Fab Five

Speaking of videos that are two years old, ESPN's 30 for 30 crew produced a documentary that aired two years ago on the the Fab Five--Michigan five freshmen who started together, went all the way to the national championship game (twice) and started new trends in shorts, socks and on-court demeanor.  I hadn't shown the video to any class until last week.

It was interesting to see reactions to the video, especially mine.  I figured my students would enjoy a story about a group of brash young trash talkers, who turned out to be nice guys.  What I didn't expect is that I would gain an appreciation for the group.

The Fab Five arrived in Ann Arbor in the fall of 1991, the same semester I went off to college, so we're all the same age.  And I liked to follow the careers of people who were the same age as me, like Marshall Faulk.  The Fab Five were an anathema to me, though, for all of the reasons my students today liked them--baggy shorts and the trash talking...especially the trash talking.  I was overjoyed to see them lose to Duke and UNC in the tournament (and I now know I would never root for those two schools in that manner again).

Why the change? I'm not sure.  Maybe I'm more tolerant of self-expression.  Maybe we all grew up.  In any case, it was an entertaining tale all the way around.

March Money Madness

Watch Money and March Madness on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

This PBS Frontline video is nearly two years old, but much of it still rings true today.  The Ed O'Bannon lawsuit against the NCAA is still making news, and UConn's low graduation rate kept it out of the Big East and NCAA tournaments this month.  Still, it's only two years old.

I used to be dead-set against players making any kind of money off their athletic prowess in college.  College sports started with the same intent that high school sports did, to offer young men a worthy athletic pursuit in the midst of their academics.  Of course, that model's been dead for a long time now--the first cheating I heard of happened in the '40s when World War II vets came home and given cash to play for one school instead of another.

What really turned me into a recent concert of compensation for players is the warp speed in which conferences are re-aligning, and how schools are leaving behind decades of tradition for a few more million dollars of a more recently negotiated television deal (looking at you, Texas A&M and Maryland). It's gotten to the point that my students look at a conference map and can't understand how schools from such different part of the country can be part of the same association.  And they're right, it doesn't make sense.

I don't support paying college players while they're in school--they still get a scholarship, and everyone not getting a 'ship bemoans the high cost of higher ed. I do think they are entitled to some post-school compensation for their likeness being used in video games (see the O'Bannon case) and a cut of jerseys sold with their number on them.

The odds of any of this happening.  Well, it depends on the lawsuit, I believe.  Looking at the video, I don't see the NCAA changing its mind in the near future.

Fun While It Lasted

From: doin-work.com
 
Just saw an article that said CBS' March Madness on Demand (MMOD) will no longer be free...unless you have cable.  It's OK: you'll still be able to watch the local affiliate's game online for free, but for the other games being played simultaneously you're out of luck.

I guess this was too good to continue.  It reminds me of the early days of the Internet itself, when e-tailers tried to compete with brick-and-mortar stores by offering free shipping, or deep discounts.  Those deals went away in time as well.

The real question:  can I get to MMOD (or NCAA March Madness Live, as it will be called this year) at school?

That Was Ugly

For a game between the supposedly best two teams in basketball, at least by March Madness standards, it was one ugly game. It was interesting to see Rece Davis argue with the basketball boys over March Madness vs. the BCS in the ESPN pre-game show. Can someone really tell me that the Final Four teams were the best four teams in basketball?

Like I've thought for a long time, the longer a postseason is, the less the regular season matters. I'm a fan of the regular season: BCS and Major League Baseball do it right.

If the Slipper Fits...

I had been boycotting the NCAA tournament since my Hokies were wrongly left out, but I just couldn't help myself this weekend. I was rooting for Butler and VCU big time.

I got my wish, but I wonder how the ratings will be next weekend. When George Mason made the Final Four in '06, the ratings for the Final Four hit record lows. People say they love the Cinderella stories, but when it comes to watching the actual games, it seems that people would rather watch the big boys battle it out.

Everyone Loves to Complain About the BCS

We're right in the middle of the BCS bowls, with the Rose and Fiesta having been completed and the Orange, Sugar and National Championship game to be played next, which must mean it's the time of year for national columnists to take shots at the BCS.

As someone who's been to seven bowl games, including two Sugar Bowls, I think there's nothing like traveling to a new city to watch your team play a school you wouldn't ordinarily cross paths with.  I wonder if most of the writers that criticize the BCS have gone to a bowl game as a fan of their alma mater.  I suspect most haven't.

While some criticism of the BCS is justified, as a long-time college football fan, I can't seem to recall so much whining about the bowl system prior to the creation of the BCS in 1998.  With no BCS, Oregon and Auburn wouldn't even be playing each other:  Oregon would be in the Rose Bowl playing Wisconsin, and Auburn would be one of two teams in the Sugar Bowl. 

But, the original point of writing this post was to point out that in today's current sports media culture, if you name a playoff system, there are people caterwauling about how it's not fair.  Witness:

1. The NFL, on the verge of having a 7-9 team make the playoffs
2. The NBA, with questions about reseeding the second round should there be upsets in round 1
3. March Madness, where the coaches of the teams left out complain about not being a top 65 team
4. NASCAR's Chase, which has been re-tooled several times and still confuses fans
5. The PGA's FedEx Cup, which may have the most baffling format known to man

So, if you're one of the villagers with pitchforks and torches that are chanting  "Death to the BCS," are you going to move on to one of the other playoff systems next?