Oct 10, 2008

As you’ve probably heard by now, the University of Wisconsin Marching Band has been suspended by university officials for what may best be described as “really bad behavior.” Specifics haven’t been released, but really, we can probably take a guess what this is all about: A bunch of college kids drinking too much and acting stupidly.

For their transgressions, the band was barred from playing last week for the Badgers’ titanic showdown with Ohio State. The investigation continues and, as of this writing, it appeared the band may not be allowed to play for this week’s game against Penn State, either.

Which is a shame. A tragedy, even.

Because without a marching band, a college football game risks becoming what we should fall fear most: An NFL game.

We cannot allow this to happen.

I suppose there are some outsiders to college football (i.e., NFL fans) who perceive these college marching bands to be somewhat corny. Maybe they think the uniforms are ridiculous. Maybe they’d rather listen to some awful piped-in “modern rock” at some soulless corporate-sponsored, publicly-funded stadium than the sweet sounds of 100-plus well-trained, musically gifted college kids playing their hearts out for their team at a true football cathedral. But we shouldn’t worry about these kinds of people, because they aren’t very intelligent.

No, we should instead worry about the poor fans of Wisconsin, who apparently will have to endure another game day with a gaping hole in their game day experience.

No run-on.

No “On Wisconsin.”

No “Fifth Quarter.”

It’s a catastrophe, is what it is. And not just for Badgers fans. Because when I tune for Penn State-Wisconsin on Saturday night, I’ll want to hear “On Wisconsin.” Not because I’m a Wisconsin fan, but rather because I’m a college football fan. These fight songs—“Fight The Team,” “The Notre Dame Victory March,” “Hail to the Victors,” “Anchors Aweigh,” “Tiger Rag”—they really matter, folks. They are part of what we have come to expect from a college football Saturday. They are college football.

So to take that away from us?

Well, it’s unfair. Completely unfair.

I have no doubt that the good folks in the president’s office at Wisconsin believe they are acting in the best interest of their university. I have no doubt they are dealing with some serious issues with that out-of-control band. But I do doubt that every single member of that band is a bad apple. There’s got to be at least 50 of them that are innocent.

And if those 50 innocents can be found, I would ask only this: Let them play.

Don’t do it for their sake.

Do it for ours.

Do it for college football.

Out And About: News And Notes You May Have Missed

• I have some career advice for you, folks: Don't work for Tommy Tuberville. Because more likely than not, he will fire you. Tuberville has always seemed to me a decent guy. Granted, I didn't much care for the way he left Ole Miss high and dry a few years back, but I could excuse that one, simply because I understood the Auburn job was better. And in the years since, Tuberville has gone about building a fairly consistent winner down On The Plains. But he's also developed a nasty habit of hiring and firing assistant coaches. Quickly. And repeatedly. In fact, Tuberville has in his 10 years at Auburn had five different offensive coordinators. But no firing was more puzzling--or more damning of Tuberville’s character--than his decision this week to can Tony Franklin, who lasted exactly seven games in the job. Yes, seven games. Talk about throwing somebody under the bus. Asked to justify the decision this week, Tuberville said the following: "My responsibility is to this football team and it always will be. Basically, what it all comes down to is production, and I didn't think the last few weeks we were making any progress." Or, in other words: "Fans were calling for me to be fired, so in order to save my job, I fired Tony to show how concerned I was. Tough luck for him and his family.”

• Speaking of head coaches throwing folks under the bus, we now turn our attention to Wisconsin, where head coach Bret Bielema, feeling the heat from Badgers fans after back-to-back losses, this week publicly said that he's not happy with the play of quarterback Alan Evridge. Basically, Bielema said if Evridge doesn't shape up, and soon, he'll be out of a job. "The part that Allan has to be able to improve upon more than anything is probably his accuracy as a passer," Bielema said. "There’s a number of plays in the last two games in particular and they've surfaced in every game where the ball might be a little behind them, a little over them, a little under them. We've got to expect the ball to be delivered with better accuracy." Now, I'm certainly not defending Evridge's production. In the last two games he's thrown for just 373 yards and two touchdowns, to go along with three interceptions. But here's something Bielema will learn (in theory) eventually: You don't publicly criticize a kid whose confidence is already shaken. You especially don't publicly criticize a kid who you'll need to play well if you're going to win. If you want to tell him his job is in jeopardy, you do it in private. Not in front of millions of people. Because if you do that, you’re making excuses for why your team hasn’t won more football games. It's not Evridge's fault you've lost two straight games, Bret. It's your fault.

