December 3, 2006
Life Isn’t Fair
:Tonight the college football championship game will be announced and as much as it pains me to say it, Michigan will not be in it. They had their shot, and the country will say that its time for someone else to get a crack. A couple years ago, the University of Oklahoma lost in its conference championship game (by a lot), they went any way. They got destroyed. If you don’t win your conference title you shouldn’t get a chance at the national title.
The last rematch for a title occurred in the 1997 Sugar Bowl. Coincidentally, the University of Florida won its only national title avenging an earlier loss to Florida State. You won’t hear Urban Myer or anyone else from Florida mentioning it this week. But they should – they should at least be honest about what’s going on. That year, Florida State was the better team. They proved it during the regular season defeating the Gators by three at home. They should have gotten to play someone new and see how they could have done (and they probably would have won). But Steve Spurier had a couple weeks off to scheme and that Florida team won by 30 some points and took home their only crown.
This year, Michigan lost in Columbus by 3. Don’t you think a couple weeks off might benefit the Wolverines like they did the Gators in 1996-97? Of course it would. Six weeks to prepare for that shotgun look that Michigan faced exclusively in Columbus. Six weeks to prepare for a neutral site. Six weeks to correct some problems. Michigan might very well win the game. We will never know.
Instead, the hypocritical Gator fans (who shouted in 1996 that you get seven points when your at home and want extra credit for road wins at Tennessee, Georgia, and at Florida State and their lose at Auburn) refuse to acknowledge how close Michigan was at Columbus. Could Florida have come that close? Having watched them play against Arkansas, Tennessee, Auburn, and LSU – I doubt it.
Eventually their delay of game and false start penalties will kill them (as will them switching quarterbacks and having a drop back passer run). In fact all of those things have killed them this season – they can’t score. That might work in the SEC where no one can score (Arkansas’ quarterback actually cannot hit the side of a barn as he proved last night when he went 10-for-22 and would have been a lot worse except for some questionable pass interference calls). Come the National Title game, their defense will be good but still give up a couple touchdowns. Can they score that many? Only if they get a touchdown because the punt returner muffs the ball into the end zone, the running back throws a pick during a late game drive, and they get a fifty yard TD run from a wide receiver that was hit at the line of scrimmage. So, basically not likely.
Life isn’t fair. Almost everyone outside the southeast admits that Michigan is the second best team in the country. With the system we have today that won’t be enough. Instead the Gators will go. They’ll get destroyed. And in sense that would be the perfect ending. Why should there be a playoff or a bowl season when we already know the obvious – the best team in the country is in scarlet and silver. They have a hideous four letter name. They are from an inferior state. They are named after a nut. Yes, Ohio State is the best team in the country. No more games are needed. They should be crowned right now. Alas, life isn’t fair.
(Filed under: Sports, NCAA, Commentary)
August 27, 2005
Sports
:The NCAA partially reversed track this week on the issue of eliminating Native American mascots during the post-season campaigns. The NCAA decided to allow Florida State to continue to use the Seminole moniker because the Florida Seminole tribe said they supported the college’s use. All other schools including the University of Illinois Fighting Illini, the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux, and the University of Utah Utes will still have to cover their name in any post-season competition.