feel. Otherwise he would have just said no. Your brother either feels so obligated to take her, or wants to reconcile with her. He’s thinking, “My bro just gave me expensive and hard to come by Hamilton tickets, and I know they what my wife did and do want to be around her so I’ll let him make the choice”. Don’t let it happen.
I get that you hate her for hurting your brother, but it’s not your life. You have to let him know that whatever decision he makes is ok and completely up to him. I read up to answer this question. Depending on what you read, 45-60% of people who have infidelity in their marriage get back together. And in cases of divorce, about 33% of couples get back together when the woman wants to reconcile.
The other option is to ask her to pay for the ticket if he allows her to go. At least you can feel better about your night knowing you didn’t have to fork over the cash for somebody you can’t stand right now.
If your brother and her get back together and she’s good to him, your feelings will change long term.
DanishaDanielle: As much as your guys planned a fantastic date night for all four of you, it will probably be pretty awkward and tension filled. Affairs are destructive not only to the marriage itself but also the relationships around the marriage. You have every right to be angry at your sister-in-law’s behavior, but what your brother needs right now is your support in his marriage…or in his divorce. Your sister in law probably wants to go to have a chance to reunite and have a fun night like you all used to. Your sister-in-law has a lot of making up to do if they even have a chance of working things out. Ultimately it is your brother’s decision and he needs your support no matter what. 
This is a tough time for all of you. I’m sorry you are going through this. We will pray for your family.
After seeing that both Michael Crabtree and Aqib Talib were both suspended two games for fighting I was so pissed. This same thing happened to my son in 10th grade. A jealous kid who is a known bully slapped him in the back of the head and ripped off his gold chain. My son punched him in the face and proceeded to beat him up. Guess who got suspended? My kid. The administrators said he should have walked away after getting slapped and getting his chain snatched. This kid is just like Talib who has been in trouble numerous times. I don’t get it. I told my son if he does it again beat his ass again. What else was I supposed to tell my son?

GEORGE: I know my answer is going to be extremely unpopular amongst school administrators.
Let’s be real about this. We all teach our kids to walk away from situations, and tell the teacher etc. But there are some times that you have to stand up for yourself in life. Some people do not respect restraining orders and peaceful resolutions.
What I have learned in the world is that if you let one person get away with invading your personal space or disrespecting you others will follow suit. Some people don’t even do it maliciously; they just see that other people did it to you so it clearly is not a big deal if they do it to you.
My son wears a gold chain, if some kid purposely snatches his chain to disrespect him, he better do something to make sure it is abundantly clear to that kid and everyone else that trying to take his chain is a horrible idea. If he does not, he’s got to see dad.
The fact that the administrators suspended your son is awful. The NFL suspending Crabtree at all or even for the same length of time, as Talib is awful. You have a person who has had multiple incidents and suspensions punished the same way as a first time offender.
I find it laughable when people are repeatedly expected to respond civilly after someone has shown they won’t respond to civility.  The administrators at your school are awful.
DanishaDanielle: No. You are absolutely right. Enough said. I, too  don’t think Crabtree should have been ejected, suspended, or fined AT ALL. Every person has the right to not have his or her body  and personal belongings violated. If your son were willing to stand up for himself and fight back, I would absolutely encourage him to do so. He should never start a fight but he can absolutely finish it in my book.
If your son is not willing to stand up for himself I would do whatever other measures are necessary to escalate things- authorities at the school, police, and even a civil suit if necessary. That’s if I can do so before my husband showed up to “talk” to this kid.😉
The guy I’m dating just got a dog. He got a Yorkshire Terrier. This turned me off. A man is not supposed to get a little bitty dog. I can just envision him carrying it around instead of letting it walk. I like big dogs and manly men. He’s a good dude, but I think a man that like small dogs might be gay. Am I wrong for this?
GEORGE: Just because a man owns a small dog doesn’t make him gay. However, a man that carries a small dog might be gay. I must admit that whenever I see guys with small dogs the thought does cross my mind. There is no reason for dogs that are not injured to be carried.
I’m not a small dog fan, for the exact reason you said. It does not feel very masculine. It’s like driving a Mini Cooper instead of a Ferrari. In all transparency, I am in a two-dog family. ShiTzu (12lbs) and Portuguese Water Dog (35 lbs). We needed hypoallergenic dogs (don’t @ me about dogs not being hypoallergenic. They work for my family) and large breeds don’t have too many options. I have grown to like the ShiTzu, however, when my daughter leaves the house for college, she will be taking the dog ASAP and we can replace him with a real dog!
DanishaDanielle: Dead ass wrong. Please do not listen to my husband. A man who likes small dogs is not gay. I man who has sex with other men is gay. If he’s a good man let him be himself and enjoy what he likes.
I love football season. I get to watch football and nobody bothers me. I’m growing sad because college football season is winding down. I will only have Sunday’s to watch NFL football. As soon as football is over my wife whom I love will be asking me to do all sorts of things I hate. She likes to go to farmer’s markets and art classes with me. I HATE it but I pretend to like it because she is cool during football season. My question is how do I keep my weekends free when football season is over without pissing my wife off? Or how can I tell her I hate the things I’ve pretended to like for years?
GEORGE: You are 100% screwed. You are living the good life bro. Don’t make waves. Be thankful your wife leaves you alone during football season. You have to suck it up the other 7.5 months per year. If you fuss about doing the stuff you hate or refuse to do it, next football season is going to be hell!
Your wife sounds like the artsy creative type. I would suggest finding something arty and creative that you don’t mind doing and show up bright eyed and bushy tailed! You might like it, and also when you don’t feel like doing it, remember it will all be worth it come mid August!
DanishaDanielle: You and my husband are cut from the same cloth. I love football too, but he could watch it for a year straight and enjoy every single second of it. I think all things are best when taken in moderation. I also think its good to be open to new things and have a spirit of compromise within your marriage.

