College Football: A Short Story

Charles H. Martin wrote a compelling monograph about the journey of segregation in college sports. The book showed readers how the “color line” in college football, specifically in southern football, reflected the traditions and beliefs of southern society. The reader gets a glance into the complete segregation of college sports to the complete integration of all college sports. In the beginning, African American students could not play sports on all-white teams and they could not go to the same schools at white students or even drink from the same water fountain as white students. The reader gets to walk through the history of the integration of college sports with Martin to eventually see full integration.

The University of Nevada Reno’s Football program officially started fifty years ago in the October of 1966. At the same time the team was established, Mackay stadium was built which seated only 7,500 people at the time. After numerous amounts of renovations, the stadium now seats 26,000 people and the football games are very loud and exciting. Being a football player and student myself, I get to hear what other people outside the football program perceive of us as around campus when we win, lose, or just in general about the football program. Most comments and accusations I have heard have been false and negatively based. What most people do not see is the hardwork and dedication it takes to be apart of the football program and the impact it has on the coaching staff, the community, and also, the inseparable bond it creates between the players.

When it comes to football in the college league, many rules have been changed or new rules have been added to make the game safer for those that play it. The Targeting rule was added going into the 2008 NCAA season of college football for safety reasons. This rule has also introduced a new discussion of whether or not the rule is fair. The rule states that if a player strikes another player in an upward motion, striking with the crown [top] of the helmet, then it is a fifteen-yard penalty, and the player is disqualified from the game. This obviously causes controversy between officials and college football coaches. Many believe that the rule is too harsh and that many calls that are targeting, are not targeting after all. And that it is not fair to eject a player, if the player did not even deserve the call “There are other gripes with the targeting rule. Washington State coach Mike Leach called it ‘micromanaging, for lack of a better word,’ citing too many variables and inconsistent enforcement. Stanford coach David Shaw echoed a sentiment shared by Mora and Pickett: that there should be different levels of targeting penalties corresponding with the severity of the infraction” (qtd in Bolch). NCAA rules states that when the targeting rule is implied, then the officials will review the play, and give a final verdict. However, most of the time the call is not overturned and the player remains disqualified from the game. This new rule has also made it nearly

Although college football is the third-most-popular sport, the majority of schools lose revenue on athletics. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, also known as the NCAA, is promoting beneficial ideas to help players in need while increasing academic standards. As stated in the article, “On some LSU teams, Martin said, half of the players are “special admits””, which means multitudes of players do not achieve the same levels of academic success as “normal” students. As long as academic budgets are miniscule compared to athletic budgets, there will always be controversy. This tension increased when “legendary head coach” Joe Paterno, along with Jerry Sandusky, were fired for being involved in a sex-abuse scandal with a minor.

Imagine a world where The College Football Playoffs were so intense it would have everyone on their toes in excitement. It would brighten everyone's day to be able to come home and host a friendly party for these big games. Therefore College Football Playoffs are a very well-liked new system. The College Football Playoffs is a bracket of four teams to decide who is the best college football team. This system replaced a computer poll that pick the top two teams of college football and had them play together for the championship. The College Football Playoffs started in the 2014 season and has not been around for too long. It was Larry Culpeper's idea to put four teams into a bracket and play as if it was a tournament( Oster). This however has its weaknesses. Adding these extra post season games

The pressure was on. Myself as well as my middle school football team had been practicing for weeks to beat our opponent, Southport Middle School. They had beaten up the year before and it was our turn to pay them back.

During the early 20th century college football played a bad role and influence on American culture by diminishing a good college education. I oppose the role that college football had on American culture because it took away from the main purpose of going to college, which was getting a good education for most Americans. Since the US was involved in World War 1, many veterans came back to the US with no jobs. College coaches were exploiting veterans by concentrating on making their team better rather than wanting them to focus on an education, so that they could get a good job in the future.

The first game in the history of college football was played in New Brunswick, New Jersey on

College football has dramatically changed how viewers watch the sport. It all started with transforming rugby into american football, which made a huge impact on today’s society. With the rules having a huge change from 1880 to the 2016 (Watterson John Sayle). Football has increased the amount of views because how popular it has become to the audience since the 1890s (Gridiron Football). Football has changed dramatically since the beginning of the game.

A united university through sports is often a rarity. College football can be one of the most intense experience in college sports. The passion and energy is nearly impossible to encapsulate into a single feeling. Sports teams and their fans share a bond that cannot be recon with. The colleges with prestigious athletic backgrounds have a numerous alumni who carry pride into every game day. A lot of fans equal a lot of fun, but attending an school with diehard fans is best part of college sports. College football has gained the reputation for becoming the most celebrated sport. The best way to celebrate a college football game is tailgating. Tailgating and college football have become such a tradition that it is hard to see one happening

The “contradiction at the heart of big-time college football,” as Michael Oriard describes it, is the competing demands of marketing and education. The 1890s proved to university administrators that there was an enormous market for collegiate football, which postulated opportunities for university building. Since this ubiquitous realization, there has coincided this blatant, yet unchanging contradiction that academic institutions are permitted to profit off of the services provided by its student-athletes while the athletes must idly accept that they are amateurs, donating their efforts to their respective schools. The schools then direct this revenue toward strengthening their athletic departments, and thus continues this seemingly endless growth of big-time college sports, all while athletes remain uncompensated and academics continue to take a backseat.

“How am I supposed to count on a guy who can’t finish sprints? Who can’t give the effort to be great?” our new seventh grade football coach screamed into my facemask, spitting in anger. This was my wake up call. To this very day I have the same coach, and I still have flashbacks to that moment when he challenged me like I had never before been challenged. This 30 seconds would change who I am forever.

It’s game day and after a long day in school, I am already tired from the anticipation. I got up at 6:45 a.m., brushed my teeth and, with insane nervousness, laced up my stained worn in sneakers. Eight hours later at full volume, the last class bell rings as the walls shook and vibrated like the tail of a rattle snake, I feel the excitement immediately; there is a buzz of football anticipation coming from my teammates; loud talking and laughter as the marching band lines up to enter the stadium. A little voice inside my head is on repeat saying “We got this!". I start buying it. And just like a blanket straight out of the warm dryer a calm comes over me. I relished every minute as a student athlete. While college football has ended like dusk

The day the team got together and fought threw a tough battle facing pinnacle high school. It was our second home game and our record was 1-2. After all of the hard work we had put in over summer, we realized we could not lose, especially in front of our home crowd. At the beginning of the game we did our usual warm-ups, I have never felt so much adrenaline pushing threw my veins in my life. After the warm-ups the whole team got in a big huddle, we chanted a chant that will never be forgotten and one day make history for the pride. After the chant we got ready for kick-off, lined up and ready to go. The crowd started cheering at the first 2 seconds of the game “go pride go, go pride go”. This made the whole team nervous, not just because there was so many

The world of sports has grown larger than life over the past century, especially in college. Being a collegiate athlete is, without question, the hardest athletic profession in the world. Not only are students devoted to their sport, which requires an obscene amount of time of preparation, but they are also devoted to their school work. And the award they receive for their hard work? Of course there are the great memories, friendships made, “free education”, or national championships, but are theses students receiving their fair share? Should college athletes be paid? It is a question that has been asked, but never truly answered. College athletes should be paid for their work. I even have the perfect system to see