National Collegiate Athletic Association |
CommentMarch 24, 1997
Guest editorial -- Sub-Alliance bowls demand I-A's attention
BY CHARLES M. NEINAS Bowl games and college football are synonymous. Through the years, college football fans have come to expect that on New Year's Day, they can settle in front of their television sets and enjoy a plethora of games morning, noon and night. If you were to learn that Notre Dame played an indoor game on New Year's Day '94, the assumption would be that the Irish were in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Wrong! Amos Alonzo Stagg arranged for his University of Chicago Maroons to play Notre Dame indoors on New Year's Day 1894 in an effort to generate civic support for the then-fledgling university he represented. Although the Rose Bowl holds the distinction of being "the granddaddy of them all" dating back to 1902, one could argue that postseason football is more than 100 years old if you consider Mr. Stagg's ingenuity that predated the first Rose Bowl by eight years. For the most part, however, the bowl system as we know it today began some 60 years ago. Although the first Rose Bowl was played in 1902, the second Rose Bowl was not contested until 1916. The idea of sponsoring a college football game in a warm climate started with the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl in 1935, the Sun Bowl in 1936 and the Cotton Bowl in 1937. The question is frequently raised: Are there too many bowl games? History reveals that following World War II, there were more than 50 postseason games and that one team (Hardin-Simmons) played in three games in one season. There were horror stories about promoters pocketing the money, and the teams received little or nothing for their participation. The NCAA membership wisely enacted legislation to require postseason games to be properly certified and established specific requirements, including the distribution of revenue. Also, a college football team was restricted to one bowl game per season. New Year's Day became a focal point of the college football season. Four major bowls (Cotton, Orange, Rose and Sugar) each had their niche and provided much of the tradition that we associate with bowl games today. Times change! Last season there were 18 bowl games, with nine played on December 31 or January 1. In recent years, bowl committees have found it necessary to obtain title sponsors in an effort to augment revenue, sometimes to offset a reduction in television rights. As a result, names have been changed, as exemplified by the annual contest played in El Paso, Texas, which has been known as the Sun Bowl, the John Hancock Sun Bowl, the John Hancock Bowl and, currently, the Norwest Bank Sun Bowl. As the NCAA enacted legislation more than 40 years ago to regulate postseason football, colleges again must address the problems associated with bowl games because the current system will falter unless there is some meaningful change. Many bowl executives recognize the need for positive remedies or their games may go the way of the Bluebonnet, All-American, Cherry, Garden State, Gotham and Salad Bowls. They may even toast the Bacardi Bowl that was played in Havana on New Year's Day 1937 (final score: Auburn 7, Villanova 7). Like most things in life, there are no easy solutions. The resolution adopted at the 1997 NCAA Convention directs the newly established Division I Board of Directors, composed of chief executive officers, to evaluate the current postseason college football system. Some may believe that this is going to be a forerunner to an NCAA Division I-A championship, but the fact remains that there has been strong resistance among presidents and chancellors to an NCAA playoff. The potential revenue from such a playoff may change the minds of some because it could help finance gender equity and other sports; however, the majority of Division I-A coaches are not enthusiastic about a championship. Since there are no plans for a Division I-A championship and in recognition of the public's desire to determine a true national champion, the commissioners of some of the major conferences came forward to fill the void and created the Alliance that guarantees participation by the champions of the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Twelve and Southeastern Conferences for positions in the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar Bowls. A pre-emptive move by ABC Sports to televise a quasi-national championship for college football after the 1998 season resulted in the so-called "Super Alliance" that will include the champions of the Big Ten and Pacific-10 Conferences and the Rose Bowl. Participating conferences have signed agreements for such an arrangement for a period of seven years, although there is an opt-out clause that could be