It’s nice to see football season in full swing again: high school, college and professional football will accompany the changing leaves for yet another fall. But it’s not just football season that strikes America, it’s Football Fever, most notably in the obsession and the popularity of fantasy football. Luckily, Peyton Manning and his seven touchdowns on Thursday night against Baltimore helped me out this week in my fantasy league.
This football fever helps to create another condition in the world of football: dollar fever. This is especially true in the professional ranks of the sport, but is seeping into the college side of things. Recent conference realignment is the perfect example of this sickness.
On Saturday, Notre Dame and Michigan played for the last time in the foreseeable future in Michigan Stadium, known as The Big House. It was just the second night game in the 86-year history of the venue and the largest crowd to ever watch a college football game of 115,109 was on hand to see Michigan beat Notre Dame 41-30.
The rivalry between the two schools, separated by less than 150 miles, dates back to 1887 and the Wolverines and Fighting Irish have met 41 times since then, with Michigan stealing victories in 24 contests. The two programs rank No. 1 and No. 2 in winning percentage. The rivalry will take a hiatus beginning in 2015 because of Notre Dame’s agreement to play mostly Atlantic Coast Conference schools (a move that financially benefits both sides) starting that year.
The decision to take a break from history has created a national debate about the importance of the rivalry from a practical, traditional and historical point of view. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly even said that he didn’t think that Michigan was one of the Fighting Irish’s main rivals, a statement that had Michigan incensed that he would say such a blasphemous thing.
But through all the debate, I haven’t seen anybody asking whether or not we should end the rivalry. In my mind, the answer is yes.
In Major League Baseball, there is a feeling that in order to succeed, you have to kiss the ring of the history of the game; baseball fails to recognize change or is, at the very least, slow to adapt to it. Thus, in our changing world, baseball’s revenues and television ratings are dropping, while football’s are only climbing higher and higher.
College football’s pursuit of the almighty dollar is one that serves to buck the trend of tradition in the sport. Who says that college football must adhere to traditions anyway? By continuing to get wrapped up in the history of the game and those that have played it in the past only prevents us from focusing on the now, focusing on the current team on the field. Nobody says you can’t have the history. But, by continuing to focus on the past and believing that historic rivalries or coaches must remain in place in order for the sport to be successful is out of date and is not a vote of confidence for the current team.
All rivalries in sports should take a break every now and then because it tends to shake things up. Ending rivalries grabs headlines and has fans and alumni of schools talking about the football program. It also helps to keep things fresh.
In other words, shedding tradition and focusing more on the present than the past is a way to keep programs or sports from getting stuck in a rut. I think that football should go after what’s best for itself. And what is best for football right now is some new dynamics and dead rivalries.
