Everything Lots Of Things You Wanted To Know About Android Smartphone Apps

Over Christmas break one of my relatives who had just purchased the new Samsung Galaxy S III beast phone asked me point-blank: "What apps should I get for this thing?"  He indicated that he used it primarily as an actual phone (what?!) and was thus -- perhaps not surprisingly -- unimpressed with this latest/greatest Android device.  Upon further reflection, I think that's actually a great question that fortunately has a simple answer: "What do you use your phone for?"

That's really what it's all about.  If you just want a phone to make phone calls, don't bother with a smartphone and data plan.  It's overkill and a waste of your money.  If you want phone calls plus basic email and Internet browsing, it's still pretty simple, and the default apps that come on most smartphones will suffice.  But, if you want to really get your money's worth out of your smartphone, there's a whole world of apps just waiting for you to go get them.  I'm a tinkerer and I play a lot with apps, settings and features just for fun, so hopefully some of my experience can be helpful to you, especially if you're one of those who is wondering what apps you should get for this fancy (expensive) gadget you own.

Remember the commercial that established the phrase "there's an app for that?"  Honestly, no matter what you're trying to accomplish with your phone, there probably is an app to do it.  Last I knew, the Apple App Store had something like 700,000 apps in it and Google Play (the Android app store) had around 650,000.  That's not even counting the Amazon App Store, the Windows Phone app store, or any of the other smaller independent ones like Getjar.  But none of those are any good to you unless you know what you want to do, so that's the first question you need to answer.  Everything else falls into place pretty quickly after that.  Don't know what your phone is even capable of?  Well, it can do pretty much everything that a normal computer can do...just on a smaller screen, and with much better mobility.  Not everything, of course, but most of it.  So, think big, and poke around and figure out what you want.  As a starting point, here are some of the apps I've got on my phone and/or Kindle Fire (or have used in the past), a quick description about them, and a link to their location in the Google Play store (this post assumes a basic level of knowledge on how to get apps from the app store and install them).

You'll notice some potentially confusing terminology about an "app" and a "widget."  The functional difference between them is pretty huge even if they may not look much different.  Think of an app as a static application like Microsoft Word.  When you need it, you explicitly start it, do what you need to do, and close it.  In contrast, a widget is like a window into real-time information that keeps updating all the time.  It installs like an app, looks like an app, and largely functions like an app, but it's designed more to be a live information pass-through than a standalone app.  It doesn't shut down.  The only real potential downside is performance - the more widgets you use, the more potential you have for bogging down your phone (after all, these are all real-time updates that don't shut down!).  Just keep adding them until you notice things slowing down, and you'll know how much your particular phone can handle.

Oh, one more thing - Android uses some really nice cost models.  Most Android apps use either an ad-supported model where you get the app for free (but have to look at ads for other products/services while you use them) or the "freemium" model, which basically means that you can use a limited version for free but have to pay to get the full features and functionality.  Both work well because the free versions provide most of the functionality that most users need, and the hardcore users who need the full version are happy to pay for it.  It doesn't hurt that most Android apps are only $3-4 (many are less), far less expensive than most Apple apps.  I've purchased the full versions of a couple apps for just a buck or two simply to show appreciation to the developers for their free versions, and that's not uncommon in the open source world.  In some cases, developers will offer extra goodies (backgrounds or themes, etc.) that aren't essential to the app's functionality in return for payment.  Either way, everyone wins.

Now, on to the apps...and remember, this is merely a starting point!



Launchers
Launchers are essentially the heart and soul of your smartphone.  When you turn on the screen, the launcher is what creates the actual arrangement of your screens and provides the basic functionality of how your phone interacts with you.  Some are designed to be fast and simple, some emphasize customization, some have tons of bells and whistles.  It's a total preference thing, so the best idea is to try several and then pick the one that works best for you.

• Go Launcher EX - one of (if not the) biggest and best launchers on the market today; the cool thing about Go is that they have created an entire ecosystem around it - you can download add-ons for widgets, weather, contacts, themes, and other things that all integrate seamlessly (think Microsoft Office rather than Microsoft Word); the launcher itself provides incredible customization for making your phone your phone.
• Nova - Very close to the functionality and customization of Go, but with better performance.
• Apex, ADW.Launcher, and LauncherPro are generally well regarded, too, and there are plenty of others out there that I haven't tried.

Internet Browser
Let's be honest - one of the big reasons to have a smartphone is to have access to data and the Internet on the go.  The choice of browser is pretty big.  First off, if you're talking about Android, the stock (i.e. built in) one really isn't bad.  Give it a try first and see what you think, then check these out:

• Chrome - This is the little brother of the desktop browser, and just as slick; the best part about this is that the built-in sync functionality allows you to access your bookmarks, passwords, and even open tabs from any of your devices.  For example, if I'm reading an article on my home PC, I can go to work, open Chrome on my phone and pick up that same article later in the day.  The only downside is that it's only available for Android 4.0+ devices, so if you have an older phone and don't see it in Google Play, that's why.
• Firefox - This is another great browser (also the little brother version of the desktop browser), capable of tons of customization via plug-ins, and the same kind of sync'ing as Chrome.
• Dolphin - This mobile-only browser is fast and good, with lots of customization.  If you don't care about sync'ing with other (desktop) devices, this one might be the best out there.

Weather
There are a lot of these.  No, really, I mean a lot.  Try lots, pick your favorite, and go with it.

• 1Weather - This one has a very clean, very simple interface.  It has my favorite weather widget (see red circle in picture below) because it packs a whole lot of info in a small but useful space.  A lot more details are available if you actually open up the app itself, including long-range forecasts, alerts, radar, and so on.
• Notification Weather - This is a really slick one I just found that actually sits like a widget in your notification area.  Another very clean and simple interface, I'm looking to play with it some more.  (I'm not 100% certain, but I think it's only available on Jelly Bean devices which are so far few and between...)
• Weather Channel - There are lots of channel- or brand-specific weather apps out there (i.e. Go Weather, Accuweather, Google Weather, etc.), but for an intuitive interface and useful features, I like this one best.

