FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Exactly when did the NCAA take football away from the fans, and turn it over to the networks and other commercial interests? Just a rhetorical question: I don't know the answer to that, either.

Take a look at what's happening now to that sport we all (we as in anyone caring to read this blog) grew up loving:

To be a college football fan today, it is imperative that each of us now have a favorite team that not only is in a BCS conference, but is in the upper tier of that conference. Without such standing, your team is relegated to nothing more than fodder in every media outlet save the school's local newspaper. Think about that fans of schools like Indiana, Wyoming, etc.: have any of your teams been highlighted in any (national) television or print media in the past umpteen years? No. You are officially in the category of "also played." Your scores are scrolled across the bottom of the screen on a Saturday afternoon, or maybe even announced on a half-time show. Even if your team scored a major upset, chances are the "big story" was not how your team played so well, but how the power-house team must have overlooked you.

I had somewhat foreseen this phenomenon several years ago. When Division I split into I-A and I-AA, you knew it was only a matter of time before there was only one true Division I. When the BCS sprang to life, you knew the rich were only going to get richer, as a Super Division I began to emerge. Will anyone be surprised if the "mid-majors" are completely locked out of BCS bowls in the near future?

What really irked me on this whole subject was the way Appalachian State's football team was utterly ignored in the wake of their upset of Michigan. I (and you, too) got to see replay upon replay of the final blocked field goal, but I saw (or read) not one iota of coverage about how well ASU played in that game. A casual mention of how ASU won a couple of championships in "that other division," but nothing about how great ASU really is. Not a single feature about the school or the players! Instead all we are subjugated to: "how will Michigan recover?" "will Carr get fired?" "can Michigan still win the Big Ten?" "does Michigan have a chance to still get to the BCS championship game?" Think back: isn't this what happened to Boise State, to a large extent, back in January? Yeah we got replays of the great plays of that game, and saw the marriage proposal enough, but what about the team and the school? Biggest upset in Bowl history, and we know nothing of the team. (Hey, are those the guys that play on the blue carpet?)

Do you get my point? I really have no favorite Division I team (except my alma mater which hasn't had a winning team in ages), but I would really like some coverage of the real stories - not just the stories of the top 25, or the stories the gamblers want to hear. We should have seen a huge celebration of the underdog this past weekend, but instead all we got was the mourning of a slain giant.