TOSSS users give athletics redesign a solid B minus

With a few days left to vote in the poll, TOSSS readers are giving a decent grade to the athletics redesign.

Overall, our poll is showing a 2.6 on a 4 point scale, a solid B-. Personally, I'd give it an A- or B+, with especially high marks for volleyball.

If you haven't voted yet, be sure to do so.

MSU unveils new uniforms, Nike-inspired branding

By James Hensley, Special to The Other Side of Spartan Sports

The unveiling of the new Spartan uniforms started in much the same manner that the public first learned about the branding campaign—with a leak on the internet. The Facebook group “The Old Spartan Logo” released a link approximately an hour and half before the beginning of the official press conference. The link was taken down within minutes of being posted, but the commentary on the new age of Spartan jerseys had begun.

By the time the press conference started there were already many different opinions about the jerseys posted on Facebook.

The opening presentation of the press conference had MSU Athletic Director Mark Hollis stating that “MSU is a sleeping giant and we’re waking up the sleeping giant” to create a uniform identity for MSU Sports. Mark Vanhorn from Nike said his mission was to “respect the past, represent the future.”

Hopefully, you agree with his vision of MSU’s future.

Hollis commented that a driver of this mission was that at one point there were nine different greens in the uniforms of MSU’s 25 teams.

MSU has now trademarked green, silver, bronze colors, as well as typography, that cannot be used by any other school or organization.

Implementation and Olympic sports

The Athletic Department unveiled the uniforms that will start being used in Fall 2010 with models from the Football, Basketball, Hockey and Volleyball teams. When questioned about the implementation schedule for the teams, he responded that only the five teams shown today will be sporting the new uniforms next year.

MSU and Nike will continue to design and roll out the same template designs to other non-revenue teams as the teams need new uniforms. This will limit the implementation cost of the uniform changes to regular asset purchases already budgeted for by the departments.

Football

The basic rundown on the football jersey is that the jersey has been updated with the new green and the font has been standardized.

The rear pant legs for the uniform now feature a splash of green. Already, the football jerseys have sparked a bit of a backlash on Facebook, with a majority (but not all) comparing the design to a toned-down version of the over-the-top Nike uniforms of the University of Oregon.

Hockey

Considering that this branding mission was designed to present a unified Spartan Image with national recognition, it is hard to miss the white elephant in the room: The two home and away jerseys do not have similar base designs.

The home jersey features the traditional Spartan head logo, but lacks the traditional hockey lettering of “Spartans” or “Michigan State.” The return of the Spartan head to the home uniform marks an end to a 40-year-old absence from the hockey uniform. The away jersey may be the first in the ice hockey world to include the players number on the front and lacks conformity with its home jersey mate by using the traditional “Michigan State” across the top.

When asked what he thought about the new bronze in the hockey uniforms, goalie Drew Palmisano responded that he really liked the accent color and was looking forward to repainting part of his goalie helmet to match. Torey Krug said he felt that the two different jersey styles for hockey would not detract from the team’s image when playing road games.

Men's and Women's Basketball

The uniforms for the basketball teams drop the last Nike branding attempt of “State” in italics and replace it with “Spartans” in the new font with the new trademark colors. Given that MSU basketball seems to change uniforms every three years, these changes will likely be well received by the Spartan basketball community.

MSU basketball stars Durrell Summers and Kalin Lucas modeled the basketball jerseys, with Lucas sporting a foot brace as he recovers from recent surgery.

How the decisions were made

Both Nike’s Vanhorn and MSU’s Hollis said that community values and focus groups had consisted of MSU administrators, the Athletic Advisory board and student athletes. This effectively means that no alumni and only one non-student athlete was allowed input during the design phase of the project.

This lack of community involvement was one of the causes of the logo scandal that led to over 80,000 Spartan fans to protest changes to the logo.

Since the Athletic Department and Nike kept much of the design process under wraps, the change could provoke some initial resistance about the addition of the bronze color and the changes to some of the jerseys, especially football and hockey.

Finances

The department has continued to say this was not a financially motivated project, but the hockey uniforms not having a base design seems to contradict the consistence attempt. Nike’s fingerprints of “over the top” design are hard to miss on all but the Volleyball team’s uniforms.

According to Hollis, the design process has not cost the university any revenues or money, but an interesting fact to consider is that Nike will be the only authorized replica jersey vendor. Since the colors and front are trademarked with MSU and Nike, there will be no cheap replicas for fans looking to save money and show team spirit during these economic hard times.