Weather/Clock/Homescreen Widgets
There are several great apps that allow you to create widgets for your homescreen that include some combination of clocks, weather updates, the date/time, and other info in a way that many people use as a full homescreen.  I'm certain there are more than the ones I've listed below, but I've had good luck with all of these.  The green circle above shows one example of HD Widgets (the one I happen to have installed right now), but there are an almost unlimited number of iterations and styles available.  Don't get intimidated by these, it's almost as easy as point-and-tap to create them.

• Beautiful Widgets - Probably the first big one to fulfill this niche, it has tons of customization and themes available.
• Fancy Widgets - Essentially the same stuff as Beautiful Widgets, just not the first one.
• HD Widgets - Ditto.

Purely for fun/entertainment

• Angry Birds (original, Seasons, Rio, Space, Star Wars) - need I say more? If you don't know these, just give them a try for some strangely addicting fun.
• Bad Piggies - By the same company that created Angry Birds, this is a spin-off game using the same physics engine, but the idea here is to create vehicles that the pigs (the bad guys in Angry Birds) use to navigate through obstacle courses.  This is still pretty cool, but eventually these get pretty tricky, and this isn't quite up to the level of AB.
• Quell and Quell Reflect - A sedate strategy game with soothing music and impeccable graphics.
• Robo Defense - Very shallow, very simple, very fun.
• TuneIn Radio - Streaming radio on your device.
• Words With Friends - Basically online Scrabble.
• Netflix or QueueManager - Links to your Netflix account; the official app lets you watch stuff, but is surprisingly lacking when it comes to actually managing your queue...QueueManager, on the other hand, does a good job of that.

Reading

• Amazon Kindle for Android - Read your Amazon ebooks on pretty much any device (Android, iPhone/iPad, desktop).  The best part about this is that all of your books are sync'd to the same page so you never have to bother with keeping track of where you are; you can also add bookmarks or notes, and you can share excerpts with others directly from the app.  Amazon did a bang-up job with this ecosystem.
• Aldiko - The best non-Amazon reader app I've seen; good features, easy to use.
• Bible - The biggest and best, though I've seen others (like MySword Bible) with far more tools and advanced features; this one has a verse of the day, devotions, and daily reading plans built in.

Tools/Utilities

• CircleLauncher - This great little tool lets you create widgets to give you two-tap access to groups of specific contacts or apps.  Below is a sample of both contacts and apps.  One tap on the circle launcher brings up your list, then you just tap again to run the app (or place the call, or whatever).  For contacts, if you have pictures set up then they'll show here; for an app list you see the app's native icon.  There's a vertical or horizontal configuration available, but I prefer the circles.
•  
• Dropbox, Box, SugarSync - Everything is tied to the cloud nowadays, so having a firm understanding of how to access online services is essential. Think of these apps as online repositories where you can store documents, music, pictures...pretty much any computer file, really.  It's all accessible as long as you have a connection (either cell service or wifi), and you can set up auto-syncing on your home computer so that files are transferred instantly between the two.  For example, let's look at vacation pictures from a few years ago (not as far back as film rolls...just digital camera pics).  What happened if you lost your camera on the trip home?  Your pics were gone, period.  Not so anymore.  Let's say you take a priceless vacation picture with your phone, which subsequently gets dropped into the lake.  The phone is gone, but your pictures were automatically uploaded to one of these services, which then sync'd them to your computer at home.  Sure, you have to replace your phone, but you'll have those priceless pics sitting on your desktop when you get home.  But what if your house burns down on the same day?  You can still rest easy knowing that the digital picture is sitting safe and sound in the cloud, and all you need to do is log into your account from any other computer to get to them.  Pretty slick, huh?  It's also extremely easy to share pictures and files with others using these services.  These are an absolute must-have for anyone using their phone as a multi-purpose device rather than just a phone.
• Quickpic - An outstanding picture manager, much better than the standard gallery app.
• Elixir - This is like a digital toolbox with a ton of informational and management functionality; also lots of great widgets for things like toggling wifi on/off, one-touch dialing shortcuts, etc.
• Jot - If you need to jot down a quick thought or two for later, this is perfect.
• AK Notepad - A great notepad app for writing/saving information; links to Catch.com to sync all of your notes to an online service so you can access them from your desktop computer.
• Llama - Named for 'location aware mobile app', and it's just that - it monitors where you are and activates rules you create depending on your location.  For example, I have mine set to automatically put my phone on vibrate when I get to work, and when I leave it turns full volume back on.  The key difference here is that it uses cell towers to determine your location rather than the GPS, which is slightly less accurate but far less demanding on battery life.
• FoxFi - Allows your phone to become a wifi hotspot (as long as you get cell service) that your wifi-only devices (i.e. iPad, Kindle, etc.) can use to connect on the go.
• Alarm Clock Xtrme - I'm not sure what's so extreme about it, but I do know it's easy to use and gives you a variety of options for how you want to wake up, how you shut off the snooze, and so on.

Security

• Lookout - The best mobile anti-virus and security app on the market, it includes remote location (and locking/wiping for the premium version), backup capability, and other features.
• Prey - Another great remote location app if your phone ever gets lost/stolen.
• SeekDroid - Yet another one (really, if your phone gets stolen, can you ever have too many of these hiding around your phone?).
• WheresMyDroid - (no, no you cannot!)

Productivity

• QuickOffice - Lets you open and read Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint documents on your phone (if you want to edit those documents, you'll need to purchase the full version).
• Documents To Go - Ditto, and to be honest I'm not sure I could tell you the difference between this and QuickOffice, let alone which one has better features; both are good.
• SwiftKey - This is a replacement keyboard that suggests words as you type that it thinks you'll use next, reducing the number of keystrokes by at least 40% (if you allow it to 'learn' your email/Facebook/text messaging apps I think it's actually closer to 60%).

Communication
There are tons of these, too, but here are the ones I think are best:

• Friendcaster - Facebook, but better than the native Facebook app.
• Plume - Probably the best Twitter client on the market, with tons of features and a simple interface.
• Tweetcaster - Another great Twitter client.
• GoSMS Pro - A great text messaging app that integrates seamlessly with Go Launcher.
• Handcent - One of the most popular text messaging apps available.

