University of Virginia Library

sports scene

College
Football
Centennial

bob cullen

AMIDST A CARLOAD of manufactured hoopla about a game
between Rutgers and Princeton that took place in 1869, the
National Collegiate Athletic Association is holding its annual
convention in Los Angeles this week. Conventions being what
they are, everyone will probably blow it out for a few days, take
a good look at the new college queen, and do very little.

It would seem that the conventioneers might be better off,
and that college football would be better off, if there were less
attention paid to beauty queens and centennial helmet decals. A
centennial is a good time for taking stock, and the present course
of college football is in need of some serious re-evaluation.

TWO PLATOON FOOTBALL has set the costs of college
football in a spiral that would confound even Richard Nixon. The
game is in danger of extinction in a lot of schools that simply
cannot afford it any longer. Efforts to stop this trend have run
afoul of the Football Coaches Association, which controls the
Rules Committee and which likes the game the way it is, perhaps
since two platoon ball requires more coaches.

But the situation is getting so out of hand that the coaches'
domination may soon be challenged by those who have to supply
the money. Two platoon football means higher costs-more
scholarships, more specialists, bigger squads, more coaches, more
equipment, and added transportation.

ADMITTEDLY, TWO PLATOON ball is better football than
the old game. It has to be. A player that plays only one way will
do his job better than his more versatile predecessors. But the
attraction of college ball is not the calibre of play. It's the
competition, the traditional rivalries, the big games. Two platoon
ball adds nothing to any of these factors. Those who wish to see
the best possible football are going to watch the pros anyway.

If the colleges continue to allow the spendthrifts to have their
way, to allow the rules of the game to place a premium on more
players, more coaches, and larger travelling squads, the trend will
continue. The ones that suffer from it will be the players and the
colleges.

A REDUCTION IN the costs of football, achieved through a
return to one platoon ball would benefit the students and the
players, not only at Virginia, but across the country. The player is
better off if he has to learn both sides of the game. Many football
players who wish someday to coach will have to know more than
50 per cent of the techniques, 50 per cent of the plays. It does
not necessarily follow that fewer people will get to play, either. A
high school player will generally go to a school at which he feels
he will be able to participate. If the size of the squads is reduced,
more athletes will attend some of the smaller schools, some of
which are having troubles now in mustering enough players.

The students will benefit if the costs of football are spread
around to some of the minor sports providing more coaching,
better facilities, and more opportunities for the slightly less-gifted
athlete to reap the benefits of participation. And if these
conditions were achieved, the colleges would be doing a better
job in fulfilling the primary goal of any athletic program.

Football ought to belong to the students and the colleges, but
the coaches seem firmly in control now. Those who think that
this is proper, and that the game is fine the way it is ought to
take a look at George Washington University, at the cost study
recently authorized by Holy Cross, and at the ledger sheets of
almost any school in the country. They might then realize that its
about time to pull in the reins on college football and leave the
two platoon system to the pros.