I hate beer commercials.

Yet one introduced me to the only word that I could compute when Conference USA passed on Louisiana Tech for a university out in the middle of nowhere: "traveshamockery."

I know I'm pulling an old cadaver out of the morgue, but almost two months after the final decision, it still doesn't make sense.

On April 30, C-USA decided the University of Texas at El Paso from the Western Athletic Conference would be the best choice for its 12th and final spot in its remodeling beginning in the summer of 2005.

Other schools from the WAC include adding Southern Methodist University, Rice University and the University of Tulsa.

Now, C-USA knows sports. But does it know geography?

With the remodeling, it would be 641.39 miles from El Paso to SMU in Dallas, its closest conference instate opponent. From El Paso to the University of Tulsa, its closest out-of-state opponent? 803.06 miles.

Seem ridiculous yet? It gets worse.

Beginning July 1, 2005, our closest WAC opponent will be New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

How far? Sit down. Actually, head to an airport. 931.19 miles.

Good thing Tech has an aviation program, huh?

To make matters worse, it almost looks as if the WAC is moving away from us by adding the University of Idaho and Utah State University as well.

Both are over a thousand miles away, if you couldn't tell.

Now, I ask you, what benefit is it for a conference to pass over the ideal geographical choice and opt for a school that doesn't even have a baseball team?

If C-USA selected us instead of UTEP, we would have seven ideal conference away games. It doesn't take a genius to realize traveling to New Mexico is practically out of the question for the average college student.

If C-USA selected us instead of UTEP, that would be one less plane trip for most of the teams in the conference. It doesn't take a genius to realize that driving a team of players is cheaper than flying them.

If C-USA selected us instead of UTEP, visiting fans would be willing to make a five-to-six hour drive for good sports. It doesn't take a genius to realize most away fans will probably think they can skip the Tech game since it will require a plane ticket as well.

That all being said, what do we do now? Do we go to the Sun Belt where we could legitimately dominate only to wind up in the New Orleans Bowl?

Or perhaps do we go back to being independent?

No thank you. I remember going 9-2 in 1997 and getting snubbed out of a bowl just because we weren't in a conference.

Honestly, our options are limited. But the best one isn't overly difficult.

We are, in fact, still in the WAC, a conference that decided to take a chance on us three years ago.

Therefore, we should take the hand that was dealt and enjoy these next few years, regardless of the outcome.

There's no reason we can't fill the stands at home games and take the opportunity to see road games such as SMU and Rice while we still can.

The future is up in the air for Tech athletics, and only we as fans can make it a good one.

Yeah, it was a "traveshamockery" that UTEP was picked to play in C-USA, so let's make C-USA say "burgleflickle" when they realize the mistake they've made.

Kyle Roberts is a junior journalism major from Ruston and serves as sports writer for The Tech Talk.