News/Info
This is a gigantic segment all by itself.  If you have a favorite news/info channel (i.e. WSJ, Fox, CNN, BBC, Drudge, local stations, etc.), you can assume they have their own app and probably be correct.  News aggregators such as Pulse, Google Currents, or Flipboard pull in articles and stories from multiple sources and make it easy and fast to scan loads of headlines.  If you've made it this far through the blog post, you have the idea...just try a bunch of them and keep what you like!


Others worth mentioning
There are tons of others worth mentioning.  Music apps such as Winamp, DoubleTwist, Google Music, or countless others provide a wealth of audio enjoyment.  Administrative tools abound for keeping up with the health of your phone, and allow you to optimize the software for better performance.  There are measurement tools, conversion tools, calculators, location-based apps that do anything and everything (maps, navigation, keep track of where you parked your car, revealing constellations in the night sky, etc.), apps to check prices, apps for stores, apps for coupons, and more photo and social media apps than you can shake a stick at.  I mean it when I say there's an app for pretty much everything.


Root-required Apps

Ah, rooting.  If you're not interested in being a power user of your Android smartphone, you can skip this section.  Of course, this is where you can tap that next level of usefulness, so skipping it means leaving a lot of functionality on the table.

What is rooting?  The short version of rooting is to *ahem* acquire root-level access to your phone.  There is a bit of an ethical debate here, and while I'll dance right up to it I'm not going to dig in; instead, I'll stick to explaining the high level situation and how things work in general terms in the name of being purely informational.  There are several layers of access to a smartphone, and a gross oversimplification would be something like this:

1. hardware layer --- what the phone is physically capable of doing
2. OS software layer --- the native Android operating system
3. manufacturer software layer --- what the manufacturer (i.e. Samsung, Motorola, etc.) allows the carrier to access
4. carrier software layer --- what the wireless carrier (i.e. Verizon, AT&T, etc.) allows the consumer to access
5. consumer software layer --- what you can access when you take your new phone out of the box

So, the consumer software is the most restricted, the carrier software is slightly less restricted than that, and so on.  The profit margins on these sophisticated devices are actually not that big, so they have to make money through paid services, and that's where this progressive lock-down comes in.  Take wifi hotspot capability on Verizon, for example.  Though the phone you buy from Verizon is perfectly capable of acting as a wifi hotspot for other nearby devices, they will use their software to shut down that capability...until you pay them the $20/mo. it takes to re-enable it.  That's the way it works, at least until the hackers enter the picture.

Android is essentially a scaled-down version of Linux, and is available to anyone as an open-sourced product to study, revise, and adapt.  It doesn't take long for hackers to slice through a new version and modify portions of the code to do all kinds of amazing things.  There's nothing wrong, illegal, or unethical about that - that's the whole point of open source code.  But, manufacturers and carriers then add their own proprietary layers of software on top of that to close off those functionalities that they want to be paid for.  [Side note - here's where the ethical debate comes in.  Manufacturers and carriers say they deserve to be paid for this advanced functionality on the products they're selling, and hackers say people paid for the phone so they deserve to get full use out of it.  I can see both sides....but again, debate isn't the intent here...]

The key is to gain "root" access.  In computer terms, a "root" user can see everything and do everything to every file on a system.  Every door is open.  So, to "root" a smartphone is to hack through the proprietary software and gain "root" access.  Once this happens, everything else becomes possible, and the consumer suddenly bypasses levels 3-5 above and leaps straight to level 2 with full access to all the software on the device.  This opens up an incredible amount of power and allows the user to tap into the full hardware and software capability of the phone.

There are a number of good reasons to want this access.  Here are a few of the biggest ones:

1. Wifi.  I used the wifi example above for a reason - this is huge for a lot of people, especially as carriers have revoked unlimited data plans over the past couple years.
2. Backups.  The lousy 'backups' that the carrier apps perform are incomplete at best, and totally useless at worst.  Once you're rooted, you can make complete backups of everything on your phone (this is good for obvious reasons).  Many apps have two components - the executable app itself, and the data that stores the state of the user's progress in the app.  Let's say you pass all levels of Angry Birds with 3 stars and then buy a new phone.  When you install Angry Birds on the new phone, you've got exactly the same app as you did before...but you start over with zero stars because the data component remained on the old phone.  With a rooted backup process you can capture both the app and the data, package it up in numerous ways, upload it to Dropbox, copy it to a removable SD card...whatever you want to do to preserve it and/or import it to your new phone.  The point is you've got access to it, so you don't have to lose it.  
3. Customization.  With root access you can change fonts, colors, shapes, sizes, pictures...everything.  This isn't just the cosmetic changes that themes perform, either, this is actually re-writing the files themselves to alter the way your phone looks and works.
4. Bloat removal.  Most smartphones come pre-installed with junk apps that try to sell you additional software or force you to use their own functionality to do things.  For example, Verizon has their own navigation app that they want you to use.  It's okay but it lacks the seamless integration with Google's other services that Google Maps has.  And yet, when I try to navigate somewhere, it has an aggravating insistence on using the Verizon app rather than Google Maps.  The carriers know this is annoying, too, so that bloatware is built into their proprietary software and the consumer can't remove it.  However, with root access you can freeze or remove that bloatware so it never bothers you again.
5. New/Modified ROMs.  A smartphone's operating system is also referred to as a "ROM", which is a throwback to the old "read only memory" of long ago.  To draw an understandable comparison to a desktop computer, consider this your Microsoft-approved version of Windows.  Well, believe it or not, the manufacturers and carriers aren't the only ones with talented code monkeys, and there are lots of independent developers who create fully functional ROMs of their own.  Similar to the motivation behind using a non-stock launcher app, ROMs are designed for different purposes.  Sometimes they're exactly the same as the native Android, but with the carrier bloat removed prior to installation; sometimes they've got a particular theme or color scheme built in; some may have specialized functionality like oversized fonts and buttons.  Whatever can be coded can be made into a new ROM.  You can also package up the entire ROM running on your phone and save it off as a backup; if something goes wrong on your phone, you can simply import the old ROM and you're instantly back up and running.  By working with the entire ROM, you don't even have to install individual apps again - it's like capturing a snapshot of your entire Windows desktop computer, but for your phone.

