Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Much Ado About Nothing: The Playoffs

I find it funny that people are discussing the possibility of a four-team playoff for college football, as if the group of self-interested parties needed to sign off on anything would ever agree to something that would be good for the sport.  How does the SEC sign off on any plan that prevents them from getting two teams into the mix?  How does the Big Ten, who packs the biggest marketing punch (which is why we have to see so many conference teams play in January) agree to any system that does not get them a guaranteed spot?  How do the ACC and Big East plus the little guys agree to anything that does not guarantee them from ever whiffing the playoffs?  If we used the top four conference champion plan last year we would have watched LSU, Oklahoma State, Stanford and Boise State square off.  Meanwhile I can name four other programs--Alabama, Oregon, Arkansas and Wisconsin--who would put on a final four that would have been just as compelling and would have attracted higher television ratings and ticket sales.  But now they would be playing in bowl games that would lose a lot of luster with a playoff scheduled a few days later.  And if you are willing to put two teams in from one conference, then last year by November when it became clear that Alabama and LSU would be getting into a playoff barring a huge upset, all of the rest of the powers would have been fighting for two spots (which is of course, two spots more than they ended up with but how is that a solution?) and Boise would have had no chance.
Which leads me to my next problem with this format and any playoff idea.  How do you pull it off?  Neutral sites or home fields?  The first round cannot be played on January 1, as that magical date will be needed to save as many of the old bowls as possible.  Because of the NFL playoffs you would be stuck with weeknights, which makes a doubleheader difficult.  And then there are the fans.  If you are doing neutral sites you are asking fans of say Oklahoma to shell out the money for tickets, flights and hotels for let's say Phoenix for the semis and then, if the Sooners win, New Orleans one week later.  Remember, the bowl system was set up to encourage Northerners to vacation in sunny climes in the winter.They would have a month to plan what would basically be their winter holiday.  Now they would be scrambling with a travel agent.  Putting the entire final four in one site helps that but creates another difficulty.  College football already has the problem of teams winning titles in what are basically home games (Miami feasted on games in the Orange Bowl, ditto USC in the Rose Bowl and LSU in the Sugar).  What's the point of a playoff system if one team gets two home games? 
I can continue this but will wait until we see what they end up with, if anything.  I am not optimistic.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

New Hall of Fame Class

I was unable to attend the announcement ceremonies for the newest class--well the fbs portion anyway--of College Football Hall of Famers and maybe it was for the best as I really do not like Jimmy Johnson.  That said, I am sure the National Football Foundation did a great job of hosting the event.
As for the voters, well all I can say is that they have a difficult job.  Although lacking headliners (four different teases for the class mentioned four different inductees), the class certainly has some fine players and coaches.  And it is a typical class in which stars from one generation ago, like Jonathan Ogden are joined by very good players from the generation prior, like Charles Alexander.  How Art Monk, who was never a national name while at a rebuilding Syracuse and was stuck in a running offense his junior and senior seasons, got it is a head scratcher as too the rush to put in Greg Myers, a very good safety from the 1990s.  He probably got a boost from his excellent academic work, but that adds a measure of confusion for the public.
As for coaches, well they all seem to get in.  Both Phil Fulmer and R.C. Slocum were fine coaches, but Hall of Famers?  Neither was hired by anyone after being fired from the schools that they are most associated with, despite still being young enough to run a team.  But I really do not have a problem with either.  My beef with Johnson is as a Notre Dame and Giants fan.  But he really only won when having a great advantage in talent, but that describes a lot of top names in the industry.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

View From Bennett Avenue

I must say the concussion issue is perplexing.  While it is beneficial to finally discuss the issue at length, I fear that most of the talk misses the point.  Being that the worst place to play the game is on the line of scrimmage due to the continual smashing of heads and that the emphasis on the discussion is on the big hits away from the line (ie, the ones we can see via videotape), well, there is a lot of time being wasted.  You cannot get rid of the battle of the beasts on the line without ending the sport as we know it.  So either cancel the game or make the fixes necessary (why the hell are little kids playing tackle football?) and move on.  What is the point of constantly dragging retired players who cannot find their car keys in front of the camera?
What also bothers me about the coverage of the issue is that they still will not say the bogey word "steroids" when discussing concussions.  Clearly hits have become harder via players becoming bigger and faster due to PEDs.  And we do not know how much taking the stuff puts you at extra risk for brain problems later in life. Ignoring that topic is odd.
So let's discuss the issue properly while also getting a grip on the changes needed to make the game safer.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Junior Seau

Junior Seau was primed to have a good season as a starting linebacker for USC in 1989.  After sitting out his freshman season in 1987 due to academic concerns (Prop 48) and then co-starting during the Trojans' fine 1988 campaign but being limited by injury, Seau was healthy and inspired.  But Seau's inspiration went beyond the USC locker room as he dedicated the 1989 season to his cousin, Sal Aunese, who would succumb to his battle with stomach cancer in the fall of 1989.  Growing up together in San Diego, the cousins were close and both hoped to use football as a ticket out of an area infested with gangs.  Although Colorado, where Aunese became the starting quarterback, became the story of that season as they used Aunese's fight to inspire a sensational, near national championship, run, Seau transformed himself into one of the most feared defensive players in football.  Little known outside of Southern California and Pac 10 country before the season, Seau quickly became a household name by not only terrorizing conference opponents but playing well versus Notre Dame and three Big Ten teams, Illinois and Ohio State in the regular season and Michigan in the Rose Bowl.  He finished that season with...drum roll please...19 sacks and plenty of additional hurries.
And so Seau was thrust on the national scene, from where he never left.  He became a hugely popular professional player mainly because he was seen as both tough and gregarious and we are a sucker for that combination.  But Seau was much more complicated than that and while his suicide will continue the debate about just how brutal football is and the effects of that brutality on its combatants, what it should do is focus on hero worship and on the lack of care we give big, tough guys for mental anguish.  As the 1989 season laid out for all to see, Junior Seau was uniquely gifted and commonly troubled from an early age.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Billy Neighbors RIP

Billy Neighbors, a Hall of Fame lineman for Alabama, and the patriarch of a three-generation dynasty of Tide players, died Monday at age 72.  Neighbors played eight seasons in the AFL and NFL, four each with Boston and Miami, before embarking on a 40-year career as a stockbroker.  Spending those 40 years in Huntsville, Neighbors remained one of the most popular players in Alabama football history.
Part of his appeal--beyond his natural gregarious personality--was that he was a charter member of the Bear Bryant club as part of the Bear's first team in Tuscaloosa as a freshman in 1958.  Those freshmen, with Neighbors at the forefront, became national champions as seniors in 1961.  That squad featured one of the best defenses of all-time. led by Neighbors and Lee Roy Jordan.