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Friday, September 15, 2006
Beatings benefit small schools financially
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Doctors take the Hippocratic Oath. Those who run the NCAA take the Hypocritic Oath. They condemn the power of sports programs and preach academic reform, but grab the money from TV networks, approve 12-game regular seasons and help create the monstrous blob they claim to disdain.
It follows that there are several athletics directors who are more than willing to sell their soul — and offer members of their student body up for sacrifice — when piecing together a football schedule.
Already this season, we have seen Florida Atlantic accept a 54-6 beating from Clemson, which was nice enough to leave $500,000 on the night stand. Northwestern State added to its building fund to take whippings from Kansas (49-18) and Baylor (47-10).
Nebraska is into the flip side of this. The Cornhuskers have beaten Louisiana Tech and Nicholls State by a combined 105-17. It was worth the coin.
“Yeah, poor David,” said David Walker. Louisiana-Lafayette’s interim athletics director could’ve been referring to himself, but in this case, it was a Biblical reference. As in: Yikes, down comes Goliath’s foot.
When the college season resumes Saturday, Georgia plays UAB, and Georgia Tech faces Troy. Both opponents were scheduled to pad win totals. Walker is happy to report that Louisiana-Lafayette has a bye.
In the first two weeks of the season, the Ragin’ Cajuns had the living “bam” knocked out of them. They lost to LSU, 45-3, and Texas A&M, 51-7.
For this, they were paid $1.2 million.
Was it worth it?
“Unfortunately, it’s not a matter of, ‘Is it worth it?’ It’s not worth it,” Walker said by phone. “But the problem is it’s very much needed. Many of us in the Sun Belt [Conference] have to play big guarantee games. Those kinds of scores are never worth $600,000. Coaches want a more competitive game. Our athletes are up for those games. No amount of money is worth that.”
Walker said the money goes into the general athletics budget. This year, it helped find scholarships for summer school students and fifth-year seniors.
The other players: They got Band-Aids and ice bags.
If you’re a student-athlete, is the humiliation of getting served for lunch to a Division 1-A power worth whatever pregame glory might be evident?
“It’s kind of like high school, if you had a 1-A team going against a 6-A team,” said Tech cornerback Jahi Word-Daniels. “It doesn’t benefit anybody.
“I don’t really like it because teams are just putting weak teams on their schedules so they can end up with 10-win seasons. Teams with harder schedules may win six or seven games, but that doesn’t mean they’re much worse than the 10-win teams.”
Word-Daniels grew up in Hoover, Ala., near Troy. He said he personally wouldn’t mind playing a national power if he attended a smaller school because “it would be a way to showcase my talents and see where I stand against those players.”
But he added, “To be honest, I would think most players would think, ‘OK, we’re about the get killed.’ “
Chan Gailey has been the hors d’oeuvre. His head coaching career has taken him through Troy (1983-84) and Samford (1993). In 1992, Samford lost at Auburn 55-0. And in Gailey’s season?
“It depends on who you talk to,” he said. “If you talk to us at Samford, we played great for a half and then depth got us. You know, and all those other things you say. But in the end, it was pretty lopsided.”
Actually, 35-7 isn’t as bad as 55-0. Or as bad as Texas over North Texas, 56-7; Georgia over Western Kentucky, 48-12; West Virginia over Eastern Washington, 52-3; Louisville over Temple, 62-0; TCU over UC Davis, 46-13.
Medic?
Gailey believes most players look at it as a worthy challenge.
“If you go through it eight times, that’s one thing,” he said. “But to go through it once or twice [is OK].” Sure. He’s on the sideline.
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