There are plenty more reasons, of course, but these seem to be the ones I consistently see as being the most valid.  There is a trade-off to pursuing root, though.  First, it will invalidate any warranty remaining on your device.  Second, you may screw something up and ruin your phone.  Third, you may do everything right and still ruin your phone.  Call it the Spiderman Principle: with great power comes great responsibility.

As I said before, root level access lets you do anything you want to any file on there...including blowing something away or messing with something that you shouldn't have.  An extra complication is the fact that each phone is different, so a thoroughly tested and perfected rooting method for the Galaxy S III probably won't work on the Razr Maxx HD (it might not even work on another Samsung phone, much less a different manufacturer).  So there's plenty of risk involved.  This post is already long enough so I won't go into where to find this information and guidance.  If you really want to know you can contact me directly and I'll be happy to help you.

All of that is the foundation for the list of my favorite root level apps:

• Titanium Backup - This is probably the biggest name in root apps and backups.  You can backup everything manually or by a schedule, automatically upload your backups to one of several cloud storage services, and perform a dizzying array of other import/export things that I haven't even begun to explore.  It's got loads of functionality that I assume a developer would find incredibly useful, too, all for just a few bucks.
• Root Explorer - The stock file manager is only allowed access to certain parts of your phone; this one uses root access to get to everything.
• ROM Toolbox - Another personal favorite is this toolbox.  It is truly a work of art, containing many of the same backup and development functionalities of Titanium Backup; it includes a root browser (like Root Explorer), a complete theme changer, the ability to change your phone's boot animation or individual system icons, numerous performance enhancement tools, an ad blocker (when this is used in combination with many of the afore-mentioned ad-supported apps, you have essentially the full app for free)...the list is gigantic.  It's an incredible amount of stuff, especially for just $5.
• ROM Manager.  This is another giant in rooted apps.  Remember how I mentioned you could install a completely different "OS" or swap out the entire ROM at once?  ROM Manager is one of the best tools to automate that process and allow you to do it smoothly and (hopefully) without error.
• Airdroid.  This is another one I've just recently found.  It connects your phone to your computer, making it extremely easy to transfer files to/from your phone, copy URLs or contacts, or any of a number of other tasks that are pretty tedious otherwise.  No cables, no drivers, just a standard browser.
• Light Flow.  Lets you control the notifications on your phone (LED light, ringtones, vibration, etc.) per app; the free version gives you good functionality, but you'll need to purchase the full version to get all the goodies.
• Wifi Tether.  Wifi, anyone?

And so on, and so on.  I think you get the point by now.  The bottom line is that your smartphone can do so much more than make phone calls.  It truly is an integrated communications hub combined with a digital multi-tool that can do just about anything you need.

All you have to do is imagine, then go looking.  Hopefully this has helped you do that.
Happy Android-ing!

Bummer.

Well, now that the dust has settled, the Ducks have convincingly won the Fiesta Bowl, 35-17.

First, my gripes.  I'm generally not one to gripe about officiating, but the officials blew several rather obvious calls early in the game, including two terribly late out-of-bounds tackles.  It's impossible to know how much difference that kind of thing can make, but an extra 30 yards and some significant momentum is a heckuva boost in the early stages of a game.  Those were just plain blown.  Then, with about 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter, Barner took a left sweep and slid to a halt, allowing the clock to keep running.  The only problem is that he clearly went out of bounds before beginning the slide, but they signaled for the clock to keep running.  Another blown call.  I saw several instances of Oregon holding early on that didn't get called, too.  I give the refs a C- on this one.  For what it's worth (which isn't much).

Now, for the game itself.  As I mentioned before, the key was which team would force the other out of its preferred style of play.  Aside from the opening kick-off return, K-State actually did the better job of it in the first half.  The game was slow, they moved the ball well and won the time of possession battle, and they more or less shut down the potent Ducks offense by controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.  But...they missed a couple of opportunities to put points on the board at the end of those drives.  That was killer, especially in a game where every point was absolutely critical.  Even so, being down by only 5 points at the end of the first half would have played directly into K-State's strength and I think would have led to a whole lot of confidence in the second half.  Even with that last Oregon scoring drive right before halftime that put the Ducks up by 12, it still felt like it was anyone's game.

However, the Ducks came out in the second half, grabbed the momentum early, and never let go.  Their lines -- both offense and defense -- controlled the line of scrimmage, especially in smothering Klein's ability to run.  I give the K-State defense all the credit in the world for holding that lethal offense to just 35 points on the night - there was a tipping point midway through the third quarter where it seemed like Oregon was on the verge of blowing the game wide open, but the Cats' defense continued battling and kept things relatively under control.  Unfortunately, the Wildcat offense was inept at that point in the game, and by the time it got something going again it was too little too late.  The Ducks outplayed them throughout the second half, and the tiny thread of hope that remained was really not even that.

K-State made a number of uncharacteristic mistakes, especially in regard to stupid, stupid penalties.  Several false starts provided self-inflicted wounds on drives that couldn't afford mistakes.  Missed field goals were huge, and the fact that they were going for field goals rather than touchdowns was even bigger.  They didn't seem to have a sense of urgency about them until midway through the 4th quarter, at which time it was too late even if they had been able to score at will.  I was surprised at the lack of big plays - I would have bet money that Snyder would have found at least a few loopholes in the Oregon scheme that could have been exploited at key times, but it didn't seem like anything worked out.

All in all, the self-inflicted mistakes and offensive struggles were too significant to overcome against such a tremendously talented Oregon team.  There were no turnovers in K-State's favor to help balance the speed scales, and the Ducks owned the second half.  Congrats, Oregon, you've earned your win!

While it was a tremendously disappointing finish to the year, let's keep things in perspective: K-State was projected in the preseason to be 6th in the league but ended up winning it, with an 11-1 regular season record.  They saw a #1 ranking, had a Heisman finalist, landed themselves in a BCS game, and will likely finish with a top-10 ranking.  They followed up last year's explosion onto the national scene with an even better year.  What's not to love?  It was a GREAT year, and one that -- after the sting of tonight wears off -- we should all be proud of.  Well done, Wildcats, well done.  We'll see you next year!

