Greg Nilsen

There once was a time when college football was the king of the sports world: a great and entertaining game steeped in tradition, filled with rivalries, and flush with pageantry.

And now, they’ve pissed that all away.

Sure, college football has always had the problem that a true champion could never be crowned.  The champion has always been rather arbitrary depending on the controlling interests involved, but for a while that was tolerable because it was always “close enough” to being right (both before and after the BCS).  It’s an issue that has continued to go unaddressed even as it has become increasingly clear that this isn’t going to be an acceptable solution to the public in the long run.  So, let’s kick off our list with that.

1. Lack of a Clear National Champion – Quality teams continue to be left on the outside looking in because they are not part of the conferences that decided to put themselves in charge by creating the BCS.  Until the NCAA steps in and organizes a season-end tournament resulting in a singular, definitive national champion, my interest will continue to wain.
2. Conferences Can’t Read Maps – The news that the Big East was considering persuing TCU as a new member was the straw that broke the camels back for me.  It’s bad enough that the Big Ten is expanding westward with Nebraska, and the Pac-10 moves eastward with Colorado and Utah (though neither is as egregious as the ground covered by the WAC), but the blurring of regional conference lines not only increases travel times and expenses and decreases time spent in the classroom by all student athletes.  So it’s messing up both the tradition of regional conferences, as well as going against the claims that the academics come first.
3. Violating the Dress Code – Have you seen some of the ridiculous uniforms that some teams have been wearing lately?  It’s not just Oregon any more!  I mean they are really getting out of hand.  Even teams that have classic uniforms are being subject to these monstrosities, and I always have to do a double take and ask “Who’s playing?”.  Ohio State in red helmets?  Miami dressing up like Florida A&M?  And in many cases they claim to be referencing different historic uniforms, but in most cases that’s misleading.  For once, I have to give a team like Michigan credit for sticking to their guns (so far).
4. When Do The Weeks End? – First, it was Thursday night games.  Then, it was Friday night games (typically a no-no, as that’s traditionally high school football night).  Now, there’s even Tuesday and Wednesday night games.  When does one week end and the next begin?  How many people are sitting at home intently tuned into Lousiana Tech @ Wyoming on a Tuesday night?  (And I’m sure this scheduling makes it so much easier to put the “student” in “student athlete” as well.  </sarcasm>)I don’t have time to keep track of all that, so I like to stick with the Saturday games.  But…
5. No Meaningful Games Before 3:30pm…If You’re Lucky – I can’t even remember the last game between ranked teams that started at noon on a Saturday.  They’re all now getting moved to “prime time”.  However, I’d much rather be watching these games earlier, and Saturday nights I’d rather be watching a movie with my wife or going out to dinner.  The only chance I’ll actually tune in is if one of my teams of interest is playing (Ohio State, Pitt, UConn or BCS-crashers).  Otherwise, I may tune in to an earlier game, but I’ll be tuned out for the “prime time” offering.
6. The Bachelor Chow Bowl – Forgive the Futurama reference, but since there’s only about 73 bowl games being played now, some people may have thought that was real.  So, now there’s a lot more teams getting to play in extra nationally-televised games, but most of them still don’t matter and aren’t all that interesting as they’re played in front of about 27 attendees each.  Amazing.

Basically, I wish that college football would stop pushing itself like they’re marketing on us like a pop music “star” and trying to milk it for all the money possible before that shimmer fades in a few short years.  But that happens when universities stop trying to help shape young adults and start running themselves like corporations.

But then again, even pro sports aren’t this reckless with their products…

There’s been a lot of talk on sports radio today about JaMarcus Russell, the #1 pick of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders who got released this off-season, getting busted for codeine syrup possession in his home over the weekend, and how all that talent is going to waste.  Going to waste?  Clearly the NFL “Experts” have not been doing their job the last three years, kinda like Russell.

I’m not sure how it slipped through the cracks, but Russell had only one truly positive attribute as a quarterback: he could throw the ball a country mile.  I argued back in 2007 that he probably shouldn’t even be a first rounder, let alone the top pick, because he couldn’t read defenses (no “throw over it is not a read”) and made his living at LSU by throwing the ball deep to WRs who had already run five yards past the nearest defender.  In a league that is defined by precision passing, that kind of approach just wasn’t going to cut it.  For every burner at WR, there’s one at DB who can keep up with him.

And let’s not forget the lackadaisical attitude that he played with.  There was never any fire displayed in his time as a bayou Tiger, nor any semblance of leadership.  Instead, he was satisfied with his ability to throw over defenses and expected that to work in the pros. 

So Al Davis, who couldn’t pick out talent if you lined up the two Pro Bowl rosters in front of him, went ahead and took him anyway.  So, now on a young team with limited talent and no leadership in the locker room or on the sidelines, JaMarcus was able to “unleash the beast” by holding out and begin his strict workout regimen of gaining 50 lbs a season.  Once he finally signed for ridiculous money a week into the season, he was given the opportunity to plague the team over the next 2+ seasons.

And the bottom line?  You get a guy with a career QB rating of 65.2, completed just 52.1% of his passes, and managed to throw for less than 100 yards in 11 of the 30 games in which he played.

And now he’s drunk away any second chance he may have gotten by guzzling a homemade feel-good potion, which some suspect he’s been doing his entire career.  And sportscasters are talking about a “waste of talent”?  I’ve always thought the writing was on the wall with Russell sincehis college days, and as bad as he’s been, a “waste of time” is probably more appropriate.

So, Michael Vick is officially back in the NFL after signing with the Eagles today, but the question is whether or not it means anything?  The former starter now will likely start at #3 on the Eagles depth chart behind the always-primed-to-be-impeached starter McNabb and AJ Feeley.  He could be used to bring the “wildcat” element to Philly, but that really doesn't feel like their style.  And let's face it, the guy isn't the greatest passer anyway, having peaked in the NFL at a 56.4 completion percentage (with the majority of those to Alge Crumpler anyway).  He's most dangerous on the ground, but does he have the same acceleration and speed after being out of the league for two years?

And even all those questions are secondary to the question that is most central to his signing: Are the fans ready to forgive Vick?  After all, what he did was unconscionable to most Americans.  However, he served his 23-month term.  Then again, how many felons can leave prison and walk into a $1.6 million job?

In addition, we are also in the wake of Donte Stallworth's 24-day sentence for manslaughter following his hitting and killing a 59-year-old man in Florida while driving drunk.  So, many people are comparing the two and wondering if justice really has been been served in the two cases.  Regardless, I'm sure that Vick is glad to not have the full glow of the limelight on him.

So, Vick is back, and who knows if he'll even see the field this year, but I'm sure he's glad to be moving on with his life…