Did y'all know that it’s football season? It either never ended or it has already started depending on your point of view.I know that I’m not going to make any friends here by pointing out that in about seven months your football teams are going to get thumped by my football teams. Sorry. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there has been a trend developing and you need to know why. While y’all are all wrapped up in the NBA playoffs, distracted by baseball, and still decompressing from NCAA basketball, want to know what we’re doing down south? Football.
We know that our neighbors to the north feel that football in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and the rest of Big 10 country is really important and of a high quality. In the south, we think you guys are cute with all the fuss you make. Year after year, you post bowl records like 1-6 and serve up cannon fodder for the BCS title game without knowing why. As soon as the bowl season is over, you retreat to your gyms and start dreaming about the day pitchers and catcher report without doing any analysis about what happened. You need to know why in the most important sport, the south rules.
Let’s start here: last week we finished up spring ball in Louisiana. After three straight weeks of full pads/full contact practice with all players and coaches participating we topped it off with a live scrimmage game against another school that had done the same. We are not unique, this happened all across the state and the south as it does every year. What are your high school athletes doing?
Next, take a look at the Rivals.com top 100 football players list this year. Notice that 69 of the 100 come from SEC, ACC, and Big 12 states. Look at the BCS conferences (and Notre Dame) and you see that SEC schools alone signed 33 of the top 100. Hate to rub it in but the Big 10 only got 13 and none of them were ranked in the top 25! The Big East? One blue chipper, #61 and he went to South Florida!
We just flat out care about football more. It’s such a cliché to say that the holy trinity of high school/NCCA/NFL football is the Friday/Saturday/Sunday religion in the south. Most of you never believed it anyway. Just consider yourself invited to come see it in person.
My point? More emphasis = good players playing more = better teams = best football in the country.
Now someone explain to me how the Big East gets an automatic BCS berth and the Mountain West doesn’t.
Good points all. And did you mention an invite? You know, I always wanted to attend an SEC game . . .
ReplyDeleteAll good points and proven on the football field...BUT, let's bring LSU to Columbus Ohio in Jan for a bowl game! OR, Let's bring Florida to anywhere in Ohio in Jan for a bowl game. Less it's Sept 30th or sooner, doesn't seem as if any SEC teams want to cross over the Virginia or Kentucty state line..I think our teams are geared more to winning in late November in 30 degree's. Plus it doesn't help matters to have to play bowl games 50 miles from the southern teams campus (ala, LSU 2 years ago)...enough of my whining, until the cycle swings back to the Big Ten, You win on points that are proven on the field!
ReplyDeleteI want to argue so bad...but alas I have no argument. The SEC was awesome in basketball this past year though, no?
ReplyDeleteThat cannon fodder link is soul crushing. Damn you Hightower.
ReplyDeleteFound this on an SEC blog site. Thought it might add perspective.
ReplyDeleteComing into the Bowl season, over the past five years, the Big Ten had an 8-7 lead over the SEC (after going 2-1 against the SEC in the 2006-2007 bowls).
Not to bad for us boys up north who only practice half as much as they do in dixie.
Ok, ok. The point of my post was to show that in the south we focus on football 24/7/365 at all levels and that trends/results are rewarding our passion.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it from the comments, it looks like y'all want to narrow this down into an SEC vs. Big 10 debate. Just remember, you asked for it.
I'll be back.
Tee-hee. He said y'all.
ReplyDeleteJT