An Open Letter to Cinderella

Dear Cinderella,

It's been awhile since we've seen you around, girl. Where have you been?

Sure did miss you this last weekend for the NCAA Championship. Again.

What has it been now, 23 years? Wow. I just remember Rollie Massimino looking so ill up until Villanova finally sealed the deal. An eight seed. Can you imagine? Hasn't been done before or since.

Ah, but that was a different time, wasn't it? Interesting that the last two appearances you made in April were in the real college basketball palaces. Jimmy Valvano ready to mosh with you in The Pit back in '83. Then '85 with Rupp Arena and old Rollie, ready for a Dramamine after just two spins. But he sure hung in there.

I know, I know. Two Italian dance partners and neither came anywhere close to Fabio in the looks department. But you know you couldn't have found better partners on "Dancing With The Stars".

Then the NCAA moved to the football stadiums and we haven't seen you for the biggest dance since. What gives?

Like we don't know.

The NCAA thinks we don't see that they only let you dance through March. You almost snuck through with George Mason a couple of years ago, but like you said, George didn't have the right school tie to crash that party.

The boob tube only serves those with the bloodlines. "North Carolina." becomes "North Carolina!" when Dickie V says it.

In comparison with all that reinforced tradition poor George Mason might as well have been located in a strip mall next to the Ross.

Surprisingly, I was more bummed by Memphis losing to Kansas than I had thought I'd be. Bill Self is a good guy, but the thought of yet another non-BCS school coming up short was upsetting.

Not that you'd be eligible to dance with Calipari. He was coaching a number one seed, after all, but you know what I mean. A win for Conference USA would have been good for us here in El Paso.

I will say Banowsky and the rest of the conference had better step things up before the Tigers decide they have enough jack to buy their way into someone's country club. It's a good thing the Big East is full up these days.

Speaking of the Bowl Championship Series, funny to realize it, but we only get to see you in December and January anymore. And they keep threatening to take that one away from you, too.

Doesn't anybody realize that you only date college guys? That you've never accepted a dance from a team of multi-millionaire professional men, even though they have cooler cars?

You're true to your school, Cindy, even if it's in Boise, Idaho.

You really surprised and hurt me with that Fiesta Bowl last year, Cindy. You knew I grew up in Norman, OK.

But hey, even though I like the Sooners, I appreciate you for you and I enjoyed watching you boogie with Boise State despite myself. You left me shaking my head, but I was grinning the whole time.

You never told me how you thought to dredge up that Statue of Liberty move. It was great! Truly, great.

And it'll all be a memory, too, if the NCAA and the talking/writing heads have their way. I know you get the most mentions come March, but if only they realized with 65 teams in a tournament it's simple math that you'll have lots of dance partners. Until the end, anyway.

Honestly, what do they think will happen to you if they play it off in college football? What are they thinking, wanting to make you go two or three dances before you get to the big one?

Glass slippers are good for one whirl, but three or four? The clock would strike midnight long before you were done. That's what they just don't get, especially in football.

One shot, that's what it has been in the bowls. That's what it should be. Not David vs. Goliath, then Goliath's three equally large brothers.

They can sell the basketball tournament for all it's worth. You do plenty of great dancing in the first couple of weeks there, anyway.

Just watch yourself around these football playoff goons, Cindy. Don't let 'em sell you out. If it's been 23 years in basketball, we both know it'll never ever happen with these big, deep teams on the gridiron.

If they really respect you for who you are, Cinderella, they'll know better.

Yeah, yeah -- "When fairy godmothers take the bus."

Comments

[just a thought]

Duke, although I don't often submit a post in your forum I admit I enjoy reading your views. I do however, have to state my take concerning the whole college football/cinderella scenario. We may never agree but here goes...

