Wednesday Wishes

Enjoy Wednesday sports fans. It's national signing day and national pride day (via U.S. Soccer tackling Mexico in Houston.) After that it's a long hard road out of February and into March Madness.

As much as I'm looking forward to it, I do have a couple of ideas that could make a spectacular sports day even better:

1) National Signing Day participation - As fans of a college football program we have a lot invested in National Signing Day. Lot of dollars, lot of man hours, lot of needless fretting. At best, I know next to nothing about most of these kids. If I'm lucky I've seen a shoddy YouTube highlight tape set to an even worse hip-hop soundtrack. If I'm unlucky I've seen a 40 time and an arbitrary star ranking, neither of which are nearly as good an indication of future success as many would like to believe.

The point is, however, that when a player chooses Nebraska he chooses me. His talent is validated by wanting to play for my team and I am validated by him wanting to play for my team and, indirectly, me. I helped get that kid here by contributing to the greater whole of Nebraska football. That's honestly the only way I can rationalize all the interest in recruiting.

Operating under the assumption that I am at least partially responsible for any player who signs with Nebraska, I'm left a little dismayed with the set up for tomorrow. Letters of intent can start rolling in as early as 7am EDT which means I've got a full day of website checking on tap for tomorrow. But why does it have to be that way? Why can't I get the letters of intent sent directly to my inbox and enjoy the fruits of our labor along with the coaching staff?

I'd be more than happy to pay for this service, $10 or $20 seems fair, and I know there has to be an intern or some lackey in the athletic department who could quickly scan the LOIs and send out mass emails to the thousands of people who've paid for the service.

Imagine sitting at work Wednesday and getting instant alerts rather than constantly refreshing your website of choice. Look at that! Sam McGuffie decommitted from Michigan to attend Nebraska. Amazing. Wait, I just got another email, Terrelle Pryor wants to play for Bo too? I can't believe it. Oh, here's Baker's letter. Way to stay the course.

I'm telling you, it's a cash cow.

2. A True Border War

Despite their recent success, the US cannot beat Mexico on its own turf which might ground this idea before it even gets a test flight but I'll give it hell anyway.

The last friendly between the US and Mexico took place in Arizona. While technically a home game for the US it was hardly a home crowd and the match got pretty chippy towards the end. It's doubtful that Houston, with its proximity to Mexico and...well...Texas, will be much different. Expect a hostile crowd and a fair amount of cards. That's just the way things work when the neighbors get together on the pitch.

But if the US is going to play home games away from home why not take it the logical next step? I'm talking about the ultimate soccer facility in the western hemisphere. Maybe it's in Laredo/Nuevo Laredo or El Paso/Juarez, the location isn't really important, but what is important is that the field is exactly half US territory half Mexican territory. The Rio Grande marks the center line.

Think about it, we could stage (at least half of) the first ever self-contained, truly international soccer match. There would be American beer and food on one half of the stadium and Mexican food and beer on the other. Each side would be responsible for the upkeep and ultimate condition of only their half of the stadium. The fans would be separated by a simple chain link fence sort of like the jail scene in Colors.

Really, what could go wrong? I love American soccer because it's a rare chance to partake in world politics through sport with none of the repercussions but what's been missing thus far is some real No Country for Old Men level violence.

I think this idea solves that problem.