For the record
Texas wins 41-38. I'm glad, thrilled even. But one thing still bothers me.
The media fucked it all up.
The media had to go on an all-out blitz, with ESPN trying to rank the USC team among the all-time greatest teams...before they even played the title game.
That ranking stuff, which they spent at least a week on if I recall, doesn't matter now, cause they didn't win.
For as long as I can remember this season, the media covered USC's quest for a national championship 3-peat. Which is all fine and good.
Except for the fact that they didn't want to tell the whole story.
That first title wasn't the BCS title. It was an AP title. They didn't have a shot to win the BCS title that year. Not their fault, mind you (aside from the fact that had they beaten Cal, they chances would have been a helluva lot better), since they didn't have a chance to play in the BCS title game that year, but LSU won the BCS title. Now, before all this BCS nonsense began, I would have been fine with saying "USC is going for a 3-peat." But the six major conferences, and Notre Dame, had to sign off on this whole BCS thing, and ABC got the rights to cover the BCS games, including the BCS Title game. You would think that ABC would want to mention that USC was trying to win their 2nd straight BCS title, in addition to the AP title, and avoid ruffling the feathers amongst the BCS committee. Apparently they don't care (I hate the BCS myself), and if I were involved with the BCS, I'd consider looking into whether ABC breached the contract in some way by counting the AP title as equal to the BCS title (I think the end-result of all this should be a national championship tournament, so as to avoid this problem - otherwise I'd like to award the MP, or Maloney Pony, National Championship to Penn State, if for no other reason than to give JoePa one more title before he forgets what football is.).
The worst thing that the media has done is actually something they haven't done just yet, if only because the game just ended. It may not happen, but if recent trends continue, it's only a matter of time before the media says that USC wasn't any good at all. If you remember the hype Notre Dame received leading up their Bowl matchup with the Buckeyes, it was all about how great Notre Dame became so quickly. After the loss, all you heard was how overrated ND was, and how they were a pretender to the top level of teams. Leading up to the Colts matchup with the Chargers, it was all about, how long the Colts would stay unbeaten, and if they could match the '72 Dolphins. Then they lose, and suddenly there are rumblings that they aren't even the best team in the league. The media loves to build up a team to tear them down. I figure with the investigation into recruitment violations, it's only a matter of time until USC faces the same fate.
Well, that's about it for that topic. I'm glad college football season is over. Now it's onto college basketball. I wonder if I can successfully place a voodoo curse on Billy "Fudge" Packer. Here's hoping.
The media fucked it all up.
The media had to go on an all-out blitz, with ESPN trying to rank the USC team among the all-time greatest teams...before they even played the title game.
That ranking stuff, which they spent at least a week on if I recall, doesn't matter now, cause they didn't win.
For as long as I can remember this season, the media covered USC's quest for a national championship 3-peat. Which is all fine and good.
Except for the fact that they didn't want to tell the whole story.
That first title wasn't the BCS title. It was an AP title. They didn't have a shot to win the BCS title that year. Not their fault, mind you (aside from the fact that had they beaten Cal, they chances would have been a helluva lot better), since they didn't have a chance to play in the BCS title game that year, but LSU won the BCS title. Now, before all this BCS nonsense began, I would have been fine with saying "USC is going for a 3-peat." But the six major conferences, and Notre Dame, had to sign off on this whole BCS thing, and ABC got the rights to cover the BCS games, including the BCS Title game. You would think that ABC would want to mention that USC was trying to win their 2nd straight BCS title, in addition to the AP title, and avoid ruffling the feathers amongst the BCS committee. Apparently they don't care (I hate the BCS myself), and if I were involved with the BCS, I'd consider looking into whether ABC breached the contract in some way by counting the AP title as equal to the BCS title (I think the end-result of all this should be a national championship tournament, so as to avoid this problem - otherwise I'd like to award the MP, or Maloney Pony, National Championship to Penn State, if for no other reason than to give JoePa one more title before he forgets what football is.).
The worst thing that the media has done is actually something they haven't done just yet, if only because the game just ended. It may not happen, but if recent trends continue, it's only a matter of time before the media says that USC wasn't any good at all. If you remember the hype Notre Dame received leading up their Bowl matchup with the Buckeyes, it was all about how great Notre Dame became so quickly. After the loss, all you heard was how overrated ND was, and how they were a pretender to the top level of teams. Leading up to the Colts matchup with the Chargers, it was all about, how long the Colts would stay unbeaten, and if they could match the '72 Dolphins. Then they lose, and suddenly there are rumblings that they aren't even the best team in the league. The media loves to build up a team to tear them down. I figure with the investigation into recruitment violations, it's only a matter of time until USC faces the same fate.
Well, that's about it for that topic. I'm glad college football season is over. Now it's onto college basketball. I wonder if I can successfully place a voodoo curse on Billy "Fudge" Packer. Here's hoping.