National Signing Day

Thanks for ruining it, ESPN.

I remember a time when admitting I paid any amount of money to watch videos of high school boys play football garnered some suspicious glances. Now, it seems everyone is in on it.

Today, for the non-obsessed college football fan, was national signing day. The day where high school standouts fax in letters of intent to play for college football programs which have recruited them for the better part of the last 18 months.

It’s the big payoff for those, myself included, who will watch video of prospects, read articles out of football camps and give their take on a message board, most likely one belonging to their favorite team. It sounds silly, and it probably is.  Thirty year old guys should be worrying about climbing the corporate ladder, joining the PTA and becoming uncool. Not worrying about some 17-year-old in Mississippi and his 40 yard dash time.

It wasn’t always like this. The valuation of high school athletes was largely left to coaches and a scant amount of media. Even when I started paying attention to the recruiting craze back in 2001 (when I opened my own Rivals account) it was already commercialized. Since Snowmageddon: Day 2 had me marooned at casa de Swalley, it afforded me an opportunity I haven’t experienced.

I watched a small amount of ESPNU’s ten (yes, ten) hours worth of coverage on National Signing Day. Just long enough to see where ESPN ranked Nebraska (number 14, Rivals.com ranked them 15) in terms of prospective talent. This must be what it’s like to watch CNBC or Bloomberg, right?

What struck me, apart from the fact ESPN needed ten hours to cover about four hours worth of “action,” was the amount of depth and information compiled on even the most unranked of unranked athletes. With our nation fully engrossed in football madness, and in the age of communication we now find ourselves in, how much longer before we know who they are taking, or worse yet interested in who they are taking, to prom?

I wonder how long it will be before we are looking a little too deep into the lives of minors. Just as an example, an Ohio State recruit was arrested for allegedly fondling “as many as” eight girls. I love they reported that “as many as” part. Not that he shouldn’t be reprimanded if the allegations are true, but wow. It gives you some perspective.

I’ve always struggled a little bit with paying as much attention as I do, and my wife makes fun of me about it whenever she catches me in a heated debate on why an offensive lineman didn’t get a fourth star but clearly should have. Usually the day of signing or the weeks following I find myself wondering why I spend so much time following the recruiting process. Which is probably why I have my account renew in January.

College Football is Over

Cecil and Cam Newton share a hug after the title game. Photo/Opelika-Auburn News

Say what you will about the BCS Champion Auburn Tigers and their exiting quarterback, Cam Newton.  The SEC champions are also winners of the BCS trophy.  With that, college football is over.  Not because of Cam’s season which was clouded with speculation over his father, Cecil Newton’s pay for play scandal with Mississippi State, but because it is technically in the books which is a giant relief, at least for my wife.

Football is the clear runaway sport in terms of television ratings and advertising revenue in this country, and it’s not even close.  With all the coverage of 30 plus bowl games, postseason awards and my own unhealthy obsession with my favorite team the stimulation from it all is staggering.

Cam Newton is on his way to the NFL, which in terms of ratings, money and fan support is becoming a giant among midgets in the sports world.  Last weekend the NFL Wildcard playoffs were watched by over 30 million viewers and overall, the NFL brought in over 200 million unique viewers over the course of the season.  The World Series this year lost out to a rerun of Will and Grace.

Not that I mind, I love watching the NFL.  And by all practical purposes, football is a built for television sport.  Of course going to the game is an “experience” but it’s almost better to watch on your couch than at the top of the stadium while you get rain/snow/beer spilled on you.  Baseball is all about going to the stadium, which shows why it struggles to even come near the NFL in terms of viewership.  The model is great in the pros, but will division 1-A ever take a page out of their book?

It almost makes you wonder where the breaking point is with amateur football.  How long before people stage some sort of boycott with the college game (FBS, specifically) because of incidents like Cam Newton?  Or just because not having a playoff makes the sport a total joke?  But how can there be any change with the status quo when more people show up to games and tune in to games in record numbers year over year?  Even during the last couple years when the economy was in the tank?

The fact is that we’ll never see a playoff in college football.  At least not like it is in the NFL or any other level of college football, which for the record is way more exciting.  People in charge of college ball and media pundits act like creating a playoff system is like splitting the atom, when any Joe sports fan has constructed a playoff with his buddies on a Saturday afternoon at the bar on a cocktail napkin.  And you know what?  It would probably work.

