There’s a saying I once heard in the movie Vanilla Sky but I’m sure it was taken from somehwere else. “What is the answer to 99 of the most asked 100 questions? Money.” To add to that, I’d say the remaining one question is God.
I’m sure on Dec. 3, many Florida State University students, faculty/staff, fans and players went to bed after celebrating their undefeated season with an Atlanta Coast Conferece (ACC) Championship thinking they’re going to be in the College Football Playoffs. But on Sunday, Dec. 4, like a Grinch the CFP Committee said not so fast.
FSU went undefeated 13-0 with the win over Louisville. They’re one of three teams undfeated including Michigan and Washington. However, they’re ranked fifth behind Alabama which movied up to No. 4 after a close win over Georgia in the SEC Championship. Texas is third after a win over Oklahoma State in the Big XII Championship. But there’s something fishy here.
And you only have to look at the schools. Washington is in the Pac-12. Michigan is in the Big 10 East. And FSU is in the ACC, which is what Brian Jones was to The Rolling Stones. Yes, it’s important, but not that important. And let’s face it, the schools in the other conference are bigger names. So going undefeated or just being defeated once is more street cred.
Also, it shows that games don’t mean anything compare to the “sweet, sweet green.” And FSU should know they’ve been favored more in the past even with more losses. It’s all about who can really bring in the sponsors and the money. I don’t want to look at how these committees choose the teams because I know they’re factoring in things that some fans can’t even fathom. Alabama defeated UGA knocking them off their pedestal. That means more than FSU defeating Louisville.
Imagine an action comedy buddy movie where the A-lister action star gets to shoot the character actor playing the main henchman. At the same time, the up-and-coming comic relief sidekick gets to kill the A-lister doing a villain turn. It means more for the comic relief than it does for the action star. Not to say that Alabama isn’t the comic relief sidekick (unless you’re an Auburn fan, right?!). But in all seriousness, it’s all about who’s who.
I don’t make the rules. But they are written in pencil.
This should also make us wonder what’s the purpose of colleges and universities if all we care about are the athletic programs. Last month, Texas A&M University fired Jimbo Fisher and is expected to pay out his $76 million contract. He’s getting eight figures for doing absolutely nothing. And this is why college tuition is at an all-time high. Some people could argue that most of the money comes from boosters, donors and a cut of the college’s profits on the TV deals and the corporate sponsorship. Yet all these colleges and universities, along with the NCAA, are all considered non-profits. Still, they rake in a lot of money, but as long as the colleges and universities give out scholarships to athletics and other organizations, it’s perfectly legal.
What isn’t legal is student athletes having their own likeness rights. That’s owned by the schools. I heard that the student booster club had to keep detailed receipts for buying Papa Johns Pizza for the Georgia Southern University football team. In other words, a student athlete can’t get even get a slice of pizza without it being bought and paid for through legal donations.
And while we criticize predatory loan programs, we should also point the finger at colleges and universities for taking advantage of young athletese and their parents. I forget when or where I saw it but a news crew set up footage of football players at a major high school on signing day. And if a picture tells 1,000 words I don’t think there could have been as many monosyllabic as this handfull of student athletes smiled and looked at each other as if they had just won the lottery. Yet, a lot of them didn’t even look like they knew how to sign their own name.
I understood it was done all for the cameras but it really showed how some of these athletes don’t know what they’re in store for. Most will be red-shirted. They go from being the big fish in the small pond to being thrown in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. They’re away from home for the first time and they have to make the grades and don’t have some educational bureaucrat who will fudge some things. And if they are put on the injured list, that’s all on them for medical costs and expenses.
And this is all perfectly legal too. Yet, if someone hands them a Band-Aid without it coming from the right source, there’s hell to pay. I’ve covered some of these high school student athletes who later went on to do absolutely nothing at the college level. You can see it when they’re in high school. They get the big heads early on and no one risks telling them any different until it’s too late.
The CFP will expand to 12 teams next year, something that should have happened a long time ago. And I’m sure it has to do with money with TV broadcast and corporate sponsors. With the shake up in the Power Five Conferences next season as the PAC-12 is basically over and Oklahoma and Texas moving to the SEC, it has to be done.
The whole program is a scam for all the slack-jawed fans who don’t realize they’re being screwed over. Your tax dollars pay for a stadium. Your tax dollars pay for an athletic program. Your tax dollars subsidize the tax credits they get. And they still want to charge you (sometimes an outrageous amount) to attend a game.
FSU is going to be A-OK.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 