With UCLA in the midst of two consecutive bye weeks, football
fans on campus have had to look elsewhere to satisfy their weekly
appetite for the sport. Although everything from high school to
European-style football are at the peaks of their respective
seasons, there is not a single decent alternative to choose
from.
Strangely enough, it’s the fans who tune into the NFL on
Sundays who are looking in the worst place of all. Professional
football players are more skilled, experienced and flashier than
their college counterparts; yet the game they play is far duller
and more uninspiring in comparison.
Of course, the pros play football at the highest level possible,
and that’s what fans are instructed to love about any sport.
But this is a misguided lesson that deprives fans of arguably the
most thrilling aspect of sports ““ the unpredictability.
College football may not have the acrobatics or precision of the
professional ranks, yet it’s the head-scratching and
jaw-dropping sequences and series that make it so much more
fan-friendly.
Quarterbacks make awful decisions, cornerbacks take horrible
lines to the ball, and running backs have a propensity to fumble
that isn’t there in the NFL. It all makes the college game as
entertaining as it is sloppy.
“I think the unexpectedness of a lot of the components of
the game is what makes it so exciting,” fourth-year student
Sarah Pura said of the college game. “These kids are young,
playing a very serious sport, and mistakes are made and
opportunities are seized. It makes college football more of a
roller coaster ride.”
The excitement of college football extends beyond the
anticipation of the next collapse or moment of inadvertent
brilliance. Although there’s an ironic beauty in watching a
game with more turnovers than punts, the more genuine beauty of the
game lies in its tradition.
Unfortunately, this word has been used to vilify the college
game these days. The trendiest complaint in college football
circles is the lack of a playoff system. As nice as it might be to
have one undisputed national champion, the historic bowl system in
place attaches an importance to regular season games that is
completely lacking in every playoff-based sport. Teams competing
for the national championship can’t afford a single loss,
meaning the fate of an entire season is on the line each weekend.
For teams that aren’t in contention, they play for a sense of
school pride that doesn’t exist in professional football.
“Since there’s no playoff system, the bowls bring
out the best in college athletes,” fourth-year student Nick
Corpuz said. “Every game is a playoff.”
Nowhere is the playoff atmosphere more apparent than on rivalry
weekend. UCLA has been playing USC every year since 1936 and the
rivalry has flourished because of its long history and dramatic
storylines.
On the other side, the NFL’s first Super Bowl wasn’t
until 1967 and any rivalry that appears there between two teams
proves to be about as long-lasting as a Britney Spears
marriage.
“Rivalries come and go as the teams do, because parody is
built in,” Corpuz said of the NFL. “Only the great
teams will always have a rivalry.”
As long-term success becomes a more fleeting goal and as more
teams rise and fall out of the upper echelon of the NFL, the
rivalries crumble just as quickly as they develop. Roots of NFL
rivalries lay in an artificial media hype designed to attract
attention to an important game. However, once that game loses its
meaning, the rivalry does too.
College football, on the other hand, prides itself on more
historic and genuine rivalries that retain their essence regardless
of a team’s record.
“You get these teams that have been playing for so long,
and that’s what makes the rivalry,” Corpuz said.
“Think about how many coaches have lost their jobs because
they weren’t able to beat their rival.”
UCLA students probably wouldn’t even know that coach Karl
Dorrell had former coach Bob Toledo’s teams not folded
against the Trojans during the latter’s final two
seasons.
But the rivalry emphasis of college football opened a door for
Dorrell, and UCLA fans hope the unpredictable nature of the sport
will transform him into a hero when his team takes on USC next
Saturday.
If it doesn’t, the Bruin faithful will need to turn
somewhere to erase the pain of another loss to the Trojans.
Switching to the NFL one day later will only leave them even more
disappointed.
E-mail Finley your plans for the USC game and the day after
at afinley@media.ucla.edu.