[NU Sports] Steve, NU is part of Goliath

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> ... which is why I don't associate NU
> with TCU and Boise and Utah and their

Perhaps one day, but we'll always be David to me ... which is probably why I cheer for the underdog in those 25 bowls where no Big Ten teams are playing. Some people can't understand why I would cheer for Big Ten teams in bowls, I can't understand why people wouldn't cheer for the underdog. Oh well, different strokes ...

> NU may be the David in the Big Ten but as a Big Ten member
> is undeniably
> part of Goliath. Developments in college football that

Aaah, but even within the Goliath Cartel, there are Davids. MSU and Mizzou are finding that out now. They're not Goliath either. Normally a team that is 8-0 or 7-0 in the Big Ten or Big XII is a shoo-in for the B(C)S title game. But Sparty and Mizzou need help. If NU had won its last two games and been 7-0, do you really think we'd be in the top 10 of the B(C)S even?

We're still a David.

> exclusivity of the Rose Bowl has been a huge boost for the
> Big Ten, which is
> precisely why the Mack Browns of the world wanted so

I agree completely - which is another reason I loathe the B(C)S. It's the worst of both worlds - we don't get any satisfaction on the field and the bowl tradition that half this list seems to still think exists hasn't since 1998. The tearing down of the Rose Bowl's tradition is not the fault of Boise, TCU or Utah - it's a B(C)S thing. They were sick of seeing half empty Orange Bowl games and blowout Sugar Bowl games because someone has to take the ACC and Big East teams. So they tried to bring the Rose Bowl down to their level.

> Because NU is in the Big Ten the Cats can go 6-6 and
> (almost always) be
> assured of a bowl. That's because Jim Delany, acting as

Ah, but we had six wins a few years back and didn't get in. Even amid the Goliath league, we are Davids. Would a 6-6 Michigan or Iowa have been left out? I think not.

> As for why I don't give Boise and its ilk "credit", my
> argument has long
> been based on a simple premise. Sure, on any given day,

But that's the whole point - we will never find out under the current "worst of both worlds" system. You can't avoid scheduling them and then finangle the system to keep them out and then say "play someone." Make them prove the 4-0 mark of Utah/Boise isn't a fluke by having them win 2 or 3 games in a row to win the championship.

We'll get a bit of an answer next year, but not because of the B(C)S - and I don't think it will be too long before Utah shows they can survive the Pac 10 week in and week out as well.

> The only way to prove me wrong is for Boise to join a BCS
> league and try its

Or let them play for a championship.

> As for Boise's big wins this year, the ACC win was a
> neutral site, not on

C'mon, you saw the game. DC is a short drive from Blacksburg and 95% of that 90,000 crowd was wearing Turkey colors. That was as neutral a site as our game in Cleveland against Ohio State.

> the road, and came against a team that lost to James
> Madison the next week;

Yet one that is leading their ACC division and may well earn the league's automatic berth into the B(C)S.

> the PAC-10 win was over an average Oregon State team that
> lost to a
> Washington team that looked awful Saturday night against

An Oregon State team that is second in the Pac 10 now (where the transitive property has not applied in a couple decades - that league is wild week in and week out) and still controls their B(C)S destiny with the Ducks visiting them at the end of the year.

> I don't "hate" Boise; I just question its resume.

Which is fine - but it's time for the cartel to put up or shut up and let these schools play for the title, or at least play them in September.

> As for the bowls, well, I enjoy almost all of them and it's
> fun to see the

Really? Can you recount last year's Eagle Bank Bowl, Sun Bowl, Pizza Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, Poinsettia Bowl, Liberty Bowl or Texas Bowl? Really? Can anyone even name the winners of those bowls without looking it up?

> the highlight of their athletic career. I, unlike Steve,
> don't need to see
> an ultimate winner all the time in everything and I want a

So then cancel March Madness and let's just have a bunch of Maui Invitationals so everyone can end the year feeling good. It's pretty silly to think that college athletes compete to be the best in every sport except football - do they lack that drive? Do they have that fragile of feelings?

> CFB fan, but I find that most of the people who want a
> playoff in CFB are
> only very casual CFB fans and are NFL fanatics, and want
> CFB to look more
> like the NFL. I suspect most college football fans like the
> bowls just fine.

The traditional bowls? Sure. January 1 used to be incredible with all of the big games, big matchups and, yes, the debate over who deserved to be #1 in the final poll. But you don't have that now. Those days are gone. 

And I really don't see the NFL fanatics as the ones who want a playoff - maybe it can be broken down by age, but there are plenty of college football fanatics who realize that when the playoff comes, we will be banging our heads against a table for not doing it sooner. There's just not many logical arguments left against it - there will still be plenty of excitement, controversy and meaning to every game - and there will be a less sucky finish.

Furthermore, I would be willing to bet that if you took a survey of the players, most of them would like a shot on the field. I think most fans would love that as well. Anyone who has competed at anything knows that you want to know how you stack up against the best. It's why you play the game.

But anyway, going back to the subject, I think you'll find that NU is not goliath. We may try and fool ourselves into thinking that we are the big boys just like we fool ourselves that the bowls still are full of tradition ... but we're still a David. And I love being a David! :)

GO CATS!!!
-SjT