As we well remember, 2012 was a pivotal year, especially for Penn State and Ohio State. At Penn State, one of the most legendary coaches of all time, Joe Paterno, was fired, along with many athletic and university staff, in the wake of the scandal surrounding former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse charges. The NCAA came down hard on Penn State, stopping short of the death penalty, but crippling the football program. At Ohio State, some players had exchanged memorabilia for tattoos, then Coach Jim Tressel covered it up, and the Ohio State program was suspended from any post-season play. Bacon, observing how little consequence fell to Tressel and other coaches who lead their programs astray with NCAA violations, comments that "if the NCAA ran local law enforcement, whenever they pulled over a drunk driver, they would impound the car and let the driver hop in another one and drive off."
As these two programs tried to rebound from their respective scandals, they were faced with finding their deepest motivations to play the game of football. The NCAA penalty against Penn State seemed like it was designed to kill the program, but as Bacon writes,
If the folks who ran the NCAA had set out to design an experiment to prove the student-athletes' commitment to their school and their studies was greater than their need for glory on the gridiron, it's hard to imagine they could have done a better job than what they'd created for Penn State's players that fall.The commitment and passion which the Penn State players, coaches, and fans showed during that season were inspiring. Bacon goes on:
When the Penn State players had the bells and whistles of big-time college football stripped away by the NCAA sanctions, they discovered something better: they believed deeply in the ideals of the student-athlete experience that the NCAA had always espoused--and they believed in them more than the NCAA itself.At Ohio State, the sanctions were not as extreme or long-lasting, but to have their talent base, and to have no possibility of a conference championship, a bowl, or a national championship has to have an impact on a team's motivation. To lead the team, they called in a long-time OSU fan Urban Meyer, who had twice won a national championship at Florida. I was impressed with his leadership and his commitment to the team as he lead them to a historic 12 wins. Many believe they could have won a national championship.
Bacon tells the story of the Big Ten, these programs, as well as Michigan and Northwestern, in such a way that will make you a fan of the players and coaches involved. He discusses some of the changes football faces, and the financial stakes get higher, and colleges try not to become merely the NFL's development league. Most of all, he will remind you why we love college football. "College football fans don't just love football. They love college football--the history, the traditions, the rituals, and the rivalries that surpass those of the pro game." Questions of bowl games and national championships are important, but, as he quotes a fellow Michigan alumnus, "the essence of college football is not a national title. That's as cheesy as a unicorn. . . . It's regional rivalries that go back generations."
Bacon gets it. These college football programs get it. It's college football.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
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