By Bryan Mulroney
That was it folks. In case you missed it, tonight's game between the #15 ranked Maryland Terrapins and the Huskies of Northern Illinois was as simple a statement as could e?er be made as to why college football is the greatest sport played anywhere in the world.
Now I know there are doubters, and legions of fans who would argue ?til they?re blue in the face. But I?ll submit that the game tonight, one simple game, is the definition of why college football tops the nearest competition by miles.
1. It matters.
Sports can only be relevant if the games have implications. All together too many games in other sports (both pro and college) don?t matter. Take any NFL game, does one game ever really matter that much? No, it doesn't. And do you know why it doesn't matter? Because if a team finishes with ONLY SEVEN LOSSES they can still make the play-offs, go to the Super Bowl, and become the Champions.
That is utter hilarity. College ball doesn?t tolerate such nonsense.
In college football, if you want to be the Champion, you have to play like one all year long. Not half of the time like they do in the Pros, or most of the time like they do in college basketball, but all of the time.
Many suspected Maryland would make a run at the ACC crown this year. The experts thought they had a chance to get through the schedule unscathed. The only ?real? OOC foe is West Virginia, so they have a shot. If they could string together the same kinda luck that the Buckeyes had last year, they might just have an outside shot at a Sugar Bowl.
Well know what? That ain?t happening.
You know why? Because college football games matter.
And a loss to a MAC school, even if a top tier MAC school, may drop the Terps out of the Top 25. And teams don?t climb back into National Championship contention from outside the Top 25.
2. The storylines are better
What other sport even has moderately compelling storylines? None. Here?s a typically storyline from a favorite American pastime:
George Steinbrenner today bought 14 new players at a cost of three trillion and the Yankees will again win the World Series in October. Thanks for watching MLB.
Maybe you could argue that Anna Kournikova dating hockey players is a great storyline, or that Tonya Harding decking Nancy Kerrigan with a metal pole before the Olympics is a storyline, but those pale in comparison to college football storylines.
College football doesn?t even need to pulls tears (Adam Taliferro, etc?) or have a championship on the line (Ohio State v Miami) to have a compelling story. Tonight?s game between little Northern Illinois University and ACC powerhouse Maryland was a great story by itself.
We learned throughout the game about NIUs recent ascension in the MAC. We heard repeatedly how they barely lost the Conference Championship last year to Toledo. Forty-one seconds was burned into our minds. And we heard the commentators note that NIU was lucky to be up three at the half. That they we?re luck to be hanging in there tied midway through the third. That they should be happy to only lose by three in the fourth. And that after their potential winning kick was blocked, that they could be happy with how they played regardless.
Anybody who watched this game from outside the state of Maryland couldn?t help but want the Huskies to win. This was the team that could. These guys shouldn?t be sticking around but they were. And damnit if I didn?t become a Husky fan from the time they crossed midfield on the way to their game tying field goal?
That doesn?t happen in other sports. No one cares. Every player is an overpaid prima donna and no one identifies with the underdog.
But in college football you feel it. You somehow have a newfound love for that scrappy little MAC team, and you?ll keep an eye on the boxscores flashing across the bottom of the screen every Saturday. And if you?re like me, you?ll comment to your friends on the 20th when they face Alabama, and you?ll be pulling for them as they step on the field against Iowa State on the 27th. You know that those big guys better be ready or they?re in for a shock a la Maryland, if they think this MAC foe is a pushover. And incidentally, you?ll feel a bit of pride if the Huskies can manage to topple either of those ?Big Guys.?
A simple storyline from a week one game in college ball gave you a second alma mater. That doesn?t happen in other sports.
3. Everything else
There are a legion of other things which make college football better than any other sport but the first two prove my case adequately. But since a list of two may seem a bit meager here are a few other things I noticed from the game this evening that can help even the non-believer understand why college football is the best sport in existence:
-College co-eds. Camera shots of cheerleaders or scantily clad dancers in the pros may be nice, but nothing tops panning the stadium and focusing the lens on the beauty of a college girl with her hair pulled back, a little temporary tattoo on her cheek, and a blissful smile so reminiscent of the kind that used to be shared with you when life was a good deal simpler.
(And if anyone knows the gorgeous brunette in the gray NIU tee that got a nice long cameo sometime around the third, have her drop me a line if she?s single?. I?m not too far outta college, and I keep in pretty decent shape?. hey I live on the beach, its always good for a visit right???? lol)
-Arguments where no one can be completely right. It is obvious the ACC is the weakest BCS conference. They lost to a MAC school. But as soon as I utter that sentiment, an ACC backer will bash me because my beloved Big Ten only had a National Champ because Ohio State didn?t play Iowa last year. And our bizarre argument will run in circles and backwards and over and over until we?re both too drunk from cheap beer to remember why the argument even began. And then we?ll wake up the next morning, find an obscure stat on the internet, and confirm that the ACC is by far the weakest BCS conference or that Ohio State would have lost to Iowa.
-And finally, the fact that I have some 2000 odd message boards where I can go talk to random other fans every bit as addicted as myself and share this game as well as what promises to be a great rest pf the season.
