The College Football Blues
Posted: January 8th, 2007, 5:46 pm
The College Football Blues
By Bill Isbell
I love college football. The excitement. The unexpectedness. The underdogs. The cheerleaders. The bands. School spirit. Pro football seems programmed in comparison, … like pro wrestling. The 10-2 pro team is inevitably going to stomp the 2-10 pro team, … but in college football, you never quite know. For one day, one hour, one minute, one play, the mighty can fall, mistakes can be seized on, and the little guy can rise up like David and slay the Goliath.
I hate Notre Dame. No offense meant to those of you who may be Notre Dame alumni. It’s just that they are on TV every weekend. Every weekend, whether they deserve to be or not. And while they are usually good, so are fifty other college teams that don’t get such exposure. And when they suck, they’re still on TV. Consider this, 9 straight bowl losses. Nine in a row! Blown out by LSU in the Sugar Bowl this year. 41-14. In the second half, they were awful. I mean how many Catholics are there in the United States after all. And Notre Dame is not the only Catholic college in the U.S. either. Why not have Baylor on TV every weekend, … I mean after all there are as many Baptists in the U.S. than Catholics. Or some other Protestant school. Maybe Muslim U. on TV every week, … at least that would encourage some much needed understanding. Sorry Regis, but no college football team deserves to be on TV every weekend. The NCAA, representing all colleges, needs to intercede and end this monopoly. Not because of any anti-Notre Dame sentiment, but because it’s too big of a recruiting advantage for one school. Every high school star wants to go to a school that’s games are featured on TV every weekend. It’s like the head of NBC’s sports network is a die-hard Notre Dame alumnus with an Irish fetish. Guaranteed ratings. That’s the excuse. The reality is, however, if you put USC or Boise State on TV every weekend, the ratings would be about the same, and if they’re undefeated, even better. And I’m sure Boise State would love the recruiting dominance that weekly TV exposure brings.
And how ‘bout those Bronchos. 13-0. National champions (if Ohio State loses)? I’m an Oklahoma fan, an Oklahoma alumni, and currently, even an Oklahoma resident. Totally sucked. But this year’s Fiesta Bowl was the greatest football game of the century. Well, the 21st century. Even as a die-hard Oklahoma fan, you still have to love the excitement and last-minute heroics. Oklahoma may have been the better team, but not that night. Boise State just refused to lose. Even when OU scored 2 touchdowns in 25 seconds to take the lead with less than 2 minutes to go after playing poorly most of the game and any reasonable person considered the game over, not Boise State. They kept fighting, clawed back, and scored to put the game into overtime. OU scored quickly in overtime. Game over. At least another overtime. But no. While Boise State struggled, they eventually scored a touchdown and then on their third trick play at the end of the game, scored two points to win. Not tie. Win. Gutsy call. And on the old statue of liberty play! God, I love college football. You just never know when the underdog will become the Big Dog.
So why do I have the college football blues? Well, I’ll tell you. It’s not because of the teams, the instant replay, the games, or even Notre Dame’s undeserved weekly NBC showcase. It’s because of ESPN, … well, cable TV in general. It used to be that every bowl game was on network television. Every year, beginning in mid-December, you could watch college football every weekend, and after Christmas, virtually every night. And, on New Year’s Day, you set up all three TVs, and could watch all day and night. And the Sugar Bowl used to always be on New Year’s Eve. At the New Year’s Eve party, the menfolk would gather round and watch the game, while the women gathered and gossiped until the clock struck midnight, when everybody kissed. Those were the days of our youth. (Insert teardrops). When all was right with college football.
It’s not ESPN’s fault. After all, they’re just trying to buy the best programming to sell their advertisers ads. And they are a sports network after all. So whose fault is it? The NCAA. They allow this. They license it. They regulate it. They have the power to fix it. They don’t. Now I don’t have cable TV. Can’t afford it, like most poor folks. I used to be able to watch all the bowl games. This year, there were only one or two bowl games on network television until New Year’s Day. And while I don’t particularly want to watch Gypsum U v. Unknown State in the Corporate Greed Bowl, there were quite a few games that I did want to watch, but couldn’t. Sure ESPN pays the schools in their games handsomely, but overall, college football loses fans. They lose market share and national exposure. And interest. If you can’t watch the game, why be interested? The current state of affairs is simply eroding college football’s national fanbase.
So here’s my suggestion. Are you listening NCAA officials? Allow ESPN to bid on all of the bowl games, but require, for the sake of the involved schools’ recruiting exposure and for the sake of the fans nationwide who don’t have or can’t afford cable TV, that the networks be allowed to run the games a day or two later, even if late night. ESPN still gets the exclusive live broadcast, but the rest of the nation still gets to see the game & the teams (who want to be seen by the biggest audience possible) even if they don’t have cable. Without having to go to a bar, drink & drive, or pay those inflated drink prices. Everybody wins. The schools. The fans. And, check this out, the schools & NCAA get paid twice and make even more money off the game. I can live without seeing the game “live,” but I just can’t live without watching college football.
And God, if non-Catholics go to heaven, could you work on the Notre Dame monopoly?