Tonight's The Night!

K-State plays against Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl tonight, and I couldn't be more excited for it.  I wish this had been the national championship game, but that was simply not to be this year.  First, the official preview:

Ah...SWEET!!!

So, here are my admittedly amateur thoughts.

I think the key will be which team is able to force the other out of its preferred style of play.  Oregon wants to play FAST, snapping the ball almost immediately (every 11 seconds or so, if I recall correctly...real time, not game time).  They want the score to be in the atmosphere, and they want to rely on their speed and quick striking offense to create pressure for the Cats to keep up.  On the other hand, KSU plays a grinding ball control offense, which means slow and steady, closing the vise throughout the first three quarters and finally throttling the life out of its opponent at the end.  Both teams have been brutally effective this year, but in almost polar opposite ways.  The contrast in styles should present a festival of eye candy and intrigue as the coaching acumen involved and the extra time off to heal up will likely give us some surprises.

I think the first quarter will strongly indicate the eventual winner.  If Oregon jumps out to a big lead fast, I think K-State will have a really hard time keeping up.  They have passed effectively, but their bread and butter is a pounding running game that forces extra defenders into the box, resulting in open receivers and big plays.  They're not built to score tons of points through the air.  They've started slowly in most games this year, but doing so tonight will likely be a death knell.  If Oregon is up big after Q1, I think it could get ugly.  On the other hand, if Klein and the Wildcat offense is able to stay on the field for extended periods of time and finish off with scores, thus keeping the game close (or even pulling head) early, I think it bodes ill for Oregon as the Wildcat machinery only picks up speed once it gets rolling.

But, it's not necessarily that simple.  There are some wild cards involved, too.  Even if Oregon should find itself behind, they're never out of the game due to their capacity to score quickly.  Whereas most coaches will find relative comfort in a two- or three-possession lead, I don't believe that's the case with Oregon.  Time of possession will be critical, too.  The Wildcat defense has a monumental challenge in containing and slowing the Oregon hyper-attack, and it needs the offense to give them plenty of rest if it's going to be able to do so for four quarters.  Cleanliness of play and turnovers are both great equalizers in a game like this.  K-State is one of the least penalized teams in the country this year, and has one of the best turnover margins in college football.  Nothing is quite so demoralizing as having touchdowns called back due to penalties or losing much-needed possessions to turnovers.  If the Wildcats continue both of those trends, they will give themselves a huge advantage that will help compensate for less overall team speed.  

I think Oregon's schedule failed to prep them for a team like KSU.  They haven't played a tough schedule; only seven of their opponents are playing in bowl games (but more than half lost), and the only time they faced a high-level grinding, pounding opponent, they lost.  Their defense is almost an afterthought, giving up huge numbers of points in game after game this year.  I don't see any way they can completely shut down Klein & Co., but I think that if KSU is close or ahead after Q1, then the Cats will stand a very good chance of thoroughly wearing down the Duck defense with lots of time left on the clock.  When they've done that this year, they've blown out their opponents.  Speaking of K-State's opponents, they've played 8 bowl teams (more than half have won), and they have already throttled pass-happy teams in West Virginia, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State.  Only Baylor was able to get the better of them, and that was due largely to the combination of abnormally high turnovers and playing TCU the week before (fun fact - every Big 12 team lost the week after playing TCU due to the tremendous physical pounding they took at the hands of the Horned Frogs...watch out for them next year!).  They faced and beat multiple top-10 teams (at the time they played), and played more ranked teams in a tougher conference top to bottom.  They may not have seen quite the level of speed as Oregon, but they're also not completely foreign to the task.

I think a very interesting breakdown of trivia can be found here, illustrating just how these two teams compare:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kansas State’s Team Efficiency/Discipline

1. Kansas State averages 10.1 fewer points per game than Oregon this season, but that does not mean its offense is any less efficient. Kansas State scored a touchdown on 40 percent of its offensive drives and is averaging 3.5 points per drive, tied with Oregon for the second-most in FBS.

2. Kansas State’s average drive starts at its own 41; their opponents at their own 27. The Wildcats’ plus-14 field-position differential is 4 yards better than any other FBS school.

3. The Wildcats are tied with Kent State for the best turnover margin (plus-21) in FBS this season. They had not allowed a point off of a turnover until Week 11 against TCU.

4. Kansas State is committing 3.5 penalties per game, second-fewest in FBS.

5. Oregon leads the nation in first-half scoring margin, but Kansas State has been the best second-half team in the nation (plus-12.8) largely because of its ability to force turnovers. The Wildcats have forced 16 turnovers in the second half that have led to an FBS-best 98 points off turnovers.

Oregon’s Speed/Scoring

1. Oregon is averaging one point every 32.9 seconds of possession, twice the rate of the average FBS team (65.8 seconds per point).

2. The Ducks are averaging a touchdown every 11.8 plays this season, the best rate in FBS. Kansas State is third in the nation, averaging 12.8 plays per touchdown.

3. Oregon leads the FBS in offensive touchdown drives that lasted one minute or less (22) and two minutes or less (44) this season. The Ducks are averaging 2 minutes, 7 seconds per touchdown drive and are in the top three of FBS in points per game for the third straight year.

4. Oregon averages more points in the first half (31.3) than 72 FBS teams average in a game. The Ducks’ average halftime lead is 22.3 points, and the only time that they trailed after halftime was after the last play of overtime in their loss to Stanford.

5. The Oregon Duck mascot does push-ups every time Oregon scores, with the number of push-ups equaling the number of points Oregon has at that point in the game. The Duck has done 2,735 pushups this season and is averaging over 225 push-ups per game. With four scores on Thursday, the Duck will probably exceed its previous high of 2,790 push-ups done in 2010. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Basically, it's strength vs. strength in a whole lotta facets of this game.  There are so many reasons that this should be an awesome game to watch!

