Tuesday, September 7, 2010

College Football, What a Waste

College football is such a waste. What an awful product. Has there been another sport with such a devoted following that the people in charge can just say, "We can do whatever we want to bastardize this sport, and people will watch it religiously without question. Instead of working to improve it, let's go play a round of Tostitos sponsored golf and then get a free Verizon Wireless massage."

Its embarrassing. And you eat it up year after year.

Before I fool you into agreeing with me, lets come to terms on one thing. Football is the George Clooney of sports. There is nothing that can be done to tarnish its legacy. Have you ever thought ill of Clooney for ripping through hot Italian models like they were a bag of chips? Has there ever been a man who carried a smug look on his face that reeks of, "I'm so much better than everyone here its not even funny. The straight guys would date me if I asked" better than he has? I can't stand Sean Penn for having beliefs and trying to share them with people, yet I'd allow Clooney to wipe his bum with my tie just so I could say he did.

The point is, football in America is untouchable. Baseball is ruined by steroids controversies instantly. Football? Eh. No biggie. We like our players overly aggressive and muscular.

What other sport can you shoot up a strip club, be accused of sexual assault, be found with drugs, shoot yourself in the leg, and fight and kill dogs and be accepted back into the league as soon as your suspension is over? That's right, the NBA. But you're missing the point.

NFL fans become outraged over rules each year and they cry out in complaint and, surprisingly, they're heard. The NFL works to become better. Consider a shortened pre-season? OK. Change the over time rules to allow both teams to have a chance? Sure.

But College football? There's a sport that says, "Forget the fans, more money please!" And the fans, like teenage girls after the Jonas brothers, fawn over their team, coaches, players and BCS system. Its pathetic.

I'm supposed to be excited over a college football season that features opening games like Florida v. Miami of Ohio (45-0)? Ohio St. v. Marshall (45-7)? Tennesee v. Tennessee-Martin, (50-0)? Nebraska v. Western Kentucky (49-10)? Or how about the epic battle between Oregon and New Mexico? That thriller ended 72-0.

I'm sorry, I just don't get excited to watch something my 4 old nephew can do in Madden. This is supposed to be the greatest sport out there? This has die-hard fans getting up at 6am to grill and drink beer for a game thats over in the first 15 minutes? I don't get it.

It's embarrassing. Want to hear some other exciting week 1 battles? Arkansas beat Tennessee Tech 44-3, Florida State beat Samford (Samford?!!) 59-6, Georgia beat LA Lafayette 55-7, and West Virginia beat Coastal Carolina 31-0.

Pardon me if I'm not jumping out of seat in anticipation of the massacre. You know who the Redskins play week 1? The Dallas Cowboys. That's a week 1 match up. Not only a division rival, but a hated rival. Last two years the Redskins opened up against the New York football Giants, another divisional rival. That's how you start a season.

And let's not forget the ridiculous qualifications it takes to get into the BCS title bowl. College football practically demands a perfect season, and sometimes even that's not enough. If you're in the wrong division or if the made-up qualifier "strength-of-schedule" isn't on your side, you end up on the outside looking in year after year (see, Boise State who have lost 1 game in the last 3 years). Yet they get no consideration because they can't play the top ranked teams.

Want to know why? It's not for lack of trying. Boise has been trying to schedule games against ranked teams for years. But the top ranked teams don't want to schedule games against them, get this, for fear of losing and being knocked out of national title contention!!! So Boise will continue to rack up perfect seasons against sub-par teams in their division and never get the recognition they deserve. Vicious cycle anyone?

If in any given week a single game can knock you out of title contention you're not watching a sport. You're watching a Mortal Kombat death match. No sport should demand perfection. Let alone from 20 year old kids!

Coaches are fired, players are benched, programs are ruined by one loss. What kind of environment is that for a competitive sport? All because of one loss? Who runs this fascist regime?

I fully expect the Redskins to lose week 1 at Dallas, but you know what? I'm not counting them out of the playoffs because of that one loss (I'm counting them out because of the other 8 losses they will endure. But that's beside the point).

And we haven't even begun the discussion on the BCS bowl system! The one thing college football fans do complain about. Sure, you'll rant and rave about the broken bowl system and demand a playoff set up...for a few weeks during December and January. Then you'll talk yourself into the bowl system, telling yourself it works and that computers and coaches votes should definitely play a part in determining the champion of a sport. Because, you know, all the pro sports do that....

It's no surprise BCS bowl complaints are heard most readily during bowl season. The rest of the year college football sycophants mindlessly follow the broken system they've been convinced to love.

The sport is such a waste. Hear me now, because I'm doing my best to avoid being ignorant.

Where else do you get every player on either side of the ball leaving everything they've got on the field week in and week out? Where else do you not worry about contract negotiations and players holding out? What other sport do you get to watch and think, "I can see how bad this guys wants it"? Where else can you see the hopes and dreams of players come to reality, or fade away before their eyes?

That's right. College basketball. A system that works. But also NCAA football.

College football, a sport run by big name corporations with an advertising interest, has become hollowed out and turned into a mockery. You get a few great games each year (like Boise St. v. Virginia Tech), and a bunch of cup-cake, falafel games that only serve the purpose of achieving a perfect season (see, reigning national champion Alabama v. San Jose State, 48-3).

They've taken the sport with the greatest potential, the most to gain, and one of the best on-field products and watered it down. There is so much to gain, so much to be done and no one will do it because people watch the system in place.

College football has got to change. At some point, George Clooney is just going to become a creepy old man who could never settle down.

2 comments:

  1. You're such a hater. I'd watch College football any day of the week over Pro. Fans of college football are different than the NFL. The NCAA is a crappy governing body. The NFL Commissioner rules over the the NFL like Hitler Ruled Germany. Except Goodell just fines people who do not agree with him.

    The power in College football is in the the Conferences not the the NCAA as a whole. School Presidents and Athletic Directors make decisions for the best interest of the school not the Football team. This has to be done because at the big schools and a lot of the Mid Majors the Football team supports every other athletic program. Its why Football counts as 2 male sports under Title 9. College Football has to "whore" itself so other students can play sports like tennis, soccer, baseball, softball, and even basketball. Football Pays the bills. The NFL on the other hand only has to worry about keeping there players on the field each week.

    The BCS sucks and some sort of Playoff needs to happen, but at the same time I like the Bowl Games and dont want to lose them.

    Lastly how is expecting a team to win 12 games or 11 games not competitive. It's the same reason we get excited at the possibility of a Pro team doing it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The difference with a Pro team winning a full 16 game season, and a college team winning a 12 game season is not just in the number of games. It's in the fact that Pro teams don't create their schedule. It's easy to determine:

    6 games against division opponents
    3 teams from other divisions within your conference who ended in the same position as you
    3 other teams from a rotating division within your conference
    4 teams from a rotating division in the opposing conference

    This is a set formula where your "strength of schedule" is based on how teams did the previous year. College football, as AJ stated above, is about how athletic directors schedule games. You could schedule all of your games against Samford (12 weeks in a row, they might win one?) and you'd probably STILL make a bowl game as long as you were undefeated. They have more control over how many games they'll win. The only reason they challenge themselves against upper-tier programs is because they want to be able to either pull an upset and make a name for themselves or they want to use it to help their strength of schedule for bowl games.

    Either way, it's not even close to the same between college and pro scheduling. Pro teams are playing in a whole different ballgame of difficulty when playing through their schedule.

    ReplyDelete