The annual College Football Sucks column
“Could you imagine if the NFL was run this way? Whether a team wins or loses isn’t a factor when a panel of people (or a computer) is weighing the style points of a win or loss. God that’s absurd. Not to mention that the NCAA refuses to allow its subjective top 25 to have a playoff which is outdone in its absurdity by the fact that college football nerds run that debate into the ground every single year.”
I love you all. I really do. But very soon, I’m going to have to ignore some of you. As college football tweets start to creep in to my time line, I will disregard and otherwise ignore any and all references to amateur football, otherwise known as the corrupt and overrated world of NCAA football.
People sure do love themselves some college football and I just don’t get it. I do understand if you went to a particular college with a rich football tradition and you’ve continued to stalk the team like an ex girlfriend on Facebook. I also get it if you grew up in a place that covets amateur football and it became a part of your life from a young age. I accept and endorse your choice like the open minded person I am. But I still just don’t understand why college football is as popular as it is because its style of play and baffling way of ranking teams makes it virtually unwatchable.
College football is clearly inferior to NFL ball. You may tune in to see a high scoring affair or a right good ass kicking, but what you’re really seeing is football being played at a far lower level than the pros. If the players seem like they’re playing well, it’s usually because they are lighting up an inferior team. If you’ve ever dismantled some chump in Madden, then you’d know this is what goes on when LSU plays a clearly out matched squad of glorified high school players who weren’t good enough to play at LSU.
And a team’s place in the standings is based on people voting on it? It’s not fair and makes what happens on the field irrelevant. With a game where a clear winner is determined, college football quickly becomes as subjective as gymnastics or diving with how a top 25 is determined. Could you imagine if the NFL was run this way? Whether a team wins or loses isn’t a factor when a panel of people (or a computer) is weighing the style points of a win or loss. God that’s absurd. Not to mention that the NCAA refuses to allow its subjective top 25 to have a playoff which is outdone in its absurdity by the fact that college football nerds run that debate into the ground every single year. You know what they say about insanity right? Doing the same dumb thing over and over, expecting a different result.
And don’t forget the fact that the players are completely taken advantage by the schools. If a college gives a random student a scholarship, they assume they will be successful and contribute back at a later date. If things go really well, that student may reflect some glory back on to the school through his or her exploits. College athletes produce right away and for a limited time. So colleges milk their value from even before they step on campus. College football rakes in an enormous amount of money for the university and while the “students” are given a scholarship, it’s a pittance compared to the school’s profit margin. It’s so grossly out of whack, the Chinese guy who made your computer thinks it’s a bit ludicrous.
Not to mention the attention paid to 18 and 19 year olds gives me hives. People get very upset about diva behavior in the NFL but don’t recognize that these emotionally stunted monsters are created at the high school and college level. And we’re shocked when someone like Chad Johnson acts like he does. It’s unfair to say all college athletes are like this but deifying kids for playing a game works out about as well as you’d think it would.
And really, amateur football is not the best playing the best. Do this many people pay attention to minor league baseball? Minor league hockey is an nice attraction, but compared to the NHL, it’s mighty mites. These leagues are not as popular because the level of play is on a far lower rung. College basketball may have an argument for being better than the NBA as its more up tempo game comes without a lot of the baggage the NBA seems to carry around. But for the most part, fans turn to the top tier for their sporting entertainment. And the historically bad 97-98 Denver Nuggets team would still pound the best college team.
These are all arguments you’ve heard before. I’m not blazing any new paths in criticism toward college football, but I felt it was necessary to explain why I will be avoiding NCAA tweets or scrolling past anything college football related for the next several months. So carry on fans of amateur football, but please don’t be offended if I simply don’t care.
