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Thursday, August 28, 2008
Are college football fans losing their sense of humor?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here is your burning question to ponder on this Thursday morning, the first day of the 2008 season:
How many people have NOW heard of Vic Koenning?
Unless you’re a football junkie like those of us on this blog, Koenning, Clemson’s defensive coordinator, was a relatively unknown football coach before this week.
But now Koenning is VERY well known in the state of Alabama for comments he said were a joke concerning Alabama freshmen Julio Jones and B.J. Scott. Koenning told reporters that during the recruiting process he saw Jones and Scott, at separate times, drive off in a luxury car. For those who don’t have a sense of humor, it is a veiled (or not so veiled) reference that perhaps somebody supplied these young men with a car and violated the rules.
Now coaches and fans have been joking about the transportation opportunities of players since the leather helmet days. In the past such comments would not have created a ripple in the media ocean because of the context in which they were made.
But what we have learned is that when it comes to college football, particularly in the internet culture of the 21st century, a good portion of the hardcore fan base in the South does not have a sense of humor. I’m not saying that’s bad. I’m just saying that’s the way it is.
I once saw a sign behind a coach’s desk that said: “College football is not a matter of life and death. It’s much more important than that.”
It is the passion that makes college football in the South the best sport in the world. But it is also the emotion with the greatest potential to hurt the game that we all love.
Let’s look at this logically and not emotionally—if such a thing is possible. If Koenning actually wanted to accuse another school of doing something wrong, would he do it in such an off the cuff manner? It doesn’t make sense.
Koenning shouldn’t have said it. It was a dumb comment, particularly in the media environment of 2008. You can’t be tone deaf to the fact that everything that is said gets around the world in an instant. He now knows that.
My concern is for the bigger picture. When a smart aleck response by a coach gets turned into an international incident like this one was, it gives head coaches more ammunition to keep their assistants locked up and away from the media and the fans. And that hurts the fans because those guys give good insights that you’ll never get from the head coach. For the rest of this season you can bet that Koenning’s answers to questions are going to be “yes” or “no.” That’s not good for the sport.
If we keep going down this road, college football is going to become tightly scripted with very limited access to anyone outside of the program, just like political campaigns. And that can’t be good for the fans.
What’s the answer? Restraint? Rational thought? A sense of humor?
I’m asking. Am I wrong about this?
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