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 Let the kids have fun!
Posted: Thursday September 16, 1999 05:52 PM
CNN/SI college football analyst Trev Alberts answers your questions weekly during the season, including on-air during CNN's College Football Preview, Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. ET. To submit a question, click here. The season is young, and one thing that's very apparent to me is the college presidents and NCAA have a big dilemma on their hands if they don't get rid of the "excessive celebration" rule. I've played both levels and let me tell you, what makes college football so special is the emotion. You've got amateur athletes playing for their school and their team. At the next level, it's not necessarily about love of the game -- there's a huge business aspect to it, and it removes connections that fans and alumni can make to a team by truly celebrating football. Don't get me wrong, I am totally against a guy going up in another kid's face and saying something -- there's no place for it. But if a kid runs 60 yards for a touchdown -- let's say he's coming off a broken leg -- and five of his teammates smother him and he mugs to camera, and he gets a flag? I think the refs should be flagged! What makes college football so special is fans feel they can make a special connection with the players -- it's a collective effort. Fans actually feel they had impact on the game. I'll go to the Swamp this Saturday -- or any day of the week -- before I'd go to some pro stadium where everybody's just sitting there watching. But if this rule keeps up, we might find ourselves in the same situation in college.
I read where you were quoted as saying if Ron Dayne of Wisconsin does not win the Heisman, then it would be a total injustice (or something to that effect). My question to you would be this: Do you not think that Peyton Manning not being the Heisman winner is a total injustice? We in the SEC feel that whenever a decent candidate from the Big Ten, Notre Dame, or UCLA/USC is promoted among the top, all other conference candidates can go ahead and forget it! We feel that Jamal Lewis, Tee Martin, or Shaun Alexander should be the frontrunner since "according to the Woodson for Heisman Sportswriters," the trophy should be based on the athlete's season, and not his career. You are obviously referring to the so-called media bias toward Charles Woodson that year. I think the media can influence the Heisman, but remember there are hundreds of voters around the country. There may be influence by showing replays -- maybe Charles Woodson leaping up and making a catch looked more impressive than a Peyton Manning touchdown pass. But replays are only a small part of it -- you win the Heisman on the field. Also remember, it's about wins and losses, and Charles Woodson led an unspectacular team to the co-national championship, where Peyton Manning still had that Florida monkey on his back. I think it's time for Tennessee fans to let go of the conspiracy theories.
Why do the football media allow Joe Patero to get off the hook with his football player, LaVar Arrington, stalking and mugging Pitt's punter times during last Saturday's game? When asked during a postgame news conference about Arrington's behavior, Paterno said, "I didn't see it and ... I don't care!" Everybody assumes that a punter's like a place kicker, and you can't touch him. But the thing is -- and I was coached this when I played -- once the punter gets rid of the football, he's fair game like everybody else. It's just like a quarterback -- if Dan Marino throws an interception, he becomes a tackler and you have to get to him. I used to be in that same role as well; LaVar is the outside linebacker. Yes, LBs get excited about a punt because they never get to hit the punter. So what some coaches have done is just make the punter another player you have to block. To me, it was just an occasion where he hit him as hard as he could, and the punter took exception and they got into it. Hey, if punters don't want to get hit, don't go on field!
Is it just me, or are you also disturbed by some of the new uniforms we are seeing in college football? I don't know about you but I missed the entire first quarter of the BYU vs. Washington game because I had my head buried in the toilet after catching a glimpse of BYU's new uniforms. It's a new era, just like in the NFL where you see the Broncos' new uniform and stuff. In college football, the teams that really have a tradition -- the Penn States, Michigans, Notre Dames and Nebraskas - you'll never see the uniforms change, for the simple reason the boosters won't put up with it. When I was at Nebraska, the athletic director tried to jazz up the "N" on the helmet and it put the whole state in a panic. If you're a school with less tradition, it doesn't really bother me to tinker with the uniforms to try and create interest. But you always want to see Alabama with the little number on the helmet, and Michigan with the yellow streak, because tradition is what makes college football so special.
In Michigan State's 1st game vs. Oregon, the box score shows, under individual rushing attempts, four rushing attempts listed as "team rushing," for a minus-18 yards. I have never seen this listing before. I know that MSU's punter was tackled for a loss once beore he could punt, and he has no individual rushing attempts shown, but how are these "team rushing" attempts defined? Most likely, it was that play you described, plus fumbles -- the player who recovers it back doesn't get the yardage deducted from his individual total. And while these were probably credited to the quarterback himself, remember that yardage lost on sacks gets deducted from the team's rushing yards as well.
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