Back on January 7 I wrote a post about who the real National Champion was, based on some inconsistencies I’ve noticed in the BCS system, the computer-based ranking program that structures the college football bowl games and decides who plays for the National Championship, based on a number of factors, including record, strength of schedule, etc. But what has seemed to be prevalent is that most of the bowl positions go to the teams in the ‘more popoular’ conferences and exceptional teams that come from ‘lesser’ conferences have no chance of playing for the national championship. Utah was a case in point this past year, having an undefeated season but not being invited to the National Championship Game.

Well, now Washington D.C. is getting in on the debate. According to ESPN, Congress is about to hold hearing, probing the antitrust issues of the BCS. In a statement on Wednesday, the Senate subcommittee said the current system “leaves nearly half of all the teams in college football at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to qualifying for the millions of dollars paid out every year”. Can you guess which state the driving force behind this investigation, Sen. Orinn Hatch, represents? That’s right fans: Utah.

Hatch has told the media that the BCS, “has proven itself to be inadequate, not only for those of us who are fans of college football, but for anyone who believes that competition and fair play should have a role in collegiate sports.”

The subcommittee is even considering proposing legislation that “would prevent the NCAA from calling a football game a “national championship” unless the game culminates from a playoff system.”

While I think the BCS does not closer scrutiny and some sort of balancing system, my postmodern culture and upbringing tells me still to always question the motives of our government. Do they really want to improve the system or just spread the money around? Maybe Sen. Hatch needs to score a few more points with his constituents. Perhaps I’m being cynical and it will all work out in the end. Whatever happens, I am quite confident it will be a debate that will last for some time.

What are your thoughts on the current BCS situation and the proposed legislation? Let us know in the comments section.

One of the most fascinating relationships in sports is that of the exchange between a coach and a player. A coach is one who leads, shapes, trains, prepares and ultimately, makes the decisions about the plays in a game and the players who play. The coaching position is one of authority and great power, yet where does that power come from and to what end is it used?

A relationship between a quarterback and his coach is additionally unique because the quarterback is expected to be the leader on the field and, if there was a hierarchy in the game of football, the quarterback is, in essence, the right hand man for the coach. Therefore, how the coach and quarterback interact and operate is pivotal to a team’s success. So what are the two most important components of a quarterback/coach relationship? Its simple: Trust and Respect.

Trust and respect are mutual interactions in a relationship that require commitment and honesty. They both have to be earned. A coach can not storm into a locker room, verbal arms swinging, and constantly berate a quarterback or tear him down in front of his peers. This will do nothing for the confidence and relationship of the quarterback with his coach. There is an element of trust that is lost when this occurs. Conversely, a quarterback who gripes about his coach or complains about his coach’s decision is not earning the trust of his coach.

If you look around the NFL or College Football and look for the quarterbacks that lead their team and have been consistent in performance and success, you will undoubtedly find a coach there that respects and trusts his quarterback to get the job done. Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators said today that one reason why he has decided to remain in college football another year is because of his loyalty to his coach, Urban Meier. On the other hand, Jay Cutler, QB of the Denver Broncos and his new coach, Josh McDaniels are in a ego-centered contest for power that is tearing the Denver Broncos apart.

Mutual trust and respect are foundational to a healthy relationship between a quarterback and a coach. Furthermore, these pillars hold true for boss/employee relationships as well. But they are not something that are easily given or inherent, they must be earned, and continually displayed through word and deed. Work hard in your relationships to maintain trust and give and earn respect.

March 21st was a historic day in the life of the George Fox University Bruins, particularly the women’s basketball team. The team won the division III NCAA women’s basketball national championship game 60-53 over Washington University (MO), finishing their record-setting first ever undefeated season at 32-0.

The Bruins became the first team west of the Rocky Mountains to win the Division III title and won with one senior, three juniors and ten freshmen. Picked to finish middle of the pack in their conference, the Bruins worked hard to win every game on their way to the championship. Coach of the year Scott Rueck of the Bruins said that the team bonded at a summer barbecue and became a family. That bond was pivotal to their success.

Team chemistry is a glue that holds teams together when adversity and challenge inevitably come their way. Pressure and obstacles will come, and the Bruins had their share, yet in every game, they managed to find a way to win. Their chemistry and passion, even simply starting out with so many freshmen, proved to be solid and lasting. Hats off to the Bruins for their championship and commitment to excellence.

