IrishAZ

I'm in the process of writing a specialty library in COM/ATL for applying a DOM to a binary format file. It's for a game, and the publisher has documented the format very well, but I'm hitting some logic problems in getting the class model to work, and was looking for some advice on best methods of doing the storage classes, object models, and memory management for this much file I/O. Any help would be appreciated. Respond to this post or drop me an PM. Thanks! IRISH!

Any possibility of letting it be user configurable? IRISH!

Much cleaner guys - nicely done. Thanks! IRISH!

ESPN reporting that Moss has been traded to the Raiders for LB Napoleon Harris and the 7th pick in the first round of the draft. If ever there was a fit between a player's and a team's personality, this is it. ESPN IRISH!

Cubs are the pride of Chicago. The city is about 75% Cubs/25% WhiteSox, but nobody is passionate about the Sox. And as far as ND, every other part of Indiana hates South Bend. Just go to Purdue some time and ask them about the Domers, they'll puke on your shoes. That's like going to Columbia SC and asking them about Clemson Other places in Indiana aren't *that* hate ND. For what it's worth, Fort Wayne has a bigger Sub-Alum club than South Bend does. ND has that spread wide fan base, but not a lot of density in their home region. Nebraska, on the other hand, has that high density at home but is spread thinner nation-wide, I think. After ND, the fan shirts I see the most out here in Arizona State land are the Huskers (even more than ASU, possibly...and Huskers dwarf UA by a huge margin). Oddly enough, I hardly ever see other Pac-10 fan apparell. Maybe that's just because Arizona is largely populated by people from somewhere else? IRISH!

Found some very nice information on ncaa.org and thought I would share it around since their site is so poorly laid out and things are hard to find. It might answer some general questions down the line. Most of these are Adobe Acrobat documents - if you dont' have Acrobat Reader, you can download it here. Lots of information on everything: recruiting rules, practice seasons and rules, eligibility, the new academic requirements. - NCAA Div IA Manual Second guess the ref! - NCAA Football Rulebook Digest info on the new Contemporaneous (is that even a word?) Penalties/Academc Performance Program - translated: why FSU will get in trouble because their players don't attend classes - Q&A on NCAA Academic Performance Program NCAA Infractrions Database! Get the dirt on anyone - Major Infractions Database All the fun numbers! - Official NCAA Football Statistics. Have fun. IRISH!

Good point on Alabama - except for Auburn, there's nothing even close down there. I think Pillen08's right in that the only other team that comes to mind in the media catregory would be ND - with the exception that even though ND might have a somewhat larger fan base overall, it's not as dominant in their home region like Nebraska is. IRISH!

Dang...that's a tough question Toad. The only one I can think of is maybe UConn and basketball - but even then, I don't think Connecticut as a state is as dedicated to the Huskies as Nebraska is to the Huskers (there has to be a joke in there somewhere). Nevada and UNLV basketball?...they're only important as long as they beat the point spread As far as football - Hawaii, maybe or even Idaho with Boise State's emergence. But, once again, they aren't as dedicated as Nebraska I think as a whole. I think you may be on to something here. IRISH!

I know...couldn't resist. IRISH!

Princeton over Notre Dame??? I...I....I.... I am totally without speech. I think I need to sit down now. IRISH!

Just caught that news on Rivals - I'm pretty happy about it. Gorski seems like a Weis type of kid - hard worker with a great attitude. Charlie has traditionally had some real success with kids like that (No Tom Brady predictions though...not yet, anyway ). Although, he's got the frame (6'4") even if he's a bit lanky and a 4.9 ain't too shabby he apparently doesn't put on the muscle weight very well. Maybe a year or two of maturing will get some better results in the weighroom. He might end up developing into a real good player. Then again, maybe that's just my eternal optimism and love of the underdog talking (which probably explains my love of the Irish and the Cubs ). If nothing else, good attitudes are infectious - fill the team with workers, and the slackers get some pressure to keep up. IRISH!

Or times are a chagrin...guess it's all a matter of perspective IRISH!

True that, Eric. It's sort of like Vegas oddsmakers giving parlay (sp?) advice on the radio..."for entertainment purposes only". IRISH!

I just finished watching the Battlestar Galactica Miniseries (for the new show). If you haven't seen it yet and like really intelligent and exciting Science Fiction...WATCH THIS SHOW. It's really done well. At any rate... During the Miniseries, there was a shot where Apollo (Lee Adama) was to fly his father's old Viper during a ceremony. Commander Adama's call sign painted on the side of the Viper? Husker! Thought that was sort of cool. IRISH!

Yeah, I'm not so sure about this particular site either. I mean, Justin Tuck is one of my favorite ND players, but no way is he going ahead of Cody or Roth at DE. And Williamson in the 1st round? I know the NFL is hurting for WR's, but I can't imagine him as a high 1st rounder. IRISH!