So, what's my prediction?  Most of the punditry seems to be leaning about 55/45 toward Oregon, but few would be surprised if K-State wins.  I'll say it this way:

- chances that Oregon wins big: 35%
- chances that Oregon wins close: 15%
- chances that K-State wins close: 40%
- chances that K-State wins big: 10%

I admit it that I'm an optimist.  I'm going to land on the perfect storm a la the Big 12 Championship in 2003 over what was at the time being called the greatest college football team in history...and that got pounded 35-7 by the Cats: K-State wins big.  I think this K-State team is that good, and I think that Snyder will have some surprises in store for the Ducks that will all but put this one away.

To close things out, here's a...slightly different preview from one of my favorite shows (of which two of the headline actors are K-State and Oregon alums):

No matter what happens, any season with 11 wins, a top-10 final ranking, and a trip to a BCS bowl is a success.  Go Cats!

 

Buehler? Buehler?

Did this push out to both Facebook and Twitter?

Thoughts On The Hobbit, Good, And Evil

I really liked this thought-provoking article at The American Thinker regarding The Hobbit, orcs, and the human condition:

It was with a burdened and weary heart that I made my way to the IMAX theater to catch the premiere of Peter Jackson's rendition of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit." The stormy night had blackened my already dour mood, having arisen that morning to another of man's inconceivably brutal horrors that had taken place at an elementary school thousands of miles away.

But upon seeing the face of my lovely daughter, the "almost pharmacist" and her devoted fiancée, both of whom had invited me to this 3-D showing of a classic book that has a special place in my life, I put aside that volume of human tragedy in anticipation of a literary master's fantasy world. One of the most precious things in my life has been the ability to share this love of Tolkien with Melinda -- to hear her rhapsodize of Middle Earth's richness as we shared the grand cosmology where hobbits, elves, dwarves, men, and necromancers dwell in the tenuous balance of Good and Evil. Indeed, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, in their imaginary worlds that have captured the imaginations of child and adult alike, sound a chord that serves to awaken souls to the never ending tension that constrains the human spirit into opposing directions. Later, while driving back home on rain slicked streets accompanied by the chatter of news concerning mass murder and inconsolable parents, I reflected on the Tolkien universe.

Of all the characters of these books, Hobbits are the most joyous and grounded of creatures. Perhaps because they are the smallest and least robust of beings or because they dwell idyllically in the insular Shire, their hearts are attuned to the creature comforts of hearth and home. With their lives bound up in family, food, and drink, they have been seemingly afforded by nature a calm moderation and a predisposition against novelty and adventure. The world around them, however, is anything but a paradise of rolling green hills and warm fires.

In The Silmarillion, Tolkien tells us that the Creator Illuvatar begat the Ainur, a host of powerful creatures who in obedience to his purpose sang the world into existence. But the greatest of the Ainur, Melkor, slowly began deviating from the harmonies of creation and through his dissonance clouded Illuvatar's intent. Illuvatar, nevertheless, incorporated his dissonance into even more profound harmonies. Drawing an analogy from the Judeo-Christian God and Lucifer, we find in both stories that what began as loving creation ex nihilo soon became a warring battleground. In the moral sphere of Good and Evil, a contest for the hearts and minds of Middle Earth spanned three ages of Middle Earth. In the Tolkien mythos, it is revealed that the world of this Third Age is but a paltry shadow of the First and that a great schism had divided an increasingly disenchanted world.

Evil, whether appearing in the disembodied spirits of Melkor, Morgoth, Sauron or in the spirits of those it tempts or leads away from the light, cannot of itself create. Being contingent, Evil can only propagate and seed itself through deception, corruption, vanity, or fear. While the First Born Elves have a certain moral excellence and distance in respect to their characters, it is in Men and Dwarves that evil finds a firm foothold. Being heir to dispositions of honor, power, and greed, Evil throughout the ages of Middle Earth often projects itself through strife and vanity. Moreover, the races of Orcs and the terrible creatures in Middle Earth were fashioned by Melkor through cruel and persistent tortures in the pit of Utumno. Thus, elves and beings of the first age were corrupted and bred for their dullness and black cruelties.

The universes of Tolkien and Lewis touch a spot in our hearts, not because of a one-dimensional black and white depiction of Good and Evil, but because they ring true in excavating the subtlety of what drives evil. Evil is not deemed co-equal with Good, as in a Manichean worldview, but as a corrupted end which once sought the Good. Such is vice and evil in our lives: love is denatured into lust, acquisition and thrift becomes greed and covetousness, and the desire to rule becomes the thirst for power and tyranny.

No man seeks evil for its own sake and even Lucifer aspired to rule in autonomous freedom because he judged that he would rule better. Having become unhinged from the Light and lost in the labyrinth of unanchored self, once man proceeds out into a vector of independence from the Archimedean Star of the Moral Law, he can no longer discern how far afield he has gone. Without milestones or ethical guideposts, our liberty becomes its own justification and soon we become the sole arbiter of truth and the moral "ought." Ungrounded from the light, Good inexorably morphs into a dark caricature of itself that eventually inflicts or condones actions that fall along the continuum where pain and suffering reside.

Clearly, the Bible and these lovely books, yea all of the classic fairy tales, are rooted in the knowledge that evil is a persistent companion in our amphibious souls. Having a nature that is both carnal and spirit, we are contestants in a subtle warfare for our minds and imaginations. Christians are, however, assured that though evil ebbs and flows in the hearts of men, Goodness and justice will win out in the fullness of days. Despite the manifold vices and wickedness that entertain the human imagination, a joyous optimism is evident in the words of the Gospels, Tolkien, and Lewis. Therein we can take comfort in virtue, faith, and courage that the Dark Lord shall not stand.

It is in our finite reckoning of time that patience exhausts itself and oftentimes our endurance is drawn down as we despair of evil's resolute gravity. Faced with suffering and evil occurring at an ever-accelerating cadence, it may be easier to believe that we are alone in our sorrows instead of exerting faith that a Deft Hand holds the reins. Sometimes it seems as if the free will of a broken humanity is insufficient when weighed in the balance against our cruelties. But without free will there is no love; and without love there is no impetus for a God of Love to create.

But free will or a future redemption is thin gruel to a town with classrooms full of murdered children. Is it enough to say that God did not will this thing and that despite the glib horror of the words, ripples of good are projecting out in time so that as a consequence at least some of this evil might one day be redeemed? Unlike our stories of Middle Earth, there was no convocation of Eagles to spirit those innocents away from a cruel and insane hand. Nevertheless, we are hearing now of unlikely heroes and sacrifices in the face of certain death by some who did not come home.

