College Football Just Went Down the Tubes
I stopped watching, and once your brain catches up to the new reality, you’ll stop too. By Readers Sept. 7, 2023 5:23 pm ET USC wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates his touchdown against San Jose State with teammates in Los Angeles, Aug. 26. Photo: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press Bob Greene’s op-ed “Inflation Devalues the Big Ten” (Aug. 30) misses the key point: Viewership will decline because college football has become a professional minor league. I stopped watching, and once your brain catches up to the new reality, you’ll stop watching too. People don’t watch college football for the quality of the game; the NFL is much better. We watch for tradition, nostalgia and our connections to universities. It’s remembering the campus where you went to school or visited or, like me, tried to sneak into parties as a high-school kid.
USC wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates his touchdown against San Jose State with teammates in Los Angeles, Aug. 26.
Photo: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press
Bob Greene’s op-ed “Inflation Devalues the Big Ten” (Aug. 30) misses the key point: Viewership will decline because college football has become a professional minor league. I stopped watching, and once your brain catches up to the new reality, you’ll stop watching too.
People don’t watch college football for the quality of the game; the NFL is much better. We watch for tradition, nostalgia and our connections to universities. It’s remembering the campus where you went to school or visited or, like me, tried to sneak into parties as a high-school kid.
I stopped watching when USC and UCLA announced their move to the Big Ten. I had swallowed previous breaks with tradition, and I was almost ready to accept Penn State as a real Big Ten team, but this was different. Now, we were the bad guys. We destroyed our 100-year partner to make a little more money. USC was looking to move, but we didn’t have to take them. When your best friend’s girlfriend winks at you, you don’t wink back.
I couldn’t cheer for the Big Ten anymore. Every school approved adding USC and UCLA, ignoring tradition. They lost sight of what they were selling and assumed we would keep watching. Why should we? Without tradition, college football is simply mediocre football.
Dan Gochberg
Nashville
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