“The Power of Love” and College Football
I don’t have an unbelievable amount of songs on my iPod. A lot, sure, but not an obsessive music enthusiast level of listening pleasure possibilities. Still, when you have 6,745 songs of which practically every genre is covered, selecting shuffle is a definite shot in the dark. Hit random at your own risk. Today, that Russian roulette ended at “The Power of Love.”
I listened to the entire song. Partially because play count is important to me (don’t ask). Partially because Back to the Future is easily one of my favorite movies ever. Unless you’re immune to the 80s and all the decade had to offer or you’re dead inside, you are a fan of that movie. A closeted fan maybe, but a fan all the same. Huey Lewis and the News, sleeveless jackets (Have we ever determined why Marty wears the jacket? The weather in Hill Valley seems perfectly pleasant throughout most of the movie with the exception of the lightning storm of course.), sports cars made of stainless steel. It really had all you could ask for in an 80s epic.
Remembering Back to the Future got me thinking of two things. Two college football programs to be exact. Both current top ten programs. Both orange and blue. Both getting massive, overwhelming amounts of media attention. In one corner, Florida and the slow-staggering-stumbling-out-of-the-gates Gators. In the other, Boise State and the little-engine-that-could Broncos.
The thought of the past took me to an easier time. In 1985 – when Back to the Future was released – I was six years old. My only football memory of that year was the Chicago Bears shuffling their way to the Super Bowl. And I remember being more concerned with class hamsters I got to take home that weekend. They would have babies at halftime in a horrifically terrifying birds and bees experience for a small child.
Of the college football season, I remember little. I know now that Bo Jackson won the Heisman Trophy that year and the Gators went 9-1-1 and reached #1 at a point during the season, but were shackled by probation. I only know what I read, not what I can actually recall.
What I do know is that this was a time before the Internet explosion. Before bloggers. Before everyone had a voice. Or better yet, before everyone had a means in which their voice could be heard. Things were quieter, calmer, simpler. Whether that’s a good or bad thing is up to each of you to decide individually.
On one hand, most of us would be in the dark when it came to any team other than our local program. We would watch the news and read the newspaper, but that would really be it. On the other, we wouldn’t have to experience the same criticism over and over and over again. We would be without the constant chatter.
In 1985, a 22-point win would be something for Florida fans to celebrate regardless of the opponent. Sure the sloppiness of an offense attempting to come together after a long offseason would be apparent, but the three-score win would be more than enough and everyone would have moved on the very next day. There wouldn’t be hundreds…no…thousands of people attacking Mike Pouncey’s performance. A simple “they need to get the snaps cleared up” would be said once and that would be the end of it.
In 1985, Boise State wouldn’t be put under a microscope. They would do their thing, be recognized with the occasional water cooler mention, and then take their talents to the Bluebonnet Bowl. Similar to the 12-1 Air Force squad that did just that. The Falcons only loss would come to BYU who finished the season at #17 in the Coaches Poll. Air Force would finish #5. Seems like a Boise-esque season to me.
But we’re not in 1985. We’re in 2010. There is no out-of-sight-out-of-mind because nothing is out of sight. All of us see everything. If the Gators struggle against USF on Saturday, we’ll hear even more about their potential problems on the offensive side of the ball. And if Boise State defeats Oregon State in a few weeks, the national championship talk will intensify despite the fact that many teams – including the Broncos – will still have nine regular season games left.
Sometimes you have to wish we could return to that easier time. That you can listen to “The Power of Love” and be transported to a time when Michael J. Fox was a movie star and there was no BCS and no talk of automatic qualifiers. A time with no ESPN.com, no message boards, and no TBG (again, I’ll leave you to decide if that’s a good or bad thing), but there would still be college football.