Before we get started on a new season of hijinks here at Those Other Guys, I have some mea culpas to offer.
I disappeared right after I posted the previews for the FCS semifinals and the championship games in the other divisions, meaning I never wrapped the other divisions, nor did I preview or wrap the FCS championship game or wrap the semifinals.
I think we can all agree that this was bad.
There were things going on here at home that ate up a great deal of my free time, and said things also contributed to a severe case of writers block. No excuse, but it wasn’t just because I stopped caring all of a sudden.
So, with that, congratulations to Eastern Washington (FCS), Minnesota-Duluth (D-II), Wisconsin-Whitewater (D-III), and Carroll (MT) (NAIA) on winning their respective national championships last December.
Last season, I picked a format and rolled with it, but I was never satisfied WITH that format. I felt like it worked against the very purpose I had in mind with this site; it was too stiff, too wordy, and was pretty much just as thick and hard to swallow as simply going to dedicated sites would have been. This year, I’m going to toy with things and see if I can’t land on something that feels organic and entertaining.
I also never did figure out what to do about basketball (despite actually having a couple of offers from people interested in helping cover it), and thus never even started it. Congratulations go out to Bellarmine (D-II), Saint Thomas (MN) (D-III), Pikeville (NAIA-I), Cornerstone (NAIA-II), Azusa Pacific (NAIA-I women), and Northwestern (IA) (NAIA-II women). I cannot guarantee that I’ll get to basketball this year either, but if I do manage to come up with a format for football which I’m comfortable with, I might manage it.
Next: what changed over the summer.