What did the first week of TNIAAM look like?

Oct 8, 2006. The day I finally got bored enough with my job at the time to start a blog. Not just any blog. A blog about the “world of college football, college basketball and possibly even a little college lacrosse” with “an inordinate amount of time payed to the teams of Syracuse University.”

Things have narrowed down a bit since then but I thought it would be fun to look back at what I was writing about that first week as I was still trying to figure out what TNIAAM was supposed to be. And what I wanted it to be.

October 8 - What the hell is going on here?

The first post ever misspells Syracuse before the end of the first paragraph, setting the tone for the next ten years of copy editing. When discussing what the blog would be about, I said “I can't imagine I'll stick directly to college sports.” Oh how little I understood myself. I also went on to describe where the name of the blog came from, a story I got about 85 percent correct.

October 9 - The Inaugural TNIAAM College Football Poll

Aw, how cute. I thought people would give a crap what my top 25 would be. I remember doing this because I remember I spent hours...HOURS...trying to format the team names with corresponding colors. The internet was a different place in 2006, you guys. My hatred for the way college football determines it’s champion was clear from the beginning, at least.

October 9 - They're Stau-BAAAAACH!!!

The kind of post this blog has come to be known for: Critical analysis about Navy football. For the record, my prediction was off by one season. Navy would go on to beat Notre Dame in 2007.

October 11 - New York State of Mind

A post about the airplane crash that killed New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and flight instructor Tyler Stranger. I had totally forgot about that until right now.

October 11 - Tell Me You Didn't See This Coming

A post about Lawrence Phillips going to jail. Again, really hadn’t locked down a concise sense of what this site was going to be about.

October 12 - Orange you glad? You should be...

Ugh, that title. Glad I got that out of my system early on. This was my first real Syracuse post on the site and it’s a doozy. I lay out my very timely theory on why Coach P needed to be fired (two years after he was fired). I actually still stand by this in spite of what happened afterward and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise.

That said, this paragraph has not aged well.

Here's the ultimate thing. If you don't mind 8-4. If you don't mind being a fringe team on the rankings. If you don't mind playing in bowl games that change sponsor every year and are played in places that may or may not even be warm weather...then yes, the Coach P years were for you. If you were just happy to be playing in a BCS bowl once in a while, then yes, the Coach P years were for you. But that just doesn't cut it for me. And Syracuse has all the ingredients of a National title contender. They play in a great stadium for a fanbase that wants to win in an area where they are the pro team in a section of the country were they have access to some of the best recruits. There's no excuse for 6-6, 7-5, 9-4, 6-6. Sorry.

Complaining about Syracuse going 6-6. Such a 2006 thing to do.

October 12 - Thursday Night Matchups

Oh God, this was another one of those things that took WAY LONGER than I should ever admit to. Trying to organize the helmets and make sure they aligned with the team names took FOREVER and the whole endeavor was so not worth it.

I do appreciate that even then I was throwing shade at Clemson.

“I see Clemson like I saw Texas in the 90's. A trendy yearly pick that no one who really follows the game takes seriously.”

Ahead of my time.

October 12 - Hope is a Dangerous Thing

This is a post in which I still have hope during the Greg Robinson Era. I wish I could go back and smack myself in the face before pressing Publish.

October 13 - Saturday Is My Master

A Ben Folds-themed preview of the college football weekend. THIS is where it all started to come together.

By the way, my SU - West Virginia prediction was 41-14, WVU. Actual final score? 41–17, WVU.

October 13 - Things Were a lot Different in Ron Dayne's Day

A story about the Wisconsin band. Again, I was still experimenting and things got weird from time to time.

October 14 - Everytime You Fire A Sports Commentator For Racially-Insentitve Remarks...

Credit for my first misspelling in a title. It’s post about announcer Steve Lyons, who had been fired for saying Lou Piniella was "hablaing Espanol” and “I still can't find my wallet” because Piniella was sitting nearby. It felt like a bit of an overreaction at the time and while it certainly wasn’t a great bit, a firing still seems like it was a little harsh for being a dummy. Still, things didn’t get much better for him.