It is too early to tell, perhaps even in this lifetime, how these events will have weighted the waves of contingency and their significance for those perhaps not yet born. It is not a cliché to hold that courage and faith are needed now more than ever. They were indispensable in an age of Hobbits, elves and dwarves; how much more so in a tangible world of fragile men.

I think this also gets to the heart of why the Lord of the Rings is so vastly more powerful and epic than the contemporary Harry Potter series.  In HP, there is good and evil, but it's mostly evil for its own sake and good simply to avoid being overtaken by the evil.  I found little moral substance, and even less standing on principle in the series.  After all, does not even one steeped in evil fight for his own survival?  For fiction, that sort of banality may still work, but the deeper introspections that Tolkien performed manifested on paper/screen as reflections of the nature of good and evil in the real world, and thus captured the power of the world we see around us.  Yes, it's still fiction, but I am convinced that the best fiction is that which could be real, or at least seems to mirror the real world effectively.  Tolkien got it, and harnessed those timeless truths in his fiction; Rowling did not.

As indicated at the close of the article, those same truths not only make for impactful fiction, but they are indispensable for the real world.  Sadly, there are woefully too many who ignore the real world, where timeless truths matter most.

Christmas List

Tonight we found a Christmas list left on the table by Kylee.  It's priceless (she made the circle, not us):

Does parenting get any better than this?  I think not.  :)

Farming, Take Two

First it was "Farming and I Grow It," now it's "Workin' Farmer Style"...

Nice job (again), guys!  Looks like this may become a recurring thing...sweet!

Let's make this one go viral, too!

Tis The Season

Awesome:

I especially love how members of the crowd join in.  It's the best time of the year.

Collin Klein And The Heisman

Johnny Manziel is a tremendously exciting player, all the more so because this is his first year as a starter.

That doesn't mean he deserves the Heisman.

Before we get into the weeds, I should back up a second.  I've never really been that taken by the Heisman hype, which has transformed an award for being the best player in college football into a simple popularity contest for the best (SEC) player each year.  In fact, I generally view the Heisman with a pretty fair amount of disdain precisely because it isn't much more than a beauty pageant for quarterbacks.  Next year I'll probably be back to disdain, but with Collin Klein being deeply in the mix this year, I couldn't help it.  If nothing else, it's a tremendous benefit in terms of PR for future recruiting at a relatively unknown (and undesired) university like Kansas State.  Personally, I also believe that Klein is a one-in-a-million person who is extremely unlikely to let an award of that magnitude change who he is.

So, the top three candidates are Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M, Collin Klein of K-State, and Manti Te'o of Notre Dame.  Most of the analysis I've seen has Te'o in a distant third place, and it's really hard to compare a linebacker with two quarterbacks, so while it's clear he's the heart of a beast of a terrific defense, it seems unlikely he's going to win.  Thus, I'm going to focus on Manziel and Klein.

Manziel is the frontrunner at the moment.  If you ask me, it's mostly because he destroyed a handful of no-name teams to pad his stats, combined with one singular moment of greatness (beating #1 Alabama).  Oh, and he's in the SEC.  Remember, anything and everything college football-related is colored by a gigantic favoritism toward the SEC (don't believe me? ask me next year and I'll prove it to you on any late Saturday night E-SEC-PN highlights broadcast).  As I mentioned before, he's a great player and will certainly be in New York for future Heisman ceremonies, but let's look at some numbers and see what we see about this year.

Here's one great workup of some data.  Here are what I believe are some of the more salient points, though the distinct differences between the two teams' styles do muddy the waters a bit:

In-Conference Production
Klein was masterful in Big 12 play for the second straight season. He has scored 16 of his 20 rushing touchdowns in league play, including huge road performances at West Virginia, Oklahoma, Iowa State and TCU. He avenged both losses to Oklahoma schools last fall with big showings against the Sooners and Cowboys. Manziel has been much more up and down in SEC play. He had a huge performance against Alabama and Mississippi State, struggled against Florida, LSU and somewhat against Ole Miss while torching bad teams like Arkansas, Auburn and Missouri. Manziel’s out-of-conference numbers are much more inflated than Klein’s. Of Manziel’s 43 total touchdowns, 22 came in four games against South Carolina State, Sam Houston State, SMU and Louisiana Tech. 

Offensive System
Kevin Sumlin’s ... Texas A&M offense ran 959 plays (11th nationally) for an average of 6.9 yards per play (5th nationally). Bill Snyder’s offense is totally different, ranking 120th nationally with only 712 plays. However, the Wildcats have been equally effective at 6.4 yards per play (19th nationally). Both offenses have produced at a similar rate all year, so that means Klein has produced his stats on 247 fewer offensive snaps. 

Supporting Cast
This one is no contest. Manziel has an infinitely better supporting cast than Klein at Kansas State. Texas A&M has an average national team recruiting ranking of 20.3 over the last four classes and has finished no lower than 27th (2011) in the team rankings. Kansas State has an average national team ranking of 70.1 over the same span. The best class Manhattan has seen in four years was 2012’s 58th-rated class. With two potential first-round picks blocking for him, multiple five-star tailbacks, and a senior All-SEC wide receiver at his disposal, Manziel has by far the best supporting cast of the two. And it’s really not even close.

Off-the-Field Character
This is a small factor but Klein is one of the most respected, most upstanding young people this game has ever seen. He is Tim Tebow off of the field as well as Tebow in the huddle and locker room. Manziel was arrested this summer for getting into a fight with a 47-year old man and carrying multiple false IDs. Is Manziel simply a young kid enjoying the trappings of young fame (SEE: Halloween pictures)? Of course, but Klein would never get into a fight with someone nearly 30 years older than himself.

Nickname
“Johnny Football” versus “Optimus Klein.” I am sorry, but this one isn’t even close. Johnny Football is one of the lamest, most unimaginative nicknames I have ever heard. And as a kid who grew up loving the Transformers, my vote goes to Klein. This one is easy and heavily in favor of the Kansas State Wildcat. It's a good thing a nickname has absolutely nothing to do with the Heisman.