As much as spending quality time together with your wife is important, it’s also important to to maintain your identity and keep your own hobbies. Taking an interest in your wife’s interests will help maintain your marriage but maintaining your own interests will help maintain your sanity. Best of luck to you both. We are all trying to figure this marriage thing out.

#UnafraidShow Pac-12 Power Rankings and Conference Awards


The conference of champions wrapped up a very eventful season. It was nearly impossible to pick winners from week to week. If I had to describe the conference in 2017 two words they would be parity, and underrated. It’s now time to compare the #UnafraidShow preseason power rankings with the final #UnafraidShow Pac-12 power rankings. When you compare these two, you will see that I was pretty damn good. The conference did have some performances that stood out amongst the rest. So without further ado I present the Pac-12 awards:
Pac-12 Biggest Surprise Team: Stanford. They struggled at the quarterback position all year. They seemed left for dead when they were sitting at 1-2. How David Shaw got this team to the Pac-12 Championship game is nothing short of a miracle.
Pac-12 Biggest Disappointment Team: Oregon State. Many Beavers fans considered the possibility of a bowl game in 2017, but their expectations couldn’t have been more wrong. They finished the Pac-12 season completely defeated.
Pac -12 Coach of the Year: David Shaw (Stanford). The man was outstanding for staying the course with his team and getting results in the face of adversity.
Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year: Bryce Love (Stanford). He has rushed for over 1,800 yards with one game to go. He is almost single handedly the read Stanford has been able to make this run.
Pac- 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Justin Reid (Stanford) Troy Dye (Oregon) Justin Reid finished tied for the lead in the conference in interceptions. Troy Dye finished the season 3rd in the conference in both tackles and tackles for loss.
Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Year: Dante Pettis (Washington). It seemed like every time the Washington offense struggled Pettis showed up with his super hero cape on and had a huge return or touchdown.
Now before we get to the Power Rankings I have to disclose something. My wife and I get in huge fights over these Pac-12 Power Rankings. She is a UCLA alum and huge football fan. You have probably seen us doing #TheWifevsTheExpert. When she initially saw the Final Power Ranking she flipped a lid. She had just got out of the shower and was walking around fussing at me in a towel about where Oregon was ranked. I had to explain to her the difference between standings and power rankings. Power rankings say who are the best teams at this moment. Standings indicate your record without taking injury or circumstance into account. The Ducks finished the last two games of the season on fire after their quarterback Justin Herbert returned from injury. They could go out and beat anyone in the conference now. She did not want to hear it, but it is nearly impossible to argue with the Power Rankings.
Preseason
Final
12
California
Oregon State
11
Oregon State
California
10
Arizona
Colorado
9
Arizona State
Utah
8
Colorado
UCLA
7
UCLA
Arizona
6
Oregon
Arizona State
5
Stanford
Washington State
4
Utah
Oregon
3
Washington State
Washington
2
Washington
Stanford
1
USC
USC
Final Thoughts: Stanford plays USC in the conference championship on Friday at 5pm. As much as some fans have rooting interests for other teams, it would be a great idea if everyone teamed up to root for USC. The Trojans are the only hope for the conference to make the College Football Playoffs. I know it may hurt your pride or offend your sensibilities, but it’s the right thing for the perception of the conference. WWJD.
I hope you enjoyed the Pac-12 season as much as I did. Can’t wait for these bowl games and recruiting wars!

