Following the enormous television success of the National Football League's 1958 championship game, college football no longer enjoyed the same popularity as the NFL, at least on a national level. While both games benefited from the advent of television, since the late 1950s, the NFL has become a nationally popular sport while college football has maintained strong regional ties.As professional football became a national television phenomenon, college football did as well. In the 1950s, Notre Dame, which had a large national following, formed its own network to broadcast its games, but by and large the sport still retained a mostly regional following. In 1952, the NCAA claimed all television broadcasting rights for the games of its member institutions, and it alone negotiated television rights. This situation continued until 1984, when several schools brought a suit under the Sherman Antitrust Act; the Supreme Court ruled against the NCAA and schools are now free to negotiate their own television deals. ABC Sports began broadcasting a national Game of the Week in 1966, bringing key matchups and rivalries to a national audience for the first time New formations and play sets continued to be developed. Emory Bellard, an assistant coach under Darrell Royal at the University of Texas, developed a three-back option style offense known as the wishbone. The wishbone is a run-heavy offense that depends on the quarterback making last second decisions on when and to whom to hand or pitch the ball to. Royal went on to teach the offense to other coaches, including Bear Bryant at Alabama, Chuck Fairbanks at Oklahoma and Pepper Rodgers at UCLA; who all adapted and developed it to their own tastes.[44] The strategic opposite of the wishbone is the spread offense, developed by professional and college coaches throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Though some schools play a run-based version of the spread, its most common use is as a passing offense designed to "spread" the field both horizontally and vertically
Monday, March 3, 2008
Knute Rockne
Knute Rockne rose to prominence in 1913 as an end for the University of Notre Dame, then a largely unknown midwestern Catholic school. When Army scheduled Notre Dame as a warm-up game, they thought little of the small school. Rockne and quarterback Gus Dorais made innovative use of the forward pass, still at that point a relatively unused weapon, to defeat Army 35–13 and helped establish the school as a national power. Rockne returned to coach the team in 1918, and devised the powerful Notre Dame Box offense, based on Warner's single wing. He is credited with being the first major coach to emphasize offense over defense. In 1927, his complex shifts led directly to a rule change whereby all offensive players had to stop for a full second before the ball could be snapped. Rather than simply a regional team, Rockne's "Fighting Irish" became famous for barnstorming and played any team at any location. It was during Rockne's tenure that the annual Notre Dame-University of Southern California rivalry began. He led his team to an impressive 105–12–5 record before his premature death in a plane crash in 1931. So famous was he at that point that his funeral was broadcast nationally on radio
From a regional to a national sport (1930–1958)
In the early 1930s, the college game continued to grow, particularly in the south, bolstered by fierce rivalries such as the "Third Saturday in October"—a rivalry between Alabama and Tennessee. While prior to the mid-1920s most national powers came from the northeast or the midwest, the trend changed when Wallace William Wade's 1925 Alabama team won the 1926 Rose Bowl en route to its first national title. College football quickly became the most popular spectator sport in the South.Several major modern college football conferences rose to prominence during this time period. The Southwest Athletic Conference had been founded in 1915. Consisting mostly of schools from Texas, the conference saw back-to-back national champions with Texas Christian University (TCU) in 1938 and Texas A&M in 1939. The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), a precursor to the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10), had its own back-to-back champion in the University of Southern California which was awarded the title in 1931 and 1932. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) formed in 1932 and consisted mostly of schools in the Deep South. As in previous decades, the Big Ten continued to dominate in the 1930s and 1940s, with Minnesota winning 5 titles between 1934 and 1941, and Michigan (1933 and 1948) and Ohio State (1942) also winning titles.As it grew beyond its regional affiliations in the 1930s, college football garnered increased national attention. Four new bowl games were created: the Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, the Sun Bowl in 1935, and the Cotton Bowl in 1937. In lieu of an actual national championship, these bowl games, along with the earlier Rose Bowl, provided a way to match up teams from distant regions of the country that did not otherwise play. In 1936, the Associated Press began its weekly poll of prominent sports writers, ranking all of the nation's college football teams. Since there was no national championship game, the final version of the AP poll was used to determined who was crowned the National Champion of college football The 1930s saw growth in the passing game. Though some coaches, such as General Robert Neyland at Tennessee, continued to eschew its use, several rules changes to the game had a profound effect on teams' ability to throw the ball. In 1934, the rules committee removed two major penalties—a loss of five yards for a second incomplete pass in any series of downs and a loss of possession for an incomplete pass in the end zone—and shrunk the circumference of the ball, making it easier to grip and throw. Players who became famous for taking advantage of the easier passing game included Alabama receiver Don Hutson and TCU passer "Slingin" Sammy BaughIn 1935, New York City's Downtown Athletic Club awarded the first Heisman Trophy to Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger, who was also the first ever NFL Draft pick in 1936. The trophy was designed by sculptor Frank Eliscu and modeled after NYU player Ed Smith. The trophy recognizes the nation's "most outstanding" college football player and has become one of the most coveted awards in all of American sports During World War II, college football players enlisted in the armed forces. As most of these players had eligibility left on their college careers, some of them returned to college at West Point, bringing Army back-to-back national titles in 1944 and 1945 under coach Red Blaik. Doc Blanchard (known as "Mr. Inside") and Glenn Davis (known as "Mr. Outside") both won the Heisman Trophy, in 1945 and 1946 respectively. On the coaching staff of those 1944–1946 Army teams was future Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi. The 1950s saw the rise of yet more dynasties and power programs. Oklahoma, under coach Bud Wilkinson, won three national titles (1950, 1955, 1956) and all ten Big Eight Conference championships in the decade while building a record 47 game winning streak. Woody Hayes led Ohio State to two national titles, in 1954 and 1957, and dominated the Big Ten conference, winning three Big Ten titles—more than any other school. Wilkinson and Hayes, along with Robert Neyland of Tennessee, oversaw a revival of the running game in the 1950s. Passing numbers dropped from an average of 18.9 attempts in 1951 to 13.6 attempts in 1955, while teams averaged just shy of 50 running plays per game. Nine out of ten Heisman trophy winners in the 1950s were runners. Notre Dame, one of the biggest passing teams of the decade, saw a substantial decline in success; the 1950s were the only decade between 1920 and 1990 when the team did not win at least a share of the national title. Paul Hornung, Notre Dame quarterback, did however win the Heisman in 1956, becoming the only player from a losing team ever to do so.
