Note: This entry is a bit long-winded.  I recommend getting a snack to hold you over until you are finished reading.  If you'd like, you can skip the beginning section and move on to my discussion of college football.

It's true.  It's damn true.

I'm back on the blogging bandwagon.  I took a 5-plus month hiatus that stretched from late June until now.  My last post seems like it was decades ago.  As my two or three loyal readers may remember, I often wrote about timely subjects with a light-hearted, fun-loving approach.  Usually I updated my blog a couple of times a week.  Then, one day, I was gone, seemingly vanishing into thin air.  Why was I gone?  Here are three choices, try and guess which one is correct:

A. I was killed in an accident involving dynamite, Everclear, and Paris Hilton's little-worn panties, and my ghost is actually writing right now.

B. I was working as Ron Jeremy's body double, appearing on camera in Dirty Debutantes 113 and even accepting a lifetime achievement award at the AVN awards.

C. I was just a little bit burned out, and besides, it was summer.

Thankfully, the correct choice isn't option A, nor is it, regretfully, option B.  Yup, that's right, I was just being a little wuss that was too lazy to update his blog.  I spent my free time thinking about my future, which led me to come up with three observations about my life that shall become my guiding principles for living.

1. A career in the banking/finance industry SUCKS.  My next job will not be for a finance company.  There's simply no way.  People are either pissed at you because they owe your company money, or they're pissed at you because they didn't meet your company's standards to borrow money.  NOBODY likes the company that provides their loans.

2. It's time to lose the Ron Jeremy physique.  I'm reaching my mid-20s.  It's time to get myself in shape.  If I don't, I'll be deader than the Royals 2007 World Series chances by the time I'm 50. (Seriously, Gil Meche?  Was Aaron Sele already taken?)

3. Just blog, baby.  I'm a creative guy.  I like sports.  I like writing.  Simple math states (love of sports) + (love of writing) = (love of sports writing).  I should be updating two or three times a week for the forseeable future.  Additionally, I'm going to start a separate blog where I'll share my views on non-sports matters, such as Real World Denver and the awesomeness that is The Phenomonal AJ Styles.  When I start it up, I'll share the link.

Now, on to sports (Part One)...

Chesnuts roasting on an open fire.  Turkey with all the fixings.  The BCS.  What do these three things have in common?  They're all reminders of the holiday season.  Every December, arguments about the BCS are everywhere you turn.  Johnny at the corner deli thinks the BCS is importnat because it both crowns a national champion and keeps the traditional bowls intact.  Stuart in accounting hates the BCS and wants to abolish the system altogether, replacing it with a playoff.  Everybody has an opinion, and most of them are on one end of the perspective or the other.

Why can't there be a middle ground?

Most of the pundits, in their race to become the loudest, most obnoxious sports commentator on television, completely ignore the fact that a compromise can be reached.  The purists can have their bowl games, while those obsessed with determining which team is the best can have their playoff.  Most importantly, the precious egos of the mathemageniuses that devised the BCS formula can be spared as well.  How is this possible?  With the Manrub Plan, a postseason setup that takes the wishes of all parties into account and attempts to create a best of both worlds scenario.  The plan is outlined as follows

1. The four BCS games remain in tact as Tier 1 games, while four existing bowls become Tier 2 BCS games.  Four possible games may include the Chick-Fil-A, Cotton, Gator and Holiday Bowls.

2. The 6 BCS conference champions are invited into a 16-team tournament, with those six champions being guaranteed home games in the first round of the playoffs.

3. The 2 non-BCS conference champions with the best BCS rankings are invited to the tournament, but are NOT guaranteed home games.

3. Eight at-large teams are chosen based on the top 8 teams in the BCS standings not already in the tournament (maximum 2 at-large teams per conference).

4. First round games are played on campus sites.  The games start the weekend following the conference championship games  The 8 winners advance to the quarterfinals, and the 8 losers are assigned to Tier 2 BCS games.

5. Quarterfinals are played on campus sites.  The four winners will advance to the semifinals, which will be rotated annually to two of the four Tier 1 BCS games.  The four losers advance to the remaining two BCS games.

6. The semifinal winners advance to the National Championship, which is played one week after the other BCS games.

Under my plan, all parties involved can emerge as winners.  Tomorrow, I will post a second part of this plan, outlining how exactly every stakeholder in my proposal can benefit from such a plan.  Until then, feedback is welcome, and I will try to clarify any questions that do arise.