If you are a football fan, this is the day when you prepare to make the grand transition from college bowl games to the month-long NFL postseason frenzy that starts tomorrow (Saturday). The Hawks had a magnificent performance in the Orange Bowl on Tuesday and Alabama sneaked past Texas by putting Longhorn quarterback Colt McCoy on the sidelines in the first quarter Thursday night.
Those of us who are still diehard Chicago Bear fans may watch the NFL playoffs, but with a bit less enthusiasm than we’d have if our team had qualified. Our immediate attention turns to the Bears’ front office and what decisions it will make on next year’s coaching staff and what other personnel moves they might make.
This has truly been a remarkable week for college football. Monday’s 17-10 win by Boise State over TCU was a great start to the week. Iowa’s performance Tuesday night in its 24-14 win over Georgia Tech told a lot of us that had Rick Stanzi stayed healthy all season, our fans could have been watching Iowa play in the national championship.
Much debate remains about how the finalists for the national championship game are chosen. The BCS format is sometimes difficult to decipher and includes computers and maybe even tea leaves and sun angles. But it would be difficult to argue that Texas and Alabama didn’t belong in that game. I was really hoping Texas could pull it off. I’ve really enjoyed watching Colt McCoy, as well as Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Florida’s Tim Tebow over the years. Their poise on the field and in front of the TV cameras has been really awesome. I hope they all have successful NFL careers.
I know those of us who couldn’t afford to attend a bowl game and were stuck at home, huddled in our recliners with remote in hand should be grateful for the extensive TV coverage. But already some sports columnists have sounded off on the pros and cons of the coverage this postseason.
Monday night Fox Sports covered the Fiesta Bowl. It got to the point where I was wondering if the director who calls the camera shots we saw had relatives in the crowd. It seemed like every third camera shot was of the crowd or the coach in the sidelines. I wish these directors would ask themselves how much time they would spend looking at the crowd if they were watching the game in person.
In Iowa’s game, some of the mistakes made by the commentators would have been laughable, if it didn’t involve our team. Money talks in the TV game and it was clear from the outset that most of the so-called experts were looking for a Georgia Tech win. Compare the TV markets. Iowa is based in Iowa City. Georgia Tech is based in Atlanta. Do the math.
Fox staffed the game with two sideline reporters who were supposed to keep us informed on injuries, etc. But I still don’t know the condition of one of Iowa’s top receivers, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, who had four catches for 63 yards before going out with an apparent leg injury. No attempt was made to follow up on what happened to him. In fact, unless I missed it, even the Cedar Rapids Gazette missed the boat with its otherwise super coverage of the game, with little or no mention of his condition.
ABC covered the national championship game on Thursday and did a credible job. Sometime during the broadcast, the director suddenly switched to a shot from the blimp and it took a couple of minutes for Brent Mussberger to inform us that some stupid fan had run onto the field and security was removing him. I realize that these clowns usually want publicity and the networks don’t want to glamorize a stupid act. But viewers at home are cheated part of the game experience when TV makes those selective editing decisions. Besides, in most cases, security personnel are not very gentle in removing the invaders and maybe we should see the consequences.
After the game, the sideline reporters did a good job in hustling to interview both the winners and losers. The interview with McCoy was enlightening when he said that he had taken harder hits than the one that put him out of action, but somehow, the hit was in just the wrong place. He said his shoulder didn’t hurt, but his arm was “dead.” That sounds like some nerve damage. Let’s hope it was just temporary.
But then the reporter went too far when she asked Colt what was going through his mind when he knew he would not be coming back into what was his last collegiate game. What did she expect his response to be? She could have just said, “Come on, Colt, cry a little on national TV!” He deserved better treatment than that, especially when he was so forthcoming in describing his injury.
Before we leave the football topic for this column, permit me a couple of comments on Hawk players. Belle Plaine’s Kyle Spading was a member of Iowa’s traveling team at the Orange Bowl. He recently graduated after being a part of the Hawk program throughout his collegiate career. Although he was slowed by injuries much of the time and was a member of a talented tight end corps, it’s still neat for those of us back home to be able to say, “I know a Hawkeye!” Kyle, I have watched your progress since junior high. I thought that the first day you walked into Belle Plaine High School as a freshman, you were probably the best athlete in the building, or at least the one with the most potential. Best of luck in your future career!
And finally, Hawk fans, we should thank offensive lineman Brian Bulaga for the thrills he has been a part of and wish him well in his decision to forego his final year in college and enter the NFL draft. When Iowa players are faced with that decision, Iowa’s staff offers them a lot of input on their chances of success in the draft, their ability to play at the next level, etc. Bulaga apparently didn’t make this decision lightly. It would be neat to be part of what could be a national championship team in 2010-2011. But the window of opportunity as a pro player can be very narrow and he decided this would be the best time to test the market.
Somebody is going to get a really great player who should be a factor on Sundays next fall.
By the way, Hawk fans, circle Sept. 4 on your calendars. That’s the first game of next season.