Send all emails to: unafraidshow@gmail.com

College Football Playoff Top 10 and Scenarios: Party Crashers Have Arrived

 
A wild and crazy Week 13 is in the books. The party crashers (Auburn, USC, TCU, Ohio State) have officially showed up to the party. Let the debates begin. The College Football Playoff committee nearly has a mess on its hands. This mess is fun, however, it could be more easily sorted out if the teams scheduled more than one good non-conference game. The clamoring for an eight-team playoff is about to heat up. I really hope it happens as soon as the current College Football Playoff contract is up. It is likely that we finally see at least one two-loss team in the playoff ahead of one-loss teams. I will break down the scenario for every team and conference to get in the playoff. Let’s start with the baseline of what I am projecting the committee’s top 10 to look like on Tuesday:
1.          Clemson
2.          Oklahoma
3.          Auburn
4.           Wisconsin
5.           Georgia
6.           Alabama
7.           Ohio State
8.           USC
9.           Miami
10.      TCU
11.      Penn State
The biggest question that everyone has is how does the committee look at Alabama. Last year’s committee put Ohio State in the top four instead of Big 10 champion Penn State due to “strength of team”. Will they repeat the precedent set last year? When you look at the Crimson Tide’s schedule, they really only have two solid (LSU, Mississippi State) wins and no great wins. So the question is how will the committee value the one and two loss conference champions against Alabama who won’t even play for theirs.
SEC
There are still 3 teams alive: Alabama, Auburn, Georgia
Alabama Needs– TCU to beat Oklahoma, Wisconsin to beat Ohio State, and USC to lose to Stanford. It doesn’t matter who wins the SEC or ACC. The champion from those conferences is absolutely in the playoff. They need the committee to value them highly with the “eye test” and find it difficult to leave Nick Saban and Alabama out over a two-loss TCU or USC.
Auburn Needs– Win the SEC championship game vs Georgia and they are in. Pray the committee doesn’t screw you and put Alabama in.
Georgia Needs– Win the SEC championship game vs Auburn and they are in. Lose and they are behind multiple 2 loss teams and 1 loss Alabama.
BIG XII
Oklahoma Needs– Win the Big XII championship vs TCU and they are in.
TCU Needs– Wisconsin to beat Ohio State, USC lose to Stanford, Georgia to beat Auburn, and beat Oklahoma in the Big XII championship. They would be sitting at 2 losses after beating a Top 2 team. The ACC Champion does not affect them.
Big 10
Wisconsin and Ohio State are both still alive and the scenarios for them to get in the top four are pretty straight forward and reasonably likely
Wisconsin Needs– Beat Ohio State in the Big 10 championship and they are in, no questions asked.
If Wisconsin losses the Big 10 championship: Due to their weak schedule there aren’t enough scenarios to get them in the college football playoff if they lose.
Ohio State Needs– Beat Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship, Stanford beat USC, Oklahoma beat TCU, and Georgia to beat Auburn. Their only competition with that scenario would be Alabama, however, it will be up to the committee’s “eye” test. Alabama’s case would be much weaker it Georgia beats Auburn, who beat them.
If USC does not lose Ohio State could be in trouble. USC may get the nod to the college football playoff because their resume (Strength of Schedule, Top-40 wins, and Strength of record) is better.