Something to look forward to is that Mark Hollis commented that sales of old used team jerseys could go on sale to the public as early as this fall, but would not rule out a garage sale before the 2011 Spring Football game, as has been done in the past.

First peek at MSU's new uniforms comes and goes

MSU posted a photo gallery of the new uniforms for football, basketball, hockey and volleyball, but quickly pulled it after it was linked to on a number of MSU sites.

We'll let MSU unveil things for itself, and we'll have a full report from the press conference later today.

NCAA to expand tourney to 68 teams

There was talk of a bracket-busting expansion to 96, a little March Madness madness so to speak, but thankfully the NCAA has seen sense and tossed that idea in the trash.

Instead, the annual basketball competition will expand to 68, allowing three more bubble teams to make the big dance. This year, based solely on NIT seeding, that means Illinois, Mississippi State and either Arizona State and Virginia Tech would have taken up those last three new spots.

In recent years, the last bubble teams have typically fallen 12 seed line, which is part of why you see so many 5-12 upsets, but far fewer 4-13 upsets. Instead, the last seeds will now fall on the 13 line, which should lead to a few more competitive 4-13 games (Murray State-Vanderbilt notwithstanding).

The other big news out of this is the TV deal. The Turner networks (TNT, TBS and TruTV) will pick up additional games, so you can watch the whole tourney on network and basic cable. Turner is quite good at basketball, having had an NBA deal for the last few years, so the tournament is in pretty good shape.

But mostly, this ends the problem of CBS not flipping to a more exciting finish because it wants to stay with its national game. Now, I can solve that issue with my remote.

Oh, and by the way, the NCAA makes out like a bandit on the cash end. The deal is for 14 years, and CNBC's Darren Rovell reports that the NCAA will take in an average of $771 million a year, up from $545 million a year.

That's a lot of scholarships for people who will go pro in something other than sports.

Bella Notte: MSU-ND to be a night game

Michigan State will host Notre Dame under the lights at Spartan Stadium, ESPN has announced. The game will kick at 8 p.m. and be broadcast nationally on ABC.

Joe Rexrode points out that this makes three of the last four MSU-ND games night contests, which we here at TOSSS love.

Although, there are some lingering bad memories of night games against Notre Dame. Specifically a certain contest that shall not be named in driving rain where a certain ND QB managed to lead a comeback every time the rain let up, and where a certain MSU squad blew a late lead to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

I happened to be sitting one aisle removed from the ND fans for that game, and actually switched sections after the season because I didn't want to experience another game like that.

This year, with an eye on that game and last year's debacle, it's time to make a more positive memory under the lights.

Watch the Final Four in 3-D

For those in the Lansing area, NCG Eastwood will be showing the Final Four game between MSU and Butler in 3-D.

Yes, 3-D.

Tickets are $15, and can be ordered through NCG Eastwood's website (click on the date, April 3, then the event).

If you've got other plans on Saturday, they'll also be showing the championship game in 3-D on Monday evening.

Notre Dame AD says school may be interested in a conference

Notre Dame's storied independence might not be as rock-solid as previously thought, if comments today by ND AD Jack Swarbick are any indication.

"You can each come up with a scenario that would force our hand," Swarbick told a group of reporters in New York, including one from the Associated Press.

Such a scenario would result from a "seismic" realignment push like, say, getting Texas to join the Big Ten, along with, say, Missouri, Pitt and Syracuse. Tell ND that it would be team number 16 in that conference, with all the money that comes with it, and it's a game-changer.

Once the Big Ten is done, the Pac 10 is expected to expand up to 12. Colorado, BYU and Utah are among the schools always mentioned. And if the Big 12 does get its schools pillaged, they'll have to add a few teams as well - TCU, SMU, maybe grab Arkansas from the Big 12.

It would all be a massive shakeup, and Notre Dame doesn't necessarily want to get left out of that.

Oh, who am I kidding. This is all about TV revenue for the Irish, given that Notre Dame ignored its faculty who wanted to join the Big Ten back in 1999 in order to keep their NBC gig. The reason that's so significant is because ESPN's Adam Rittenberg estimated that the TV deal the Irish would get in the Big Ten could be twice as much money as they'd get by staying independent.

Money talks, and Notre Dame may walk... right into the Big Ten's arms.

New Spartan Green A Darker Shade

The color we know as Spartan green just got a little bit darker.

