THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2006
SPORTS
NCAA FOOTBALL
7B
Minnesota, Connecticut writers discuss football
Associated Press
Minnesota's head coach Glen Mason talks to North Dakota State's quarterback after the Gophers defeated them Saturday. Some football players have been demoralized by fans booing them while they play. Last week, Minnesota football coach Glen Mason chastised fans for booing their own team.
Players should learn to accept booing as fans' feedback
In the middle of a tumultuous season, Minnesota football coach Glen Mason, who used to be the football coach at KU, called out the team's fans for booing the team at home. C.J. Sprang wrote this column for Tuesday's Minnesota Daily.
Last week, Minnesota football coach Glen Mason took a verbal shot at fans, particularly students, for booing, drinking and criticizing the football program.
When is it appropriate for fans to boo during a collegiate athletic event?
While I think it was absolutely ridiculous to call out fans in the media, Mason did raise a good point.
My guess is there aren't too many people who would pose this same question if it were a professional sporting event.
Those guys make enough money to cover the therapy sessions they might need after getting booed all game long.
But college is different. The athletes aren't getting paid, per se, although I would argue that tuition, room and board, gear, academic tutoring, etc., all should be considered payment.
Mason argued that negative cheering, even directed at him, could adversely affect the team. He questioned whether or not loyal fans could actually call themselves fans if they felt the need to boo.
That whole argument is moot.
My parents love me, but there are certain things I do that drive them crazy. Now, my parents don't boo when I do something wrong;
that would be silly. They do.
however, voice their displeasure
with my behavior, in hopes that I improve upon whatever I did wrong. I'd rather have the booing.
Fans aren't going to gently voice their displeasure with the football team
There aren't going to be phone calls or e-mails or a conversation with the players and coaches,
because that isn't feasible.
The only option fans have is
to boo. It's the only way they are going to be heard.
As for the negative effects booing may have on the athletes, they should have realized it wouldn't be easy being a
Division 1 athlete. Booing comes with the territory.
We salute you...
BCS conferences represent majority of undefeated teams
One of the automatic bids to the BCS bowl games goes to the Big East Conference, a decision that has come under fire recently because there are
no marque teams in the conference. But Mike Mauro wrote in Tuesday's Connecticut Daily Campus that the Big East deserves its spot.
Eight weeks of college football have come and gone and there remain only
seven unbeaten teams in the nation, six of which are from BCS conferences. Three of these teams hail from the Big East, yet despite having unbeaten West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers in the conference the BCS standing of each team is very disappointing.
This brings up the question,should and will an undefeated Big East team play in the BCS Championship over a one-loss team from a conference like the rugged SEC? The answer to this question should be a resounding ves.
The Big East is not what it used to be without Miami (Fla.), Virginia Tech and Boston College, but it is far from being the Sun Belt Conference. The Big East has gotten an unfair rap and has been painted as the BCS outcast without a good enough team to win a National Championship. How quick people forget and how blind the "experts" are when talking about the Big East.
In last year's Sugar Bowl, no one gave West Virginia any chance to beat SEC powerhouse Georgia. All the Mountaineers did was run wild against supposedly one of the best defenses in the country on the way to a 38-35 victory. One would figure that this win would bring the Big East back on par with the other BCS conferences and it did in some of the voters' eyes, but the computers still
have no love for the Big East.
If your team is good enough to go undefeated for an entire season and you play in one of the BCS conferences, you deserve to play in the title game over any team with one loss. I know it may seem unfair to teams in the SEC because, without a doubt, that is the toughest conference in college football, but if one of the three
teams in the Big East goes undefeated this year, that means they will have had to beat each other. No matter which team survives those games
without a loss deserves a shot in the national title game.
This whole argument depends on the premise that USC must lose because if they run the table, the pollsters and the computers love them and will put them in the championship. Either Michigan or Ohio State is going to lose since they will meet each other on the season's last weekend and the only other undefeated team in the country, Boise State from the WAC, has no chance at the title game. This scenario would put the winner of Michigan and Ohio State in the title game with the other spot up for grabs. This other spot should go to an undefeated Big East team, especially if it's West Virginia.
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