From a regional to a national sport (1930–1958)
In the early 1930s, the college game continued to grow, particularly in the south, bolstered by fierce rivalries such as the "Third Saturday in October"—a rivalry between Alabama and Tennessee. While prior to the mid-1920s most national powers came from the northeast or the midwest, the trend changed when Wallace William Wade's 1925 Alabama team won the 1926 Rose Bowl en route to its first national title. College football quickly became the most popular spectator sport in the South.Several major modern college football conferences rose to prominence during this time period. The Southwest Athletic Conference had been founded in 1915. Consisting mostly of schools from Texas, the conference saw back-to-back national champions with Texas Christian University (TCU) in 1938 and Texas A&M in 1939. The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), a precursor to the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10), had its own back-to-back champion in the University of Southern California which was awarded the title in 1931 and 1932. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) formed in 1932 and consisted mostly of schools in the Deep South. As in previous decades, the Big Ten continued to dominate in the 1930s and 1940s, with Minnesota winning 5 titles between 1934 and 1941, and Michigan (1933 and 1948) and Ohio State (1942) also winning titles.As it grew beyond its regional affiliations in the 1930s, college football garnered increased national attention. Four new bowl games were created: the Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, the Sun Bowl in 1935, and the Cotton Bowl in 1937. In lieu of an actual national championship, these bowl games, along with the earlier Rose Bowl, provided a way to match up teams from distant regions of the country that did not otherwise play. In 1936, the Associated Press began its weekly poll of prominent sports writers, ranking all of the nation's college football teams. Since there was no national championship game, the final version of the AP poll was used to determined who was crowned the National Champion of college football The 1930s saw growth in the passing game. Though some coaches, such as General Robert Neyland at Tennessee, continued to eschew its use, several rules changes to the game had a profound effect on teams' ability to throw the ball. In 1934, the rules committee removed two major penalties—a loss of five yards for a second incomplete pass in any series of downs and a loss of possession for an incomplete pass in the end zone—and shrunk the circumference of the ball, making it easier to grip and throw. Players who became famous for taking advantage of the easier passing game included Alabama receiver Don Hutson and TCU passer "Slingin" Sammy BaughIn 1935, New York City's Downtown Athletic Club awarded the first Heisman Trophy to Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger, who was also the first ever NFL Draft pick in 1936. The trophy was designed by sculptor Frank Eliscu and modeled after NYU player Ed Smith. The trophy recognizes the nation's "most outstanding" college football player and has become one of the most coveted awards in all of American sports During World War II, college football players enlisted in the armed forces. As most of these players had eligibility left on their college careers, some of them returned to college at West Point, bringing Army back-to-back national titles in 1944 and 1945 under coach Red Blaik. Doc Blanchard (known as "Mr. Inside") and Glenn Davis (known as "Mr. Outside") both won the Heisman Trophy, in 1945 and 1946 respectively. On the coaching staff of those 1944–1946 Army teams was future Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi. The 1950s saw the rise of yet more dynasties and power programs. Oklahoma, under coach Bud Wilkinson, won three national titles (1950, 1955, 1956) and all ten Big Eight Conference championships in the decade while building a record 47 game winning streak. Woody Hayes led Ohio State to two national titles, in 1954 and 1957, and dominated the Big Ten conference, winning three Big Ten titles—more than any other school. Wilkinson and Hayes, along with Robert Neyland of Tennessee, oversaw a revival of the running game in the 1950s. Passing numbers dropped from an average of 18.9 attempts in 1951 to 13.6 attempts in 1955, while teams averaged just shy of 50 running plays per game. Nine out of ten Heisman trophy winners in the 1950s were runners. Notre Dame, one of the biggest passing teams of the decade, saw a substantial decline in success; the 1950s were the only decade between 1920 and 1990 when the team did not win at least a share of the national title. Paul Hornung, Notre Dame quarterback, did however win the Heisman in 1956, becoming the only player from a losing team ever to do so.
Modernization and innovation (1906–1930)
As a result of the 1905–1906 reforms, mass formation plays became illegal and forward passes legal. Another important change, formally adopted in 1910, was the requirement that at least seven offensive players be on the line of scrimmage at the time of the snap, greatly reducing the potential for collision injuries. Several coaches emerged who took advantage of these sweeping changes. Amos Alonzo Stagg introduced such innovations as the huddle, the tackling dummy, and the pre-snap shift. Other coaches, such as Pop Warner and Knute Rockne, introduced new strategies that still remain part of the game. Besides these coaching innovations, several rules changes during the first third of the twentieth century had a profound impact on the game, mostly in opening up the passing game. In 1914, the first roughing-the-passer penalty was implemented. In 1918, the rules on eligible receivers were loosened to allow eligible players to catch the ball anywhere on the field—previously strict rules were in place only allowing passes to certain areas of the field. Scoring rules also changed during this time: field goals were lowered to three points in 1909 and
touchdowns raised to six points in 1912.
Star players that emerged in the early twentieth century include Jim Thorpe, Red Grange, and Bronko Nagurski; these three made the transition to the fledgling NFL and helped turn it into a successful league. Sportswriter Grantland Rice helped popularize the sport with his poetic descriptions of games and colorful nicknames for the game's biggest players, including Grange, whom he dubbed "The Galloping Ghost," Notre Dame's "Four Horsemen" backfield, and Fordham University's linemen, known as the "Seven Blocks of Granite Pop Warner Glenn "Pop" Warner coached at several schools throughout his career, including the University of Georgia, Cornell University, University of Pittsburgh, Stanford University, and the Temple University One of his most famous stints was at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, where he coached Jim Thorpe, who went on to become the first president of the National Football League, an Olympic Gold Medalist, and is widely considered one of the best overall athletes in history. Warner wrote one of the first important books of football strategy, Football for Coaches and Players, published in 1927. Though the shift was invented by Stagg, Warner's single wing and double wing formations greatly improved upon it; for almost 40 years, these were among the most important formations in football. As part of his single and double wing formations, Warner was one of the first coaches to effectively utilize the forward pass. Among his other innovations are modern blocking schemes, the three-point stance, and the reverse play. The youth football league, Pop Warner Little Scholars, was named in his honor.
Expansion (1880–1904)
College football expanded greatly during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. In 1880, only eight universities fielded intercollegiate teams, but by 1900, the number had expanded to 43 Several major rivalries date from this time period, including Army-Navy (1890), Minnesota-Wisconsin (1890), the Border Showdown between Kansas-Missouri (1891), California-Stanford's Big Game (1892), the Iron Bowl between Alabama-Auburn (1893), Oregon-Oregon State's Civil War (1894), the Backyard Brawl between West Virginia-Pittsburgh (1895), and Michigan-Ohio State (1897).In 1879, the University of Michigan became the first school west of Pennsylvania to establish a college football team. Other Midwestern schools soon followed suit, including the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Minnesota. The nation's first college football league, the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives (also known as the Western Conference), a precursor to the Big Ten Conference, was founded in 1895.Led by legendary coach Fielding Yost, Michigan became the first "western" national power. From 1901 to 1905, Michigan had a 56-game undefeated streak that included a 1902 trip to play in the first college football post-season game, the Rose Bowl. During this streak, Michigan scored 2,831 points while allowing only 40.[ Another legendary coach, Amos Alonzo Stagg of the University of Chicago, spent most of his career in the Western Conference. He coached first at the Springfield International YMCA Training School, then Chicago, and later at the University of the Pacific for a record total of 57 years. As of 2007, he still ranked seventh on the list of most often winning football coaches, with 314 wins.
Violence and controversy (1905)
From its earliest days as a mob game, football was a violent sport. The 1894 Harvard-Yale game, known as the "Hampden Park Blood Bath", resulted in crippling injuries for four players; the contest was suspended until 1897. The annual Army-Navy game was suspended from 1894–1898 for similar reasons. One of the major problems was the popularity of mass-formations like the flying wedge, in which a large number of offensive players charged as a unit against a similarly arranged defense. The resultant collisions often led to serious injuries and sometimes even death.The situation came to a head in 1905 when there were 19 fatalities nationwide. President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to shut the game down if drastic changes were not made. One rule change introduced in 1905, devised to open up the game and reduce injury, was the introduction of the legal forward pass. Though it was underutilized for years, this proved to be the last—and one of the most important—rule changes in the establishment of the modern game. On December 28, 1905, 62 schools met in New York City to discuss rule changes to make the game safer. As a result of this meeting, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, later named the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), was formed.