I just liked that last one, so I had to include it.  :)

This article makes the argument that the SEC schedule Manziel faced was significantly more difficult than the Big 12 slate that Klein took down.  It depends on where you look for this stat, but I like Sagarin's rating because it includes some additional details that I think are key.  The bottom line is that K-State played the 19th most difficult schedule while TAM had the 27th.  Some will argue that TAM faced more ranked teams, but that depends on whether you're looking at final rankings now or rankings at the time the game was played.  Sagarin helps clear this up by indicating the teams' records against opponents that are currently ranked in the top 10 and in the top 30.  It's no contest:

KSU - 1-0 vs Top 10 / 6-1 vs Top 30
TAM - 1-1 vs Top 10 / 1-2 vs Top 30

No one in their right mind would call this result anything other than a harder road for K-State and Klein.  In fact, the Big 12 may not have a team in the championship game, but the vaunted SEC has only one more team with a single loss on the year (Alabama and Florida).  The SEC has six of the top ten spots, but four of those have two losses.  Ranked #11, Oklahoma provides a second BCS team for the Big 12.  It's clear that the SEC is a bit more top-heavy than the Big 12, but what percentage of the SEC is playing in a bowl game?  65%.  The Big 12, on the other hand, are coming in at 90%, as only Kansas failed to become bowl eligible.  I'd be curious to know how many coaches would prefer a schedule comprised of half cupcakes and half monsters as opposed to a top-to-bottom slate of teams that could all beat you on any given day.  Given the rigors of having to face quality opponent after quality opponent throughout the entire season, I think that Klein's march through the Big 12 is easily more impressive than Manziel's sporadic trek through the SEC, all the more so if the analysis above about the talent levels of the two teams is true.

On that point, though, I don't think it is.  Remember, this is the first year TAM is in the SEC, and I'm pretty sure that E-SEC-PN wouldn't be singing their personnel praises quite so much if they had remained in the Big 12.  But that's awfully hard to compare, so I'm not going to belabor it.

Anyway, here's another way to compare the two candidates - how do they perform when the stakes are high?  How do they perform against their best opponents?  That one is pretty clear, too, and the broadcast team flashed up a graphic during K-State's pounding of Texas that illustrated precisely this question:

In games vs. BCS conference teams with winning records: 

Collin Klein has a 7-1 record, 25 total TDs, 6 turnovers 

Johnny Manziel has a 2-2 record, 5 TDs, 5 turnovers

Another no-brainer.

And what about over the course of the player's career, and in historical terms?  Get this:

Between that first game [against Texas], and this last game, Klein has found time to start a total of 24 other Wildcat games compiling career numbers and records of: 

• 45 rushing touchdowns … a KSU record and fourth in Big 12 history 

• Sixth player in Big 12 history with 4,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards 

• Posted 21 wins as a starter quarterback, just one shy of the school record of 22 by Ell Roberson and Michael Bishop 

• Rushed for 2,352 yards, fourth in KSU history only behind Sproles, Roberson and Thomas 

• Passed for 4,389 yards, seventh in KSU history 

• Owns a national-high of passing for at least one score and rushing for at least one score in 16 games since 2011 

• In the BCS era, Klein is the only quarterback to rush for at least 20 TDs and pass for at least 10 TDs in more than one season 

That last one is the biggest - Klein is the only QB in college football history to do that.  That kind of top-level production over the course of two years is the sort of thing that makes the best football player in college football.

What about Manziel?  Well, he did set the SEC total yardage record at 4,600 yards this year.  That's impressive...but, once again, if he had remained in the Big 12, the record would have been over 5,700, far out of his reach (yet another reason to doubt the mantra that the SEC is vastly superior).  But whatever.  He can have that record in the conference with subpar offenses.  Congrats.

The bottom line is that both QBs were great.  But, if you look objectively at the body of work, Klein's track record is significantly more impressive.  Those who take their significance from things like the Heisman Popularity Contest just don't think Klein is the sexy pick, nor is K-State.  Sure, it makes for a nice story, but when you really boil it down they're looking for anyone else to give the hardware to, especially someone from the SEC.  The real question is whether or not there are enough voters who are outside the SEC and the state of Texas.  I have no idea, but we'll know in a few days.  For the sake of Klein and the Purple nation, I truly hope so.  If not, well, I'll happily settle for a Fiesta Bowl win over the Oregon Ducks as a consolation prize (more on that in the next few days).  :)

Boo-yah! We're #1!

How sweet it is:

Collin Klein threw a touchdown pass and ran for two scores and No. 6 Kansas State beat No. 18 Texas 42-24 on Saturday night for its third conference title in 117 years and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl. 

The Wildcats had never played for a conference championship in their last game at home, and had never had a player end the regular season in such close contention for the Heisman Trophy as Klein. 

Neither of his main competitors, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel nor Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o, played this weekend. 

So Klein, a multitalented senior, had the stage all to himself, one last chance to burnish his credentials for what would be Kansas State's first Heisman. 

In front of their sixth sellout in seven home games, the Wildcats (11-1, 8-1 Big 12) tied their team record for victories in a season and matched Oklahoma's Big 12 record. 

Kansas State has beaten Texas (8-4, 5-4) five in a row. 

The Sooners beat TCU earlier Saturday and immediately donned caps and T-shirts declaring themselves Big 12 champs. But Kansas State's 24-19 win at Oklahoma on Sept. 22 gives them the tiebreaker and sends them into the Fiesta Bowl. 

After a slow start, Klein wound up hitting 8 of 14 passes for 184 yards and added 108 yards rushing on 23 carries. John Hubert scored three touchdowns. (link)

Generally speaking, I ignore/disdain the Heisman as a useless popularity contest.  For proof, simply look at how fast people fall off the top of the list.  But...in the case of Klein, I'm happy to make an exception.  Not only is he a stellar athlete who has meant more to his team over the past two years than any other player in the nation, but he's got his head screwed on straight and won't let it change him.  More on that in the next day or two.

For now, let's just savor the sweet, sweet sound of...

Big...

12...

Champions...

The Kansas State Wildcats!!!