Imperfection IS perfection…
Imperfection IS perfection…
DISCLAIMER: For the people who don’t know about these blog creations, I don’t prep much. I get inspired, and then I write. I have a full-time sales job, two dogs who I spoil, a rigorous workout schedule, and a lovely wife. I don’t have much time to brainstorm my blogs. I am sort of like Forrest Gump before he ran across America. “I just felt like blogging…” Therefore, the following list is no order of importance, and this post was done in about 30 minutes door to door. Stream of consciousness, barely edited…
I sat around on Saturday night and pulled up the four screen option on my TV. There were too many good college football games going on at the same time. I flipped the sound depending on what was going on. It was a lot of fun. I got to thinking…I don’t feel that exact same excitement when all of the NFL games are going on. I still am pumped, but it is a different KIND of pumped. I kept thinking about it. I also don’t remember a time when I needed four NBA games on, but definitely had times when I wanted four college basketball games on at the same time. Therefore, I must have a lean. So, therefore an epiphany. Therefore, a blog.
First of all, and let me clarify upfront so we don’t mix ALL of the college sports into this breakdown. Everything below is about football and basketball only. I like professional hockey, baseball, golf, tennis, soccer, etc. more than the college game. But, for the sports of football and basketball, I think I am a college guy. So, let’s tell you why.
MATCHUPS:
We get early non-conference games that are very important in the long run. These games also give us big schools who oddly have never played each other. Then, you get the rivalry games within the conference. You also have the out-of-conference late in the season games that are within state lines that are rivalries. Bottom line. You feel the intensity much more in these games, whether it is history, lack of history, or the David vs. Goliath. In football, they have the early games set up. In hoops, the tournaments before the schedule even gets going not only puts big names against big names, but you have mini-brackets that provide even more randomness and excitement.
TEAMS:
Easy. There are more of them. In the NFL and NBA, there are only so many storylines in the plot that can occur. In college football and hoops, there is a larger sample size for excitement. It is simple math. Sure, sometimes it creates a boring game, but that happens frequently in the pros too. But, there are usually other games that suddenly are good games due to ascension of one team or another. And, there are more competing fan bases to bond with. This is why GameDay is not determined until the week of the game. They read the tea leaves as they go for the best location to go to.
NIL:
Listen, you COULD argue that since college athletes are paid, now they are just employees like the pros. I would argue a different point though. Now that they are paid, there is more incentive to stay in college. And, since they are incentivized to stay in school to still make money, now they are making the next level better, as their skills are more refined by staying another year or two.
IMPERFECTIONS:
One might argue that the pro level has more refined athletes at their craft. Sure. I agree. But, that can create more boring climax moments. Steph Curry making a three is expected. Some random walk-on subbing in for a starter hitting a three in the closing seconds? Epic. I LIKE that the stars are still learning. I like that a QB might overthrow a WR. I LIKE that someone might miss a free throw. Not only does it make me appreciate when they DO make the play more, but it is more exciting and suspenseful.
OVERTIME:
First of all, and I will die on this hill, college football OT is just plain better. The NFL should do their rules, and maybe just back them up 10 yards. And the OT in hoops just FEELS more exciting. I feel like the NBA players are just getting rid of the first 3 minutes and then starting to play.
CHOICE:
Pretty straightforward on this one. It is not their fault that the kids in the draft can’t pick their pro team, but those are the rules. So, they are drafted by a team, and have to learn to love that team. In college, the players are choosing their schools, and thus naturally generating more passion for every minute on the court or field. In the pros, very occasionally a player gets drafted by a team they are a fan of. In college, almost always they will suit up for a team that they truly love.
TRANSFER PORTAL:
This is Choice B. I am glad they are reeling in the rules on transfers (shortening the window), but these kids are ALSO choosing where they go. True, I can’t keep track half the time who the heck is transferring and to where, but, once there, this goes back to the previous point of choice.
