Outside the Beltway

Bobby Bowden now owns the record for most wins by a head coach in college football’s top division, thanks to the NCAA taking 111 wins away from Joe Paterno. He’s quite rightly not excited about it.

The NCAA more than lived up to the hype of “unprecedented” sanctions.

After years of calls for a College Football playoff, we’ll finally get one. Let the criticism begin.

How dominant is the Southeastern Conference? It’s won more titles in the big sports since 2005 than all other conferences combined.

Justice.

College football will get a four-team playoff. What it’ll look like is anyone’s guess.

You’ve likely heard that Alabama’s 2011 football championship trophy was accidentally smashed last weekend by the father of one of the players. Now, as Paul Harvey would have said, for the rest of the story.

Can Wall Street predict the outcome of Presidential elections? Not really.

If you listen to the punditocracy, you’d think that there’s actually a doubt as to who the GOP nominee will be.

After a depressing and sad end to a storied career, Penn State’s legendary JoePa has passed away.

College football coaching salaries jumped 35 percent last year and 55 percent in the last six.

There’s no perfect system for choosing a champion but we can do better than this.

So, what’s next?

Mark Richt, head football coach of the University of Georgia Bulldogs, inadvertantly broke NCAA rules by paying coaches and other employees extra money out of his own pocket.

Did you know there was another GOP debate last night? Well, you didn’t miss much.

Penn State is cleaning house, including the legendary Joe Paterno.

If true, Joe Paterno’s actions in response to charges of child abuse by a coach are indefensible.

Jerry Sandusky, the longtime defensive coordinator for the Penn State football team, is being charged with eight counts of child sex abuse.

Is money the only thing that matters in post-Citizens United American politics?

Pete Gent, the former Dallas Cowboy and Michigan State player best known as the author of “North Dallas Forty,” has died at 69 from pulmonary illness.

Is quoting President Obama without fixing his grammar “racist”? Some say it is.

The Maryland Terrapins upset the Miami Hurricanes 32-24 last night in college football’s opening weekend. But all anyone is talking about is the ugly uniforms.

The idea that the GOP can block a debt ceiling vote and benefit politically is, quite simply, absurd.

I have been only peripherally aware of the trial–and then only in the way that I’m aware of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and reality TV.

Jim Tressel has resigned as head coach of the Ohio State football team.

A Texas high school student who was kicked off her high school’s cheerleading squad after refusing to cheer for her rapist had her lawsuit dismissed as frivolous and was ordered to pay $45,000 in legal fees.

The Toomer’s Corner trees were poisoned by a rabid Alabama fan.

Sports Illustrated is trying to force subscribers to pay for a bundle of web and print services. Bad idea.

A suit against a newspaper for not removing an old story about a college football player was tossed.

While I support a college playoff, there’s an argument to be made for the integrity of the regular season.

While the University of Oregon’s athletic programs are flourishing in a seas of green, its academic programs are woefully underfunded.

Boston University and Northeastern have found that there is life after football. Shouldn’t most schools follow their lead?

Is it odd that a political blogger dislikes actual political involvement ? No, not really.