In the showcase game of the College Football Weekend, #4 ranked Notre Dame defeated #1 ranked Clemson 47-40 and it took two overtime "innings" for the Irish to do so. If you watched the game, I am sure that you will agree with me that it was a terrific game between two teams deserving of those #1 and #4 rankings. It is likely that the two teams will meet once again in the ACC Championship game next month with the winner going to the College Football Playoff. As often happens in such rematches, the second game will probably not be the equal of last night's contest.
The point of this monograph, though, as the headline suggests, is would it have been so awful had that game ended after four quarters in a 33-33 tie? The late Myron Cope used to postulate, and I agree with him, that in many cases, a tie can often be a "just result" in a football game. I believe that such was the case last might. Both teams played valiantly, each team had to come from behind during the game, and neither really deserved to lose. I truly believe that a tie game last night would have been a "just result" to that game.
Instead, we saw each team conduct two "drives" from the 25 yard line in order to settle the outcome. In an era when football, institutionally, is paying lip service to player safety, is it really necessary to expose these "student-athletes" - remember, college kids aren't getting paid for these games - to additional injury risk? In Playoff Games, sure, you need to determine a winner, so have your OT protocols for those games, but do we really need it in a regular season? (As an aside, I went to a youth league football game about ten or twelve years ago where my nephew was coaching his son's team. The game ended in a tie and they went into overtime to settle it. I thought that was appalling.)
Here's another element that would have made last night's game far more appealing had there been no provision for overtime. Trailing 33-26, Notre Dame scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to make the score 33-32. With no overtime, HC Brian Kelly would have been forced to make a decision: go for two points and win the game, or kick and "settle" for tie. No coach wants to have to make that decision and answer to critics afterward, which is why overtime will be with us forever.
I don't expect many to agree with me on this, but, as the saying goes, that's my....
******
More disconcerting was what happened after the game ended, and the Irish fans, in their misplaced enthusiasm and excitement, rushed the field. If you weren't watching, this is what you missed:
Yep, we saw before our eyes the creation of what may well be yet another COVID Super Spreader event. I hope that my niece, a student at ND was not among that crowd, yet even if she wasn't, she will no doubt be exposed to many of those who were out there in the days ahead. It was not a good look.
No comments:
Post a Comment