The new color, Pantone Matching System Color 567, was approved by the Board of Trustees this morning. It will be uniform across Michigan State, from signs and uniforms to flyers and university websites.

It's part of the universal branding scheme being undertaken by the athletic department and Nike, and the plan is for all uniforms to be of this shade of green. The new threads will be unveiled in April.

Currently, the MSU green is Pantone 341, which is the green we presently use on TOSSS.

The Lansing State Journal quotes President Lou Anna Simon as saying that the change will be gradual in some areas, like signs, because the university isn't going to pay for the immediate overhaul immediately. You'll see that in things like letterhead, where the existing supplies will be allowed to run out, then replaced by the new stuff.

Making a single shade of green uniform across the university will be a great step forward for the MSU's branding, given the disparate mess we currently have. I, for one, welcome this change with as much passion as I decried the proposed Spartan head change.

This time, MSU and Nike have gotten it right.

Texas To The Big Ten?

Now I know what you're thinking when you read that headline... "Whhhhhhaaaaaaa?"

My first thought was "That's crazy! And it makes NO sense." But then I started reading and it turns out it makes a lot of sense. And the Big Ten thinks so too.

The best breakdown for the argument for Texas I've read is here, on an Illini sports blog. I'll give a quick synopsis, but really, take ten minutes and read that. My figures and such are all from there.

Basically the argument goes like this: Money and Academics. The people who make actual decisions in the Big Ten are university presidents, and that is what matters to them. Sure, sports rivalries are great, the Big Ten is a Midwest league, there is a certain character blah blah blah. As Tom Cruise said, "Show me the money!"

Money: Texas made $12 million off the Big 12 TV contract last season, the average school in the Big 12 made $6. Every school in the Big Ten made $22. A large portion of that money comes from the Big Ten Network, which gets money from cable companies on a "per TV" basis. Adding a school like Iowa St. does NOTHING in increase Big Ten Network revenue, because everyone in Iowa already gets the channel. So to dramatically increase revenue for MSU, the Big Ten has to look at a school outside of its current viewing area. Texas is one of the biggest TV markets in America, and would dramatically increase the number of TVs getting the Big Ten Network. That increase in money along with money from a Championship game would increase the amount above $22 million, even when dividing it by 12 schools instead of 11. Texas would like it because it sets the floor of money they are getting every year much higher than it currently is.

Academics: All Big Ten schools are part of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), along with the University of Chicago (a former Big Ten member). This is the academic alliance of the Big Ten, and allows for educational and research cooperation among the universities. The Big Ten is made up of research institutions, while the Big 12 is not. Texas, being a research institution, is not a good educational fit in the Big 12 but would be in the Big Ten, where this addition would benefit both sides.

OK, that's all well and good, but it's still just a dream, right? Well consider this. The Big Ten wants to expand. They have to take someone. People keep mentioning OTHER Big 12 schools. Think about what happens to the Big 12 if a different school leaves. They quickly need to find a 12th team to keep their championship game (and the money it brings in.) If Missouri leaves, then 2 of the top 6 TV markets in the Big 12 come with it (so less money for the remaining members based on the Big 12 TV contract.) Other schools might look at leaving too, example Colorado to the Pac 10 (and if Colorado left, thats another big TV market gone). FYI, besides Colorado and Missouri, Texas has the other big markets. And Texas's markets are the biggest overall.

If Missouri and Colorado left the Big 12, Texas stands to lose a lot of money. At that point they would either have to look for a new conference, or try and bring in new teams to the Big 12. There are not many teams that would bring in the TV markets like Missouri and Colorado, so even if they bring in Boise St or Utah or TCU, they are not getting that money back.

So, Texas has to consider its options now. If they were offered a chance to improve their academics while also being given an extra $20 million a year, and they turned it down and their conference collapsed, they would probably be kicking themselves pretty hard. The Big Ten could offer Missouri or someone else, but really, is there anyone other than Notre Dame that would be a better school to add than Texas? Texas is good academically. It would bring in a ton of money. It would be good for the overall sports competition. It would make the Big Ten an even bigger deal than it already is nationally. And it would balance the conference.

Balance the conference? Exactly. When the Big Ten expands to 12 teams, they could divide into divisions of 6 and 6 in football. Currently, you have three major teams in football, with Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. How would you split them up? Not a great balance there. Does Missouri or Iowa State help? No. Does Texas? Yes. That makes each side have two power teams.