That was it folks. In case you missed it, tonight's game between the #15 ranked Maryland Terrapins and the Huskies of Northern Illinois was as simple a statement as could e?er be made as to why college football is the greatest sport played anywhere in the world.
Now I know there are doubters, and legions of fans who would argue ?til they?re blue in the face. But I?ll submit that the game tonight, one simple game, is the definition of why college football tops the nearest competition by miles.
1. It matters.
Sports can only be relevant if the games have implications. All together too many games in other sports (both pro and college) don?t matter. Take any NFL game, does one game ever really matter that much? No, it doesn't. And do you know why it doesn't matter? Because if a team finishes with ONLY SEVEN LOSSES they can still make the play-offs, go to the Super Bowl, and become the Champions.
That is utter hilarity. College ball doesn?t tolerate such nonsense.
In college football, if you want to be the Champion, you have to play like one all year long. Not half of the time like they do in the Pros, or most of the time like they do in college basketball, but all of the time.
Many suspected Maryland would make a run at the ACC crown this year. The experts thought they had a chance to get through the schedule unscathed. The only ?real? OOC foe is West Virginia, so they have a shot. If they could string together the same kinda luck that the Buckeyes had last year, they might just have an outside shot at a Sugar Bowl.
Well know what? That ain?t happening.
You know why? Because college football games matter.
And a loss to a MAC school, even if a top tier MAC school, may drop the Terps out of the Top 25. And teams don?t climb back into National Championship contention from outside the Top 25.
2. The storylines are better
What other sport even has moderately compelling storylines? None. Here?s a typically storyline from a favorite American pastime:
George Steinbrenner today bought 14 new players at a cost of three trillion and the Yankees will again win the World Series in October. Thanks for watching MLB.
Maybe you could argue that Anna Kournikova dating hockey players is a great storyline, or that Tonya Harding decking Nancy Kerrigan with a metal pole before the Olympics is a storyline, but those pale in comparison to college football storylines.
College football doesn?t even need to pulls tears (Adam Taliferro, etc?) or have a championship on the line (Ohio State v Miami) to have a compelling story. Tonight?s game between little Northern Illinois University and ACC powerhouse Maryland was a great story by itself.
We learned throughout the game about NIUs recent ascension in the MAC. We heard repeatedly how they barely lost the Conference Championship last year to Toledo. Forty-one seconds was burned into our minds. And we heard the commentators note that NIU was lucky to be up three at the half. That they we?re luck to be hanging in there tied midway through the third. That they should be happy to only lose by three in the fourth. And that after their potential winning kick was blocked, that they could be happy with how they played regardless.
Anybody who watched this game from outside the state of Maryland couldn?t help but want the Huskies to win. This was the team that could. These guys shouldn?t be sticking around but they were. And damnit if I didn?t become a Husky fan from the time they crossed midfield on the way to their game tying field goal?
That doesn?t happen in other sports. No one cares. Every player is an overpaid prima donna and no one identifies with the underdog.
But in college football you feel it. You somehow have a newfound love for that scrappy little MAC team, and you?ll keep an eye on the boxscores flashing across the bottom of the screen every Saturday. And if you?re like me, you?ll comment to your friends on the 20th when they face Alabama, and you?ll be pulling for them as they step on the field against Iowa State on the 27th. You know that those big guys better be ready or they?re in for a shock a la Maryland, if they think this MAC foe is a pushover. And incidentally, you?ll feel a bit of pride if the Huskies can manage to topple either of those ?Big Guys.?
A simple storyline from a week one game in college ball gave you a second alma mater. That doesn?t happen in other sports.
3. Everything else
There are a legion of other things which make college football better than any other sport but the first two prove my case adequately. But since a list of two may seem a bit meager here are a few other things I noticed from the game this evening that can help even the non-believer understand why college football is the best sport in existence:
-College co-eds. Camera shots of cheerleaders or scantily clad dancers in the pros may be nice, but nothing tops panning the stadium and focusing the lens on the beauty of a college girl with her hair pulled back, a little temporary tattoo on her cheek, and a blissful smile so reminiscent of the kind that used to be shared with you when life was a good deal simpler.
(And if anyone knows the gorgeous brunette in the gray NIU tee that got a nice long cameo sometime around the third, have her drop me a line if she?s single?. I?m not too far outta college, and I keep in pretty decent shape?. hey I live on the beach, its always good for a visit right???? lol)
-Arguments where no one can be completely right. It is obvious the ACC is the weakest BCS conference. They lost to a MAC school. But as soon as I utter that sentiment, an ACC backer will bash me because my beloved Big Ten only had a National Champ because Ohio State didn?t play Iowa last year. And our bizarre argument will run in circles and backwards and over and over until we?re both too drunk from cheap beer to remember why the argument even began. And then we?ll wake up the next morning, find an obscure stat on the internet, and confirm that the ACC is by far the weakest BCS conference or that Ohio State would have lost to Iowa.
-And finally, the fact that I have some 2000 odd message boards where I can go talk to random other fans every bit as addicted as myself and share this game as well as what promises to be a great rest pf the season.
