NFL Power Rankings

Week 10

1 New Orleans
2 Indianapolis
3 Minnesota
4 New England

5 Cincinnati
6 Philadelphia
7 Pittsburgh
8 Arizona

9 NY Giants
10 San Diego
11 Atlanta
12 Dallas

13 Green Bay
14 Houston
15 Baltimore
16 Denver

17 NY Jets
18 Miami
19 Jacksonville
20 San Francisco

21 Carolina
22 Seattle
23 Chicago
24 Buffalo

25 Tennessee
26 Washington
27 Kansas City
28 Oakland

29 Tampa Bay
30 Detroit
31 St. Louis
32 Cleveland


NFC - Week 10

1 New Orleans
2 Minnesota
3 Philadelphia
4 Arizona

5 NY Giants
6 Atlanta
7 Dallas
8 Green Bay

9 San Francisco
10 Carolina
11 Seattle
12 Chicago

13 Washington
14 Tampa Bay
15 Detroit
16 St. Louis


AFC - Week 10

1 Indianapolis
2 New England
3 Cincinnati
4 Pittsburgh

5 San Diego
6 Houston
7 Baltimore
8 Denver

9 NY Jets
10 Miami
11 Jacksonville
12 Buffalo

13 Tennessee
14 Kansas City
15 Oakland
16 Cleveland

NFL Power Rankings -- Week 9

WEEK 9

1 New Orleans
2 Indianapolis
3 Minnesota
4 New England

5 Philadelphia
6 Pittsburgh
7 Cincinnati
8 Dallas

9 Atlanta
10 Arizona
11 NY Giants
12 Denver

13 San Diego
14 Green Bay
15 Houston
16 NY Jets

17 Baltimore
18 Chicago
19 Miami
20 Seattle

21 Jacksonville
22 San Francisco
23 Carolina
24 Buffalo

25 Tennessee
26 Oakland
27 Washington
28 Detroit

29 Tampa Bay
30 Kansas City
31 St. Louis
32 Cleveland

WEEK 9 - NFC
1 New Orleans
2 Minnesota
3 Philadelphia
4 Dallas

5 Atlanta
6 Arizona
7 NY Giants
8 Green Bay

9 Chicago
10 Seattle
11 San Francisco
12 Carolina

13 Washington
14 Detroit
15 Tampa Bay
16 St. Louis

WEEK 9 - AFC
1 Indianapolis
2 New England
3 Pittsburgh
4 Cincinnati

5 Denver
6 San Diego
7 Houston
8 NY Jets

9 Baltimore
10 Miami
11 Jacksonville
12 Buffalo

13 Tennessee
14 Oakland
15 Kansas City
16 Cleveland

How close is the Massey Energy coal processing plant to Marsh Fork Elementary School?

Images are from Google Maps

Hail Alma Mater

WVU English Department has a blog.

A Sonnet

Written in response to the University of Arizona's poetry contest. They requested submissions of sonnets celebrating solar energy:

http://www.poetrycenter.arizona.edu/contest/sun_sonnet.shtml

To Coal

The future of energy is in coal.
America is rich in the black gold
Of Appalachian seams where the dark hole
Reveals a richness without peer. Untold
BTUs await our exploration.
Millions of tons sits beneath our feet,
Waiting. I suspect righteous oration
Will greet each load as trucks and trains repeat
The route from mine to plant to wall outlet.
"It's dirty," they'll say. "It detroys the land."
Fah! Turn Hephestian muscles loose! Unmet
Needs can be sated by coal! We can't command
The sun-- it's a nice idea to harness,
But not while the grid is under durress.

Minor League Baseball, 1903

I created a map of minor league baseball teams and their league affiliations in 1903.

College Football: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

I have been researching the sports pages of old newspapers lately, and I came across this article in the 1903 Milwaukee Journal regarding their upcoming college football season. The article, “Football Championship in Question Again,” laments that football fans will not have a definitive, conclusive end to their season because there is no adequate championship system in place to determine what team truly is the best in the nation. Sound familiar?

The unnamed author complains that the eastern teams refuse to acknowledge the strengths of western teams (meaning Midwestern by our geography) and will not entertain the idea of a Michigan or Chicago team as being better than Harvard, Yale, or West Point.

“The time will not be far distant when games will be arranged to settle this question. Comparisons, at best, are only problematical, and seldom hold good, but college men in general who are fair-minded would like to see the championship of the country proved conclusively rather than have critics haggling about it for months after the season ends.”

We have come a long way since 1903—journalists no longer count the number of deaths during each college football season as a result of injuries; we allow the forward pass; and not all the players are white. But we still don’t have a system that conclusively and uneqiuvaically determines what team is the best in the nation. I dont think we will until we make some major changes to the way the NCAA manages the game.