If TCU wins the Big XII and USC loses that could get very interesting. I believe Ohio State would get the edge by the committee in this situation simply due to the fact that they are THE OHIO STATE and money talks in these situations.
ACC
Miami and Clemson Needs- Win the ACC championship game and they are in. The loser has two losses. There are no scenarios that the ACC gets two teams in the Playoffs, especially one with two losses, so the recipe is simple, win and you are in, lose and you are out.
Though I believe the ACC champion is in I can imagine a weird, way out discussion that could happen if Miami is champion. There could be a debate about leaving the ACC out altogether for Alabama. Miami’s season is one game shorter due to the hurricane and after Notre Dame’s loss to Stanford, their win against the Fighting Irish holds less weight.
Pac-12
USC Needs– They need to win the Pac-12 championship game against Stanford in an impressive fashion, Georgia to beat Auburn, Oklahoma to beat TCU. The outcome of the ACC likely has no impact on USC because the loser of Miami vs Clemson will have two losses and will absolutely be behind every conference champion.
The scenarios for USC to get in the playoff are becoming more and more likely with every passing day.
Things I believe:
  1. More chaos will ensue.
  2. Alabama misses the Playoff
  3. Either two-loss Ohio State, USC, or TCU gets in the Playoff 
  4. Either two of this three misses the Playoff: Oklahoma, Clemson, Wisconsin
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#TheWifeVsTheExpert Week 13: Will The Wife Get Redemption?

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoyed your family, and NFL football. Now it is time to be entertained.
How this all started:
My wife is a huge football fan and always has some commentary about my football analysis.  I consistently let her know that I am not only a former player, I am an expert in college, NFL, and sports analysis. But does that deter her? Nope. She should just be quiet and not doubt me. In full transparency, she knows a lot about the game. However, I’ve forgotten more about football than she knows. I decided to give her an opportunity to pick games and give commentary on college football against me.
Although her effort was not good enough to beat me I have to give her credit for successfully picking 6 out of 10 games correctly against the spread. This week she has another opportunity to try and defeat me! We also have a debate about the games that you can download the podcast for or watch.
The Wife was using the fact that she only lost by one as a moral victory. However, there are no participation trophies here. On to the games this week:

 

Last week, The Wife tried her hand at picking college football games against me, The Expert. Here are the final results from last week:
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#UNAFRAID ANONYMOUS EMAILS #6

It’s Wednesday and the best ever #Unafraid Anonymous Emails are here. Make sure to share the link so everyone can enjoy!
Send all your anonymous email questions to unafraidshow@gmail.com. and I will answer them. Anonymity is guaranteed!
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On to the emails:

