BCS v. NFL

An Amazing, Wacky Football Season

In College football, we saw a wild season that most closely resembled an NFL season. Good teams lost and underdogs won. Lots. As usual, the ending bore no resemblance to anything competitive. Again we see that the bowl season is not for crowning the competitive champion of Division 1 football, but to vote in the most popular football teams and players to awards of Heismans and glass footballs. Writers, analysts, and University officials corrupt college football in a white-collar oligarchy. Hype and talk rule over merit won on the field. The BCS reigns as the supreme contradiction of terms.

This year showed its flaws more than ever.

First case- Hawaii, Fiesta Bowl. Should Hawaii have been there? According to the current system, yes. What a waste. An over-rated, under-talented and impotent Hawaii team that has never won a game over a powerful opponent walked into a trap. But they deserved to be there under the current system. Our BYU Cougars head coach Bronco Mendenhall put it perfectly- all you need to do to crack the BCS is win all your games, not be good.

Supporting case- Ohio State. What a lame Championship game. Any team in college football can go 10 up on the best teams only to lose the lead just as fast. Any team can do that. There are a few good reasons why Ohio State lost so badly and why LSU won so convincingly- in the second quarter, when the game really ended.

Ohio State lost in coaching and in heart. These two aspects of their loss reflect on the comments by Bronco perfectly. Let’s explore these in reverse order. Ohio State lost in heart. Ohio State played a weak schedule, as they do every year. Jim Tressel understands what Bronco now understands. Just win your games and you’ll get BCS games and BCS money. The only side effect is that your team easily over-estimates its abilities in real competition. They lack enduring fight in the big game. They lack the extra gear developed only through going through the most difficult competitive fires. Secondly, Ohio State was out-coached. This is a function of the competition principle, reflecting on player talent levels and development. I’m sure Ohio State has great talent, but it never really shined, especially on defense. In the championship game, Ohio State showed exactly why they lost the game last year. They had no pressure defense to speak of, combining blitz pressure and man coverage defense. Blitzers were hesitant and un-intimidating while any kind of shut-down man coverage was non-existent. This is a function of competition because those skills are best learned and developed against dangerous players and teams where confidence and killer instinct are developed. The same goes for Hawaii. So Ohio State, Hawaii- shucks. Was the money worth the loss? Maybe, but not if you’re a competitor. From a fan- thanks for nothing.

On the other hand, LSU and Georgia- the convincing victors against these teams- have been forced, unknowingly, to learn these principles. The analysts point to speed in the SEC, where these teams play. However, USC has similar “speed”. Is it 40-yard dash speed or game speed. I say game speed. How is that developed? You got it, through competition. Pete Carroll’s competitive practice organization and the SEC’s competitive conference schedule are the reasons for team “speed”. Competition develops a killer instinct that translates into another gear the players play at. They find holes faster, hit harder, impose themselves more. And the more they do it, the better they become at it, seemingly knowing exactly where the play is going. So, kudos to the SEC for being the most competitive conference in college football and therefore ruling college football the past few years. It’s too bad we have to live with another National lack of championship year.
Not so fast, my friend. Thank heavens for the NFL this year.

NFL

What an amazing year. This year we’ve seen the best games in recent memory. I don’t mean a lot of scoring or huge plays all over the field. There were more games this year that I felt I had to sit through the whole game until the end. There was controversy, competition, and sentimentality. I think looking at some of the teams that made the most noise can best summarize this season. Let’s get started.

Spygate- Have to mention this. See Patriots. OK, I mentioned it. Moving on.

Pittsburg- The Steelers came out very hard and fast, looking like a Juggernaut. As the season wore on, they wore as well. They lost some games toward the end they should have won, based on their early-season performance. Credit this to some lack of planning by coaches, giving late season competition new looks and new attacks. It’s like the Steelers started out good at everything and never excelled at anything except the Zone Blitz. That, as usual ended the season as their bread and butter play. Their final game, last weeks wild card game, was one of the best games this year. It was a strange game, though. It was like the Steelers versus the bizarro Steelers. It was the same team in different uniforms with Jacksonville having a quarterback ending up with the one game-wining clutch play. It really could have gone either way.

Dallas- Oooh, I hate Dallas. So much to root against: T.O., Jerry Jones, AKA Al Davis, Dallas fans, and the monicre itself “America’s team”. I am forever grateful to Bill Simmons of ESPN for dubbing the Detroit Lions “God’s Team”. One up on ya big D. Dallas shot out as well, destroying competition. The Dallas-Green Bay matchup was most likely a preview of the NFC championship game. There is a stark difference in the teams, though. As we may see in the rematch, should it materialize. Dallas is headed where it headed last year, downhill. We’ve seen their momentum slow drastically over the final weeks of the season. Easily the most over-rated team with 11

Green Bay- The anti-Dallas. Thank heavens for Green Bay this year. To me, this year’s Green Bay season is the emotional hook for the NFL. How an you not be so stinkin proud of Brett Favre for the records, the wins, the high-fiving of the refs. He’s what’s right about the sport. I see him as a slap in the face of Barry Sanders and Tiki Barber in some ways, although not entirely. More Tiki than Barry, easily. 10 years and out? Shame on you. I give Barry the benefit of the doubt because of the trauma of so many years being the only person playing for the Detroit Lions. With the upcoming playoff games, should we see Green Bay-Dallas again, we’ll see Dallas on the downhill slope and Green Bay as we’ve seen them all year- going up and up. Gaining some more running game. Gaining some more defensive presence. They’re peaking at the right time. I chalk this up to Brett Favre. Like Bill Belichik, all year he has downplayed their talent, almost speaking in disbelief at the fact they are winning. Good psychology from a good leader.

New York Giants- The ultimate sandbag team. These guys can’t seem to show up unless all the cameras are around (Pats/Giants) or everyone hates them (away games). Actually, it seems like even Home games provide an away game. They should try filming another team’s defensive signals. I don’t expect much from them.

New England- Ah, yes. We love to hate. Or hate to love. Or defiantly love. Or are simply on the bandwagon. I defiantly love the Pats. 16-0 is great, but the way they’ve done it is the most impressive thing. They have been unbelievably poised, disciplined and defiant. From playing half the season up by 40 and still scoring the “Eff you” touchdown, or more correctly the “in our opinion it’s more embarrassing for you if we took a knee on 4th and short than if we had one receiver out and threw to him, at least giving you a chance to save some face and it’s not our fault you couldn’t stop it and we don’t have a running game, so we won’t embarrass you or ourselves by trying that” touchdowns. From Superbowl 42 ½ (I won’t mention the officiating in that one) with Indy and on it was all way more interesting. Almost every game was insanely competitive with every team taking shots and playing their guts out against the Pats. Through all of it, the Pats have come out perfect and better with the running game and defense. The fruits of competition. Here’s to 19-0, Bill.

Washington- Kudos for kicking it up a notch after Shawn Taylor was killed, but I personally think that will only take you so far, and it has.

Jacksonville- The new Steelers. Big and mean and tough. They will be an interesting matchup for New England this week.

Seattle- Kudos for dropping the run game when you did, Mike. Mid-season, Mike Holmgren gave the offense to Matt Hassellbeck and they’ve been winning ever since. Shawn Alexander is not the back he used to be. Thanks to the Patriots for proving it could be done, and in some cases, should be done.

All in all, this year provided some of the best football games I’ve seen in a long time- competition, heart, passion, discipline- good football.