From its earliest days as a mob game, football was a violent sport. The 1894 Harvard-Yale game, known as the "Hampden Park Blood Bath", resulted in crippling injuries for four players; the contest was suspended until 1897. The annual Army-Navy game was suspended from 1894–1898 for similar reasons. One of the major problems was the popularity of mass-formations like the flying wedge, in which a large number of offensive players charged as a unit against a similarly arranged defense. The resultant collisions often led to serious injuries and sometimes even death.The situation came to a head in 1905 when there were 19 fatalities nationwide. President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to shut the game down if drastic changes were not made. One rule change introduced in 1905, devised to open up the game and reduce injury, was the introduction of the legal forward pass. Though it was underutilized for years, this proved to be the last—and one of the most important—rule changes in the establishment of the modern game. On December 28, 1905, 62 schools met in New York City to discuss rule changes to make the game safer. As a result of this meeting, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, later named the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), was formed.
Rules standardization (1873–1880)
On October 19, 1873, representatives from Yale, Columbia, Princeton, and Rutgers met at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City to codify the first set of intercollegiate football rules. Prior to this meeting, each school had its own set of rules and games were usually played using the home team's own particular code. At this meeting, a list of rules, based more on soccer than on rugby, was drawn up for intercollegiate football games.
Harvard, which played the "Boston game", a version of football that allowed carrying, refused to attend this rules conference and continued to play under its own code. While Harvard's voluntary absence from the meeting made it hard for them to schedule games against other American universities, it agreed to a challenge to play McGill University, from Montreal, in a two-game series. The McGill team traveled to Cambridge to meet Harvard in a two-game series. On May 14, 1874, the first game, played under "Boston" rules, was won by Harvard with a score of 3–0. The next day, the two teams played rugby to a scoreless tie.Harvard quickly took a liking to the rugby game, and its use of the try which, until that time, was not used in American football. In late 1874, the Harvard team traveled to Montréal to play McGill in rugby, and won by three touchdowns. A year later, on June 4, 1875, Harvard faced Tufts University in the first game between two American colleges played under rules similar to the McGill/Harvard contest, which was won by Tufts 1–0.[9] The first edition of The Game—the annual contest between Harvard and Yale—was played on November 13, 1875, under a modified set of rugby rules known as "The Concessionary Rules". Yale lost 4–0, but found that it too preferred the rugby style game. Spectators from Princeton carried the game back home, where it also became popular.On November 23, 1876, representatives from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia met at the Massasoit House in Springfield, Massachusetts to standardize a new code of rules based on the rugby game first introduced to Harvard by McGill University in 1874. The rules were based largely on the Rugby Union Code from England, though one important difference was the replacement of a kicked goal with a touchdown as the primary means of scoring (a change that would later occur in rugby itself, favoring the try as the main scoring event). Three of the schools—Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton—formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, as a result of the meeting. Yale did not join the group until 1879, due to an early disagreement about the number of players per team.
Harvard, which played the "Boston game", a version of football that allowed carrying, refused to attend this rules conference and continued to play under its own code. While Harvard's voluntary absence from the meeting made it hard for them to schedule games against other American universities, it agreed to a challenge to play McGill University, from Montreal, in a two-game series. The McGill team traveled to Cambridge to meet Harvard in a two-game series. On May 14, 1874, the first game, played under "Boston" rules, was won by Harvard with a score of 3–0. The next day, the two teams played rugby to a scoreless tie.Harvard quickly took a liking to the rugby game, and its use of the try which, until that time, was not used in American football. In late 1874, the Harvard team traveled to Montréal to play McGill in rugby, and won by three touchdowns. A year later, on June 4, 1875, Harvard faced Tufts University in the first game between two American colleges played under rules similar to the McGill/Harvard contest, which was won by Tufts 1–0.[9] The first edition of The Game—the annual contest between Harvard and Yale—was played on November 13, 1875, under a modified set of rugby rules known as "The Concessionary Rules". Yale lost 4–0, but found that it too preferred the rugby style game. Spectators from Princeton carried the game back home, where it also became popular.On November 23, 1876, representatives from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia met at the Massasoit House in Springfield, Massachusetts to standardize a new code of rules based on the rugby game first introduced to Harvard by McGill University in 1874. The rules were based largely on the Rugby Union Code from England, though one important difference was the replacement of a kicked goal with a touchdown as the primary means of scoring (a change that would later occur in rugby itself, favoring the try as the main scoring event). Three of the schools—Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton—formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, as a result of the meeting. Yale did not join the group until 1879, due to an early disagreement about the number of players per team.
Walter Camp: Father of American football
Walter Camp is widely considered to be the most important figure in the development of American football.[2][3][4] As a youth, he excelled in sports like track, baseball, and soccer, and after enrolling at Yale in 1876, he earned varsity honors in every sport the school offered. Camp became a fixture at the Massasoit House conventions where rules were debated and changed. He proposed his first rule change at the first meeting he attended in 1878: a reduction from fifteen players to eleven. The motion was rejected at that time but passed in 1880. The effect was to open up the game and emphasize speed over strength. Camp's most famous change, the establishment of the line of scrimmage and the snap from center to quarterback, was also passed in 1880. Originally, the snap was executed with the foot of the center. Later changes made it possible to snap the ball with the hands, either through the air or by a direct hand-to-hand pass. Camp's new scrimmage rules revolutionized the game, though not always as intended. Princeton, in particular, used scrimmage play to slow the game, making incremental progress towards the end zone during each down. Rather than increase scoring, which had been Camp's original intent, the rule was exploited to maintain control of the ball for the entire game, resulting in slow, unexciting contests. At the 1882 rules meeting, Camp proposed that a team be required to advance the ball a minimum of five yards within three downs. These down-and-distance rules, combined with the establishment of the line of scrimmage, transformed the game from a variation of rugby or soccer into the distinct sport of American football. Camp was central to several more significant rule changes that came to define American football. In 1881, the field was reduced in size to its modern dimensions of 120 by 53 1/3 yards (109.7 by 48.8 meters). Several times in 1883, Camp tinkered with the scoring rules, finally arriving at four points for a touchdown, two points for kicks after touchdowns, two points for safeties, and five for field goals. In 1887, gametime was set at two halves of 45 minutes each. Also in 1887, two paid officials—a referee and an umpire—were mandated for each game. A year later, the rules were changed to allow tackling below the waist, and in 1889, the officials were given whistles and stopwatches. After leaving Yale in 1882, Camp was employed by the New Haven Clock Company until his death in 1925. Though no longer a player, he remained a fixture at annual rules meetings for most of his life, and he personally selected an annual All-American team every year from 1898 through 1924. The Walter Camp Football Foundation continues to select All-American teams in his honor.