My wedding is in 3 weeks. Me and my fiancé have known each other for 2.5yrs. My brother just told me he had sex with my fiancé and she doesn’t know it. I am pissed he didn’t tell me before now, but I am not mad at her at all. Let me explain why. I have an identical twin brother. We often switch on places on dates, especially early on, just for fun and to get a feel for the chick. We have done this for at least 10 years.  He went out with her on what would have been our 4th date and they hooked up. She has no idea. My brother said he kept it a secret because we got super serious and this was the first time he had ever seen me in love and didn’t want to ruin it. But he could no longer live with this secret. Do i tell my fiancé and risk my marriage or do i take this to my grave?
It is all fun and games till somebody gets poked in the eye.
I almost cried laughing while reading this. It mad me reflect on my poor decisions as a young man that landed me in dumb ass situations too.
Why didn’t you say who sleep with her first?
You have only one good option in the situation. Tell the truth to your fiancé ASAP. Your brother has already proven to you he can’t keep this a secret. Even if he hasn’t told anyone else already he is one emotional moment away from spilling his guts to your future wife or someone you know. That means it’s coming out sooner or later. If your wife finds out you knew this 3, 7, or 15 years later there might not be enough counseling to save your marriage.
This woman has known you and your brother for 2.5 years. I can tell just from this that you and your bro other occasionally do dumb stuff, so chances are she knows that too. So you probably have a good chance to survive this. If you fall on the sword of youthful stupidity.
I wish you luck, but you might be screwed.
I coach a youth football team of 27 kids ages 11-12. I make the kids focus on hard work and a great attitude. I reward the 3 hardest workers each week with certificates. The kids are so motivated by this and fight for the honor. 25 different kids got the awards during the season. The parents of the two kids who didn’t get hard work certificates wrote a terrible letter about me to the president of the league. They admitted their kids didn’t work hard but they still should received the hard working certificates so they didn’t feel bad about themselves. The president approached me about it before the season ended and demanded I give the kids a certificate despite how hard they word. I refused and told him I would be minimizing the hard work of everyone else and destroying my credibility with the kids. Despite winning the championship for the 2nd straight year and having a waiting list to be on my team I was dismissed from the league. The president said the two kids deserved a certificate so they didn’t feel left out. What is this world coming to?
Bravo my friend. You could coach my kid any day with that kid of character.
Participation trophies are part of what’s wrong with our youth. The idea that little Johnny should get rewarded for a lack of effort or failing makes me want to throw up. What kind of message does that send to kids? Average success and average effort get mediocre results in life. Kids need to understand that early. They need to know you earn what you get and don’t expect no damn handouts.
I did recently coach in a league that gave participation certificates to every kid, small trophies to second place, and large trophies to 1st place. I liked that. All the kids left with something but the best team left with the biggest prize, as it should be.
You my friend are better off without that league and the league is worse off for losing you. If those kids grow up to be losers in life they can thank their parents and the league president for giving them participation trophies.
One of my best friends is the worst tipper of all time. It does not matter how much the meal is, she leaves between $3-5. I always make up for the difference because it’s wrong and I’m embarrassed. This woman is single and makes well over 100k per year. She tries to say she is just frugal. I used to be a waitress and have tried to explain to her the need for tipping and the proper way to tip. We last ate at a $200 meal at a very nice steakhouse. We got separate checks and she left a $4 tip on her card for her $97 meal. Are you kidding me? I like most waitresses made $2.13 per hour plus tips, so naturally this upsets me. We got in a huge argument about it and that was the last straw for me. She keeps inviting me out and trying to hangout but I told her I’m done being embarrassed by her. I will not go anywhere to eat with her until she changes her ways. Where do you stand on this?

Bad tippers are the worst. I’ve not gone many a places with people because of their bad etiquette with dinner. I’m not sure what’s worse, when somebody treats servers like servants or when they skim on paying for food and tips.

You are 100% right here. I would never ever go out to eat with your friend again, but she’s your friend so still hang out with her, just make sure you eat at somebody’s house.

My rookie year in Jacksonville we had the tight end/offensive lineman dinner at Ruth’s Chris. At least once per year the drafted rookies have to take their entire position out to eat. The TE’s and OL did it together in Jacksonville. There were about 20 of us. The veteran players always try and run up the bill on the rookies. To make a long story short (I’ll share the full version on the Podcast) the bill was $4,300. Yes that’s correct. 20 people had $4,300 worth of food and drinks within two hours. I left an $800 tip. It was the right thing to do, so I did it.
If you can’t afford the tip or are unwilling to pay it, find a new restaurant.
I am a single dad. I had my son when I was 16 and have had him full time since I was 21. He is now 17 years old. We have a very open and honest relationship. This dude tells me he wants to try smoking weed and drinking. He said he’s nervous about it and didn’t want to sneak around so he wanted to do it with me. I told him “I appreciate his honesty but hell no. I am your dad and we are friends, but I’m not your buddy to cosign anything”. He told me I was whack for that and he could just do it behind my back, but didn’t want to. I have heard stories about parents doing this sort of thing with their kids, but I’m not with that. If he wants to make the decision to do those things when he’s of legal age that’s his choice, but until then it’s a no for me. He said he would wait. Do you think he is going to try and do it anyway? Should I rein in the leash on him some and keep him “busy” to make sure he’s not doing those things?
I applaud the young man’s honesty and audacity. However, you would be a horrible dad if you just start partying with your kid. I just recently saw an example of that on “Nature Boy”. That is the ESPN 30-for-30 on Ric Flair. Ric started letting his young son Reid come on the road with him drinking and doing drugs. They were “buddies” and friends who partied together. Flair’s son ended up dying from an overdose.

I don’t want to put that fate on your son, but I believe you run the risk of more bad things happening when you start treating kids more like friends and equals. If your son has no authority figure to be accountable to then he is more likely to justify poor behavior. He will say “my dad knows, it’s fine” instead of saying “I don’t know if I should do this, what if my dad finds out’”.