Here at Everyday QB we’ve been going strong for over six months now. We’ve had a great journey together and I hope you’re enjoying what you read. I’ll admit that the blogging process is not always an easy one. It can be difficult to produce decent content each day and to try and come up with something you think people will want to read. There have been days where I’ve felt that I had nothing to say, so I didn’t. Then there have been days where maybe I shouldn’t have said what I did.

Whether there’s truth or worth in either statement is up for debate, but one thing I do know. Your advice, support and interest is making this experience a worth while endeavor. I can remember sitting at Starbucks with my blog team and pitching the idea of Everyday QB to them, but the inception and creation of Everyday QB began much earlier than that, in conversations with people about life and the blogging world. Your interest in this blog is of great value and importance to me. You help form the community of the Everyday QB and have shaped and directed this blog into what it is today.

Cicero is quoted as saying, “We were born to unite with our fellow men, and to join in community with the human race.” The concept of community and embarking on a journey together, with others, is one of the greatest calls of the human heart. So here at Everyday QB I’d love to hear what you think.

I’d love to know what have been some of your favorite blog posts throughout these past six months? Let me know what you think of the Everyday QB posts in the comment section. Make suggestions or leave criticism, things you like, things you don’t. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for being a part of the Everyday QB community.

Today is an important celebration in the country and culture of the Irish as we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. People wear green, enjoy parties and festivals, hunt for shamrocks and search for good luck. But where did this festival come from and who was St. Patrick?

Despite the fact that I learned today over at HackALife that the official color of St. Patrick is actually blue, who St. Patrick actually was is a bit of a myth. However, it is apparent that a man named Patrick lived and began or caused some amazing things to happen in the country and culture of Ireland. There are two Latin letters that are generally accepted to have been written by a man named Patrick in Ireland around the late 5th or early 6th century. According to writings attributed to him, he apparently was a foreigner who was captured and sold into slavery in Ireland when he was 16 years of age. After six years in captivity he escaped and was returned home to his family.

After returning home, however, he describes having a vision in which the people of Ireland asked him to return and to ‘walk among us’. Patrick returned with a mission to share his faith as a Christian. He apparently baptized thousands and changed the cultural and religious structures of Ireland, through his mission work and his example and life. I think it is remarkable to note that he returned to a people where he worked as a slave, to bring a message that he believed was important for all to hear.

St. Patrick shaped the culture and religious life of the nation of Ireland because of his commitment and belief in what he was sent to do. It is worthy to note that through his concentration and devotion to his cause that he and others shaped and molded a whole nation and their beliefs. While St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in many different ways and with different thoughts and purposes, the reality and basis for this celebration finds its roots in a man who was willing to give everything he had for a vision that he believed in with his entire being.

My hope in life is to live with a similar passion and focus on the mission and purpose for which I have been sent to this earth. Happy St. Patty’s Day…

Well, the brackets are set and March Madness is ready to begin! One of the greatest months in all of sports is this month, when the NCAA Men’s college basketball tournament begins. One of the largest tournaments in all of sports features the 64-team single, elimination tournament that is sure to bring non-stop action and excitement. The intensity and level of play througout the tournament is close to unparalleled in sports.

There are numerous ways in which you can get involved and feel like you’re a part of the action. One of the best ways is to take the Tournament Challenge. Fill out your bracket, selecting the teams you think will win each game and go to the finals. Even if you don’t know the teams that well, following the tournament with your own bracket in hand can make for a fun experience at work, with friends or with your family. One young woman won a tournament last year by just picking the team who’s mascot she liked the best.

During the tournament, be sure to check out CBS online as they stream all of the games live. Make sure your boss isn’t looking or watch games on your lunch break. But there are many ways in which you can stay involved in the action and enjoy the madness of March!!!

Baseball in the Netherlands will never be the same. In the 1st round of the World Baseball Championships the Netherlands faced a heavily favored and vastly better team from the Dominican Republic. With 2 MLB players on their roster, compared to the Domincan’s 23, the Netherlands were not even expected to score a run. But after beating the Domincans in game one of the best out of three series, they were starting to turn some heads. Still, baseball has fluke games like that right? Felipe Alou, manager of the Domnicans thought so. He is even quoted as saying, “There’s a team we should’ve beaten 9-0″. All that did was fire up the Netherlands players that much more. They came out in game two of the series to take down the World Baseball Championship favorites.

The salary of the Dominican Republic players totaled $83.4 million while the Netherland’s totaled $.4 million. It was truly a David vs. Goliath game. But the Netherlands came out with nothing to lose and something to prove. They played to win, instead of playing not to lose. Conversely, the Domincans had a difficult time countering the attack of the Netherlands. The intensity, focus and determination of the Netherland players was enough to get them the win. In 11 innings, the Netherland team eventually came out on top, changing the way that youth in the Netherlands will look at baseball forever. Because they played to win.

