The Media and Coaches (not the BCS) are Unfair
Listening to the media carping and whining about how they believe the BCS is unfair is almost as enjoyable (and profitable) as taking my hammer out of the garage and repeatedly smashing it into my forehead.
Do you want to know what isn’t fair?
What isn’t fair is Texas beating Oklahoma 45-35 on a neutral field, controlling the game, putting the Sooners away in the fourth quarter, and then having the media and coaches come to the brilliant conclusion the Longhorns are somehow not the better team.
Explain to me how this works. Please. I’m dying for a logical explanation. This is shaping up to be at least as informative as Miss South Carolina’s infamous beauty pageant answer.
Don’t tell me about pretty offense or great defense or any such notion because it doesn’t fit. Don’t tell me how Oklahoma and Texas are playing at the end of the season – as if that will make a difference when BCS bowls are played in 5 weeks and a BCS title in almost 6 weeks.
45-35.
Don’t insult my intelligence with comments like, “Well, Oklahoma beat Texas Tech 65-21 and Oklahoma State 61-41.”
Texas can say, “We beat Oklahoma State just 28-24, but we did play this team known as the Sooners on a neutral field…and won.”
45-35.
Imagine for a moment Ohio State defeating Michigan and then watching the Wolverines play for a championship because the Wolverines ran up the score on their opponents while Jim Tressel chose not to take this route or because they were a team built more on defense.
The media perpetually whines and cries like a little girl over the unfairness of ‘the system,’ but they are the ones perpetuating systemic injustice. They are the ones who, in spite of the neutral site results, have decided to toss out the Texas-Oklahoma game like dirty dishwater and place the Sooners third and the Longhorns fourth.
Worse than the media are the coaches. Talk about hypocrisy. Show me a single coach in the United States of America (or any country on this planet) who would agree with seeing their team ranked below someone they defeated on a neutral field. I’d like nothing better than to grill each and every coach who leapfrogged Oklahoma to second place while voting Texas in fourth.
“So what you are telling me coach is if your team was in this position you would vote the foe you defeated over yourselves? Is this accurate? Are you in fact telling us on the field results have no bearing on your opinion of who the best teams are? Should we simply vote for who we think is prettiest and forget about playing football games?”
45-35.
I’ve seen this type of ludicrous logic several times in college football with two standing out in my mind. In 1993, Notre Dame defeated Florida State, finished with the same record, and voters came up with the nutty conclusion the Seminoles were more national title worthy. In 2000, Miami (of Florida) toyed with Florida State for most of their meeting before putting them away, but it was Florida State who was chosen over the Hurricanes to meet Oklahoma in the BCS title game.
45-35
It’s time to either admit the on the field results are meaningless or put Texas where they belong – ranked ahead of the Sooners. We don’t need a playoff. We simply need a little common sense.
Utah or Ohio State
What will happen with the BCS?
Right now speculation is rampant on who will fill out the BCS bowls. Will the lower echelon conferences land two representatives to go along with lesser light Cincinnati? If UCLA were to pull the upset over USC next weekend, all of this will be a moot point, but bowls are about dollars.
At the end of the day, bowl committees are backed by not just big businesses but also the local, mom and pop variety.
The United States is in a recession, and the recession is expected to be fairly brutal. Sure, we keep hearing this unfounded optimism from some of the financial folks, but if credit card interest rates rise as they are currently projected it will clamp down on spending. Despite the government going through money like Notre Dame has football coaches, it is barely even registering a blip on the world economy.
What does this mean?
It may mean little to nothing if the Buckeyes and Utah were being eyed by the Sugar Bowl, but it may mean the difference between Florida and the desert if the choice for the Fiesta Bowl is Ohio State or Utah.
If Utah is selected, their fan base is fairly close. In a booming economy with people spending and burning through their paychecks like an Aggie Bonfire, it would matter little or not at all. However, in an economic downturn expected by some to be the worst since the Great Depression, it could be the difference because Utah is too close.
If a fan base is overly close to a bowl location, they will attend but scores will come down for a day or two and drive home. They can (if they want to be frugal) pack coolers and food and spend only a few dollars outside of their tickets and maybe one tank of gasoline to return home. They can bring their own booze if they want to drink, won’t need to rent any cars, and at most they will need one night in a hotel. That one night could come after the game in Arizona – or perhaps on the way home in Nevada. More likely is a two night stay in a hotel even for the most enterprising, but again – it could come in Nevada as easily as in Utah.
