Bad sports, good sports: The gods of college football need to watch the Butler basketball team
Hey, College Football, it’s me, Alan. I was wondering if you were paying attention to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. If so, I imagine you have noticed that the Butler Bulldogs are in the final. They got there by playing and beating some really good teams. There was no voting to decide who should play in the final. If there had been, there is no way Butler, who ended the season ranked 11th, would be lined up to play Duke for all the marbles. Seems like maybe the basketball people are on to something here.
Butler’s story is a fascinating one. They play in the Horizon League, a “mid-major” that includes such luminaries as Youngstown State and Illinois-Chicago. The Bulldogs are a regular in the NCAA Tournament, having made it in nine of the last fourteen years. They reached the Sweet Sixteen in 2003 and 2007, so they are not a flash in the pan. They would appear to have a very real shot to beat Duke on Monday night and claim the National Championship. Still, if this were football, it wouldn’t be happening. Instead, we would have had a final matching Kansas and Kentucky, who were the top two teams at the end of the regular season. Seeing the way those two schools’ seasons ended well before the final, a matchup of the two of them does not have much appeal to me. Instead, we get to watch the two teams that won their way to this game. There’s a novel concept: deciding it on the court.
The Big Dance is one of the greatest spectacles in sports. I wrote about it a few weeks ago. This year’s edition has not disappointed. Watching teams like Butler, Cornell, and Saint Mary’s make their way deep into the tournament has been great fun. This is what makes the lack of a playoff in college football such a mystery. I love college football. Imagine how much better it could be if we had a chance to see a Butler-like team make it to the final in football too. How can you watch something like this and think that having voters and computers decide the final matchup is a superior system?
Powers-that-be in college football… I hope you are watching.
Good sports, continued:
2) Bob Huggins, head coach of the West Virginia basketball team, showed another side of himself during the Mountaineers semifinal loss to Duke. Watch the video of him consoling Da’Sean Butler, his best player, after Butler was injured during the game. Nice to see.
3) Last week, I wrote about the possibility that Donovan McNabb would be traded by the Philadelphia Eagles. Well, it has happened. McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins on Sunday, and the Kevin Kolb era has begun in Philadelphia. Despite all of the complaining that I am already seeing and hearing from Eagles fans, I think it is definitely a good thing. The Eagles can move on, and so can McNabb. I wish him well.
Bad sports:
1) Matt James, a top football recruit who was headed to Notre Dame this fall, died when he fell from a hotel balcony in Panama City, Florida, on Friday. Turns out he was drunk when it happened. What a waste.
2) Shaun Rogers, a defensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns, was arrested this week for attempting to take a loaded gun onto a plane. Genius.
3) Speaking of geniuses, Kenyon Martin, of the Denver Nuggets, showed this week that the maturity issues that affected him early in his career are not exactly things of the past. He responded to an April Fools prank that involved filling his car with popcorn by threatening violence against the pranksters. He then threatened to skip the playoffs if the culprit didn’t come forward. Nice.
Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday
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Alan, re: college football playoffs … good post, VERY good point. I used to be managing editor for a newspaper whose publisher was a former sports editor (in fact, he wore a second hat as our sports editor – we were a pretty small outfit.
Anyway, a favorite saying of his was, “There’s a reason they play the game, anyway.” He was always suspicious of the prevailing wisdom and expert opinions that determined a game’s outcome even before the opening kickoff, whistle, whatever.
Me? I like the idea of a football playoff … I REALLY like the idea of a football playoff … oh, and “GO BUTLER!”
Thanks Jeff! It’s really a no-brainer. Someday…