Auburn will go down in the history books as the 2010 national champion (well, until the NCAA takes it away in four or five years, along with Cam’s Heisman), but everyone knows it will always be a mythical national championship.  And the teams that came before the Tigers have the same claim.  Until a team like TCU or Ohio State can play Auburn next in a plus one system or have a full on postseason playoff, it’s all an exhibition.

Big Saturday

Freshman Quarterback Taylor Martinez, the first to start a Nebraska season opener/Photo courtesy Eric Francis (Getty Images)

First, a word about last week’s opener against Western Kentucky.  For a team coming in to Memorial Stadium on a 20 plus game losing streak, you would expect a score of 49-10 or more.  However, if you watched the game and kept your eye on the stats, you’ll see a few chinks in the armor for the Nebraska defense.  The Blackshirts yielded 179 yards on the ground along with giving up an average of 4.5 yards per carry.  Against teams later in the season who will control the ball with the run it might make you a little nervous, and it should, at least a little.

The #6 Huskers have some questions on defense with the departure of once in a decade talent Ndamukong Suh heading to the NFL.  Also big tackling players like Phillip Dillard and Larry Asante playing on Sunday doesn’t help much either.  Top it all off with our two starting linebackers for this year on the bench with injury, stopping the run could be an Achilles heel.  Junior college transfer LaVonte David had 13 tackles, but in his post game press conference head coach Bo Pelini was not happy with his performance saying he missed multiple assignments.  This weekend Idaho will come to Lincoln and won’t be much of an indicator as to if this deficiency can be easily fixed, or if it is something we will see all season.

Under Pelini, albeit only two seasons, the second game of the season has been a bit of a struggle.  San Jose State in 2008 and Arkansas State in 2009 were a bit of a letdown after some strong opening performances.  The Vandals might give some similar headaches with Nebraska possibly looking ahead to next Saturday’s match up with Jake Locker and the Washington Huskies in Seattle, which is never an easy place to play.

Outside of Lincoln this weekend, it is stacking up to be huge if you’re a college football fan.  If games like Florida State against Oklahoma, Penn State versus Alabama and Miami at Ohio State aren’t enough to get you excited, I think the U.S. Open is still going on.  Not to mention, unrated but still intriguing to watch, Michigan traveling to South Bend, Ind. to face Notre Dame.  Just a quick note on the last game mentioned there, I listen to the ESPNU College Gameday podcast throughout the season.  One day of the week host and ESPN.com writer Ivan Maisel talks with Beano Cook.  You remember Beano right?  ESPN used to dust him off and drag him in front of a camera several years ago to blather on about, well, God only knows.  You’re parents and grandparents will remember him from stints on ABC and NBC.  Old Beano is convinced if the Irish win their first six games, they’ll be playing for the national title in January.  They’re only receiving votes at this point,  and playing in a bowl should be the only thing this team is concentrating on.  Period.  I just wanted to point out that Beano is very, very old and talks about Notre Dame a lot.  He still even pronounces it No-tra, as opposed to No-ter like everyone else.  It’s not the 40′s anymore Beano, and Frank Leahy has been dead for awhile.  Interesting to note, Leahy is from O’Neill, Nebraska.  Oh, and Knute Rockne wasn’t Catholic either.

Alright, I missed the party for Week one, but here we go with Big 12 picks first, then two big non-conference games.  This year we’ll keep it efficient.

#15 Georgia Tech @ Kansas: GT 38 – KU 10

Idaho @ #6 Nebraska: Nebraska 42 – Idaho 12

Colorado @ Cal: Cal 27- CU 21

#17 Florida State @ #10 Oklahoma: OU 28 – FSU 24

Iowa State @ #9 Iowa: Iowa 35 – ISU 17

McNeese State @ Missouri: Mizzou 49 – McNeese State 7

Troy @ Oklahoma State: OSU 45 – Troy 14

Buffalo @ Baylor: BU 37 – Buffalo 3

Louisiana Tech @ Texas A&M: Aggies 42- Techies 10

Wyoming @ Texas: Horns 56 – ‘Boys 13

Missouri State @ Kansas State: Cats 42 – Bears 0

Texas Tech @ New Mexico: Raiders 42 – Lobos 7

#18 Penn State @ #1 Alabama: Tide 35 – Nittany Lions 7

#12 Miami @ #2 Ohio State: Bucks 24 – Canes 21