If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
In the 21st century, we could all use the kind of media training provided for college football stars and NFL Draft hopefuls. Quick -- describe yourself in pithy, media-friendly sound bytes that will translate into lucrative business deals. Yeah, I couldn't do it either.
With the absence of Goff from the program, the Monarchs need to find another cog to keep the wheels turning for the team. In what will be the fourth season for Coach Jeff Knarr, there needs to be a drastic change for a squad that has been coming up short in recent years.
In the 2013 NFL Draft, sheer athletic talent will seduce several professional football coaches, general managers and owners into making a terribly expensive errors. At the highest level of competition in any sport, athletic skill is not enough.
As we look back on the event for glorifying this most "manly" of sports in America -- the Super Bowl -- it's time to step back and take a look at what our national football obsession could be doing to our collective psyche.
College football is arguably the most popular sport at the nation's colleges and universities. Like every area of higher education, finding the right blend of diversity on the football field is a challenge.
I met my girlfriend on Twitter. Our first date we stayed up half the night retweeting tweets and creating new hashtags. She blogged about me on WordPress. I started a LiveJournal. We connected on so many levels.
It's precisely this social norm that contributes to a football star thinking he's in a relationship with someone he refers to as his "girlfriend."
Our first reaction was laughter, though that hardly seems fitting. Hypocrisy is rarely funny. After two years full of questions but absolutely no answers, the NCAA just dropped the figurative hammer on itself. Let's review the facts, or lack thereof.
In effect, the NCAA has changed its philosophy from socialism to capitalism. It has changed its system from being state-run to the free market. Now, how will this affect Notre Dame? Will Notre Dame be willing to spend the money to compete with the football factories?
This story can be spun in dozens of ways. But one thing clearly emerges for me: Humans are vulnerable; we create our reality indirectly, using words and images, building on dreams. By our nature, our language permits the twinned characteristics of fiction and deception.
If the Notre Dame linebacker at the center of the "girlfriend hoax" story indeed constructed an elaborate cover story for his gay closet, as so many gay men do in worlds that demand they be heterosexual, the emotional jolt of humiliation and embarrassment at being exposed will be overwhelming.
There has been an exponential explosion in college football bowl games -- 35 in all will be played, leading up to Monday's BCS Championship at the Orange Bowl. But is more, less?
Monday night, another chapter in the age old rivalry between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Alabama Crimson Tide takes place.
November and December were exciting months in the world of college football and the events causing the excitement not only involved money but highlighted the differences between, let us say for purposes of illustration, college athletic departments and their philosophy departments.
Strength of schedule has no impact on the probability of a coach being fired. And winning definitely helps. So coaches shouldn't try and seek out the best competition for their team.
At best, Notre Dame is the fifth best team in the nation and, according to our projections, on a neutral field, would be an underdog to at least four teams in the SEC.
Most Popular
