Wednesday, August 2, 2000
Sports
THE BATTALION
“Rags” to riches
Preseason college football magazines are not worth buying
A s summer draws to an
end, signs of the up
coming college foot
ball season are starting to ap
pear. Players are getting ready
for practice, which will begin
in the coming weeks, and
coaches are studying game
films and scouting reports.
Because the first game of the college season
will not be played until Aug. 26, fans are left
searching for an outlet to satisfy their football
cravings. Some turn to NFL preseason games, but
for true die-hard college football fans, this is like
going to the city park early Saturday morning to
watch Junior run around with the other wannabe
players in a Pop Warner game.
Weak and delirious from gridiron starvation,
fans only have one place to turn — the preseason
football magazine industry. These magazines
start hitting the newsstands as early as June and
offer little credible information about the up
coming season.
Stories about spring football practices and in
juries that occurred nearly four months ago are
just about the only reasons for someone to spend
money on these magazines. Yet people will
spend between $6 and $10 to get this virtually
useless information.
One reason is for the "season preview." Read
ers eagerly flip through the pages to see what a so-
called "expert" has to say about their favorite
teams. Writers fill pages with fluff about how each
team will fare against its conference rivals. Some
even go on to include a season's-end record for
each team — all before the first kickoff.
It is ridiculous for someone to presume to
know the outcomes of games before they are
played. If these "experts" were so knowledgeable
about the future, they would be living the high life
in Vegas, not writing for a summertime rag.
But preseason magazines have more to offer
than that. Readers can look to see what the coach
has to say about a team's chances in the upcoming
season. To no one's surprise, politically correct
phrases such as "We like our chances" and
"Things are looking up this year" run rampant in
preseason stories.
Coaches should sAy what they really think for
once: "Man, this is going to be a long year. I just
hope I don't get fired."
RUBEN DELUNA/Thk Battalion
After getting the "in-depth" scoop, readers can
turn to the ever-popular preseason poll. Each
magazine's poll is in no way official. It is merely
an editor's opinion and could easily be replaced
■ with Joe Blow's version without anyone noticing a
difference.
The concept of a preseason poll is completely
ridiculous. Polls, official or unofficial, should not
be released until sometime after the third week of
the season. Nearly every year, a team is placed at
the top of the poll only to prove the inadequacies
of the pollsters once the season begins.
The University of Arizona was last year's poll
debacle. Picked in the top 5, the Wildcats lost
a highly publicized opening game against
Penn State University 41-7 and went on to
end the season 6-6, with only three confer
ence wins.
And there is the University of Notre
Dame, which, regardless of players, sched
ule or personnel, will always be placed in
the preseason top 25.
The AP and Coaches Polls should not be
released until teams have a chance to prove
themselves on the field. Instead of basing
their selections on reputation and public-re
lations hype, pollsters should make judg
ments about the top 25 teams in the nation
based on performance and game execution.
Despite all the worthless reporting and
preseason prognostications, these presea
son magazines do have some redeeming
qualities. Occasionally, one can find an in
teresting feature story and several high-
quality photos. That does not make up for
the football rhetoric found in each of these
magazines. Readers should not waste their
money on this dribble.
Still, avid football fans rush to the book
stores and newsstands and plunk down
money for a quick fix every year.
Here is a little experiment for readers to
try — hang on to this year's preseason magazines
until December and then compare the real results
to what the "experts" predicted. Maybe this will
save fans some money next summer.
Reece Flood is a senior journalism major.
Duncan might not
play with U.S. team
Already short of big men, the U.S.
Olympic men's basketball team now
has a big problem: Tim Duncan
might not be able to play.
Duncan only recently began re
habilitating his left knee after un
dergoing surgery May 24 to repair
torn cartilage.
"There's a question of whether
he'll be ready by the time the
Olympic training
camp opens," USA
Basketball presi
dent Russ Granik
said Tuesday.
Duncan origi
nally expected to be
recovered in time
for the start of
Olympic training
camp on Aug. 25,
but he recently in
formed USA Bas
ketball he might
not be able to play.
"We had a con
versation, and we
agreed to have an
other conversation
in the next couple of days," said New
Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn,
who also serves as chairman of the
selection committee for the U.S. team.
"There's a possibility he may not
be able to play, but as of now he's still
on the team," Thorn said.
If Duncan is unable to play, it
would leave the U.S. team with a se
rious shortage of big men. There is
only one center, Alonzo Mourning,
on the roster, and the only other play
ers who can play power forward are
Vin Baker, Kevin Garnett and Shareef
Abdur-Rahim.
The logical choice to replaceDir-
can would be Shaquille O'Neal, b:
he has been unwavering in hisstara
that he does not wish to play foitk
Olympic team this summer.
O'Neal's agent, Leonard Armaif
could not immediately be reachedij
comment Tuesday.
Other possible choices — assurc
ing the selection committee would?:
after another bij
man — include Ai-
tonio McDyess«
Denver, Dav::
Robinson of San Ait
tonio and Karl Mal
one of Utah.
The Olympic ro-
•ter does not haveti
be finalized untii
Sept. 15, two daysbc
fore the United State
plays its first garni
against China, al
though the selecfe
committee wouldre-
place Duncan well
before that date ill*
is unable to play.
"As far as I know, he hasn't mai
a final decision yet," Granik said
"We'll just have to wait and see."
Duncan is expected to re-siga
with the San Antonio Spurs in fc
next few days. Duncan, a free agent,
turned down an offer from the Or
lando Magic in favor of signing a
three-year deal with the Spurs.
The 24-year-old forward led the
Spurs to their only NBA title in 1999,
but missed last season's playoffs with
an injured left knee.
“There's a
question of
whether he'll
be ready by the
time the
Olympic
training camp
opens."
— Russ Granik
USA Basketball president
2nd Annual
featuring
brought to you by
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Editor in Chief
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Reece Flood, Sports Editor
Stuart Hutson, Sci/Tech Editor
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Wednesday, Augu
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