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Bob Parasiliti (Joe Crocetta / April 15, 2012) |
There is always something comfortable about this time of year.
There is a secure feeling when it comes to Thanksgiving.
It’s all about traditions and homecoming and places we are comfortable being around.
We don’t need to go over the reasons why that happens. We’ve all seen the Norman Rockwell paintings of families sitting around turkeys and enjoying each other’s company.
An adopted tradition has spilled over into football. The Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions cashed in on that a long time ago, making sure that they and the NFL have a captive, nationwide audience.
When it comes to football, this part of the calendar has always been one of the most anticipated times on the college front.
The three weekends wrapped around Thanksgiving have always been rivalry weeks — those in-state battles and longtime struggles that make the turkey taste a lot better if you win and tough to swallow if you lose.
This past weekend it was Alabama-Auburn, Ohio State-Michigan, Georgia-Georgia Tech, Virginia-Virginia Tech, Florida-Florida State to name a few. Army-Navy is just ahead.
But for every one we have, there is one we have lost, starting with West Virginia-Pitt.
It might be time to get used to that as too many of those great traditions are going the way of pet rocks, Bananarama and I-formations.
The games people play — and watch — changed a little bit last Monday and Tuesday when Maryland and then Rutgers announced they were leaving their respective leagues for the Big Ten.
For the Big Ten, it started moving the hat around the board in a game of Monopoly. The conference has designs on a massive viewing audience in the top television markets in the country to obtain a mega television deal.
And it started getting there by playing dominos with Maryland.
Hypothetically, it will be a move that could change college football forever.
It’s obvious that the Terps made the move for monetary reasons. Maryland had become a school that had lost its lunch money. It amputated seven programs to keep the others alive.
And before anyone starts whining here about the lost rivalries, name one that involves the Terps playing for a bucket, an axe or any color jug. There are none.
But Maryland’s — and then Rutgers’ — move to the Big Ten may have huge implications to the landscape of college football as we know it. It may change it forever.
Think about this — hypothetically — just because reality is on holiday right now.
Maryland’s move — the latest of many and probably the first of many more — could be the push to send college football to a true playoff system that would excite every corner of the country.
There is a secure feeling when it comes to Thanksgiving.
It’s all about traditions and homecoming and places we are comfortable being around.
We don’t need to go over the reasons why that happens. We’ve all seen the Norman Rockwell paintings of families sitting around turkeys and enjoying each other’s company.
An adopted tradition has spilled over into football. The Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions cashed in on that a long time ago, making sure that they and the NFL have a captive, nationwide audience.
When it comes to football, this part of the calendar has always been one of the most anticipated times on the college front.
The three weekends wrapped around Thanksgiving have always been rivalry weeks — those in-state battles and longtime struggles that make the turkey taste a lot better if you win and tough to swallow if you lose.
This past weekend it was Alabama-Auburn, Ohio State-Michigan, Georgia-Georgia Tech, Virginia-Virginia Tech, Florida-Florida State to name a few. Army-Navy is just ahead.
But for every one we have, there is one we have lost, starting with West Virginia-Pitt.
It might be time to get used to that as too many of those great traditions are going the way of pet rocks, Bananarama and I-formations.
The games people play — and watch — changed a little bit last Monday and Tuesday when Maryland and then Rutgers announced they were leaving their respective leagues for the Big Ten.
For the Big Ten, it started moving the hat around the board in a game of Monopoly. The conference has designs on a massive viewing audience in the top television markets in the country to obtain a mega television deal.
And it started getting there by playing dominos with Maryland.
Hypothetically, it will be a move that could change college football forever.
It’s obvious that the Terps made the move for monetary reasons. Maryland had become a school that had lost its lunch money. It amputated seven programs to keep the others alive.
And before anyone starts whining here about the lost rivalries, name one that involves the Terps playing for a bucket, an axe or any color jug. There are none.
But Maryland’s — and then Rutgers’ — move to the Big Ten may have huge implications to the landscape of college football as we know it. It may change it forever.
Think about this — hypothetically — just because reality is on holiday right now.
Maryland’s move — the latest of many and probably the first of many more — could be the push to send college football to a true playoff system that would excite every corner of the country.