This is the funniest quote from that article: "If it doesn’t, I suggest popping in the 'Decade of Dominance' DVD and reminiscing with your buddies about the great K-State teams of yore." If I'm not mistaken KSU is the only team to have put up more than 500 offensive points in a season but not finish in the Top 25. Perhaps they measure success by yardage gained vs. Rice, Oklahoma St. and Baylor and not the W/L columns? How unfair to not let Huskers know the standards by which they are judged! Foul! IRISH!

I like statistics, as you might know...so I did a little run down. If you combined stats from both UNL and ND, and compared them with KSU some interesting trends develop. Combined NC's: 16 KSU: 0 Combined Heismans: 10 KSU: 0 Combined AAA's: 51 KSU: 3 There is, however, one category where KSU completely overshadows the UNL/ND statistical juggernaut: Combined NCAA Infractions in the last 10 years: 0 KSU: 3 They have every right to talk...but no right to be taken seriously. IRISH!

I just read an article from MSN Sportsnet (from a UWV site) that had some interesting insight into the way some of the services work and was curious how the most knowledgeable and thoughtful fans in the world thought. Here's the article's link if you're curious: The Recruiting Game IRISH!

Heh...I'm sure BC is more sensible than that. Although, after a good recruiting class, he might have gained back some stock. It's really a good idea, I think, for the coach to stay in touch with the students and fans, though. The stronger the Husker Nation, the better the team. I like this quote, in particular, from Sun Tsu: "The Way is what causes the people to have the same thinking as their superiors; they may be given death, or they may be given life, but there is no fear of danger and betrayal." Translated: win or lose, they'll still be loyal. IRISH! -ps and yes, I've been reading the Art of War again...got another theory article going up

Entertaining read. Thanks DJR. IRISH!

Yeah, you do have a point Dave - there are about 8,000 students at ND and I'm sure many times that at UNL. Just thought after the somewhat controversial hiring/firing that happened in Lincoln year before last BC might have gone on the PR trail a bit. At least he spoke at the bball game. Does he walk around campus at all, or just take the side doors and ride in the SUV to and from practice? You know, the nondescript one with the super-dark tinted windows surrounded by guys in sunglasses and suits holding things in their ears Yeah...that one... IRISH!

I just read an article about Charlie Weis having an open discussion with the ND student body and was wondering what Callahan did his first year on the job to connect with the UNL student body. Anyone know if he did any open forum/meet-and-greet/dorm visit stuff? IRISH!

ahh...ok. The info at the top had him listed as a defensive tackle, but I was pretty sure he was listed as an offensive tackle. That's one big, strong, and for his size, quick dude. He'll be a great addition if he comes. The beautiful this about it is that since he's a junior I would bet a fair amont of that 300 lbs. is still pure chub. He could likely put on another 20-40 lbs in the weight room in the next couple of years, and not lose a step (in fact, he might shave a few ticks off that 40 time). IRISH!

OK but isnt an ELO system still flawed bcuz computing these rankings based on SOS is in itself arbitrary no? how are the original rankings contrived? by polls which are themselves subjective so now youre in a perpetual circle J. Well, not precisely. ELO is calculated using the formula: Rn = Ro + C * Se. New Ranking (Rn) = Old ranking (Ro) + A constant © times the expected score (Se) based on the ranking difference.. The expected score is based on a table value. Two teams that are equal in ELO have an expected score of .5 - teams that are separated by 100 ELO have an exptected score of .65. If you assume that every team starts out with an ELO of 1000 and you use a constant of, say, 50. The winners of the first game of the year would have an ELO of 1025 (1000 + 50 *.5) The losers of the game would have an ELO of 975. If a 1-0 team beats another 1-0 team, their new ELO becomes 1050 (the loser's becomes 1000). So, as teams win, their ELO goes up, as they lose it goes down. Losing to a more powerful team nets a smaller loss than losing to a weaker opponent, and so on. I've not studied statistics for a while, but I think a field of 117 teams would stratify nicely after about 8 iterations or so (leaving about 15 teams on average per score group - 8-0, 7-1, 6-2, etc.). That make any sense? IRISH!

I've heard similar ideas before, but never with the twist of having the payout go to only the loser. I think that's brilliant as it keeps the costs of hosting the bowls down significantly (having only one team to payout). The key to me, really, is determining who should go. Once you get that field of candidates in place, something like you propose would be a great way to do it, I think. If I could wave a magic wand, I would do one of two things: 1. Dissolve the conferences, and prohibit 1A teams from playing 1AA teams. Then install a weighted ranking system like ELO to manage rankings for the tournament. 2. Consolidate all the teams into 16 inter-regional conferences. The winners of those conferences would go on to play in the tourney (like having divisions in pro sports). If the latter were ever used, your idea of having the secondary bowls host the conference 2's and 3's would be awesome. So, how about we just take over the BCS and make this happen? IRISH!