Live is meant to be lived. Meant to be enjoyed. Meant to be passionate and full of purpose. I’m going to echo Nike’s slogan today and say, “Just Do It”. Go out and live life with purpose and play to win. Have a great day…

One of the true measurements of a ‘successful’ person is the way that they deal with failure. The reality is that each of us will fail, and fail often. Our culture has ingrained in us the need to strive not to fail, and I think that has created some positive effects, but I also wonder if we have trained people in our culture to ignore or not contemplate failure, and in doing so, not deal with and effectively learn from our failures.

Ignoring failures or trying to get over them quickly can have the negative side of effect of dooming us to repeat similar mistakes, rather than effectively evaluating and absorbing those mistakes or failures into our lives so that they produce a more correct response or action the next time a similar situation occurs. Whenever I threw an interception in a game (and unfortunately it happened more than once) my goal was always to process why I had made that mistake, how I could learn from it, how I could prevent that from happening again, and then (after learning from and understanding the mistake) only then, moving on to the next play. Granted, the mental process can happen within ten seconds depending on the mistake, etc. but the process of understanding the mistake and learning from it is necessary for development. So then, these questions are appropriate to ask in many situations where a mistake has been made or failure has occurred:

1. Why did I make that mistake?

2. What can I learn from the mistake?

3. How can I prevent that mistake from occurring again?

4. What will I do differently next time?

5. Move on, absorbing that experience into your life to learn and grow from.

This 5-step process gives you the opportunity to quickly and effectively process a mistake and be able to learn from and grow in a difficult circumstance. No one likes to fail, to make mistakes, it is humbling and most often painful. But the real tragedy is if we fail to learn from that mistake, and instead, repeat it over and over again without improvement. The truth is that failures often shape us much more than success does. Don’t be afraid to stand up in failure, learn from your mistakes, and grow in and through them.

There are moments in every person’s life when they feel like quitting. There are moments where we are tempted to slack off a little bit and let up. There are moments in the off-season where we ‘put off’ working and preparing for what is coming up next. And there are moments when we work hard only because we know other people are watching.

But what sets a person apart from being successful and mediocre is if and when they work when no one is looking. Is there an internal motivating factor that drives them to prepare and train even when there is no outside force acting upon them? Finding that internal motivating factor is the important first step: Is it a drive to be the best in your position? To provide for and protect those that you love? Make it to the top? A sense of calling or passion? Finding the passion and internal motivation to work when no one is looking is a key to success and improvement.

Every February and March, college football teams often do ‘winter conditioning’ which prepares them for their upcoming ‘Spring Ball’ a month of practice where they have an opportunity to compete against each other and inch toward earning starting spots. But before the players even step on the field, the months of weight lifting and conditioning determine how well a player will perform on the field.

The winter conditioning often takes place early in the morning, sometimes five or six o’clock in the morning, and involves different conditioning drills; sprints, ladders and other football related training drills. Often times garbage cans are set around the gym or workout area for those that made the mistake of eating too big of a breakfast. Part of the goal is to weed out or challenge those that think that football is a ‘soft’ sport. In the end, it brings the players together and gives them a sense of accomplishment and it allows the ‘Spring Ball’ time to focus on skill and team development.

Those times of winter conditioning, done when no one else is looking and no media or fans are present, display the work ethics and motivation of many players. Coaches begin to see who pushes through when things get tough and who folds when the work gets too hard. Having internal motivation, whatever it might be, drives athletes to continue through tough situations. Do you work hard when no one is looking? What is your internal motivator?

There are some exciting things coming up here on EverdayQB. More and more people are reading this blog and getting excited about ‘tackling head life on everyday’. Thank you for reading and for your support. As we continue to grow this site and become more popular in the ‘blogosphere’, we want to let you know about some cool things we’re going to be doing here on this site, so that you can let others know and get excited about what’s coming up.

So here’s a preview of what will be coming up on EverydayQB in the next few months:

-Online interview with Quarterback Mark Thorson of the Boise Burn about life as an Arena Football Player.

-Special guest blogs from NFL draft experts

-Video instruction from the EverydayQB on football skills and drills

-A chance to win a free NFL football jersey of your favorite quarterback

-Interviews with local ‘former’ athletes on how they live their everyday life

-More tips and challenges to improve your game plan for life

Keep an eye out for these great things and more coming up on EverydayQB…