Walter Camp is widely considered to be the most important figure in the development of American football.[2][3][4] As a youth, he excelled in sports like track, baseball, and soccer, and after enrolling at Yale in 1876, he earned varsity honors in every sport the school offered. Camp became a fixture at the Massasoit House conventions where rules were debated and changed. He proposed his first rule change at the first meeting he attended in 1878: a reduction from fifteen players to eleven. The motion was rejected at that time but passed in 1880. The effect was to open up the game and emphasize speed over strength. Camp's most famous change, the establishment of the line of scrimmage and the snap from center to quarterback, was also passed in 1880. Originally, the snap was executed with the foot of the center. Later changes made it possible to snap the ball with the hands, either through the air or by a direct hand-to-hand pass. Camp's new scrimmage rules revolutionized the game, though not always as intended. Princeton, in particular, used scrimmage play to slow the game, making incremental progress towards the end zone during each down. Rather than increase scoring, which had been Camp's original intent, the rule was exploited to maintain control of the ball for the entire game, resulting in slow, unexciting contests. At the 1882 rules meeting, Camp proposed that a team be required to advance the ball a minimum of five yards within three downs. These down-and-distance rules, combined with the establishment of the line of scrimmage, transformed the game from a variation of rugby or soccer into the distinct sport of American football. Camp was central to several more significant rule changes that came to define American football. In 1881, the field was reduced in size to its modern dimensions of 120 by 53 1/3 yards (109.7 by 48.8 meters). Several times in 1883, Camp tinkered with the scoring rules, finally arriving at four points for a touchdown, two points for kicks after touchdowns, two points for safeties, and five for field goals. In 1887, gametime was set at two halves of 45 minutes each. Also in 1887, two paid officials—a referee and an umpire—were mandated for each game. A year later, the rules were changed to allow tackling below the waist, and in 1889, the officials were given whistles and stopwatches. After leaving Yale in 1882, Camp was employed by the New Haven Clock Company until his death in 1925. Though no longer a player, he remained a fixture at annual rules meetings for most of his life, and he personally selected an annual All-American team every year from 1898 through 1924. The Walter Camp Football Foundation continues to select All-American teams in his honor.
"Boston game"
While the game was being banned in colleges, it was growing in popularity in various New England prep schools. In 1855, manufactured inflatable balls were introduced. These were much more regular in shape than the handmade balls of earlier times, making kicking and carrying easier. Two general types of football had evolved by this time: "kicking" games and "running" (or "carrying") games. A hybrid of the two, known as the "Boston game", was played by a group known as the Oneida Football Club. The club, considered by some historians as the first formal football club in the United States, was formed in 1862 by schoolboys who played the "Boston game" on Boston Common. They played mostly between themselves, though they organized a team of non-members to play a game in November 1863, which the Oneidas won easily. The game caught the attention of the press, and the "Boston game" continued to spread throughout the 1860s. The game began to return to college campuses by the late 1860s. Yale, Princeton, Rutgers, and Brown all began playing "kicking" games during this time. In 1867, Princeton used rules based on those of the English Football Association.A "running game", resembling rugby, was taken up by the Montreal Football Club in Canada in 1868.
Intercollegiate football
On November 6, 1869, Rutgers University faced Princeton University in a game that is often regarded as the first game of intercollegiate football. The game was played at a Rutgers field under Rutgers rules. Two teams of 25 players attempted to score by kicking the ball into the opposing team's goal. Throwing or carrying the ball was not allowed. The first team to reach six goals was declared the winner. Rutgers crossed the line first and went on to win by a score of six to four. A rematch was played at Princeton a week later under Princeton rules (one notable difference was the awarding of a "free kick" to any player that caught the ball on the fly). Princeton won that game by a score of eight to zero. Columbia joined the series in 1870, and by 1872 several schools were fielding intercollegiate teams, including Yale and Stevens Institute of Technology.
History of American football
The history of American football, a spectator sport in the United States, can be traced to early versions of rugby football. Both games have their origin in varieties of football played in the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century, in which a ball is kicked at a goal and/or run over a line. American football resulted from several major divergences from rugby, most notably the rule changes instituted by Walter Camp, considered the "Father of American Football". Among these important changes were the introduction of the line of scrimmage and of down-and-distance rules. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, gameplay developments by college coaches such as Amos Alonzo Stagg, Knute Rockne, and Glenn "Pop" Warner helped take advantage of the newly introduced forward pass. The popularity of collegiate football grew as it became the dominant version of the sport for the first half of the twentieth century. Bowl games, a college football tradition, attracted a national audience for collegiate teams. Bolstered by fierce rivalries, college football still holds widespread appeal in the US.The origin of professional football can be traced back to 1892, with William "Pudge" Heffelfinger's $500 contract to play in a game for the Allegheny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. In 1920 the American Professional Football Association was formed. This league changed its name to the National Football League (NFL) two years later, and eventually became the major league of American football. Primarily a sport of Midwestern industrial towns in the United States, professional football eventually became a national phenomenon. Football's increasing popularity is usually traced to the 1958 NFL Championship Game, a contest that has been dubbed the "Greatest Game Ever Played". A rival league to the NFL, the American Football League (AFL), began play in 1960; the pressure it put on the senior league led to a merger between the two leagues and the creation of the Super Bowl, which has become the most watched television event in the United States on an annual basis.
First Games
Although there are mentions of Native Americans playing ball games, modern American football has its origins in traditional ball games played at villages and schools in Europe[citation needed] for many centuries before America was settled by Europeans. There are reports of early settlers at Jamestown, Virginia playing games with inflated balls in the early 17th century. Early games appear to have had much in common with the traditional "mob football" played in England, especially on Shrove Tuesday. The games remained largely unorganized until the 19th century, when intramural games of football began to be played on college campuses. Each school played its own variety of football. Princeton students played a game called "ballown" as early as 1820. A Harvard tradition known as "Bloody Monday" began in 1827, which consisted of a mass ballgame between the freshman and sophomore classes. Dartmouth played its own version called "Old division football", the rules of which were first published in 1871, though the game dates to at least the 1830s. All of these games, and others, shared certain commonalities. They remained largely "mob" style games, with huge numbers of players attempting to advance the ball into a goal area, often by any means necessary. Rules were simple and violence and injury were common.[5][6] The violence of these mob-style games led to widespread protests and a decision to abandon them. Yale, under pressure from the city of New Haven, banned the play of all forms of football in 1860, while Harvard followed suit in 1861.
Eto'o - Why African Dictators Fear Football
Three days ago, I sat in my Paris hotel room watching Ivory Coast maul Guinea in the Africa Cup of Nations. How much the world has changed, I thought. This was virtually impossible 20 years ago.
Ten years ago you would get the occasional Africa Cup of Nations game on European screens. Today it's all over the place. One reason is that the army of African players like Didier Drogba at Chelsea, and Samuel Eto'o at Barcelona FC are so big with their European clubs, the hordes of their European fans will follow them wherever they play. It makes commercial sense, therefore, to air the Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
On Monday, as I thought through this column, a friend arrived from London with a copy of one of my favourite British news magazines, New Statesman, for me. In it the Somali-born prize-winning journalist Rageh Omaar reflects on one of the reasons African celebrity players like (Ghana's) Michael Essien, and before him George Weah, are so feted on the continent: "It is about the magic of having heroes. The reason why (football) is so important in Africa is that it shows the millions of young fans, who probably don't have enough to eat most days, who probably have no shoes on their feet and little education, that, like Samuel Eto'o, they too can make an impact on the world". There's the beautiful game, but there's far more in what we are seeing in the Africa Cup of Nations in recent years. First, the difference in quality of play today and a few years ago is like day and night. In the 1980s, I used to be appalled to see players running to kick a penalty and missing the ball! Today, the quality is sometimes breathtaking. A lot of it has to do with the fact that very many of the chaps play their game in the top European clubs, and they bring back home the skills and discipline, and motivation that simply they wouldn't have acquired if they had remained to play in their wretched domestic leagues. But this is not all about football. It's a statement about what happens when you allow free movement of skills, knowledge, and services in the world. The Africa Cup of Nations, and the European leagues, is one of the best advertisements for globalisation and free trade.Of course the question can, rightly, be asked; if the free movement of goods and services help everybody, how come Drogba's Ivory Coast has fallen from a once happy to a miserable war-torn basket case; and how come when Weah was at the top of his international stardom, Liberia was wracked by the same forces of death and misery? It's because globalisation isn't non-discriminatory like rain that will fall equally on every farmer's plantation in the village.This is partly because it's not nations that are the primary beneficiaries of globalisation. It's usually the most innovative and skilled individuals and firms that benefit first.In India, the IT industry is a world leader, and its success is enriching millions more who work in related industries. In Finland, for years Nokia was by far the biggest source of the country's Gross Domestic Product, and employer. Nokia's global success, put a lot of money in the pockets of thousands of Finns.Back to Africa, international football has brought fame and fortune first and foremost to its star players who play in Europe and other parts of the world. But it has done more.Despite what the critics of globalisation say, it's still given democracy to the few Africans who have exploited it in ways that decades of freedom struggles on the continent haven't done.An important ingredient of democracy is that it guarantees you security that you will enjoy the fruits of your labour without extortionate taxes by corrupt leaders who won't put the money to good public use, but steal it instead.Also, at its best, globalisation is a very transparent system. We all know why Eto'o and Drogba get all the millions they do. We see them score goals, and help win games for their clubs.It's not an experience that repeats itself in many important aspects of African public life. You don't know how most African ministers get appointed. Certainly it can't be for competence.But it gets worse. You have many African presidents who, once they get into office, we know how they stay there --- by stealing votes whenever they hold elections.When Drogba, for all his fame, commits a foul, he gets the whistle. If he plays rough, he gets a yellow card. If he commits a flagrant foul, he gets a red card. And can't refuse to leave the field.Now try and give an African leader a red card. It will be you, not him, who will be ejected from the ground. On the other hand, international football teaches us the opposite. That even those who are at the top of their game, are still subject to the rules.
