Published in the 9-19-12 issue of the Wasatch Wave
So I’m watching the Holy War Saturday night … right? Never ceases to amaze me. Before tuning
in to that game, I watched the whole second half of the USC-Stanford game. Shocking. While I was watching that, I was flipping back to Notre Dame
vs. Michigan State – two nationally ranked powerhouses. Earlier in the day it was Florida
against Tennessee, two all-time great SEC teams. What a day for college football rivalries and the season is
just beginning!
Okay… I love college football. College football games are amongst the greatest of sporting events. I love to see the emotion of the
coaches and players in a conference game.
I soak up the tears of the student body, face paint and all, as they cry
over their school’s last minute defeat.
Not that I relish seeing those in pain… chances are, they were on the
other side a year before. It’s
what makes a rivalry a rivalry.
It’s what gives a team in it’s rebuilding years hope for the
future. They will meet again and
there will be the hope of redemption. Why?
Because it’s a rivalry. In
a rivalry everyone has their day and it’s important to win. Even in a season when a once top ranked
team has been reduced to a .500 team due to attrition, there is still that game where their
season could be made by knocking off the top team in their conference. Can you feel the excitement? It’s so potent, this rivalry thing,
that top universities all across the country are doing away with it. That’s right. It’s been sold off!
Conference affiliation is what we call rivalry now. I don’t know about you, but I cannot
wait to see Notre Dame, who recently joined the ACC (huh?), against Duke. Now in basketball, that might not be so
bad, but Duke is not known as a powerful football program. So, the almighty Notre Dame will be
taking their football and going home and doing as they please – as always –
when it comes to the gridiron. The golden-domers should have joined the Big 10
– now the Big 12 – when they had the chance. They already play large schools in that region, which makes
it easy for fans to travel to the games and creates more competitive
recruiting, which could only benefit the student athlete. And? Rivalry, kids… don’t forget about keeping the rivalries
alive.
Speaking of Notre Dame… say goodbye to that Independent-powerhouse-rivalry-
in-the-making against our Provo Cougars.
Cooler heads prevailed – or richer ones – and that’ll be one that coulda
been. And how about the U? How is the Pac 12 treating them? I’m sorry, I just don’t ever see them
out-recruiting USC, UCLA, Oregon, Arizona State. Are these people nuts?
Boise State, the most talked about little football engine in the last 10
years wants to join the Mountain West.
Run!!
TCU had recently built their Horned Frog program into a very
credible one… and by credible I mean money making. What’s the matter with these rivalry haters?!
Oh, and not everyone in college is a jock, by the way. Actually, if you google it, only a
small percentage of the student body plays an NCAA sanctioned sport. The average student, who goes on
to graduate in undergraduate studies, is in college 4 to 5 years before they
are spit out into the real world where rivalries could possibly mean life or
death. Why take away that Saturday
afternoon when they can paint their chests and go berserk for their
cellar-dwelling State team in a home game against their nationally ranked
cross-state rival who they could not get accepted into?
Oh well, closer to home… it’s the Holy War that will no
longer exist. Wait, first off,
we’re not allowed to call it Holy War anymore. Now we won’t be able to call it anything. Sorry recent grads of Utah. You will only be able to tell tales of
battles long ago between the two schools when your children ask, “Why are we
playing Bowling Green, Daddy?
Shouldn’t we just play against BYU?”
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