I would definitely rein my son in tight. It is clear he needs new friends. The friends he is hanging out have too much free time and are under supervised. Those kids are headed for some bad things happening. When teens start smoking weed and drinking, that means some of them will be driving. We know how that story can end.
I want the best for my kids and it sounds like you do to. Get your kid extremely busy trying to achieve something and do something out in the world. If he has a mission, he doesn’t have time to be screwing around, and he will meet a new peer group that is headed down a more positive path.

That doesn’t mean he will never drink, smoke weed, or make poor choices. He will just be far less likely for those things to go down a path of addiction, jail, or death.

UCLA Football: Why Mora was fired and Top 5 Coaching Candidates

The second Pac-12 job of the season has opened up. News broke Sunday that Jim Mora was fired by UCLA less than 24 hours after a heartbreaking loss to USC that left the Bruins with a 5-6 record. Think about how cold college coaching is… Mora was not only fired on his day off, he was fired on his birthday! There is no love and no mercy in alleged “amateur athletics”. At least he leaves with a $12 million dollar parting gift. The writing was on the wall for a while that Mora would be fired if UCLA did not compete for the Pac-12 title.

I personally believe that coaches should to be evaluated every year. There are two questions that need to be answered regardless of whether the team won the championship or went totally defeated (zero games won).
1.     Is there a coach who we can hire that is GUARANTEED to do a better job?
2.    Is there HOPE that the future is brighter than the past? Can the coach walk in high school kids’ home, or a free agent dinner and make them believe the future is brighter?

If the answer to either question is not in the affirmative, then a coaching change needs to be made.

In UCLA’s case, the answer is yes. They believe they can get a coach guaranteed to do better than Mora has the past two seasons. And they believe there is a loss of hope. Mora was able to recruit multiple top 20 recruiting classes but wasn’t getting top 20 results. The defense was ranked last in the nation against the run. Offensively, the Bruins had run three different offenses in as many years, which creates a loss of identity.

To many familiar with how UCLA handles coaching changes, the timing was curious. The Bruins don’t typically make coaching changes before the season ends. However, this change was made specifically for one of the top candidates, Chip Kelly. Kelly was rumored to be considering the Florida Gators job. Mora was still the coach up until Sunday and coaches typically “respect” other coaches by not discussing jobs that aren’t available.

Now that we have taken care of all the housekeeping, it’s time to start discussing the new candidates. This time the school is taking a new approach to their coaching search. Instead of using a coaching search firm, they have tasked Casey Wasserman and Troy Aikman with finding the Bruins new head football coach. This is a a smart move because athletic director Dan Guerrero does not have a good track record with football coaches. He fired Bob Toledo and hire and fired Karl Dorrell, Rick Nueheisel, and Jim Mora. I have no idea how an athletic director survives that. I have 5 candidates that should be on their short list of candidates.

5. Jim Leavitt (Oregon Defensive Coordinator)- Leavitt will be one of the most sought after assistant coaches this year. He would bring toughness and a defensive mentality to Westwood. This man is a defensive sage and miracle worker. In his last two jobs, he has turned around two defenses from awful to very respectable in short order (Colorado & Oregon). Leavitt is a great coach and brings enthusiasm and a workman like attitude to every team he coaches. Recently reports surfaced that he had agreed to be the Kansas State “coach in waiting” succeeding Bill Snyder but the deal was nixed. Rumor has it that Leavitt got screwed because Snyder wants his son to be the coach to follow him at Kansas State.

4. Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M Head Coach)- He is a clear case of one man’s trash equals another man’s treasure. Sumlin is clearly underappreciated by many Texas A&M fans and boosters. He has never won less than 8 games in a season, and is on the short list of teams that has beat Alabama recently. He has been able to successfully recruit to Texas and all over the nation to a little hole-in-the-wall called College Station. Imagine what he could do in Los Angeles! He would bring a good coaching staff and a consistency to the Bruins. He could be the coach that could get them over the hump.