Ten years ago you would get the occasional Africa Cup of Nations game on European screens. Today it's all over the place. One reason is that the army of African players like Didier Drogba at Chelsea, and Samuel Eto'o at Barcelona FC are so big with their European clubs, the hordes of their European fans will follow them wherever they play. It makes commercial sense, therefore, to air the Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
On Monday, as I thought through this column, a friend arrived from London with a copy of one of my favourite British news magazines, New Statesman, for me. In it the Somali-born prize-winning journalist Rageh Omaar reflects on one of the reasons African celebrity players like (Ghana's) Michael Essien, and before him George Weah, are so feted on the continent: "It is about the magic of having heroes. The reason why (football) is so important in Africa is that it shows the millions of young fans, who probably don't have enough to eat most days, who probably have no shoes on their feet and little education, that, like Samuel Eto'o, they too can make an impact on the world". There's the beautiful game, but there's far more in what we are seeing in the Africa Cup of Nations in recent years. First, the difference in quality of play today and a few years ago is like day and night. In the 1980s, I used to be appalled to see players running to kick a penalty and missing the ball! Today, the quality is sometimes breathtaking. A lot of it has to do with the fact that very many of the chaps play their game in the top European clubs, and they bring back home the skills and discipline, and motivation that simply they wouldn't have acquired if they had remained to play in their wretched domestic leagues. But this is not all about football. It's a statement about what happens when you allow free movement of skills, knowledge, and services in the world. The Africa Cup of Nations, and the European leagues, is one of the best advertisements for globalisation and free trade.Of course the question can, rightly, be asked; if the free movement of goods and services help everybody, how come Drogba's Ivory Coast has fallen from a once happy to a miserable war-torn basket case; and how come when Weah was at the top of his international stardom, Liberia was wracked by the same forces of death and misery? It's because globalisation isn't non-discriminatory like rain that will fall equally on every farmer's plantation in the village.This is partly because it's not nations that are the primary beneficiaries of globalisation. It's usually the most innovative and skilled individuals and firms that benefit first.In India, the IT industry is a world leader, and its success is enriching millions more who work in related industries. In Finland, for years Nokia was by far the biggest source of the country's Gross Domestic Product, and employer. Nokia's global success, put a lot of money in the pockets of thousands of Finns.Back to Africa, international football has brought fame and fortune first and foremost to its star players who play in Europe and other parts of the world. But it has done more.Despite what the critics of globalisation say, it's still given democracy to the few Africans who have exploited it in ways that decades of freedom struggles on the continent haven't done.An important ingredient of democracy is that it guarantees you security that you will enjoy the fruits of your labour without extortionate taxes by corrupt leaders who won't put the money to good public use, but steal it instead.Also, at its best, globalisation is a very transparent system. We all know why Eto'o and Drogba get all the millions they do. We see them score goals, and help win games for their clubs.It's not an experience that repeats itself in many important aspects of African public life. You don't know how most African ministers get appointed. Certainly it can't be for competence.But it gets worse. You have many African presidents who, once they get into office, we know how they stay there --- by stealing votes whenever they hold elections.When Drogba, for all his fame, commits a foul, he gets the whistle. If he plays rough, he gets a yellow card. If he commits a flagrant foul, he gets a red card. And can't refuse to leave the field.Now try and give an African leader a red card. It will be you, not him, who will be ejected from the ground. On the other hand, international football teaches us the opposite. That even those who are at the top of their game, are still subject to the rules.
Axe grinding will not develop football
As a member of the general council I urge other associations to come out and write about the negative things persons say in the newspapers about the GFF and some of the decisions we all made. "This year I will continue to fight to see that the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation dispenses justice to all footballing entities in Guyana before being allowed to bring in overseas teams." I was rather amazed that such words could have been written by the secretary of the Bartica Football Association (BFA) Carlton Beckles, in a letter puiblished in the Stabroek News edition of 8-01-19 headlined "Many efforts to develop football have been stymied." His deviation from the important issue of limiting four guest players per team, as against his outburst against overseas-based teams participation bears testimony to this and causes me to support the sentiment expressed by FIFA vice president and CONCACAF and CFU presidents Austin `Jack' Warner over the management of football in the region. Sad, but true, Guyana is no exception when one takes into consideration that the level of any sport is normally determined by the level of administration in place. This year is extremely important for national football with the focus being on the 2010 World Cup qualification. And all the goodly Beckles can do, as indicated in the two opening paragraphs, only lends to the further underdevelopment of local football rather than providing thoughtful ideas that would prevent national football teams from being kicked off of grounds. He also says the former GFL president Mr. Lumumba still has outstanding prize money from the 2006 President's Cup tournament for the BFA. How sad! Maybe he can explain what is the general council's policy in relation to the lodging of prize monies with the GFF as a guarantee for payment. And who should represent the BFA's interest in collecting outstanding prize money? Finally, Mr Beckles needs to be reminded that the GFF has in its employ a full-time, paid public relations officer, who on a timely basis if he cares to, can respond to the negative things written in the newspapers and definitely not the general council which, over the years, has been reduced to a toothless poodle. If this wasn't the case then technical personnel would have been representing the nation's interest at FIFA's Congress, specifically designated for the attendance of technical directors, in our instance the head coach and definitely not the GFF president as was done at the women's World Cup finals last year. In addition to reviewing the financial viability of the millions of dollars spent for installing floodlights at the Bartica Community Centre ground. Wasn't this a case of politicking with Bartica's continued pledge of delivering its two votes as directed? Mr. Editor, the content and tone of Beckles' letter clearly demonstrates that he is out of his depth with the realities of the sport's modern administrative capabilities since this individual may be the first person in the world to conclude the finals of a penalty shoot-out by utilizing vehicular lights. Is this permissible under FIFA, CONCACAF, CFU and the GFF's laws? And to crown it off the BFA still receives its fair share of Kashif and Shanghai levy fees which amounts to $850,000 as imposed by the GFF while at least one of its affiliates benefited from the $500,000 that 40 clubs countrywide each received in 2006 from the GFA under Lumumba.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Arkan, Zvonimir Boban, football and the bloody end of Yugoslavia
I do not remember where, I have seen the slogan: „football is war, and war is football." One can agree with such statement, as well one can oppose it. However, we are all forced to believe at least, that the football arena is the only space, linking people of various religions, attitudes, ethnicity, or races. Football depends of these groups. They are making football a civilized contest, based on the clear rules, which are encouraging coexistence, or the scene of hate expression and the virtual field of battle, where they fight for the recognition of the discourse stating any form of identity and trying to keep it.