But Texas has no rivalries in the Big Ten! Not really true. Ohio State and Texas played some amazing football games in the last few years, wouldn't that be great to have happen more? You're telling me that fans on either side aren't upset at all about how that series went, and wouldn't love another shot? How about MSU in basketball? We've played Texas the last four years and play them next season too.

So how does this affect MSU? MSU's first choice is still going to be Notre Dame. Tradition here still is going to win, and there are so many positives to that addition to the Big Ten that everyone would be happy. But if Notre Dame isn't interested, there is no better school for MSU than Texas. MSU's athletic revenue increases. MSU's academics are helped by collaboration with another great school. MSU gets it's recruiting door opened in Texas. And MSU gets another rival in sports like basketball and volleyball.

Texas to the Big Ten has my vote.

MSU to Keep Current Spartan Head Logo

Michigan State will keep the current Spartan head logo during its brand redesign, Athletic Director wrote in a letter released to The Other Side of Spartan Sports.

"Our identity and branding process is nearing completion and is on schedule for a complete rollout in April. The elements and applications of the brand design will be unveiled collectively at that time," Hollis wrote. "After careful consideration, we will use the current Spartan logo design, first used in the late 1970s, to build our visual brand identity."

The entire letter is reprinted below:

We Gather and Engage Our Community to Teach, Support, and Celebrate our Student-Athletes in Their Quest for Excellence!

That’s the mission I had in mind since day one. But it can’t be done alone.

Our vision of a “consistent and national identity” was designed to bring everyone together. By that, I mean everyone -- from our administration to our student-athletes to you as a Spartan.

When I accepted this position, I stated that as your Athletic Director everything would be done with ONE FOCUS. Having been on this campus for more than 30 years as a student, alumnus, and employee, I have often observed that, as Spartans, we have not always been headed in the same direction. Nowhere has this fact more obvious than in the outward appearance of our team uniforms. We have been an athletic program of different greens, logos, word-marks, and uniform quality. There has been a lack of consistency with regard to our brand. This inconsistency was a result both of using multiple suppliers for our apparel and of uniform decisions being made without a department-wide focus.

After assuming the Athletic Director position, one of my initial objectives was to outfit each of our sports teams in a consistent manner and to do so as a component of a unique and cohesive national brand identity program. To accomplish this task, we expanded our partnership with Nike so that every one of our 25 teams and nearly 800 student-athletes will all wear Nike-designed uniforms and apparel. We feel fortunate to have Nike as a partner, not only to improve the way our teams look, but also for the unique performance advantages their products provide.

As part of the expanded partnership, we requested Nike conduct a department-wide assessment of our brand and identity. It’s important to note that this request came as part of our agreement with Nike, but was not a condition of it. There was no cost to MSU for this service. Members of my staff, university administration, and I guided Nike designers through this in-depth process that is still in the final stages of completion.

In this process, Nike has suggested various innovative concepts and design elements, yet it is always Michigan State University that determines the direction we will take. Input from student-athletes, coaches, alumni, donors, students, faculty, and university public relations advisors have been involved in this process.

The recent disclosure of an updated Spartan logo from a trademark registration process has resulted in a flurry of concern and discontentment among some of our students, alumni, and fans. I have given careful attention to thoughtful comments received and sought additional counsel regarding how ideas might be incorporated into the overall strategic brand and identity process. Our primary objective is to achieve a strong and consistent Spartan brand, but rest assured that, as our mission statement attests, bringing Spartans together is one of our fundamental values.

Our identity and branding process is nearing completion and is on schedule for a complete rollout in April. The elements and applications of the brand design will be unveiled collectively at that time. After careful consideration, we will use the current Spartan logo design, first used in the late 1970s, to build our visual brand identity. Using sound branding principles, the university will continue to register some variations of our Spartan logo in order to ensure that this symbol is well protected and firmly associated with Michigan State University. As an athletic department, we are excited about our branding and identity process. We understand, given the tremendous exposure we bring to the university, that our work is an important part of Michigan State’s overall university brand. As we go forward, we will ensure that elements of the athletics visual brand identity align with and support the university brand.

As an athletics department and as a university, we are dedicated to maintaining an appreciation for our past while also being committed to moving our university and athletic program boldly into the future. As Spartans, I believe we can all pull together and embrace the mission of standing together with one focus—a focus broad enough to encompass both the vital importance of community and a relentless pursuit of excellence.

