| Subject: this article says it all.... |
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NDH
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Date Posted: 08:33:18 05/15/05 Sun
fuck 1-AA and fuck fordham football
By Joe Starkey
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 12, 2005
The NCAA should be mortified that Pitt and Youngstown State will play a football game Sept. 24 at Heinz Field.
And that West Virginia will butt heads with Wofford a week before that.
No disrespect to Youngstown State or Wofford, but there oughta be a law against this.
Division I-A teams should not, under any circumstances, play I-AA competition. Mostly because it's unfair. The difference can be measured in the 22 additional scholarships (85 to 63) available to I-A teams.
But instead of seeking to bar such "games," as it should have done long ago, the NCAA board of directors recently passed legislation that essentially sanctions such games and surely will increase them.
Anyone for Southern Cal vs. Duquesne?
The addition of a 12th game in 2006 likely means that many bigger schools will take the easy payday and fill out their slates with a home game against a I-AA punching bag.
In what amounts to incentive to do just that, the NCAA board has stipulated that victories over I-AA competition will count toward a I-A team's bowl eligibility. Part of the rationale, an NCAA spokesperson told me Wednesday, is to foster "rivalries" and help I-AA schools in recruiting.
Sorry, but I have to believe it's all about filling athletic department coffers on both sides.
It's a money grab.
So, instead of using that 12th game to try to stoke old rivalries (Pitt-Penn State) or give the home fans a game to get excited about, schools all around the country will be executing a widespread rip-off.
I mean, people are going to pay cold, hard cash to see Pitt play Youngstown State, even if it's just part of their season-ticket package.
Six of the eight Big East teams are getting a head start on the insanity. Pitt, WVU, Rutgers, Cincinnati, South Florida and UConn are hosting a Division I-AA team as part of their 11-game schedules this season.
Wasn't the weak-sister Big East supposed to be beefing up its non-conference schedules?
Granted, there are plenty of I-AA teams that are better than the worst I-A teams. Playing Wofford isn't much different than playing Buffalo or some other I-A weakling, but the least college football can do -- the least it could have done -- is limit the opportunity for grotesque mismatches.
Big East schools will tell you they are forced to play I-AA teams because of scheduling difficulties. They might need to find five non-conference games in 2006, for example, while other conferences won't have nearly as many dates to fill. And there are only so many teams to go around.
Too bad. If it takes scheduling a conference team twice, do it. West Virginia and Pitt talked about a second game a few years ago. Split the gate. Do something. Just don't play a I-AA opponent.
To be fair, schools like Pitt and West Virginia are just playing the hands they're dealt. And the I-AA schools aren't complaining, mind you. They get a nice payout of their own when they play sacrificial lamb at the big-time opponents' field.
Everybody's happy, except the fans, who, starting in 2006, will no doubt have to shell out more season-ticket money for a home slate that has increased by a game -- one that nobody wants to see.
Some I-A schools probably will wind up playing two I-AA teams in the same season. That's two near-automatic victories, two nice paydays and two more reasons to be ashamed of college football.
What a farce.
Joe Starkey is a sports writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com
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