So is it peace, or war?
Football can link and it can create peace. After all, during the famous Christmas armistice of 1914, when the I World War was only starting British and German soldiers were playing football. Germans won this match 3:2 against British. Later they surrender to the allies. People say that in the prime years of Pele’s career, the civil war was suspended for two days in Nigeria, when fighter camps, who were involved in the bloody conflicts, wanted to see this Brazilian star chasing ball on their grass-plot. During the last world football championship the team of the Ivory Coast demanded to cancel the bloody disunion in their homeland. Otherwise, they were not going to play in the championship. That is the bright side of football, which unites, and football, which does not motivate to take up arms, but promotes the civilized contest in the stadium. Nevertheless, there is another side... the side, which covers hate with a bloody shirt.
The tragedy of Maximir
The football in Yugoslavia reflects both the good and the bad side. In 1987 the world youth under 20 years old championship took place in Chile. No one had hopes of big achievements by the team of Yugoslavia. Moreover, the football federation of the country itself did not hide that the team was sent to South America only to carry out obligations to FIFA. The captain of the team Aleksandr Djordjevič after the last selection match in Hungary was disqualified for four games. The future star Siniš Mihajlovič, who was later representing the ‚Lazio‘ club of Rome, Vladimir Jugovič, or Alen Bokšič were not there. The coach of today’s Croatian national team Slaven Bilič was also not there. It was alleged, that the official reason, why he was not in the championship was his ankle trauma. However, an equally plausible explanation is that Bilič was not going to Chile because of his father, who demanded a wider Croatian autonomy and did not approve of the fact, that his son would represent Yugoslavia. It turned out that Bilič has not played any games while wearing the Yugoslavian team t-shirt.
Instead, young diamonds, such as Robert Jarni, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinečki, or Davor Šuker left for South America. After some time this company formed the striking axis of the independent Croatian team. Predrag Mijatovič was also there and the Yugoslavian team reached the finals, when after 11 meters penalty series, it broke the West German team and received gold. People say that the team celebrated the gold for two more days and there in a family atmosphere. One can only guess how this team would look like later, if the war would not have started, and if the barrel of powder would have not exploded in Zagreb stadium Maximir.
The monument near this arena is dedicated to Yugoslavian war casualties – the ultras of Zagreb “Dinamo”. A sign on it proclaims: “club fans that started a war with Serbia in this arena”. The war sprang up in the spring of 1990, on the 10th of May in the Arena Maximir during the match between the local “Dinamo” and Belgrade’s “Crvena Zvezda”. Since the death of the Yugoslavian dictator Tito, the competitions between these teams had seen only endless outbreaks of violence. Nationalistic moods were rising in Serbia and Croatia. The ideal propagated by Slobodan Milosevic that Big Serbia is the place where any Serbians live was revived.
Meanwhile, in Croatia the growth of nationalistic moods was associated with the ex-general of the Yugoslavian army - Franjo Tudjman, who was also the head of the club „Partizan“ in Belgrade, some time ago. This politician, committed to Croatian nationalism, perceived the Zagreb “Dinamo“ club as a tool for spreading his position, and generating support for independence. It is worth mentioning, that the fatal match between the “Dinamo“ and “Crvena Zvezda“ teams took place in Croatia, before the elections and the referendum over the independent country. Croatian Robert Prosinečki, and Bosnia Muslim Refik Šabanadžovič, a couple of Montenegrins and Macedonians played in it. The meeting itself, became a ground for the collision of two forms of identity, - Croatian and Serbian nationalism, which were categorically denying each other. While football players were combating in the field, the fight between ultra fans of Zagreb and Belgrade - “Bad Blue Boys“ and “Delije“ already started in the tribunes. Very soon, the stadium transformed into a field of battle and the game was suspended no more than 10 minutes after it begun. The football players got involved in fighting, as well. The Croatian football star Zvonimir Boban, who later represented and the famous club “AC Milan”, will remain in the memories of many admirers not only because of his impressive game, but also an equally impressive fight with a policeman, who used power when trying to stop “Dinamo” fans. There is an opinion, which could be also exaggerated, that it was precisely the strike of Z. Boban, which evoked the civil war. In one of the video tapes recorded during the riot, one can hear him shouting: ”Where is the police? Where is this bloody police”?
The forces who were suppressing the fight were blamed with backing Serbian hooligans. The fact that the policeman who was hit by Z. Boban was a Bosnian Muslim, was realized a bit later. “I entirely understand why Z. Boban behaves like this” – admitted the injured policeman. Z. Boban himself was born in the small town Imotsk on the border with Bosnia in southern Croatia, which is famous for a nationalistic mood. Some people characterize this Croatian football star as the romantic nationalism agent, who came to our days straight from the XIX century books. As Boban himself mentions, he grew up by reading the books of Anton Chekhov, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky one after another. Once, before starting the match between Croatian and Italian national teams, he said to a journalist, if someone were to change writers into football players, Italians would win without any struggle. „Dante, Petrarch, Leopardi… No one would be able to compete with them, - stated Z. Boban. The fighting on the 10th of May continued for a couple of hours when the match was terminated, and the stadium was on fire. The players of “Crvena Zvezda“ were lifted out of the stadium with the helicopter. The war started.
Arkan on the stage
When the Yugoslavian war begun the figure of Želko Raznatovič, better known as Arkan, got into the epicenter of attention. This person is still considered controversial in Serbia. Some say, that he is a hero and embodies the ideal Serbian, others claim that he is an awful war criminal, who paid no attention to any norms ofethics. Anyway, - he played a crucial role when provoking the Balkan war fireplace. In the beginning of the 90‘s the leader of Serbia S. Milosevic was worried about the activities of the fan group “Delije“. Therefore, he assigned the head of the state security department Jovic Stanisič, who later stood before the Hague war crime tribunal, the contact Arkan and entrusted him with the control of this group of football hooligans. S. Milosevic understood, that „Crvena Zvezda“ in his hands could become a tool of mass mobilization, as Madrid „Real“ was for the Spanish dictator Francisco Franc, or the Italian team playing with black shirts was for Benito Mussolini. Arkan started to supervise every action from selling the tickets to the private members of “Delije“, to the organizing of the hooligans trips to matches outside the country. In a year, he managed to create even a paramilitary unit, miserably famous by the name of “Tigers“. This unit marked itself with ethnic cleansing not only in Croatia, but also Bosnia and later Kosovo. The truth is, that not all the Tigers were the members of “Delije“. The fans of Belgrade “Partizan“ and ultras from other hooligan groups were also present. As it was said by one of the leaders of “Delije“, “Partizan“ and “Crvena zvezda“ fans can passionately hate each other, but they understand, that in the end they are all Serbians and united Serbians will never loose. The fact that two savage opponents can unite was confirmed during the war between Serbia and Croatia. The relations between the countries got even worse after 1991 April, when Serbian declared they take Krajna region, and their forces smashed into the east Croatia. The crazy battles followed close to city Vukavar. In these battles, the members of the “Bad Blue Boys“ radical group actively participated with the NATIONAL flag and their heraldic group symbols. The “Tigers“ were also there. On the 22 of March 1992, with the 60 000 people in the “Marakana“ the match took place between “Partizan“ and “Crvena Zvezda“, two competitors hating each other. The beginning of the game did not promise anything new - some actions outside of the stadium turned into violence, the fans of both teams were insulting each other with their slogans as usual in the tribunes. The atmosphere heated up silently and after the match one could expect serious turmoil. However, the shouting was stopped soon by uniformed “Tigers“ who brought road signs with them, which they collected on their way to Vukovar, as the war spoils. Among those showing the distance left to the goal 30… 20... 10 kilometers, one could also see the road signs of other Croatian towns, which had fallen surrounded by Serbian army. Arkan was standing in the tribunes with square shoulders.
