College football

I intend to make this blog a newsletter for all those who love college football. I love college football. It came into my life as a boy of 9 or 10 when I saw it on television. I won't claim to have seen the first game ever telecasted then, but I do remember watching commentators like the late, great Chris Schenkel and probably one of the first color analysts, Bud Wilkinson, former head coach at Oklahoma doing games on Saturday afternoons. I lived in Southern California growing up so I was quite familiar with the grandaddy of all bowls, the Rose Bowl and one of the biggest rivalries in college football--USC vs UCLA. In fact, we touched most of the Bowl games on New Year's Day. Back in the '60's, there was just four that I remember--the Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and the Orange Bowl. It was THE big day for college football.

The day I  was hooked I remember well. It was New Year's Day 1966. My dad and I were watching the Rose Parade in the living room at about 9:30-10:00am when the phone rang.  My brother was asleep from being out most of the night on a cot in the rec room just below where the phone was. It was his boss. He had two tickets to the Rose Bowl game that afternoon and offered them to my brother. My brother woke up enough to say "yes". He came out to the living room to announce this and asked which one of us wanted to go. My dad told me to go. I asked him if he was sure. He said yes.

We picked up the tickets and went to the game. This was a first for me and I was excited, naturally. What made it even more exciting was that the team representing the PAC-10 was none other than the UCLA Bruins. They were playing Michigan State from the Big Ten Conference. The only drawback to being there (although nothing really significant) was that the seats were in a primarily Michigan State section. (I think we were on the north end) My brother and I did not care. We got two UCLA Bruin pennants and waved them proudly.

As you know, UCLA won the game 14-12. We had an idea of attaching one of the pennants to the antenna on the car and we did. It rippled loudly and proudly as we drove home on the freeways home. When we pulled up into the driveway and got out, the pennant's tip was shredded. We did not care. Our team had won and that's all that mattered.

In future blogs, I will comment upon subjects related to college football today. There are two primary ones that I will spend time on--the BCS and the bowl system. I have developed a liking for a few college teams I will also write about during this season.

THEY CALL HIM COACH (FOR A REASON)

I saw on the Podcast directory on ESPN that both Around The Horn and Jim Rome Is Burning make comments about Joe Paterno. Before I listen to them I want to make known some things I feel about this man.

My interest in college football peaked after that Rose Bowl game I mentioned earlier. There has been only one coach who is still here and still coaching 45 years later-Coach Joe Paterno.

He IS the coach of coaches. Yes, there have been great coaches before him and during his tenure as the coach of Penn State. No doubt about it. Won't argue about it. But this is a man with more than just sheer determination. There is more to him than that. I believe, for him, it is a love affair he has with both the game and his players.

I was on a flight one day to visit my children. It started off in Salt Lake City. When I arrived, there was a whole group of big guys waiting to get on the same plane I was. I found out that I was flying to Denver with the entire Utah State Aggies. I cannot remember the team they were playing. What I do remember is that I ended up sitting next to their AD. I cannot remember all we talked about, but when Coach Paterno became a topic of discussion, the AD directed me to a young man sitting in front of me. He had played at Penn State under Coach Paterno. He was a graduate student at Utah State as a coach at some position. Defensive backs comes to mind here.

Anyway, the AD told me that and I asked him if this young man would mind if I asked him a question about Coach. The AD encouraged me to do so. So I got his attention and asked him about "Coach Pa".

"What kind of man is Coach Paterno?", I asked. He didn't tell me he was driven. He didn't tell me about coach's football knowledge or his decision making. Nothing related to football.

His countenance visibly changed. It became soft. He then said, "He is a very special man". When a coach affects a football player, who is accustomed to hitting people and being tough out there on the field play after play after play, there is no question in my mind that Coach Joe Paterno not only loves the game of football, but he loves his players and equally as important, they love him. They love him enough to go out there and play their best on every play, not only because coach wants that, not only by a sheer act of will and determination, but by the motivation of knowing that coach is interested in them as a person just as much(or maybe even more) than as a player trying to win the game.

Sure, other coaches do that today. But they are simply copying the man who started it all. 

So now you know that what I have written was not affected by any commentator at ESPN. He is still alive, still coaching, and still is a positive influence on young men--at 85. GO JOE!!!!!!!!!!