Jamikel

I still have no idea what Rutgers provides the ACC other than a warm body in the 16th slot. If WVU (ranked 164th in the country) isn't good enough for the ACC, how is Rutgers (ranked 143rd in the country) any better, especially with lousy football and men's basketball programs?

Rutgers is ranked 68th, not 143rd.

Men's basketball, an actual revenue-generating sport, is being treated as an afterthought in all this conference realignment hubbub. There's no way lacrosse and baseball factor into who goes where.

Not really sure what Rutgers brings to the table, other than fitting the "academic profile" of the rest of the ACC and providing a natural rival for Duke.

How does a school in New Jersey provide a natural rivalry with Duke? UNC is the natural rival of Duke.

Heh. I guess you're unaware of a certain nickname for that school in Durham.

I don't see how that would create a "natural rivalry". That usually means rivalry formed by location, nearby schools. I actually don't see any rivalry forming at all between these schools.

It was a joke.

Not really sure what Rutgers brings to the table, other than fitting the "academic profile" of the rest of the ACC and providing a natural rival for Duke.

How does a school in New Jersey provide a natural rivalry with Duke? UNC is the natural rival of Duke.

Heh. I guess you're unaware of a certain nickname for that school in Durham.

And I think you're right about West Virginia. If not the ACC, then I think they probably end up in the SEC. I personally think the ACC is pretty stupid if we reject them based on academics. If UNC's academics are going to falter, it will be because the NC Legislature just gutted our academic funding, not because we play a few games with the Mountaineers. And the ACC definitely needs more schools with passionate fans who travel well. The addition of Syracuse would give the ACC a whopping five private schools. None of the other BCS Conferences has more than two.

Texas has bullied two conferences into breaking up. The only way they should be allowed in is if they made some MAJOR concessions (i.e. learn to share.)

If (when) the ACC goes to 16, West Virginia would seem like the obvious choice. They'd be an upgrade for the league in both football and basketball, and they would have many natural rivalries with other ACC schools. But unfortunately, their academic ranking isn't high enough to get approved by the current ACC schools (UNC and Duke in particular.)

Since west Virginia is likely out, if the ACC decides to honor the "Atlantic Coast" part of their name, the two next options would be Rutgers and UConn. Not really sure what Rutgers brings to the table, other than fitting the "academic profile" of the rest of the ACC and providing a natural rival for Duke. But adding UConn, while it wouldn't improve football, would mean that the ACC would have the 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2011 men's basketball national champions.

That, and the ridiculous amount of political power the North Carolina schools have in the ACC, which is the reason for the ridiculous set-up in the first place.

So the North Carolina schools wielded their ridiculous amounts of political power to make sure they were split up into separate divisions?

Wait... what?

<checks the alignments>

I could've SWORE they were in the same division. In large part because it's the only logical reason for having divisions that make no logical sense.

<adds my post to the "evidence that the ACC's alignment makes no damn sense" pile>

Yeaaaaaaah... I think you can blame Florida State and Miami for that one. Well, not so much Florida State and Miami as much as the Powers That Be in the ACC who wanted to make sure a FSU-Miami ACC title game was possible. Same reason for the failed attempts to hold the ACC title game in Florida. I'm sure you've all loved the great slugfests between FSU and Miami to decide the ACC title since expansion.

An alternative reason for not doing it geographically is that the traditional football powers in the ACC are in the southern half, geographically, and they didn't want the conference to end up like the Big 12, where one division is one of the toughest in college football, while the other is Nebraska. So naturally, we get the Coastal Division, with four pre-season top 25 teams, and the Atlantic, with Florida State.

That, and the ridiculous amount of political power the North Carolina schools have in the ACC, which is the reason for the ridiculous set-up in the first place.

So the North Carolina schools wielded their ridiculous amounts of political power to make sure they were split up into separate divisions?

Notre Dame may not want to admit it, but I think they might need the Big Ten to stay relevant.

I really don't think Notre Dame is going to be concerned with being relevant on the football field as long as they can continue selling mediocrity to the public. Most schools have a financial incentive for wanting to improve their football teams; not so for Notre Dame. Sure, it may piss off their fans and lead to a new coaching hire every 3-4 years, but until they lose their TV contract or BCS tie-in, why should they want to join the Big Ten?

Not so much the wrong uniform, but it's weird to see MJ in Adidas gear. It looks like Jordan has taped over the logo on the front, but you can still see the three stripes on the side of the jersey.

Larry Csonka Giants:

The real Larry Csonka.

Csonka as I'll always remember him:

I am sure there are a few others like this. It is nice that there should be a few exceptions to the norm.

I can't say that I am convinced by any of the examples you gave, but I also think teams get a little trigger happy when it comes to retiring jerseys, and I'm not a fan of it at all.

Davis never actually played though. He was drafted by the Redskins, traded to the Browns and his number ended up being retired, but he never played a down in the NFL. With that said, how is Ernie Davis in the wrong uniform?

Number retired without even playing? That seems a bit excessive.

Ernie Davis Wiki Stub

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Davis#Pro_football_career

Okay....? Tragic untimely death notwithstanding, I still don't think his number should be retired by a team he didn't even play for. Syracuse, definitely, but not Cleveland.

Davis never actually played though. He was drafted by the Redskins, traded to the Browns and his number ended up being retired, but he never played a down in the NFL. With that said, how is Ernie Davis in the wrong uniform?

Number retired without even playing? That seems a bit excessive.

3. Wayne Gretzky, St. Louis Blues

Quite possibly the greatest 31 games of his career, if you equate ?greatness? with ?number of primary colors on uniform.?

Some sick part of me really likes those particular Blues uniforms. The fact that they were the ones the Great One wore just makes them that much better.

Ah, Lil Jon a.k.a. the unofficial mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers. The 'Canes have Ric Flair...we got Lil Jon. I wonder who wins?

Tampa Bay

On the topic of wrong uniforms, the second guy they pan to isn't even wearing the right Brazil kit. It's missing the swoosh and the stand-up collar.