So, the thing happened which was hardly believable, - the hate merged „Crvena Zvezda“ and „Partizan“ club fans to one entity. They were shouting out insulting slogans against Croatians together. The biggest enemies were linked by hatred. Unfortunately, Arkan will never hear his judgment. He was killed on the 15th of October on 2000. Thanks to him, football became integral part of Yugoslavian war, and the football hooligans became its participants.
When the Yugoslavian war begun the figure of Želko Raznatovič, better known as Arkan, got into the epicenter of attention. This person is still considered controversial in Serbia. Some say, that he is a hero and embodies the ideal Serbian, others claim that he is an awful war criminal, who paid no attention to any norms ofethics. Anyway, - he played a crucial role when provoking the Balkan war fireplace. In the beginning of the 90‘s the leader of Serbia S. Milosevic was worried about the activities of the fan group “Delije“. Therefore, he assigned the head of the state security department Jovic Stanisič, who later stood before the Hague war crime tribunal, the contact Arkan and entrusted him with the control of this group of football hooligans. S. Milosevic understood, that „Crvena Zvezda“ in his hands could become a tool of mass mobilization, as Madrid „Real“ was for the Spanish dictator Francisco Franc, or the Italian team playing with black shirts was for Benito Mussolini. Arkan started to supervise every action from selling the tickets to the private members of “Delije“, to the organizing of the hooligans trips to matches outside the country. In a year, he managed to create even a paramilitary unit, miserably famous by the name of “Tigers“. This unit marked itself with ethnic cleansing not only in Croatia, but also Bosnia and later Kosovo. The truth is, that not all the Tigers were the members of “Delije“. The fans of Belgrade “Partizan“ and ultras from other hooligan groups were also present. As it was said by one of the leaders of “Delije“, “Partizan“ and “Crvena zvezda“ fans can passionately hate each other, but they understand, that in the end they are all Serbians and united Serbians will never loose. The fact that two savage opponents can unite was confirmed during the war between Serbia and Croatia. The relations between the countries got even worse after 1991 April, when Serbian declared they take Krajna region, and their forces smashed into the east Croatia. The crazy battles followed close to city Vukavar. In these battles, the members of the “Bad Blue Boys“ radical group actively participated with the NATIONAL flag and their heraldic group symbols. The “Tigers“ were also there. On the 22 of March 1992, with the 60 000 people in the “Marakana“ the match took place between “Partizan“ and “Crvena Zvezda“, two competitors hating each other. The beginning of the game did not promise anything new - some actions outside of the stadium turned into violence, the fans of both teams were insulting each other with their slogans as usual in the tribunes. The atmosphere heated up silently and after the match one could expect serious turmoil. However, the shouting was stopped soon by uniformed “Tigers“ who brought road signs with them, which they collected on their way to Vukovar, as the war spoils. Among those showing the distance left to the goal 30… 20... 10 kilometers, one could also see the road signs of other Croatian towns, which had fallen surrounded by Serbian army. Arkan was standing in the tribunes with square shoulders.
So, the thing happened which was hardly believable, - the hate merged „Crvena Zvezda“ and „Partizan“ club fans to one entity. They were shouting out insulting slogans against Croatians together. The biggest enemies were linked by hatred. Unfortunately, Arkan will never hear his judgment. He was killed on the 15th of October on 2000. Thanks to him, football became integral part of Yugoslavian war, and the football hooligans became its participants.
Money makes the college football world go 'round
If you want to predict the future, just follow the advice of Woodward and Bernstein: Follow the money. The fate of college football and the Bowl Championship Series depends more on cash and less on on-field flash, so let's look at the issues facing the most important players in college football (the ones who wear suits and ties, anyway).
Mo' money, mo' problems
The largest coaching contract in college football history was inked in 2007, between Nick Saban and the University of Alabama. Schools should expect to see the bar raised again in '08.
With Saban topping $4 million a year, agents should expect to see both windfalls and backlash from the rising salaries. Kansas' Mark Mangino, Illinois' Ron Zook, Missouri's Gary Pinkel and Cal's Jeff Tedford easily could finagle massive raises to join the $2 million to $3 million per season club -- either with their current school or with the next major program that axes its coach. Conversely, those piles of money will start to crush coaches. Astronomical salaries beget astronomical expectations, and 6-6 at Iowa -- the Hawkeyes' third mediocre season in a row -- would mean immense pressure for Kirk Ferentz and his $3 million annual salary. The same applies to Charlie Weis; his 10-year deal worth a reported $30 million to $40 million looks like robbery when you consider Notre Dame's dismal 3-9 season and the dearth of quality wins in Weis' three seasons.
Gentlemen, start your lawyers
All of the Southeastern Conference's television contracts -- with ESPN, ESPN2, Lincoln Financial Sports and the 12-year megadeal with CBS -- expire by spring 2009. This means a firefight over the rights to televise games in college football's most profitable conference. The SEC also could launch its own television network in the next year or so.
If the "Speed Equals Cash" conference does launch its own TV channel, expect the Big Ten Network to be its model. SEC commissioner Mike Slive asserted earlier this year that his league would not abandon a primary network affiliation but instead would see how negotiations went and then proceed. This essentially is the Big Ten model: Big games go on ABC/ESPN with others broadcast exclusively on the conference channel. Whether the SEC stays with CBS or leaves for even bigger money is a fascinating question, especially given Fox's ability to make it rain. Fox already holds the rights to the World Series, the NFL's NFC contract and four of the five BCS games. That makes a nice segue to ...
If the "Speed Equals Cash" conference does launch its own TV channel, expect the Big Ten Network to be its model. SEC commissioner Mike Slive asserted earlier this year that his league would not abandon a primary network affiliation but instead would see how negotiations went and then proceed. This essentially is the Big Ten model: Big games go on ABC/ESPN with others broadcast exclusively on the conference channel. Whether the SEC stays with CBS or leaves for even bigger money is a fascinating question, especially given Fox's ability to make it rain. Fox already holds the rights to the World Series, the NFL's NFC contract and four of the five BCS games. That makes a nice segue to ...
Fox attitude: Learn to love it!
With reportedly $320 million already invested in college football for the BCS games, Fox will continue to wedge itself into the picture as a force in determining how college football works out its messy compromise of a postseason ... whether you like the on-screen advertisements in between plays or not. (Thanks to those nettlesome ads during the BCS title game, we're now openly wishing for the failure of the movie Jumper.) Fox broadcasts four BCS games and likely will find a way to flex its muscles and sway bowl committees into making more competitive picks than this year's. More compelling picks might have been available had it not been for ...
