Don’t forget supplying games for people to bet on- that seems to be running a very close second. It is astonishing to me how much money is bet on college ball every week (but I have never bet on football, so I guess that makes sense!).
Why not the latter? I went to Furman and everybody in the Southern Conference called them App State.
All the better for the “Kick App” banners in the dining hall.
I’m not going to disparage the relationship between college football and the NFL. But there’s at least one other serious purpose to college football - college sports, especially big sports like basketball and football, serve to keep alumni interested in the school, and are percieved at the school as being vital to keeping alumni giving high.
Well, maybe the hatred of others can keep you warm.
As for me, I’m an equal-opportunity college sports hater. I hate the way it’s set up and basically all schools. The professional leagues may be more isolated and all about the money, but at least they’re honest in being isolated and all about the money.
The best part may be that Michigan paid App St. $400,000 for the privilege of getting beat.
To be fair App St. is easily better then half the teams in Div 1 if not more. Still…
My condolences to the Michigan fans - but it was a great finish. Not because I have any antipathy towards Michigan. I don’t feel strongly either way. But a good upset (when it isn’t your team being upset) is a lot of fun.
If anything, that could be worse. The Big 10 champ losing to D-IAA Appalachian State. However, since ESPN loves the Big 10 and Michigan so much, I don’t think they’ll drop too far.
It depends on how Michigan finishes the season- if they end up 4-8 and App. State is 13-1, no. If Michigan ends up 8-4 or better, yes. App. State is in a lesser division primarily due to their home attendance, not their skill level- they would be a top 50 1-A team, skillwise.
A few more:
“Loser” – Beck
“Bury Me Deep” – Poi Dog Pondering
“Everybody Hurts” – R.E.M.
“The Long and Winding Road” – The Beatles
takes the olive branch
Thank you, kind sir. [del]Let’s remember this conversation when Ann Arbor flows with the crimson blood of the Columbus swine.[/del] It’s much appreciated, and dammit, you’re right!
I don’t know how I manage to do it, but I’m also a State fan. They’ve got this gift…the gift to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
They looked damned good.
For the record, it goes:
Michigan
Michigan State
Bunch of others
Ohio State
then waaaaaay at the bottom
USC
Notre Dame
I’ll dispute that. I think that the SEC and ACC are “favored” by ESPN. I would go so far as to say that the Big XII are also favored, although depending on the year, they’re usually behind the Big Ten.
I say we bury our sorrows at Joe’s Crab Shack for a Dopefest. They’ve got all you can eat shrimp for a little bit.
I’ve heard “App” quite a bit, but not “App State”. YMMV.
I went to NC State, so they were a non-conference game for us. They were frequently referred to as “Crappalachian” in the banners, as I remember.
I’m all for letting the little guys continue to play the BSC teams. The TV appearance money is a pretty common occurrence for the Division I teams, but it’s a big windfall for the smaller ones that don’t get to appear on TV as often.
And, to give Michigan their due, when they did pick a smaller division team to play, at least they picked the cream of the crop to compete against.
ESPN pulled their sponsorship of the Coaches Poll a couple years ago amid BCS controversy.
What indication is there that the network favors the Big Ten more than other major conferences? As far as I can tell, the media’s consensus is that the SEC has been the dominant conference in NCAA football in recent years.
I can’t decide whether to gloat or be embarrassed for the entire Big Ten. Right now, the schadenfreude is winning out.
We have DirecTV, so we got the Big Ten Network. Right after Ohio State finished, it switched to the Michigan game, so I got to see the last five minutes or so–it picked it up on the Appy possession right before Mike Hart scored his last TD, I think–the one where Armanti Edwards got sacked two times in a row. I thought “Oh well, it’s like every 16 seed that hangs with the 1 seed in March…they always end up breaking my heart.” And then they somehow pulled it off.
My favorite moment was when the cute female sideline reporter said to Armanti Edwards, “Armanti, give me one word to describe what just happened here,” and his response was “We just beat Michigan.” Ha!
That, and “I got a fuck lion” are my quotes for the season, so far.
That was my thought too. I’ve learned better than to get excited about big upsets. The number of times I’ve seen some underdog stick with Goliath for 58 minutes only to have Goliath pull something ridiculous out of their ass to win in the final minutes is sickening. I’ve learned better.
Sure enough Michigan throws the bomb to Manningham with 25 seconds left. :smack: “Yeah, here we go again. Just like usual, they pull it out of their ass in the final seconds”…BLOCKED! :eek:
This just in:
[satire]
[/satire]
Cartooniverse
Well…damn. I want a fuck lion too!
They were just jawboning over this game on ESPN2’s “First Take,” with Michigan alum Jay Feeley phoning in his two cents. Among the ideas tossed out and endorsed were: that App. St. was underrated and overlooked by everyone at Michigan; that Michigan’s PK was had “no chance” at that final FG attempt [Feeley], what with that guy breaking through; the players should share the blame, but Carr is chiefly responsible; that Carr should’ve been fired yesterday, or after last year’s bowl loss; that he can’t win big games; that Carr can forget about hand-picking his successor; and that this was indeed the BIGGEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL UPSET EVER.
Oh, and I forgot this one: that Carr is a lazy and sub-par recruiter who’s been relying on the Michigan mystique to attract talent, and that the program is suffering now because of that recent decline in recruiting. To my mind, that’s as damning a criticism as anything, since recruiting is the foundation of any program.
Dream on. That game was broadcast by the Big Ten Network, an abomination dreamed up by the Big Ten to jack up our cable bills. They’re locked in a battle of wills with midwestern cable operators, trying to get the cable operators to pay $1.10 per subscriber which will of course be passed on to cable customers, whether they watch the Big Ten Network or not.
Before last Saturday, commentators were mocking the BTN for its extortionate pricing, saying that of the 35 or so games the BTN was scheduled to broadcast, “most of them are clunkers like Michigan versus Appalachian State”. It didn’t turn out to be a clunker, and the BTN will milk it for all its worth. You won’t see it anyplace else any time soon.
Regarding the game, I didn’t see it (since my cable operator is resisting BTN), but I read the play by play, and I was struck by the insanity of App State kicking the game-winning field goal on first down with 30 seconds left, rather than taking a knee, spiking the ball, and running time off the clock. This bit of cluelessness gave Michigan time in which to come back, which they very nearly accomplished except that their field goal was blocked. It would have been a shame to lose a monumental upset because of coaching stupidity, but App State almost did.