Lots to get to on today’s show. (Note: there were some audio issues, and somehow my voice was not recorded for the first segment. below is what we talked about. I swear. We put some of Nick’s comments in the audio of the show.)

We start with some BCS talk after one more team -- Oregon -- qualified for the non-tournament. The thing about this year is that, assuming Cincinnati and Texas both win, the top 10 teams in the country will be pretty obvious and not many teams will have the right to complain about being left out of the BCS.

That said, there’s the whole mess of FIVE teams heading into the BCS without a loss  and the chance that after the bowls are over, THREE of them could still be undefeated at the end of the bowl season and not get any piece of the national championship.

That’s just ridiculous. Add to the fact the idea that if Texas or Cincinnati were to lose -- or imagine if both of them do -- there could be enough chaos to knock a team like Boise State out of the BCS altogether. A lot would have to happen, but it could. And it would be terrible.

The BCS is like watching your friend hit his head into a wall repeatedly. How many times can you tell him what he’s doing is wrong, and hurting himself? You can’t just walk away because you love him and you just. want. him. to. stop. being. such. a. moron.

Damn you BCS.

Speculation Station:

Shane Bacon from Dogs that Chase Cars (also a contributor to Yahoo’s Devil Ball Golf) joins the show to talk about the Tiger Woods saga. We spend a lot of time trying to figure out what the PGA does next. Does Tim Finchem react in some way or let Tiger deal with it the way he wants? What do the other players say about it (you’ve really only heard from Jesper Parnevik and Steve Stricker at this point) and are many of them keeping quiet because this COULD HAVE BEEN THEM?

We talk about life on the road for the PGA players. How many tournaments do they bring the family and how many are they five-day bachelors? Bacon explains that it’s really tournament by tournament, with the example that Harbour Town provides a lot for the families to do, yet Scottsdale is party central. So yes, this happens more than we’d like to think. Or more than the wives would like to think.

We also get into the pathology of cheating the way Tiger was/is/has been. Bacon asserts that if a rich, famous guy had women thrown at him all the time, eventually he’d have to succumb to the temptation. And while I don’t think that makes it right, it is, dare-I-say logical to assume these athletes would bring the occasional waitress back to their hotel in a drunken stupor.

But to have long-term affairs with the same women seems insane. To have 31-month trysts where you let a woman potentially live in one of your houses is something so much more sinister than sleeping with whatever gets put in front of you. And to have this type of commitment with MORE THAN ONE woman, telling at least one of them that marriage isn’t for you...that, honestly, seems insane.

So what if Tiger up and quits? What if he’s just done with golf...for a year or even forever? What would the Tour do? Could it survive if the helicopters and the people hiding in bushes became too much for Tiger and he figures, “I have enough money. I just want to be a real person for a while.”

It’s seems implausible because holding all the records will make him immortal, but Tiger Woods walking away when we all know he will break the records...that makes him even more immortal. And if that’s what it’s about, it’s not that illogical.

That said, I’m not sure we should be trusting Tiger’s logic right now.

Speculation Station (part two):

We talk about today’s World Cup draw and speculate on where the US will end up (Group of Super Death, perhaps?). Nick brings up a point that getting into a tough group isn’t that terrible because they can prove they belong with the best in the world. I think getting to the quarterfinals or semifinals, no matter who you play, is much more fun.

We debate.

Housekeeping:

First, we announce that I’ll be going to the World Championship of Trash Talk, which is a $1,000-buy in charity poker tournament in Vegas on Super Bowl Weekend. There will be a Super Bowl party as well, at some big-to-do mansion in Vegas with a ton of celebrities and rich people and whatnot. And I get to bring another blogger with me. Who should I bring? Email me to let me know your suggestions. We’re going to put it up to a vote next week.

And rather than spend 10 minutes talking about Allen Iverson’s press conference yesterday, we just play it. About five minutes. Listen to the end of the show and you’ll know why this city loves the guy.

Thanks for listening.