invoked following the football season of 2001. The estimated value of the Super Alliance, based upon ABC's commitment and other factors, is estimated to be between $90 million and $100 million per year, which is not a bad day's work. It is logical to ask, can there be problems with postseason football when the Super Alliance can generate such significant revenue? The problem rests with the sub-Alliance bowls. Because of the significant television dollars committed to the four Alliance bowls, there has already been a decrease in television rights revenue to many of the other bowl games. That, combined with the promotional and media emphasis on the Alliance bowls, has had an impact upon other postseason games attempting to secure title sponsors and more television revenue. Consequently, it is necessary for such bowl games to increase their reliance upon ticket sales and community contributions to remain healthy and viable enterprises. Complicating the procedure are commitments to reserve slots for various conference teams in most of the bowl games that has resulted, in some cases, in poor attendance because of lack of interest. Some current bowl games can be considered on the endangered species list. In at least one instance, the situation has reached such critical proportions that conferences have underwritten guarantees or provided letters of credit to ensure a bowl's survival, which in my opinion is a questionable practice. It would appear prudent to conduct a thorough evaluation of the postseason bowl industry that could result in a cooperative effort involving the colleges and bowl committees to refine the system and retain opportunities for football teams to enjoy a postseason experience. In the past, the bowls have operated independently of each other and conferences have been in competition to reserve positions for their members. If the current system is to remain viable, however, cooperation between all interested parties is imperative or the casualty list of bowl games could reach tragic proportions. It would be ironic if the demand for a Division I-A football tournament was prompted not by a desire to determine a true national champion but by the need to create postseason opportunities for more than eight teams. Charles M. Neinas is executive director of the College Football Association. Comment -- Smith moves to the front of the lineReaction to the 877th coaching victory of University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, coach Dean Smith, which set the record for the most wins ever by a college basketball coach. Smith surpassed University of Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp with a 73-56 victory over the University of Colorado, Boulder, March 15 in the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship:
MARK BRADLEY "The dilemma Saturday: How do you stage a coronation for a king who won't agree to sit still? The hullabaloo surrounding victory No. 877 was whipped up without the consent or cooperation of Smith, who makes his living in the public arena but insists on having his space. His wife Linnea sat not in front on the aisle, as is the custom for spouses at NCAA time, but five rows from the top of the lower arena.
"When the game was done, Carolina having whipped Colorado 73-56, Smith left the floor forthwith, the chant of 'Dean! Dean!' giving him no reason to tarry. "Only in the hall was he forced to concede that this was no ordinary afternoon. "There he was greeted by a band of former Heels, among them George Karl, Sam Perkins and Bobby Jones, and 36 years came rushing back. 'They're all connected,' Smith said. '(Billy) Cunningham recruited (Larry) Miller, and Miller recruited Charles Scott.' "Said Serge Zwikker, the incumbent center: 'It wasn't just this team that did this. You go down that hallway and there were 20 past teams standing there.' "
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University men's basketball coach "What Dean has done will be very hard to duplicate. There is no luck involved. He is well prepared....I'm not going to go into an Americana speech but (competition) is what kind of makes our country so good. Dean has been here the entire time that I've been here, he's been the guy I've competed against the most. You better not miss a step or he'll hold you accountable for it.... "It takes a lot, especially in this day and age. So, what he's done then becomes incredibly unique. That is why it will be well chronicled now and forever. That's why he's in the Hall of Fame. He's left his footprint on college basketball and it's a big one."
Terry Holland, director of athletics "I can't imagine it in today's world, but of course he's done it in today's world. It would be very unusual (for another coach to top Smith) ... The burnout rate is extremely high with coaches."
