The Cult of I-AA: Honoring the legends
The rest of the football world is finally picking up what most of us in the Cult have known for quite some time: there's some good football down in the subdivision. From the "Strike While the Iron is Hot" department of the Institute of Higher Thinking comes the message that now is as good a time as any to elaborate on the "Cult Hall of Fame" talked about in this space last week. To make the initial class of inductees work, a few concerns had to be addressed: (1) There should be some degree of exclusivity to the Cult HOF. The initial slots should be limited and coveted. If this is a success, I can assure you that each year we'll circulate another ballot and induct new members into the hall. (2) The I-AA HOF should recognize accomplishments that happened in the I-AA era (with a couple of notable exceptions I'll mention later) and were achieved by I-AA teams. That means limiting the historic scope of the Cult HOF to 1978 and beyond and basing inclusion into the hall on the records and accomplishments of players, programs and coaches while they were part of I-AA. Jim Tressell, for example, would be considered as a coaching inductee because he won four national titles at Youngstown State. Certainly his resume at Ohio State would bolster his argument for being included into the hall, but the primary gateway into the Cult Hall of Fame is based on what happened while you were in I-AA. So Steve McNair should have a leg up on Kurt Warner, because he was a bigger story and had more success while he was playing for Alcorn State than Warner did while at Northern Iowa. (3) The Hall should honor a wide spectrum of the Cult of I-AA. To enhance the exclusivity of the initial class of Cult Hall-of-Famers, I've assigned a limited number of inaugural slots to each category in the Cult Hall of Fame. Leave a comment or email me if you have a beef with any of limits. Programs (5), Coaches (5), Quarterbacks (5), Running Backs (5), Wide Receivers (5), Linemen and Tight Ends (4), Defensive Linemen (5), Linebackers (5), Defensive Backs (5), Kickers (3), Administrators/Innovators/Media (5). Moreover, the Hall itself should be named for them. Check out the poll on the sidebar and tell us how you feel about calling this whole project the "Payton-Rice I-AA Hall of Fame." This week, we will be taking nominations for Hall of Fame Programs. The criteria: All nominated programs must have been a member of Division I-AA for at least 10 seasons. Teams currently residing in the Championship Subdivision will receive greater consideration than an equal program currently outside of the division. Weighing Factors: Strong consideration will be given to any program that can exhibit: Automatic nominations go out to: Georgia Southern, Youngstown State, Appalachian State, Montana, Marshall, Grambling, Princeton, Harvard and Yale Want to make a case for another team? Go back to the nomination link above and email it. I'll post the most compelling arguments next week. "Remember Montana State" Jerry Moore is reminding his troops at App State to forget about ESPN and Sports Illustrated and the Boone coeds throwing unmentionables onto the practice fields. In fact, with a little help, he can take the Michigan-Appalachian State game film and Photoshop his team onto the Michigan players and Lenoir-Rhyne onto the Appalachian State players to show just how quickly a reversal of fortunes can take place when a bigger opponent doesn't take its "tune up" seriously. What is interesting is thinking about the ramifications if Michigan has a bowl-eligible or better season after the stunner against App State. It is safe to say that the whole subdivision could reap the rewards. I-AA could reap even greater rewards if the SI cover jinx comes to roost and Appalachian actually loses a game. Huh? Look at it this way. Let's just start with the assumption that Michigan goes 9-4 with a win in the GoDaddy.com Bowl over, say, an overachieving Vanderbilt or an underachieving Cal. The point is, in this hypothetical, you have to speculate that the best case scenario for the image of I-AA is for Michigan to perform well the rest of the season. Now, still thinking of the greatest positive impact for all of I-AA, fans have got to hope that the Mountaineers have another championship-quality season. But if App runs the table and becomes just the third perfect 15-0 team in I-AA history, the rest of I-AA can be marginalized. "That Appalachian State team was just a freak of nature," they would say. And if you watched the national coverage of Appalachian's upset, you know who "they" are. "They weren't representative of the whole division. But if App lost in the late stages of the playoffs or to a traditional power (Georgia Southern and Furman are the two on the schedule) in the regular season and/or in the playoffs, the rhetoric bouncing around after week one—namely that the top of I-AA is as powerful as the middle and lower tiers of I-A. Two things I-AA fans don't want: Michigan as a team to be marginalized or App to fall on its face. Calling all Cult Babes Since just a few weeks into my original Cult of I-AA column over one what is now College Sporting News, I've been providing links to some of the hot babes on the Net. The ones with their clothes on. This year, I'd like to move to something more home grown. I'm encouraging you to send Cult Babes from your school. The rules are very simple: Email your submissions by clicking here. No nudity. I'm not saying you shouldn't send it, but I won't post it. Cult gear is a must. If you're sending a Montana Cult Babe, then she needs to be holding a Montana flag, wearing a Montana half-shirt, standing amid a stellar Montana tailgate—your team must be represented as well as the quality of your coeds. This is about school spirit, folks. And proving which I-AA school has the hottest football fans. I'll post the best pics each week, starting with some Georgia Southern Cult Babes from this weekend's GSU-West Georgia opener. I'd have better luck picking my nose I was 5-4 in my I-AA picks last week on what should have been a gimmee week, I could have thrown darts at the games and fared better. I'll admit that I thought Portland State would ride the excitement of Jerry Glanville much as the Falcons did in his first year in Atlanta (a 4-0 preseason, a win in week one and then, well, not so good). This week, I hope to do better. The theories at work here are to give credit to teams with a game under their belt, show love to home openers and just guess better. JAMES MADISON over New Hampshire And finally… This link is not only priceless, it should be reworked into an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. And see, I'm not the only one who thinks FCS is just stupid. Until next week, don't share the secret handshake.
The idea is very simple. Take nominations from I-AA fans across the nation for the first class of I-AA Hall of Fame inductees. Disseminate those nominations to a panel composed of bloggers, national and regional media and even let the fans have a vote. The inaugural class of I-AA Hall of Famers will then be released to that same group of fans, bloggers and media. Hell, we'll even send the results in to some "mainstream" media outlets and see if they run with it.
There will also be two players inducted as icons: Walter Payton and Jerry Rice. Although Payton technically didn't play I-AA football, he played for a I-AA institution and is such an iconic part of the subdivision that the top honor any player can receive is the Walter Payton Award. Both he and Rice are considered the hallmark all-time players at their positions, and since both represent the schools of I-AA, they should be immediately and without vote inducted into the I-AA Hall of Fame.
(a) Championship pedigree
(b) Playoff pedigree
(c) Sustained fan support
(d) Name recognition
(e) Coaching legacy
(f) Former players in the professional ranks/coaching ranks
(g) A historic impact on I-AA football
Or Moore could just whip out last year's Montana State highlight reel. I think enough message boards have covered this that I don't need to beat it to death: MSU beats Colorado, loses to DII team the next week, yadda yadda.
Occasionally, I've even tried to pair up hotties with I-AA school credentials like last week's representative, Mira Sorvino. Or this week's cutie, Carol Alt, who attended Hofstra but dropped out. So what.
YOUNGSTOWN STATE over South Dakota State
IOWA over Northern Iowa
FURMAN over Hofstra
PORTLAND STATE over UC Davis
NORTH DAKOTA STATE over Stephen F. Austin
NICHOLLS STATE over So. Arkansas
UMASS over Colgate
GEORGIA SOUTHERN over West Georgia
|