Thank you for your support, and Go Green – Go White!

Sincerely,

Mark J. Hollis

Director of Athletics

Big House to Host Cold War II

The University of Michigan will get a chance to try and break the world record for biggest crowd at a hockey game when they host Michigan State in the Cold War II at the Big House this December.

The Detroit News reports a deal has been finalized, and that the two squads will face off on December 11 at 3 p.m. in Ann Arbor.

Michigan will play Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison in February, an event that is expected to draw about 50,000 fans - far short of the Cold War record 75,544, even though Camp Randall is larger than Spartan Stadium.

However, the Big House at more than 106,000 fans could set a record that may not be broken for decades to come. Michigan Stadium is the fourth-largest stadium in the world, and the largest among schools in the U.S. with a varsity hockey program (Beaver Stadium at Penn State is larger, but they don't have a varsity team).

If Cold War II doesn't set the record, Ohio State may try. The Buckeyes' Ohio Stadium (capacity: 102,329) has been mentioned frequently as a future outdoor hockey site, not just for the Buckeyes but also as a potential Winter Classic venue for the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets.

Why MSU Shouldn't Change the Spartan Head Logo

Michigan State athletics officials have confirmed that they will be rolling out a new Spartan head logo this April.

As first reported on Spartan Tailgate, the new logo (right) will replace the current version (left), which has been in place since 1983.

Fan reaction so far has been swift - and mostly negative. An MLive poll was tracking at 84 percent against. Thousands of Spartan fans have flocked to Facebook, where they're organizing protests and campaigns against the change.

Look folks, I'm not going to be able to be impartial on this one. I'll just throw that out right now, so I'll just say what I think.

This new logo sucks. I get that the trend now is making things look mean - from the angry Miami Dolphin to Detroit's Roary the Lion. But why do we have to follow that?

The Spartan head is classic. In a word filled with this and this and this, we've got something that has stood the test of time and still looks cool. If anything, we should put the Spartan head on MORE stuff.

For example, the only logo that can go on specialty license plates is MSU's block S, because that's the one the university controls (the Spartan head is overseen by the athletic department). The S is fine in Michigan, but no one in Maryland will know why you've got a big green S on your plate.

Problem two is the slippery slope argument. Give in to Nike on this one, and something else later, then something else, and where does it end? Oregon football, that's where. Do you want MSU football uniforms to become the joke of the Big Ten? I don't either.

I know this is planned, and I know everything's on track for an April rollout. And if someone from MSU Athletics wants to use this space to state their case, we'll let them.

But as for this reporter, I say throw this one in the dustbin of bad ideas.

The Other Side of the Alamo Bowl: Tailgate, Stadium, Impact

So yeah, about that whole "tomorrow" thing... Well, that didn't happen. How does a few days later work for ya? Last time we looked at the food, location and sights and sounds of the Alamo Bowl. Today, we'll get to the game day experience itself.

Tailgate

The Alamodome isn't exactly downtown, but it's not exactly far. You know that in-between walk you don't really want to do, but isn't that terrible? The 20-25 minute kind? Yeah, it's about that. There's an odd feature to the stadium parking lots, and that's that the ones MSU fans were tailgating in are separated from the stadium by active freight rail tracks. So there's actually about two flights of stairs down and then two back up to reach the stadium entrance doors.

No real problem there - but there was one little quibble I'd make. There weren't any port-a-potties in a Spartan-designated area. instead, every portable toilet was parked smack dab in the middle of Texas Tech fans. Given that Tech fans are overwhelmingly nice, that wasn't a problem. Make them Ohio State fans, however, and all bets would be off.

Stadium

The Alamodome is arguably the best piece of architectural design in west Texas, with a domed roof supported by suspension cables anchored by four spires. Unlike most suspension-supported structures, the supports holding the roof run upwards from the cables, rather than down. It's very cool, if you're into that sort of thing (which I am).

The sight lines are great too. The upper deck is high above the field, so you better like looking down. The best thing about it though, is that there are no corners in the upper deck, so every seat has a straight view down to the field.

Again, nothing is perfect, and neither is the Alamodome. Going up to the 300-level seats? Yep, you're huffing it up stairs. Despite this being an NFL-caliber facility, there are no escalators. And as for drinks, almost all the soda/pop is sold in 20 oz. bottles - for $4 a pop. Yes, $4 a pop.

