As a long time UCF fan (this will be season 39) I have watched realignment and change in college football with a mixture of anguish and excitement. One of the frustrating things about CF has been the glass ceilings and barriers that UCF has had to push through time and again. Yet some of that was also part of the charm of being a fan. The struggle and the victories, the sense of pride of earning our way to the table. The attached article is pretty close to my views on what has taken place over the last few years. I know that the change has been good to UCF, because for once we seem to be on the right side of realignment (for now) and the NIL seems to be really helping us lure better players. But college football seems to be headed in a direction in which it will lose a lot of its charm.
These Statements from the article seem particularly poignant
"The true appeal of college football is not that it features the very best elite athletes and the best quality of football...Even the most elite college football teams, ones that feature 30 NFL draft picks, still require key contributions from future buff dentists and insurance executives"
"The true appeal, what gives the entire industry its romanticism, is that it is provincial and personal. I do not have a degree from the Cleveland Cavaliers, a corporation that exists primarily to turn a profit. I have a degree from The Ohio State University."
"Growing up outside of Columbus, it was easy to root against schools like Wisconsin and Michigan, not just because those games were essential to my team winning a title, but because I knew so many people who went to those schools. Madison was not some far-away intellectual abstraction. I’ve been there. I knew that after the game, there would be people at school, work, church, the gym, wherever, who were connected to those places. That won’t be the case for teams that are 1,300 miles away."
The author admits that he is acting a bit pollyannish and I can relate to that sentiment. The article is entitled " It didn't have to be this way" But I would have added "but actually it did". Because when money became the focus you knew it was never going to be the same. So while I am on the bandwagon for UCF and the future of keeping up with the Jones, I hope that the future of college football holds something as special as the past does. It will not be the same, but who knows, maybe it will be great in its own right.
It Didn't have to Be This Way
These Statements from the article seem particularly poignant
"The true appeal of college football is not that it features the very best elite athletes and the best quality of football...Even the most elite college football teams, ones that feature 30 NFL draft picks, still require key contributions from future buff dentists and insurance executives"
"The true appeal, what gives the entire industry its romanticism, is that it is provincial and personal. I do not have a degree from the Cleveland Cavaliers, a corporation that exists primarily to turn a profit. I have a degree from The Ohio State University."
"Growing up outside of Columbus, it was easy to root against schools like Wisconsin and Michigan, not just because those games were essential to my team winning a title, but because I knew so many people who went to those schools. Madison was not some far-away intellectual abstraction. I’ve been there. I knew that after the game, there would be people at school, work, church, the gym, wherever, who were connected to those places. That won’t be the case for teams that are 1,300 miles away."
The author admits that he is acting a bit pollyannish and I can relate to that sentiment. The article is entitled " It didn't have to be this way" But I would have added "but actually it did". Because when money became the focus you knew it was never going to be the same. So while I am on the bandwagon for UCF and the future of keeping up with the Jones, I hope that the future of college football holds something as special as the past does. It will not be the same, but who knows, maybe it will be great in its own right.
It Didn't have to Be This Way