Michael Wilbon, columnist "With his Tar Heels leading by 24 points with 3 minutes 57 seconds and absolutely no suspense left in the game, Dean Smith called a 20-second timeout to rest a tired player and deliver a message. Hardly anybody in the stands or along press row knew the latter reason, except the former North Carolina players who'd flown here from the four corners of the country to celebrate what they correctly anticipated would be a historic victory. Randy Wiel, who played for Smith and assisted him on the bench for eight years before becoming a head coach himself, smiled at the very thought of the timeout and explained: 'Without being in that huddle today, I can pretty much tell you what he said in that timeout. He tells one of the assistants to keep score from that point on. He'll say, "We're starting the score from scratch now. It's 0-0." And whoever's in the game from then on will be graded on those four minutes.' "There is no garbage time if you play for North Carolina. Dean Smith called timeout in the interest of playing basketball the right way, which is the only way he knows. A benchwarmer named Ryan Sullivan, with 3:33 left, made a, well, unfortunate play while the shot clock ran out and Smith literally gave him the thumb back to the bench. Play the right way was the message, loud and clear. It wasn't that Smith wanted more points, or was trying to show up Colorado. Just play the right way. Every practice, every second, no matter the score or opponent, whether it's the first week of the season or the second round of the NCAA tournament. "It's part of a formula that helped Dean Smith win more games -- 877 as of Saturday afternoon -- than any other coach in college basketball history. It's a formula that has helped him win two NCAA championships, it's a formula that has benefited, to steal his phrase, 'some great players, good players who became better, and some who helped the team who didn't play very much.' "You look at other teams take dumb shots and turn the ball over and commit stupid fouls and then you watch North Carolina in amazement. You watch the Tar Heels take the best shot, protect the ball, control their emotions, make the safe pass, and you start to understand why Dean Smith is a big deal as a basketball coach." Opinions -- Title IX application controversial, even after 25 yearsEditorialThe Tampa Tribune "Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 is now 25 years old. Like most laws, it is not without imperfections. But there can be no doubt it has given women opportunities in sports that hardly existed a quarter-century ago and should therefore be considered a very successful piece of legislation. "Congress decided in 1972 that schools must allocate equal resources to men's and women's athletics. The year before, 294,015 American girls participated in high school sports. In the 1995-96 season, that number has escalated to 2.4 million. "In 1977-78, the academic year just before the Title IX mandatory compliance date, the number of intercollegiate women's sports offered was 5.61 per school. In 1996 the average was 7.3 women's sports per school, according to 'Women in Intercollegiate Sport,' a study by R. Vivian Acosta and Linda Jean Carpenter. "Other benefits of young women's involvement in athletics are well-documented. A female athlete in high school is three times more likely to graduate. Female athletes are 80 percent less likely to have an unwanted pregnancy, 92 percent less likely to use drugs, run a lower risk of contracting breast cancer, and possess higher self-esteem and a lower rate of depression. "The advances in women's sports were never more evident than in last year's Olympic Games in Atlanta. American women dominated gymnastics, track and field, and basketball. An entire generation has come of age during the existence of Title IX, and no one would want to go back to the old days. "But there has been concern over the past few years that improving opportunities for female athletes has come at the expense of men's programs. Lawsuits have been filed in protest of cuts in male scholarships. When Title IX was enacted, it was believed that more funding would correct the imbalance. With tight money, schools have had to make hard choices, and some men's sports programs have been dropped at many schools to ensure the equal participation of women. "Disaffection with Title IX strikes at the heart of the arguments raging today over racial and gender equality. Can equality be achieved by one group without diminishing opportunities for another? It is a sensitive, difficult question. "Men in nonrevenue-producing sports will continue to feel vulnerable, and cries of 'reverse discrimination' will be heard. But the values of athletics competition, long extolled for men -- teamwork, leadership, discipline, work ethic, self-sacrifice, pride in accomplishment, strength of character -- serve women equally well. Gender equity in athletics is about sharing and opportunity, and it is the mission of athletic departments not to lose sight of that as they continue to try to offer them on an equal basis."
Steve Erber, athletics director "How did we ever get to the point where, in order to participate in intercollegiate sports, an athlete needs a mahogany locker or a carpet that's four times more plush than you have in your living room? In major sports, the colleges have gotten into an arms race. Why can't we scale that back? Then every school can find that half million (dollars) to keep other programs going." |
"The North Carolina press release didn't mention the Rupp standard until the fourth sentence, and then only in passing. (The sixth sentence: 'UNC set a school record against Fairfield with just two turnovers.') As much as CBS might have wanted a glob of Ripken-esque warmth and fuzziness -- let the man of the moment circle Joel Coliseum, shaking hands -- that man would make no fuss.