Impact

Perhaps the biggest difficulty the Big Ten will face leaving the Alamo Bowl is that it was always a cash cow for ratings. MSU-Texas Tech was the most-watched bowl game on ESPN this year. Sure, that might have just been the whole Mike Leach thing, but keep in mind that MSU-Nebraska was exceptionally well watched too.

Will the games in Houston or Dallas do as well? Probably not, but we live in hope.

The Other Side of the Alamo Bowl: Location, Attractions and Food

I've long said that the Alamo Bowl provides the best fan experience of any Big Ten-affiliated bowl match this side of the Rose Bowl. After going again this year to San Antonio for my second Alamo Bowl (I was working the game for the Spartan Radio Network in '03), I can honestly say my previous opinion was confirmed.

This being a blog about everything but the games themselves, let's take a look at the other side of the Alamo Bowl.

Location

The difficulty with this playing a game in San Antonio - something that will be rectified next year when we trade this game for ones in Dallas and Houston - is that it's hard and expensive to get to. Flights from Detroit basically start at $400 from about 10 minutes after the destination is announced.

Yes, there is the occasional direct flight, but in reality there's almost no way to fly there directly on the cheap. American Airlines flies you through Dallas, Continental and Southwest route through Houston and the Sky Team Alliance (Delta/Northwest) primarily uses Memphis.

But once you're there, wow.

Sights and Sounds

First off, let me disabuse you of a misconception regarding the Alamo City - It's not all about the Alamo. The old Spanish mission and site of the famous battle is certainly worth seeing - once - but after about 35 minutes you're pretty much set. Six flags have been officially flown over the Alamo (Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederacy and USA), but we found out the hard way that you can't hoist a 5x7 Spartan flag on a 15-foot pole on the Alamo grounds. They also had a problem with the MSU cheerleaders doing stunts on the grass inside the walls. Bah humbug.

There's a small tourist trap area around the Alamo (Guinness Book of Records AND Ripley's Believe it or Not attractions are both across the street), but you don't want to stay there forever. Other decent attractions in SanAn are the Tower of the Americas, which has a cool observation deck with a restaurant on top (if you like paying through the nose for your food). There's also a Sea World.

But the real treat of San Antonio is the River Walk, a collection of bars, restaurants, hotels and shops that run along the banks of the San Antonio river. It was so successful when constructed that it has served as the model for waterfront revitalization efforts across the country. The food is a bit pricey - figure in about a 20% premium for pretty much anything - but it's worth it. You could spend hours here, and we did.

Food

Now this is the real treat. When you think of Tex/Mex, you should think of San Antonio. We're not saying you should only go to one Tex/Mex restaurant, but we are saying that one of your visits should be to Mi Tierra in Market Square, the undisputed king of Mexican food in SanAn. What Zehnder's in Frankenmuth is to chicken, Mi Tierra is to Mexican food (except it's good). The restaurant is open 24/7 and seats more than 500 at a time. When we went, on Saturday night, there was a one-hour wait. When we were seated, the wait had grown to two hours. No one complained.

The flank steak was perfect. They nailed the tamales, chips and salsa and folks, you didn't know refried beans could be this good. Perhaps the only let down was the merely average hard tacos, but that was more than made up by the fact that the fajita tortillas were made from scratch - think Panchero's tortillas - and served piping hot. We didn't have room for dessert.

When not in the mood for Tex/Mex, one can only assume that since you're in Texas you're looking for barbecue. Texans seem divided between two chains: Bill Miller Bar-B-Q and Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q. We can't figure out why, because Rudy's is clearly superior.

I've had good turkey, but their BBQ turkey put that on it's ear (in fact, since Rudy's sells whole cooked 12-lb. turkeys for $20, one wonders why any Texan risks it on their own for Thanksgiving). The sausage casing was crisp, with a juicy meaty center. I'm not a brisket guy, but even that was on point. The food is sold by weight, so you can get as much or as little as you want - cheap white bread and sauces are all-you-can-eat. If it's your first time, as it was ours, they'll even let you sample EVERY SINGLE THING THEY SELL before you order.

In contrast, Bill Miller's spawned a new foodie rule - the Bill Miller's BBQ Rule - which basically means that it's good enough but the presence of a far superior alternative nearby means you'll never go again. It's the corollary to the Mitchell's Seafood Rule, which says it's good enough but you'll never go again because it's too damned expensive for the merely good food.

You know, this post is running a bit long. What's say we pick up where we left off tomorrow?