CITIES:
Ok, so maybe you personally are a big city kind of person. You love the big city lights. Understood and congrats. But, those small college towns beat the hell out of big cities for passion and fandom. Give me a night in Charlottesville after an FSU football win or hoops national title ANY day over the nights after a Denver Super Bowl victory. Plus, all of the small towns have the little nuances and small restaurants and local flavors that just are more cool.
TRADITIONS:
Every school has their traditions, and they are historical and cooler than any big commercial brand pro team. The schools individually have traditions. Sometimes the rivalries have traditions.
STYLES:
Sure, there are hoops systems and football systems that simply don’t work at the next level with the higher tier players. I understand. But, don’t tell me watching Leach’s Air Raid offense or a tiny school’s three point barrage in March Madness isn’t more fun every once in a while than watching the same system against the same scheme at the pro level. The offensive and defensive systems might not all translate to the pro level, but the clash of various types of systems in college is so much fun to watch.
HOME:
Pro sports have a home advantage. True. These have very different levels, depending on the city of choice. In college, it is ravenous and loud and bring earplugs level. All pro teams set up stadiums and arenas for whatever setup makes the most money. All of the home fields and home courts in college are made uniquely for their brand of allegiance and fan input. Commercial vs. Passion.
SONGS:
You know the only reason I tolerate watching NFL games in foreign countries? Because the crowds sing. They chant more. They make it like a World Cup or Premier League soccer match. That is really cool. Hearing the live band, watching the band at halftime, and joining in competing fight songs is high octane. A few pro franchises have a song the crowd sings, but it is more forced, timed, and has a need to be organized for the masses. College songs are driven by the moment in the game.
FUTURE:
Remember when? Just complete that with…when LeBron was in high school, or Barry Sanders was in college? It is fun watching the athletes you KNOW will be legendary run circles around very good college athletes in school. Plus, that particular player suddenly makes that college more relevant, more watched, and more televised. It is even more fun if that school wouldn’t have been on TV before that player played for the school.
SCHEDULE:
The amount of games is reduced in both hoops and football in comparison to the pro level. And that makes every game more important. True, an argument could be made that the regular season college hoops games are not that important. Yes, to a point, because you just get thrown into a bracket at the end of the season. I will take that argument and let it marinate, and remember the teams still get ranked within that bracket. But, definitely in football, each game simply means more for the end result, even with the expansion of the playoff to 12 teams.
FANTASY:
Pretty simple one. When I watch a college game, I don’t have to listen to some moron asking for a pass to their fantasy wide receiver on a 3rd and inches.
MEMORY:
For anyone who went to college, we watch those athletes and can remember our time there at that school. We can’t really do that with the pro teams. Those were our best times in a way, and we remember being a young idiot (if you were fun) at a university. And, aside from college in general, if you are an Alum, then you have specific memories for THAT school. Or, maybe you were even an athlete at that school. That is pretty cool.
STORMING:
Maybe you had to tear down a goal post, or rush the court after beating a #1 to understand, but court storming is so much fun to do when younger, and watch when older.
COACHES:
I guess you could argue that pro coaches are great because they are coaching against the top level, refined pros in their sport. But, I love college coaches because they are teachers, and they all have unique ways of doing that craft. Now, with NIL, they are sort of managing egos just as much because they are coaching rich kids, but they still are kids, and are still looking for the best ways to mature. One way or the other, the relationship between coach and player is more true and personal.
MADNESS:
Don’t even argue with me on this. Ever. You can take the NBA playoffs AND the NFL playoffs and combine them. Nothing amounts to the intensity of March Madness. I will grant you that NFL playoff games before the Super Bowl are pretty intense, and that Game 7’s in the NBA are pretty awesome, but nothing, as a whole amounts to The Tourney.
I am sure some of you are steaming right now, or laughing at how ridiculous this blog is. Well, let the debate begin, and I am always game for a good sports debate. The bottom line is that imperfection IS perfection. And remember. If you can’t spot the sucker in the first thirty minutes at the table, then you ARE the sucker. As one shepherd said to the other, let’s get the flock out of here…