3. Mike Leach (Washington State Head Coach)- Everything about Mike Leach is the complete opposite of what you think a UCLA coach should be. He’s kind of a weirdo. His press conferences are at times offbeat and regularly include a hodgepodge of information. Some of that information is related to football, some not. Every team has an image, and he does not fit UCLA’s. At this point, should the Bruins be concerned about image or a guy who can win? Washington State was recently ranked the worst and least desirable college program in the nation. Leach went up there and has turned them into winners. Wazzu is one win away from a birth in the Pac-12 title game. He wins without premium talent. What do you think would happen with blue chip talent he could recruit at UCLA?

2. Scott Frost (UCF Head Coach)- The hottest name in coaching right now is Scott Frost. In two years, Frost has taken a 0-12 football team to a top 15 team. He also has one of the most innovative offenses in the nation. Before he got the Central Florida job, he was the offensive coordinator of the Oregon Ducks. Scott Frost’s coaching resume is not extremely long, but neither was 30-year-old Sean McVay’s before he instantly turned the L.A. Rams around. If I could not get Chip Kelly as my coach I would throw a giant bag of money at Frost.

1. Chip Kelly (TV analyst)- All the reasons you hire Kelly are just obvious: recruiting, excitement, and, of course, winning. Chip was the architect of the high-flying Oregon offense. His offense either led or was in the top five in the nation in scoring, rushing, and total offense every year he was at Oregon as head coach or offensive coordinator. He will be able to recruit the west coast and will be a real threat to USC’s recruiting. If skill position players have the choice to play for Clay Helton at USC or Chip Kelly at UCLA, many will choose the Bruins than had been. You can all but assure Chip Kelly will win. The most valuable thing he can bring to UCLA is excitement. Fans, students, and boosters will be excited to show up to the Rose Bowl to see Kelly’s brand of football. He is the number one choice.

#Unafraid Anonymous Emails #5

It’s Wednesday and the best ever #Unafraid Anonymous Emails are here. Thank you all for making our Anonymous Emails last week a success! 

