A (college) football lament

A (college) football lament

It’s a football Saturday and it seems a bit weird for me to wish for the good old days because I am usually glad that those days are behind us. But college football is the exception. With degrees from the University of Georgia and Ohio State, I only care about two football conferences, the SEC and the Big “10” and now I am even starting to care less about both. When the SEC started to expand and added South Carolina and Arkansas in 1992, I thought Clemson and Florida State made more sense. But rumor had it that then FSU coach Bobby Bowden felt that his chances at winning more championships lay in the ACC. He was right.

Then the conference added Missouri and Texas A&M in 2012. I guess Missouri borders Tennessee and Texas borders Louisiana so maybe that was okay so long as traditional rivalries could be preserved. Although not a traditional rivalry, having Georgia and Tennessee in the same division was actually a factor in my joining the Tennessee faculty. I was mulling over a couple of offers when Tennessee called asking if I would come for an interview. At first, I said no. But the chair of the search committee was an old friend and was persistent. I half jokingly told him that the only reason I would come interview was because they played the Bulldogs every year in football and twice yearly in basketball. They made me a offer I couldn’t refuse and I joined the Tennessee faculty. I was on the athletics board for a while as well. The Volunteers became my third favorite team (I only have three favorites) and since 1987 I have never missed a UT-UGA football game including this year’s thriller.

Since I retired, aside from going back to teach a course last spring, I only go to campus every other year for the Georgia game. Now even that has ended with the SEC announcement of annual rivalries given the addition of Oklahoma and Texas and ending the divisions. Georgia and Tennessee will no longer meet every year. Georgia’s annual games are Florida, Auburn and South Carolina while Tennessee’s are Alabama, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Those make sense for Tennessee while Florida and Auburn must be on Georgia’s schedule. If Georgia Tech were still in the conference (it left my sophomore year at Georgia) then it would have been Georgia’s third school. That means no more trips to Neyland Stadium until they meet there in 2029. Who knows if I will be physically able to attend? Who knows if I will even be alive? 

As to the Big “10” it only proves that institutions of higher learning cannot count. There are now 18 schools in the Big “10”. I was ok with the addition of Penn State and Nebraska but Maryland and Rutgers? Rutgers? You have got to be kidding me. Rutgers? Then the conference went west and decimated the Pac 12 by grabbing Southern California, UCLA, Washington and Oregon. Somehow Oregon as the Big “10” champ just doesn’t seem right. How about that storied Washington – Northwestern rivalry? Now I only care about seeing Ohio State play and none of the rest. And I was even uneasy about Ohio State spending all that NIL money to pay for a team that won last year’s national championship. It is apparent that the Big “10” and the SEC want to dominate college football and have most of the spoils to themselves. I understand avarice but it just pushes me further away from the two conferences.

Right now the best part of college football is the Ohio State band doing script Ohio, the Tennessee band forming the “T” for the football team to run through and the “It’s Saturday in Athens” intro to the Georgia games. I know the world has changed and my friends say I should get with the program. But I can’t. I don’t think that I can force myself to watch pro football, but I never dreamed that I would ever tire of college football. Now I only care about Georgia, Ohio State and possibly Tennessee – sometimes. Even then my loyalties are tested by the money grab by the conferences, schools and the athletes, some of whom are on their fourth school. Don’t misunderstand, I do not fault either the conferences, the schools or the players for seeking to maximize their value. But as a fan, I feel just a wee bit turned off by it all.

When my mother was living, I would take her to the Fort Valley State football games. My mother received Fort Valley’s first four year degree and is considered the mother of the university. She had great seats and box lunches. We actually sat near Denzel Washington when his son played for Morehouse College. One of life’s embarrassing moments was when the announcer said that a famous father was at the game and please treat him like any other fan – no autographs please. Then my other half looked around and Washington winked at her and she yelled out “IT’S DENZEL!!!”. Those games were fun and the skill level was only a bit higher than that of big city high schools. I have been invited to the Mercer-VMI game by a Mercer season ticket holder. Maybe I will go and also go back to see Fort Valley. When they played my Dad’s alma mater Savannah State, those games were fun and I miss the playful repartee between my parents that would last from one season to the next.