Quick Hits: Straight And To The Point

• Now this is funny: Because of some fine print in the Big East/ABC/ESPN television contract, college football fans in Pittsburgh will not get the Texas-Oklahoma game on Saturday. No, instead, they'll get Cincinnati-Rutgers. I mean, seriously.

• Quote of the week: "Y'all look like you just got fired. Better me than you." - Former Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, talking to reporters after he got fired by the, well, self-interested Tommy Tuberville.

• Quote of the week, Part II: "[Tuberville] made his philosophy change and hires Tony and gives the guy six weeks to do it? Let's see how these next six weeks play out. [Tuberville] says he's going to be more involved offensively. That's a huge mistake because he doesn't know anything about offense. ... Maybe they fired the wrong guy." - Former Hoover (Alabama) High School coach Rush Propst, a close friend of fired Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, to the Birmingham News.

• Now here’s something that falls into the category of Completely Overblown Stories That Only Get Traction Because In The Middle of the Week College Football Beat Writers Have Nothing Else To Write About: LSU defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois, asked about his team’s preparations for Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators, said the following: "If we get a good shot on [Tebow], we're going to try our best to take him out of the game. With his size and his heart, it's hard to get a clean shot. I think every lineman wants to get a good hit on a Heisman Trophy winner." Jean-Francois’ comments caused a firestorm among the always-looking-for-a-story-to-prove-how-passionate-people-in-the-SEC-are-about-football Southern media, who quickly sought to make a big deal about it and create some kind of “controversy.” They succeeded, too, when Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen retorted: "Intentionally injuring other players is not part of the game that we teach here." Oh, stop it.

• As for Tim Tebow’s reaction? All class, as usual: "I'm a competitor, so I think he wasn't meaning it like a lot of people took it. I don't think it's ever a good thing to talk trash, because I think all it does is really fire your opponent up. At least I know that's how it is for me. I think otherwise too many people get fired up and get more competitive."

• By the way, the biggest part of this story is not what Jean-Francois said. No, the biggest part of this story—and this is something that nobody has as of yet explained—is how somebody with the last name “Jean-Francois” can have the first name of “Ricky.”

• Curtis Painter has gone from Heisman contender to potential backup in less than a month. Painter, leader of the Big Ten’s most prolific offense, has been struggling mightily of late, and threw for just 112 yards last week against Penn State. Now he’s on the verge of losing his job. Even his staunchest defender, Purdue coach Joe Tiller, seems to be wavering in his support. Said Tiller, who benched Painter late in last week’s loss: "We need to make throws and they need to be in an area where we can catch the football, not at the ankle level or behind or on a deep throw two yards over the top of his head.” I like Joe Tiller but it sounds like he's been hanging out too much with Bret Bielema.

• Notre Dame coach Charlie “The Arrogant One” Weis was asked this week (for some reason we’re not clear on) if he’d be comfortable coaching from the press box, as Penn State coach Joe Paterno has done in recent weeks. Said Weis: [Paterno] is a lot less involved with the whole operation [than me]. As a matter of fact, I've seen plenty of times with him not wearing a headset.” Charlie, you can criticize Joe when you’ve actually won a bowl game. Or a national championship. Or manage not to lose to Navy. At home.

• FYI: Other coaches who occasionally didn’t and/or don’t wear headsets: Bud Wilkinson, Bear Bryant, Woody Hayes, John Gagliardi.

• Now this is interesting: Tennessee hasn’t won an SEC championship since 1998. They haven’t finished in the Associated Press Top 10 since 2001. But they have beaten Georgia in three of the last four years. Georgia plays the Vols on Saturday. Just sayin’.