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My wife and I have been married for 18 years. I believe we have done a good job of teaching our kids the importance or character, faith, and doing the right thing. We have raised our kids with open communication and we pride ourselves on being our kids friend. Our oldest daughter is 17 and is a junior in high school. She has always been a good student and good citizen. Lately, she has been closed off and secretive. She changed her passcode to her phone, made her Instagram and Snapchat private and won’t let anyone near it. I am concerned but I do not want to violate her privacy. I want to check her phone, social media, and put a location tracker on her phone. What if I do it and she hates me for it? What do I do?
Firstly, I see is that you are too concerned with being your kids’ friend than being their parent.
Secondly, If my kid thinks they are going to have a social media account that I don’t have access to, they won’t have a social media account. I’ll lock the whole damn phone and computer. There are apps for that!
I believe in talking with your kids and having open and honest conversations with them so they actually talk to you and don’t keep secrets. However, if my kids switch up like your daughter did I will get all up in their shit! I’m talking random phone checks, location tracker, and keystroke monitoring. Some of this would be done covertly, and some she would know about. Your job is to protect your kids and train them up properly. Secrets are no good.
The last thing you want on your hands is a teen pregnancy, drug use, or suicide.   Sometimes you have to make decisions in her best interest that she will not like. She may be mad at you for a while, but better that than the alternative.
I guarantee your daughter will not hate you and will get over it if you have been a loving and nurturing parent. She will eventually thank you for it. I’d be willing to bet something is going on.
Time to put those big boy daddy pants on and be a parent and not a friend first.
Just watched your live show when I got home from work and found myself wondering….it’s never too soon to have the conversation about guns and, imo, it’s been decades overdue. not opposed to the ownership of guns and do agree that things (for the greater good) need some kind of regulation…my question is this: what does the government do with those who get things off the black market, etc.?
I am a second amendment supporter, however I do realize that these amendments were agreed upon at the same 1787 Constitutional Convention that said blacks slaves should be counted as 3/5 of a person. So, I recognize there may need to be some tweeking to the gun laws to make them more up to date with the day and age. We have done that to many other amendments, so why would guns be so sacred that laws cannot be modified to protect the masses.
Most times when people in government say it’s too soon to talk about guns after a shooting they are getting checks from gun lobbyist or the NRA.
I don’t know what the answer to what sensible gun law legislation is but I do know that people convicted of violent crimes, domestic violence, or have certain mental diagnosis shouldn’t be allowed to buy guns. I also know that we need to do the right thing ASAP before more blood is spilled on our street with legally bought guns.
As far as the black market, the reality is ordinary citizens with legally bought weapons aren’t out in the street defending their family in shootouts against people with black market weapons. Most of these black market weapons surround drugs and crime. You get crime together the demand for black market weapons goes down.
I am not a great athlete. Neither is my wife. My son is in 9th grade at a top private school that has great academics and athletics.  He is not extremely quick, tall, and doesn’t have hops. He plays extremely hard, is a phenomenal shooter and ball handler. This summer we stepped up his competition on the AAU circuit and he got demolished by the more athletic kids. He swears he is going to be an NBA player. I love my kid and have invested at least 50k in the last 2 years on shooting coaches, personal training, and a custom diet for him. Then there are the AAU fees, travel, etc.  At this point I believe I’m wasting money. He’s not going to the NBA and won’t get a college scholarship. He’s just not physically gifted enough. I don’t want to be a dream killer because I tell him he can be whatever he wants in life if he works hard.
So how do I break it to him that I’m done forking out all this cash for a dream that’s not coming true?
This kid is a money pit. You need your ass whooped for spending 100k (50k + AAU fees and travel) on middle school kid sports training. I wouldn’t care if my kid is the second coming of LeBron, it’s not worth that cash. You have set a bad precedent. If you stop it will be like a divorce for you. This kid has “grown accustomed” to a certain lifestyle, and he’s gonna be pissed if it stops. You said it yourself that the kid just doesn’t have the God given ability to be an athlete however do not be a dream killer. You have three choices at this point.
1. Stop the bleeding but still support his dream.. Your kid clearly has qualities that will get him far in life. He is hard working and doesn’t give up when he gets his teeth kicked in. Investing in a kid like this is a good investment, but 100k is ridiculous. Get that 100k down to a level that you feel is commensurate with his athletic ability before it turns into 500k. He will appreciate you for supporting his dream despite how unrealistic you believe it is. A lot of people have done a lot of things no one thought the could.
2. Double Down. If you double down and focus on his education so he gets into a good school basketball school like Duke, North Carolina, or UCLA he may be able to walk on at one of those schools. You don’t mind shelling out the cash, so I bet you can make that happen. Maybe from there he goes on to be a NBA coach or general manager. You would have made his dreams come true.
3. Jedi Mind Trick. You need to start getting this kid interested in things other than basketball. Keep letting him train, just cut it back some and find something else he is interested in. She is he likes art, golf, stocks, business, or anything else. You might actually find that he likes something he can monetize. You could then invest in his idea and recoup some of that cash.
I applaud you for being industrious enough to have about 100k of disposable income to devote to helping your kid to succeed in 7thand 8th grade, but stop while you are not ahead.
I have a cool job and have been at it a while. A new more prestigious position opened up and I applied but did not get it. Another lady got the job, but it wasn’t a big deal because it was a long shot. She is now my new boss and I’m now having trouble with new office dynamics. She seems upset I even applied for the job though she got it. She used to be ok now she’s a manipulative, insecure and deceitful boss? She withholds information that is needed to know to do my job right. I love my job but don’t know how to handle this. Did this ever happen in football and what did you do?
This job doesn’t sound so cool anymore. It sounds like it sucks. This lady clearly wants you gone, or in a position to consistently use you as the whipping boy/girl to prop herself up.
Right now if sounds like you are playing defense and always on your heels. That’s not going to work in this situation. It is time to go on the offensive. I have a plan for you. Start looking at other job opportunities in case she gets you fired before you can execute the second part of the plan. You have to do this very quietly though.
The second part is strategic and crafty. You have to start making your other coworkers and superiors see her how you see her. But, you can’t just outright say it, you have to make it seem like they formed this opinion on their own. Show them your work, ask for their input on the situation. Be transparent and cc: them on emails etc that way when something is missing, they can see who left out the key information. They will be happy to help you with your job and will be advocates for you behind closed doors.
You may have to light a couple fires then play the burn victim. Start a problem and when the person reacts go on defense and be scared, offended, or insulted. This always works in life. I’ve never done it but I’ve had it done to me and seen it in action many times. Whoever plays the victim role better gets the most sympathy. 

I hope this plan works for you. If you plan it carefully enough you will win!