Heritage, Civil War, and College Football
One reason college football has been a virtual religion in the American South is that it embodies the traditional values and virtues of the Old South.
As I posted the other day, my guide word for 2024 is "authentic".
Authentic means that sometimes what I write is going to piss people off, but it also means that I will use my brain and mediocre writing talent to express my unvarnished thoughts and feelings on things about which I care.
This is a post about college football taken from the heart of a lifelong fan, a admittedly biased SEC supporter and a devoted Ole Miss Rebel. It takes a few turns before it gets to the point, but in this case, I deemed this background necessary.
I am a Southerner, born and bred. Today, the genteel and gentlemanly (and ladylike) heritage of the Old South has been erased as every native Southerner is deemed a frothing mouth white supremacist and racist - obviously ironic given the racist anti-racism, antisemitism and incivility that runs rampant in liberal enclaves north of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Granted, I grew up with college football before it became a farm league for the NFL, it embodied everything good about America, loyalty, honesty, duty, honor, excellence, respect, team unity, devotion to the sport, and dedication.
These traits are part of my Southern heritage.
No member of my American ancestry (that traces back to 1732) ever owned a slave or was a member of the KKK. My grandfather never signed a business contract his entire life, every agreement he made was sealed by a handshake and his honor. That too, is part of the heritage erased by the belief that the Civil War was ONLY about slavery - when admittedly some were fighting to preserve a way of life that included the enslavement of other humans - but a large percentage of Southerners were fighting to defend their own families, their homes and their farms.
It's funny how statues of Confederate origin are being destroyed and memorials of Union leaders are not - especially when the terror campaigns (in which many cities in the South were burned to the ground) overseen by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman represent some of them most indiscriminate violence vested on women and children during the war.
My hometown of New Albany, Mississippi was burned to the ground even though it had little to no strategic importance.
My rambling point is that just because there was evil does not mean there was not good. Two things can be true at the same time.
But enough stage-setting. What I really wanted to talk about is college football.
I care deeply about college football. College football for me is about more than a box score or Rivalry Week and I don't want to see it corrupted.
But that is where it is headed.
I have given up on all professional sports because they have been corrupted by money, greed and people whose only talents are working out and handling some form of a ball.
Now we begin the portion of the program that will piss off some people. Fair warning. Read on at your own risk.
I grew up 30 minutes from the Ole Miss campus in Oxford, Mississippi during the Archie Manning days. Cut me and I bleed red - and blue. My mascot is Colonel Rebel and "From Dixie with Love" still plays in my head anytime the Rebels take the field. The Stars and Bars is still my game day banner.
I have never, and I mean never, seen Colonel Rebel, the flag or the playing of Dixie as anything other than a representation of the University of Mississippi even though racists on both sides have seen to it that those images and sounds are now verboten. If you have every been to the Grove on game day, you don't know what a loss that is to the fans, students and graduates of that University.
I'm also a self-admitted SEC homer and will root for any SEC team against one from any other conference, even if I hate the SEC team the way I hate LSU.
Over the past couple of seasons I have witnessed:
Kids upset they aren't getting the playing time their parents (and their agents) think they deserve.
Kids (and supposed adults) getting angry over not getting to go to a bowl game they think befits their perceived status.
Kids jumping from school to school when their coaches don't give them what they want, searching for a better deal.
Kids pouting and deciding to let their team down by not playing.
Kids putting their desires ahead of the needs of their team even though they owe their visibility to professional scouts to that team.
One thing this bowl season has proven with all the opt-outs and athletes entering the transfer portal is that the old saying is true - 99% of winning is showing up.
In a bid to placate spoiled athletes, the "adults" running college football have turned it into a semi-pro league that operates like a massive kindergarten.
Say what you will about FSU, the kids not-playing in the Orange bowl had every right to make that decision under the current rules, so in that aspect were following the rules - but in my opinion, they also showed a selfish disrespect to their universities and athletic departments that supported them, to their coaches who helped them refine their skills, to the fans who cheered for them their entire careers and most of all, to their teammates.
I get that the opt-outers didn't want to get hurt in a "worthless" game - but maybe they should consider what made the game worthless and a big part of that was that they didn't show up and in the process, they put their lesser skilled teammates at risk of injury and put their teams in a weaker position to win. They also robbed their schools and conferences of larger shares of the money that comes with winning a major bowl game.
Hell, even the Poulan Weed-Eater Sanford Sharpie MainStay Investments PetroSun AdvoCare Duck Commander Camping World Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl has a payout.
Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals and the transfer portal have ruined college football. I can't wait until the lesser profile players at smaller colleges, especially at non-scholarship programs, start screaming for a NIL sharing program - and don't worry, that isn't too far away.
These things are going to stay. They are like saying something out loud you regret but can never take back once they are heard, but something has to be done. My initial thoughts:
The transfer portal has to have a date limit and it has to begin AFTER bowl season is over - or if you opt to enter the portal, you cannot exit until AFTER the final game your team plays in any season.
No athlete is allowed to hit the portal until after their first two seasons of eligibility has expired.
The NIL deals must come with a requirement that any benefits extended to the athlete from the university must be paid back first before the money is released to the athlete, and if you hit the portal, the university must be paid back before you are released to transfer.
Some percentage of NIL money - I'm thinking 25% - should go into a fund to help any player suffering a career ending injury - or God forbid - dying as a result of an injury related to participating in the football program.
Some percentage of NIL money goes to local charities to help kids attain educations and put them in a position to start their own college athletic careers if they so choose.
I won't go as far as to say kids should not be allowed to opt-out of bowl games, but if they do, they should also forfeit NIL money as compensation to their programs for their absence.
Those are my authentic opinions. If changes are not made, college football is going to die because it will lack the very characteristics that make it great.
Whether my opinions are valid is up to you to decide.
Maybe I shouldn't mention I was at the 1972 Ole Miss vs LSU, (Bert Jones vs Archie Manning) game? Easy, boy, easy. I know that must've been a tough one for you but... Seriously, I enjoy your perspective and takes on the American scene. Great writing.
I support all the remedials listed Michael.