College Football Tradition Lost

As a Kansan and a sports fan, I rarely looked forward to KU playing Nebraska in football. Each year since November 17, 1906, the Jayhawks and the Cornhuskers have played on the gridiron. In the one hundred five continuous years the teams have played, KU won only eighteen games. To Nebraska's dismay, KU did not lose all the other games; the teams tied in 1920, 1923, and 1937. Of course, the ties are offset by three added losses (1901, 1902, and 1903) before the series began its record of the longest unbroken series of annual football games between two teams. Despite the blood flowing on the field being predominately KU Blue, I recognize the game is a football tradition.

When asked if he was sentimental at all about this being the last game in the series, Bo Pelini simply said "I don't care… we're moving on." Where is the sense of tradition? Where is the recognition of our heritage? Where is the acknowledgment that as bad as Nebraska's season could be, they always knew they had a chance against Kansas? Where is the thanks to KU for being football's doormat of the Big XII (Big 8, Big 7, and Big 6)? College sports are too much of a business now. We are losing much as we idolize money.

I am not now, and never have been a fan of Notre Dame football. A team I want to win on Saturday is always the one playing against the Fighting Irish, even if it is the despised USC Trojans. Nonetheless, I respect Notre Dame in continuing to play Navy even though there were years (not recently) in which the game would be even less competitive than Nebraska playing KU. The series continues though, because of tradition and to honor a commitment made decades ago. Kudos.

As the conferences realign and jockey for financial gain, our traditions can be preserved or restored. I accept it is likely KU and Nebraska will never again play football against each other, but can't we at least have the Apple Cup be the last game of the regular season for the Washington Huskies?

References:

Associated Press. "Martinez Is OK, and Huskers' Defense Dominates." Sporting News Today 14 Nov. 2010: 17.

"Kansas vs Nebraska 1869-2009." College Football Information. Stassen.com, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. http://football.stassen.com/cgi-bin/records/opp-opp.pl?start=1869&end=2009&team1=Kansas&team2=Nebraska.

Did the Detroit Lions Really Win Sunday?

My understanding of the NFL rule that was applied Sunday to take away the apparent touchdown by Detroit's Calvin Johnson is the following.

If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball after he touches the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.
(Reference: http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_/id/16142/like-it-or-not-megatron-call-was-right)

The defense of the call is based on the second half of the first sentence. My objection to the call is the "if statement" in the first half of the sentence - the premise for the balance of the rule - is not applicable. Mr. Johnson was not in the act of catching a pass when he went to the ground, he had already caught the pass. The rule cited, then, does not apply. Rather than being an incompletion, it was a touchdown. If what I view as the correct interpretation had been applied, the game would have changed significantly, but I do not know if it would have resulted in a Lions victory. No one can know that even though the odds are highly stacked to support such a conclusion. Football is a game of improbabilities. Had the Lions been given the touchdown, improbable as it would seem, the Bears - with a superb placekicker - could still have won. We will never know.