If you like UCF or women's sports or cricket any endeavor struggling for respect, you can stop praying to Jude.
The patron saint of lost causes has been replaced by something far more earthly. Namely, the Atlantic Coast Conference and Major League Soccer.
MLS is starting to elbow NASCAR out of a seat at the head table of America's sports. And if soccer kicking racing's butt wasn't startling enough, look who now rules the South's national pastime.
The ACC.
"I think we've established ourselves as the premiere conference in college football," FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said at ACC Media Days.
That statement sparked the requisite cries of blasphemy from those who worship at the SEC altar. But facts are facts, and the mere fact there is room for an argument should give hope to sports like cricket and conferences like the American Athletic.
They are yearning to be considered Big Time, just like ACC football was when FSU showed up 25 years ago. The Seminoles promptly went 70-2 in league play and won nine straight league titles.
That doesn't happen in a Big-Time conference. The ACC tried to spin that it was a real football league, but even conference insiders could not fathom if the league would ever rival the SEC.
"I couldn't because of the awareness of basketball," Bobby Bowden said. "I could see us getting better and Clemson getting better. But as far as the conference was concerned I could not see it matching up with the SEC or even the Big Ten."
That basketball league has captured two national football championships and two Heisman trophies in the past four years. Both those title wins were over SEC schools.
The ACC went 9-3 in bowls last year and was 10-4 against SEC teams. It had five teams finish in the AP's top 25 poll.
Meanwhile, the SEC became the ACC of the 1990s. Alabama is FSU and everybody else is N.C. State.
As laughable as the term "ACC football rules!" used to be, arguing that soccer would supplant NASCAR was proof of insanity. But racing's TV ratings and attendance are on a 10-year slide, and consider the latest news from the Fortune 500 front.
After 16 years, Target just announced it is ending its sponsorship deal with Chip Ganassi Racing's NASCAR team. That means Target no longer thinks it pays to plaster its name on the sport's budding superstar, Kyle Larson.
It is putting its money on the MLS, which couldn't give away franchises 10 years ago. Now cities are lining up to pay $150 million in expansion fees.
Orlando City is selling out despite the fact Kaka has had two flat tires most of the season. That must inspire the investors hoping to make Orlando part of a new cricket league.
I keep bringing up cricket because about 2.5 billion people love it, and approximately 14 of them live in the U.S.
If you think baseball is slow, cricket matches literally can last days. So the thought of it making it in the U.S. seems far more preposterous than the ACC making fun of the SEC.
But think back 100 years. America's most popular sports were baseball, boxing and horse racing.
The NFL might as well have been soccer. Basketball might as well have been cricket.
Now 100 out of 100 Americans can identify LeBron James, and two out 100 can name the heavyweight champ.
SEC fans will argue that we've reached peak ACC and order will be restored. NASCAR fans will say Target is wasting its money.
But evolutions are measured in decades, not seasons. So if you are part of the poor, the tired, the huddled masses of American sports, take heart.
Nothing lasts forever, except maybe a cricket match.
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