"All she knows about football is what somebody told her. Or what she read in a book, or what she saw on television. To understand football, you've got to play with your hand in the dirt. I love Condoleezza Rice and she's probably a good statesman and all of that but how in the hell does she know what it's like out there when you can't get your breath and it's 110 degrees and the coach asks you to go some more?" -- Pat Dye, former East Carolina, Wyoming and Auburn head coach
And with that blurb of nonsense, Pat Dye put the crosshairs squarely on Dr. Condoleezza Rice and making the decision to choose four teams to play in the College Football Playoff beginning in 2014 sound like making the government shutdown come to an end. (Oh wait, the shutdown is over? Well I'll be damned.)
Just so we're clear. The College Football Playoff (CFP) is the new definitive system in that the NCAA will use to determine a national champion that will begin in the 2014 season. Unlike the BCS, the CFP will not use computer rankings or polls in the selection of its bowl teams. Rather, a committee of 13 people will select and seed the teams. You will recognize this format to be very similar to "March Madness" and the NCAA tournament in basketball. And now that the committee members have been announced, the scrutinization of the people on this committee is now coming to the surface. Enter Dr. Rice and the crosshairs.
If you get a chance, read that comment at the beginning of the article again and ask yourself, what is Pat Dye really saying?
All she knows about football is what somebody told her. Or in a book. Or what she saw on TV. Well, isn't that how anyone begins to learn the game? How else are you going to begin to learn about the game? Osmosis? Oh, she was the provost at Stanford? And she managed the Stanford athletics department? Oh ok.
To understand football, you've got to play with your hand in the dirt. Bruh, have you watched college football lately? They play on field turf with the rubber pellets. Step your game up.
I love Condoleezza Rice and she's probably a good statesman and all.... Yes, because the co-sign of the President of the United States isn't enough.
...how in the hell does she know what it's like out there when you can't get your breath and it's 110 degrees and the coach asks you to go some more? And this is the reason why folks like Jadeveon Clowney are trying to go to the league and get paid. This isn't the olden days of college football, coaches get fired for that type of thing nowadays.
That statement by Coach Pat Dye is representative of a segment of college football fans that want things to stay the way they used to be. With players keeping quiet and broke, keeping only a select few people in control, keeping that new-fangled intelligence out of the game, it's the only thing that's familiar to that segment. That segment of people is the group that simply are afraid of what they don't understand. To Pat Dye, it seems unfathomable that the 66th Secretary of State for the United States would be incapable of determining who the best four college football teams are in the country, right? Because she hasn't dealt with more complex issues in her time in the President's cabinet.
In recent times, the state of college football is being forced to deal with tough issues. From the compensation of players, to the safety of players and the marketing and branding of players. There are plenty of pundits, prognosticators and people of influence who have well-thought and informed opinions on what these student-athletes actually deserve, but how many of them played a sport in college? I'd say the majority of them did not. That doesn't mean they're not capable of helping in the process of making things better for student-athletes, not at all. If you're smart and capable of making a difference, welcome aboard.
Dr. Rice is one of the smartest people in the country. She also happens to be a highly educated black woman from the south. So yes, maybe those that think like Pat Dye don't understand why Dr. Rice is on the election committee, maybe it's because they're afraid.
RELATED: Why Jadeveon Clowney Shouldn’t Be Punished For Protecting Himself
Eddie Maisonet is the founder and editor emeritus of The Sports Fan Journal. Currently, he serves as an associate editor for ESPN.com. He is an unabashed Russell Westbrook and Barry Switzer apologist, owns over 100 fitteds and snapbacks, and lives by Reggie Jackson’s famous quote, “I am the straw that stirs the drink.”
