The Case for College Football

The last entry was of course devoted to why the NFL is better than college football. In fairness, now it's time to evaluate why college football is better than the NFL.

1. Fan loyalty. This isn't a slight against the loyalty of NFL fans, but you would be hard-pressed to find fan bases that are more loyal than your average college football fan base. The NFL has some crazy fans (Hogettes, anyone?), but the fan bases in college football are some of the most backwardly loyal people on the planet; they will blindly follow those teams off a cliff if their head coach is charismatic enough (see Weis, Charlie). Logically speaking, it makes sense that college football would have more loyalty as well; the alumni of that university are more likely to have stronger feelings for their team because they feel like they are a part of it. Unless you're one in a couple hundred thousand, I strongly doubt you'll ever have that kind of a connection with an NFL franchise.

2. Emotion. Loyalty also breeds rivalry, something that you don't see enough of in the NFL. When an Auburn fan encounters an Alabama fan, usually it goes beyond a few crude insults; can't really say the same thing for some of the NFL's biggest rivalries. Fan bases genuinely hate each other, and aren't afraid to say it (or demonstrate it, as the case sometimes may be). That emotion translates into attendance, and when you have over 100,000 people screaming at you in Happy Valley or Neyland Stadium, you tend to notice the electricity in the air. There's also something about college football that seems more pure; you don't have the bargaining agreements or salary disputes with college players because, well...they don't have a salary (and don't give me that corruption bullshit...that is NOT the norm in college athletics). A lot of these players won't make it to the NFL, and they're playing football because they love to play, not playing for the money. Hard to make that argument when you've got players who haven't even played a down for an NFL team arguing with front office personnel about signing bonuses and escalator clauses.

3. The parity. Arguably the greatest thing - and in some cases, the worst thing - about college football is how level the playing field is. Recent NCAA regulations that limited the number of scholarships available for NCAA teams has allowed a greater proliferation of talent to some of the non-BCS schools (most notably Utah, BYU, TCU, and Boise State) and greatly equalized the amount of talent on each team. Upsets are the norm now - Appalachian State over Michigan, Navy over Notre Dame, Stanford over USC...all the result of the phenomenon that is college football, where anyone can beat just about anyone. The NFL has free agency, and college football has upsets - that's just the way it is.

4. The playbooks. Though the NFL does not reject innovation, it definitely has a hard time embracing it. A lot of that has to do with the elite athletes on both sides of the ball, but occasionally a scheme will come along (West Coast Offense, for one) that changes the way NFL football is played. However, in college, those elite athletes are juxtaposed against each other in a variety of exotic and creative schemes every single Saturday, and new trends are created seemingly each week as teams attempt to exploit their opponents' major weaknesses. The "Wildcat" formation is en vogue right now in the NFL...but its origins were in college football. The triple option, the spread formation, the 3-3-5 defense, the Maryland I-formation...all collegiate ideas implemented on the collegiate gridiron. When is the last time any NFL coach had a really good idea that changed the way the game is played? It happens every day in college.

So now that both arguments have been laid out, I guess a decision can be reached. So next time I'll tell you which one I think is better: the NFL or college football.

The Case for the NFL

When answering the question "Which is better - the NFL or college football?" I think that making the argument for each side is probably the best way to go about reaching a conclusion. This entry is the case for the NFL; the case for college football will follow in the next entry.

This is why the NFL is better than college football:

1. Competition level. There is no doubt that the NFL is the highest level in American football that any one athlete could reach. Some of the greatest athletes of all-time played football - Jerry Rice, Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders - with Deion Sanders and Jackson also competing at a high level in other sports as well. The NFL is home to some of the greatest coaches of all-time regardless of sport - Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh, Tom Landry, and George Halas to name a few. It takes a special skill set to play football, and there is undoubtedly a bevy of great talent in college football throughout history, but only the best of the best of the best make it to the NFL.

2. League stability. Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, no league has been more successful at appealing to its fan base while expanding its product like the NFL. Since 1970, the league has grown to 32 teams and has solidified its place in the American consciousness. Few labor disputes between the team owners and the NFL Players' Association have helped the league maintain its popularity within the American sporting realm, and productions like the Super Bowl and Monday Night Football are as much a part of Americana as rock music and the Happy Meal. Although baseball will forever be known as "America's Pastime", I think it's safe to say that football - and more specifically the NFL - is without question the most popular sport in America and has been since the mid-1990s.

3. The fans. College football has some incredibly loyal fans (to be discussed at a later date...stay tuned), but no one goes all-out, balls-to-the-wall, bat-shit-crazy like NFL fans. The Terrible Towel in Pittsburgh has become a symbol that transcends sports altogether, and is a frequent marketing tool at other sporting events today. Raider Nation is one of the craziest fan sections ever; these are grown men dressed up like KISS or the Grim Reaper crawling on top of each other just to get to the TV camera for 5 seconds of fame. In Washington, they have enormous men - grown men with wives, children, and an income on which they pay taxes - who dress like women in dresses and sun hats while also adorning pig noses to their faces and call themselves "The Hogettes." Shit, Philadelphia Eagles fans booed SANTA CLAUS...that's just ridiculous.

4. The Super Bowl. No other sporting event in the world - save the FIFA World Cup - has the kind of impact that the Super Bowl has. The world literally stops for that entire weekend while an entire country consumes their weight in cholesterol and alcohol while huddled around the television for 5 straight hours - at least. The game is broadcast across the world via satellite in multiple languages, and the halftime show has been graced by acts like Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen - in the last 5 years. Other halftime acts have included the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald, KISS, Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan, Aerosmith and Stevie Wonder to name a few. Some of the most iconic advertising campaigns have come from Super Bowl Sunday - "Mean" Joe Greene drinks a Coca-Cola, the Budweiser frogs (and iguanas later), the Godaddy.com smoking-hot women, and Michael Jordan and Larry Bird play an impossible game of H-O-R-S-E for a McDonald's Big Mac. Can you remember one commercial from last year's BCS National Championship Game? Me neither.

Next time, the argument for why college football is better than the NFL.

Less Than 1 Week

So I'm sitting at home watching high school football on ESPN, and I realize that the college football season isn't that far away. In fact, it's only 5 days until NC State opens the college football season against South Carolina. As a football fan, there is nothing better than having meaningful football on television again; sure, the NFL preseason is nice and high school football brings back memories of underage consumption in a gravel parking lot, but for the most part there is nothing like seeing two teams lay it all on the line on Saturdays and Sundays and try to get the win.

But leads me to an interesting question - which is better: college football or pro football? I think I'll make an argument for each in my next two entries, and then readdress it before Thursday's game. Until then, feel free to answer the question for yourself - college football or the NFL?

1st Post

Just wanted to get it out of the way with as little fanfare as possible. Hopefully this blog is something that I can keep up with as I move forward and experience life the way it was meant for me to be experienced. Dunno whether I'll get many followers if I keep it that way, but I don't do it for you guys - I do it for me.

We'll just leave it at that for now, I guess. Exciting, I know.