football state university

as i look back on the michigan state/texas tech game
i realized how good our team can be
we played really well during this year's bowl game
granted, we didn't pull it out in the end
but watching them play was rejuvenating
we actually made plays, we actually made stops
we actually played competitively
and i'm tellin' ya, nobody pulls trick plays like we do
that was the kind of michigan state football i like to see
that's what makes proud spartans,
and that's what they need to do next year
whether they will or not is another story

——————

there's one consistent thing i find annoying about football on tv:
the commentators:
they come in with very apparent biases
and they call the entire game that way
they make excuses when they falter
and they cheer them on when they're winning
and the opposing team never gets a chance
it's obvious to anyone who watches these games
and i think it's bullshit

there isn't a specific type of commentator that's guilty, either
former players/coaches and sportscasters are equally to blame
i don't how they make their picks week to week
but there's no excuse for it
i understand that everybody has favorites
and teams they don't like
but their job is to commentate the games,
not be pep squads for only one team
also, is it just me,
or do they never seem to cheer for the same team you do?
that's what makes it worse for me
i'm trying to watch the goddamn game,
and all i hear is how awesome everyone else is

i personally think the worst example of that was on sunday
during the michigan state/texas tech game
but it happens all the time
right now i'm watching the orange bowl
and the commentators have favoring georgia tech all night
granted, these guys have actually been giving iowa credit
but still, it's unfair to everyone to do this
they don't just do it in college either
pro commentators are just as bad, sometimes worse
need an example?
look at the vikings/bears game from week 15
all night long they were talking about the amazing brett favre
and how the vikings were the obviously dominant team
gave chicago shit all game long
and yet, chicago got the win

i would love to see some truly objective commentating
i think it would make the games so much better
but, that's never going to happen
i have a better hope, one that might actually happen:
since you can watch games online now,
and cable providers are making games more intuitive
i'm hoping they have selectable audio tracks
and that you can eventually turn off commentating
and all you'll hear is the qb calling the plays
the sound of pads colliding, players grunting,
and the whistles blowing
a guy can dream, can't he?


of all the controversial things about college football
nothing surpasses the bcs
since its inception, it's been hit with criticism [and with some praise]
the rankings, it says, is based on a scientific formula
it's more accurate and balanced than the ap, coaches', and harris polls
and it offers equal opportunity for high status
but, against it, there's been all sorts of contention
it's biased against smaller, less powerful conferences
it doesn't actually provide scientific results
and so on and so forth
i'm not going to argue against that [not now, at any rate]
personally i don't like the bcs
but for a different reason:
the bowl games themselves

[also, my congratulations to iowa
they just won the orange bowl 24–14 over georgia tech
congrats, hawkeyes
this puts the big ten at 4-3 in bowls this year]

there are currently 34 bowl games
34
in the words of marshall lucky in used cars
'that's too fuckin' high!'
how many goddamn post season games do these guys need?
i know that football is the highest grossing ncaa sport
but come the fuck on
they have to reach down to 6–6 teams to fill these games out
[like michigan state and minnesota]
and some teams don't even have winning conference records
[like arkansas]
how is that fair?
how can they reward teams for failing like that?
most of those games aren't well patronized
for example, the little caesar's pizza bowl:
marshall and university of ohio
they play at ford field in detroit, a stadium that seats 65,000
how many people went to the bowl? a paltry 30,331
doesn't sound that exciting, does it?
i got a better idea

not unlike joe paterno, i'd advocate a playoff system
here's how i would handle it:
there are currently 11 division 1 conferences and 3 independent teams
[the indys are army, navy, and notre dame]
each of the 11 conferences would play a conference championship
each conference champion would gain a playoff berth
[along with the #1 independent team]
and there would be no automatic home field advantage
[games would be played at the higher record team's stadium]
the eight highest [by record] conference #2s, including indy #2,
would be given wild–card playoffs the first week of postseason
the 12 champs and 4 wild–card winners would then start the playoffs
there'd be three rounds, then a championship game
including the wild–cards, there'd be 19 games in the post season
[30 including the conference championships]
it may not be much, but the turnouts would be huge
i think it would create a much more interesting bowl series

yes, i am aware that this system has flaws
i know it draws heavily on the nfl playoff system
and i know that i don't lay out a ranking system
but, i think my system has a lot more potential
not every team gets to go to a bowl game every year
it'll give teams more drive to earn it
that is what the post season is about, after all
earning a place above everyone else


another thing i have against the bcs is their locations
the vast majority of these bowl games are in the south or west
the only northern ones are in detroit and boise
what possible reason can they have for that?
the weather? that's bullshit
the bcs claims they choose neutral arenas for bowl games
and to their credit, they technically do
BUT
the places they chose, more often that not,
are right in the back yard of teams playing in them:
idaho played in boise, miami played in orlando,
georgia played in miami, ucf played in st petersburg,
unc played in charlotte, texas tech played in san antonio,
usc played in san fran, and i could go on and on

since there's no hope of reforming the bcs
[not in the immediate future, at any rate]
i think they should scatter the bowl games
you want a neutral playing field?
how about putting the alabama/texas game in minneapolis?
how about usc and bc in kansas city?
how about ohio state and oregon in new orleans?
those are just specific examples, but they can be generalized
move some of these bowl games to the north
teams worried about playing in the cold?
make them in domed stadiums, i don't care
but i don't think they should anyway
make these cold weather teams play in the cold winter air
if they go pro, they're gonna have to anyway
we shouldn't cater to them

you wanna know how pussy southern football players are?
watch the 'cold weather' games from this season
at the wisconsin/miami game, it was 50º
the miami players were shivering and gathering around the heater
they were all wearing gloves and long sleeves
the wisconsin players? no sleeves, no gloves
and they kicked miami's ass
and the commentators? [hey-o, look, it's them again]
excusing miami's poor play 'because it's cold'
same thing in the iowa/georgia tech game
same thing in the penn state/lsu game
poor southern teams were feeling a little cold,
and couldn't play as well as normal
big ten players have that weather from october on
if we can take it, so can they
so suck it the fuck up, guys, and play the goddamn game

all i wanna see, sometime before i die,
is a better college postseason
so please, bcs, get it together
fix up your shit, get your stuff together
fire those fucking commentators
and show me some good goddamn football