By Bill Isbell
I love college football. The excitement. The unexpectedness. The underdogs. The cheerleaders. The bands. School spirit. Pro football seems programmed in comparison, … like pro wrestling. The 10-2 pro team is inevitably going to stomp the 2-10 pro team, … but in college football, you never quite know. For one day, one hour, one minute, one play, the mighty can fall, mistakes can be seized on, and the little guy can rise up like David and slay the Goliath.
I hate Notre Dame. No offense meant to those of you who may be Notre Dame alumni. It’s just that they are on TV every weekend. Every weekend, whether they deserve to be or not. And while they are usually good, so are fifty other college teams that don’t get such exposure. And when they suck, they’re still on TV. Consider this, 9 straight bowl losses. Nine in a row! Blown out by LSU in the Sugar Bowl this year. 41-14. In the second half, they were awful. I mean how many Catholics are there in the United States after all. And Notre Dame is not the only Catholic college in the U.S. either. Why not have Baylor on TV every weekend, … I mean after all there are as many Baptists in the U.S. than Catholics. Or some other Protestant school. Maybe Muslim U. on TV every week, … at least that would encourage some much needed understanding. Sorry Regis, but no college football team deserves to be on TV every weekend. The NCAA, representing all colleges, needs to intercede and end this monopoly. Not because of any anti-Notre Dame sentiment, but because it’s too big of a recruiting advantage for one school. Every high school star wants to go to a school that’s games are featured on TV every weekend. It’s like the head of NBC’s sports network is a die-hard Notre Dame alumnus with an Irish fetish. Guaranteed ratings. That’s the excuse. The reality is, however, if you put USC or Boise State on TV every weekend, the ratings would be about the same, and if they’re undefeated, even better. And I’m sure Boise State would love the recruiting dominance that weekly TV exposure brings.
And how ‘bout those Bronchos. 13-0. National champions (if Ohio State loses)? I’m an Oklahoma fan, an Oklahoma alumni, and currently, even an Oklahoma resident. Totally sucked. But this year’s Fiesta Bowl was the greatest football game of the century. Well, the 21st century. Even as a die-hard Oklahoma fan, you still have to love the excitement and last-minute heroics. Oklahoma may have been the better team, but not that night. Boise State just refused to lose. Even when OU scored 2 touchdowns in 25 seconds to take the lead with less than 2 minutes to go after playing poorly most of the game and any reasonable person considered the game over, not Boise State. They kept fighting, clawed back, and scored to put the game into overtime. OU scored quickly in overtime. Game over. At least another overtime. But no. While Boise State struggled, they eventually scored a touchdown and then on their third trick play at the end of the game, scored two points to win. Not tie. Win. Gutsy call. And on the old statue of liberty play! God, I love college football. You just never know when the underdog will become the Big Dog.
So why do I have the college football blues? Well, I’ll tell you. It’s not because of the teams, the instant replay, the games, or even Notre Dame’s undeserved weekly NBC showcase. It’s because of ESPN, … well, cable TV in general. It used to be that every bowl game was on network television. Every year, beginning in mid-December, you could watch college football every weekend, and after Christmas, virtually every night. And, on New Year’s Day, you set up all three TVs, and could watch all day and night. And the Sugar Bowl used to always be on New Year’s Eve. At the New Year’s Eve party, the menfolk would gather round and watch the game, while the women gathered and gossiped until the clock struck midnight, when everybody kissed. Those were the days of our youth. (Insert teardrops). When all was right with college football.
It’s not ESPN’s fault. After all, they’re just trying to buy the best programming to sell their advertisers ads. And they are a sports network after all. So whose fault is it? The NCAA. They allow this. They license it. They regulate it. They have the power to fix it. They don’t. Now I don’t have cable TV. Can’t afford it, like most poor folks. I used to be able to watch all the bowl games. This year, there were only one or two bowl games on network television until New Year’s Day. And while I don’t particularly want to watch Gypsum U v. Unknown State in the Corporate Greed Bowl, there were quite a few games that I did want to watch, but couldn’t. Sure ESPN pays the schools in their games handsomely, but overall, college football loses fans. They lose market share and national exposure. And interest. If you can’t watch the game, why be interested? The current state of affairs is simply eroding college football’s national fanbase.
So here’s my suggestion. Are you listening NCAA officials? Allow ESPN to bid on all of the bowl games, but require, for the sake of the involved schools’ recruiting exposure and for the sake of the fans nationwide who don’t have or can’t afford cable TV, that the networks be allowed to run the games a day or two later, even if late night. ESPN still gets the exclusive live broadcast, but the rest of the nation still gets to see the game & the teams (who want to be seen by the biggest audience possible) even if they don’t have cable. Without having to go to a bar, drink & drive, or pay those inflated drink prices. Everybody wins. The schools. The fans. And, check this out, the schools & NCAA get paid twice and make even more money off the game. I can live without seeing the game “live,” but I just can’t live without watching college football.
And God, if non-Catholics go to heaven, could you work on the Notre Dame monopoly?
.... Bill