Total Costs:
- One night in a local hotel - $100
- One tank of gasoline - $40
- Snacks and a couple of meals - $50
- Misc. (alcohol can be packed so this is only souvenirs) - $60
- Profit for the local economy - $250
If a Buckeye fan from Ohio or the Midwest comes for the bowl, it is a completely different story. They have to fly into the local airport, rent a car (or use a taxi), purchase virtually every meal, if they are drinkers - buy all of their alcohol, and stay in a hotel for several days. In sum, their fandom will know no bounds and apparently neither will their wallet.
Total Costs:
- Three nights in a local hotel $300
- Taxi or car rental - $120
- Meals for three days - $150
- Misc. (including alcohol for those who drink) - $130
- Profit for the local economy - $700
Now multiply these numbers by maybe 20,000 people who would consider going to the bowl game (bare minimum) and you start getting into the hundreds of thousands of dollars for Phoenix and the entire state of Arizona. Multiply it by 30,000 (a more likely number), and Ohio State could easily mean at least a million and maybe close to two million more for Phoenix.
This may not happen. It may be the Fiesta chooses Utah with the thinking Ohio State fans may not travel back to Phoenix, again, for a bowl in a tight economy. The Buckeye fan base may be seen as less enthused to be in the BCS than a team like Utah considering they wanted the brass ring and a third national title game in a row.
However, if it is about dollars and cents, common sense may dictate Ohio State as the choice for the BCS. Utah would make an at large selection, and Boise State would be left in the cold.
Even if it is not about the money, since the Utes and Buckeyes did play one common opponent in Michigan – how did they look and what was the final score?
Ohio State – Michigan 42-7
Utah – Michigan 25-23
Notre Dame
What was pretty clear to even many football neophytes but apparently a mystery to the Irish administrators, their fans, and the national media is now an openly discussed topic. Notre Dame jumped the gun by giving Charlie Weis, an unproven head coach with not so much as a signature win, a ridiculous contract.
With their 2008 regular season in the books, Weis and the Irish are now in danger of entering their third decade without a national title. 2008 was a failure in comparison to the proper benchmarks for this proud program, and 2009 will be an improvement but how much is the question.
Not only did they lose four of their final six games, but do you realize the record of the opponents the Irish defeated is a combined 21-50. Only Navy, of all of their wins this season, has a better than .500 record.
Nor is this a change of pace.
In 2007, aside from managing the worst season in Notre Dame history, the Irish defeated just three teams – Stanford (4-8), UCLA (6-7), and Duke (1-11) with a combined record of 11-26.
Apart from Navy the Irish have not defeated a team with a winning record since before the housing market collapsed. Among other news at the time was Barack Obama being considered a long shot to win the Democratic nomination, and the Dow was at 12,000 and climbing.
Combined, the Irish have turned in their worst two year record in almost 50 years.
Weis needs to go. He has needed to go for almost two full seasons and was a poor hire from the very start, and I’m still stunned the media bought it hook line and sinker. In 2005, at the Ohio State and Notre Dame Fiesta Bowl, I had multiple discussions with media members who swore Weis was the next great coach in college football. When I asked for evidence or proof or pointed out his complete lack of experience and any truly impressive wins…they clung to their position like a koala their eucalyptus tree.
There is a reason the former Irish athletic director left, and it wasn’t just because he thought he might like a change of scenery. Weis was largely his boondoggle, and he knew what was going to happen. He had more information than others, more quickly, and he wisely put it to good use by jumping before any others could leave the sinking ship.
Yet, the president and others were involved as well, and most of those still remain. Whoever was involved needs to answer some very tough questions. They are running one of the top five programs in the history of college football into the ground, and it needs to stop.
Gerry Faust
Lou Holtz
Bob Davie
George O’Leary
Tyrone Willingham
Charlie Weis
Once Weis has been given the pink slip (or resigns), Notre Dame will have fired their last six head coaches, and the only one who was worth his salt was former Woody Hayes assistant Lou Holtz.
