For those of you who think UCLA football is doomed to battle for
recruits in the same city as USC, you probably weren’t at the
L.A. Coliseum on Saturday. While the Trojans were about ready to
eke past a mediocre Washington State club on the road, Alcorn State
and Morehouse College were playing in the annual Silver Dollar
Classic in Los Angeles. It was the first time since 1989 that teams
for historically black universities had played against each other
in Los Angeles. Alcorn State traveled from southwest Mississippi
and Morehouse came all the way from Atlanta, for just one game. The
Southern schools agreed to play at a neutral site for a guaranteed
payout of $100,000. The Silver Dollar Classic is a little-hyped
game that moves to a different location each year in hopes of
drawing attention to the struggling football teams for these
tradition-rich black colleges. Most of the black colleges in the
South, such as Grambling State, offered a college education in a
free environment at the height of racial segregation in the South.
The historical significance of these universities is monumental to
the South’s black community. As a result, these
schools’ football teams could be the last real symbol of
civic pride at the collegiate football level. So, Alcorn
State’s 23-6 win over Morehouse carries a larger meaning than
just the score. The Silver Dollar Classic is an honest attempt to
bring talented black athletes to these important colleges, as well
as to keep their programs financially afloat. But in the age of
overexposure for college athletes and the millions of dollars that
are at stake in the pros, there aren’t too many top-flight
prospects yearning to be the next Steve McNair. If you’re a
college football fan, just hope you go to a school that benefits
from the system ““ a school like UCLA. Otherwise, it’s a
sad reality that has no real solution.
PAC-10 POWDERKEG: The first five weeks of the season have proven
just how riddled with mediocrity the Pac-10 has become. It’s
not just about Boise State’s 42-14 thumping of Oregon State
in week one, or Tennessee’s drubbing of Cal in Knoxville.
What’s worse is how the low-grade parity has overtaken the
conference. UCLA’s loss to Washington insures that USC,
Oregon, and Cal will top the standings, while no other team is
likely to get seven wins. If anyone needed more evidence why a
USC-UCLA comparison is laughable right now, here it is: For all the
reasons the Trojans stumbled in their 28-22 win over the Cougars
(playing on the road; a sluggish game by the quarterback), they
still won the game. Check it in the win column, 25th straight
against Pac-10 foes, and move on. For all those same reasons, the
Bruins lost to the Huskies. Don’t look now, but the Huskies
(4-1) might have secured a bowl appearance with that win over the
Bruins. This is for the sake of blatant hypocrisy: Can the
Associated Press and the Coaches’ Poll stop punishing Cal for
its loss at Tennessee? The Bears are better than No. 20. If
Stanford coach Walt Harris keeps his job through the rest of the
season, I’d be surprised. The Cardinal might be better off
bringing Bill Walsh out of retirement to coach in Palo Alto
again.
SPARTAN FADE: After essentially beating Notre Dame before a
monumental choke job to drop a 40-37 heartbreaker at home, it
looked like things couldn’t get worse for Michigan State. A
week later, it did. In their homecoming game, the Spartans lost to
Illinois, 23-20. Illinois, who hadn’t won a conference game
since beating Indiana in November 2004. Illinois, who proceeded to
plant its school flag at the 50-yard line in front of all the
Spartan alumni in attendance. That might not get the alumni
fund-raising off on the right foot in 2006-2007. “We
didn’t get our kids prepared to play the game,” MSU
coach John L. Smith said. “If you go out unprepared,
emotionally and mentally, you’re going to lose and deserve to
lose.” You think? Imagine the bloodbath if Karl Dorrell had
given a postgame statement like that. Or maybe the UCLA players
would have responded by actually playing with some attitude against
Stanford. We can only speculate, of course.