Rose is a thorn
Everyone but Pac-10 officials and Big Ten officials blame the postseason mess on the Rose Bowl -- and by extension ABC/Disney/ESPN. t seems both odd and sad that much of the turmoil surrounding the creation of a playoff depends on what amounts to a faceoff between media conglomerates, but that's the sandbox we college football fans play in. ABC holds the Rose Bowl rights until 2014; so long as it does, there is no incentive for ABC to cooperate with Fox to create compelling bowl matchups. This year, the Rose Bowl bent to tradition and -- with Ohio State booked in the BCS title game -- selected Illinois out of the Big Ten instead of Georgia from the SEC. That set up not one but two reeking mismatches: Hawaii vs. Georgia in the Sugar Bowl (Fox) and Southern Cal vs. Illinois in the Rose (ABC). It's like an extremely uncooperative blackjack game at this point: Even with the dealer sitting on 15, one or more players could take the dealer's bust card, just as Rose Bowl officials did this year. The resulting matchups resulted in a 13 percent decline in ratings for Fox's four games and in a 20 percent decline in ratings for ABC's Rose Bowl. The chances of this happening again, even with the sheer amount of cash involved, remain high so long as the Rose Bowl is out of the cartel and making whatever crazypants pick it cares to make. (And this is how you get James Carville on ESPN railing against the Rose Bowl like it just ran over his favorite huntin' dog.)
The 800-pound gorilla (Plus-One) Disregard University of Georgia president Michael Adams' proposed eight-team playoff plan, or at least his sincerity and commitment to lobbying for it.
Politics in college football is indeed local.
Adams merely was pandering to football-mad Georgia alums still disgruntled with him over the firing Dawg legend Vince Dooley from the athletic director's post, according to the Georgia bloggerati. Instead, watch for real kibitzing over the possibility of the "Plus-One" scenario. Nothing happens before 2010 (the final year of the BCS contract) at the earliest, but Atlantic Coast Conference and SEC officials will push for discussion of the Plus-One format at a meeting of all 11 football conferences in April. The Plus-One format comes in two variations: Working existing bowls into a four-team playoff or having the top two ranked teams after the five BCS bowl games play for the national title. The trick to pulling off either involves ... well, there are two ways to put it. One is to say that in any proposed financial projections between the major franchises in college football, revenue sharing of an equitable and attractive manner will be paramount. nother way of saying this: You'll have to pay off the Pac-10 and Big Ten like you were trying to smuggle a troop of armed chimpanzees through Chinese customs. The Pac-10 and Big Ten each received $14.5 million from the Rose Bowl in 2005 alone. With CNBC's Darren Rovell conservatively estimating the worth of a college football playoff to networks at $160 million, huge chunks of that must go to the Pac-10 and the Big Ten to make a playoff of any kind possible. And with 11 conferences negotiating the deal (plus Notre Dame), ACC commissioner John Swofford's recent comparison of the process to "turning a battleship around" might not be adequate here -- it's actually more like turning a battleship with 22 unequally powerful hands on the wheel.
Football: Bulldogs’ bite too sharp for Park
THIS proved another bad day at the office for Maesteg Park in the MacWhirter Welsh League Division One at Ton Pentre. Although the Old Parish side have met with much success at Ynys Park in recent times, it wasn’t to be this time around. They included recent signing Dan Nash (Grange Albion) in attack but three other new men – strikers Robbie Fowler and Ali Kaiyaga, and midfield man Rhys Owen – were unavailable. Centre-back Rhys Owen was also an absentee and Park endured a lucky escape early on. Andrew Pearson had the ball in the back of the net after only five minutes but it was ruled out for offside. But the Rhondda Bulldogs had their tails up and scored twice within a minute. Andrew Hughes netted on the half-hour mark, and the cheers had hardly died down when ex-Afan Lido striker Andrew Pearson beat goalkeeper Gary Wager. Early in the second half it was Maesteg who went at it hammer and tongs, and a goal at this juncture could have made a world of difference. James Hall played in Nash, who shot wide of Marty Ellacott’s goal while Lee O’Brien skied a shot over the top. But the game was all up for Park once Jonathan Kift made it 3-0 in the 55th minute. Ohene Na Quinhare shot tamely at Ellacott in the 70th minute, and five minutes later Ton were awarded a penalty.Wager brought down Kift in the box, only to escape a red card and he promptly kept out a penalty from Dale Price. Maesteg Park host Goytre United in the league this Saturday.
It's football, but not as the rest of the world knows it
you're an American football fan, you have probably been reading the website of 24-hour sports network ESPN. National Football League is the site's main focus, and it has been providing saturation coverage of Super Bowl XLII. But if you're a fan of the round ball version of the game, it's twelfth in line on the site, between golf and tennis. And if you're a cricket or rugby fan, you'll find them under the More+ menu heading, below Lacrosse and Mixed Martial Arts.
Motor racing provides another example of ESPN's parochialism. Nascar has its own menu item, while the other stuff gets bundled together: IndyCar, Champ Car, Formula One, NHRA ... Yes, that's the menu order. F1 is a bit more significant than NHRA drag racing, but not as important as Champ Car or, say, women's basketball. In sum, the site that bills itself as "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" isn't a leader in worldwide sports, just the ones Joe Sixpack follows.
Motor racing provides another example of ESPN's parochialism. Nascar has its own menu item, while the other stuff gets bundled together: IndyCar, Champ Car, Formula One, NHRA ... Yes, that's the menu order. F1 is a bit more significant than NHRA drag racing, but not as important as Champ Car or, say, women's basketball. In sum, the site that bills itself as "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" isn't a leader in worldwide sports, just the ones Joe Sixpack follows.
Fantastic site
Having said that, ESPN is a fantastic site, and provides a huge amount of detailed information. Most American sports generate masses of statistics, and ESPN laps them up. It also throws in lots of photos and videos, comment articles, TV schedules, polls, podcasts and fantasy games.
The football - sorry, soccer - coverage is also comprehensive, and includes sections for the US, England, Europe and the Champions League. If you want to look up the results in the Dutch Amstel Cup or check the Belgian Jupiler League table, ESPN has them. However, that's mainly because ESPN bought Soccernet. Presumably someone realised that the home-grown coverage of the world's biggest game wasn't up to scratch, so they acquired a site that did the job.
ESPN also owns Cricinfo, which it bought in June 2007, and Scrum.com, which it bought in August. Both are great specialist sites, and could be integrated into ESPN, like Soccernet. Whether ESPN will buy sites that cover sports such as cycling, hockey, badminton, table tennis, volleyball or even sumo remains to be seen. It's one route to world domination.
ESPN's problem is that it is an American cable TV company - originally the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network - and it concentrates on the sports it broadcasts. It is now 80% owned by ABC, which is a subsidiary of Walt Disney.
The football - sorry, soccer - coverage is also comprehensive, and includes sections for the US, England, Europe and the Champions League. If you want to look up the results in the Dutch Amstel Cup or check the Belgian Jupiler League table, ESPN has them. However, that's mainly because ESPN bought Soccernet. Presumably someone realised that the home-grown coverage of the world's biggest game wasn't up to scratch, so they acquired a site that did the job.
ESPN also owns Cricinfo, which it bought in June 2007, and Scrum.com, which it bought in August. Both are great specialist sites, and could be integrated into ESPN, like Soccernet. Whether ESPN will buy sites that cover sports such as cycling, hockey, badminton, table tennis, volleyball or even sumo remains to be seen. It's one route to world domination.
ESPN's problem is that it is an American cable TV company - originally the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network - and it concentrates on the sports it broadcasts. It is now 80% owned by ABC, which is a subsidiary of Walt Disney.
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