Cindy may never win a true D-1 college football championship, but agree that any playoff system forces a team to prove its mettle. A good but non-deserving CFB powerhouse will clearly be eliminated from this dance, and of course Cindy may likely be next to go but at least that paper tiger is eliminated from the format. The objective is not to win it all but prove that they're just not that good. How do you name a team the best possible CFB team in the land after a season which included beating Rhode Island Tech and a bowl victory over a team that suspended half their starters for team violations?

So, America watches Cindy play one or even two more games and egos are crushed nationwide. So what? Well this helps recruiting measures for Cindy way more than simply "going to a bowl" game and this is where parity rears its ugly head. Money and players goes elsewhere.

Embarassment on a national stage is one thing but an AD/head coach would never stand to lose Bubba Smith to another school because Cindy danced circles around them for a night so why risk that? So much to lose and so little to gain---and it's so much harder to win a National Championship that way go figure.

The landscape of college football would change. Some teams/conferences will be exposed for their weaknesses (too late for the Big Ten) and others will be lauded. Two-thirds of football fans want a D-1 CFB playoff Duke, the others I'm sure would have presented the Patriots the Lombardi trophy after week 16.

[DukeKeith]

Thanks for your comments, j.a.t., and I know -- my opinion is definitely not "mainstream".

I would not want to award the Patriots the Lombardi Trophy after the regular season, though. It's the NFL and it's different.

But bowls and the importance of the regular season are just two of the reasons I like the college game better, not to mention tradition. It's a different animal and I don't want it to be the same as the NFL.

Plus I like Cinderellas. They're the most compelling teams in sport and they don't really exist in the pros. Cindy gets the short shrift in a playoff format and I think that's not cool.

I'm glad you get my point, though, about how a playoff kills Cinderella off. People talk to me about how playoffs are good for Cinderella -- "Look at the NCAA Tournament!" Well, yeah, take a look. Twenty-three years since 'Nova won it. Don't tell me about George Mason, or Davidson this season, if the point of the tournament is to decide A Winner. Those teams didn't win. We agree on this in a way.

I don't think making a playoff would make that much of a difference for any prospective Cinderella's program in terms of recruiting and the like. Traditional schools are traditional schools. Money is the difference and they always have plenty of that.

Cinderella's better off with her one dance, and right now the best and most memorable dances are in the bowl games. I have made the point before -- the Boise State-Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl doesn't happen if that's a playoff game. No way it gets voted ESPN's second-best highlight ever if it's anything other than what it was -- one game, winner take all.

[Who's your Mumme]

Duke,
You mentioned Villanova as the last Cinderella to win it all.
Actually, it was UNLV in 1990. Yes, they were a #1 seed but, they came out of the Big West conference. Villanova is a Big East school.

Cinderellas, in my opinion, are mid-majors not, bottom feeders in Big conferences.

FB wise, BCS party crashers like are Boise St. and Hawaii are cinderellas!

[DukeKeith]

Mumme, I get your logic -- I wrote about that with Memphis in the column -- but my personal opinion is that UNLV and Memphis are not Cinderellas. Too much firepower, the same way Houston was no Cinderella with Phi Slamma Jamma in 1983, even though the Cougs of the old SWC got knocked off by NC State of the ACC.

C'mon, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Larry Micheaux and Co. could in no way be confused with a Cinderella story. Today, Clyde and Hakeem would both be lottery picks.

Good point, though. I do get worn out seeing BCS schools take the tourney every year and UNLV was the last to crash the party. And we agree completely on Hawaii and Boise.

[Who's your Mumme]

Speaking of BCS party crashers. Fresno St has a very good chance this year.

How good are the bulldogs?
Good enough for Kansas St to drop them in the season opener and willing to pay $300k to do so!

FSU schedule:
@ Rutgers, Wisconsin, @Toledo, @UCLA, Hawaii, Idaho, @Utah st, @LA Tech, Nevada, NMSU, @SJSU and @Boise St.

It's still too early but, FSU will be a good team vs. a very good non-conference schedule.

Is it September yet?!