ShareThisThrough this column's 17 years, we've been called many things. Idiot. Blockhead. Propagandist. You get the drift.
But we're proud to have never been labeled a corporate shill. Today, we're going to walk that fine line.
That's because our employer for the better part of a quarter-century, E.W. Scripps Company, has entered into a contract with LegendsChannel.com to promote and distribute a weekly college football poll -- the first Scripps Legends Poll came out Monday. Here are the links: http://scrippsnews.com/content/oklahoma-football-team-atop-first-scripps... and http://www.legendschannel.com.
Now many of you probably think college football needs another poll like it needs about 1,000 more Nevin Shapiros. But consider how unique this one is.
The Scripps Legends Poll features 19 of the sport's most recognizable coaches, all now retired. It ranges from down-home championship icons (Bobby Bowden, Vince Dooley), innovators ahead of their time (LaVell Edwards) to underrated gems (John Robinson, George Welsh, Bobby Ross).
In short, these guys know the game. To use a cliche, they've forgotten more about football than we'll ever know.
These men know what it's like to take a team into a din of 80,000 fans that want nothing more than pain, humiliation and agony for you. They know the uneasiness of a national title hanging on some backup quarterback that no one is quite sure even knows the plays. They know the day-to-day stress of recruiting, late-night phone calls from law enforcement and the responsibility of going into a family's home and promising to take good care of their only son.
That's how these 19 coaches combined for 2,821 wins and nine national titles. That's a few more than we've got.
But what makes the Scripps Legends Poll really worth your time is the innovative way voters will go about their business. Unlike the two BCS polls where current coaches can't see the teams actually play (usually ceding their duties to someone in the sports information department) or the laughably unqualified Harris Poll (recent voters included NFL journeymen QBs Gus Frerotte and Todd Husak, former U.S. Olympic Committee director Harvey Schiller, addled Fox NFL announcer Terry Bradshaw and former Notre Dame SID Roger Valdiserri), the Scripps Legends poll assigns top teams to individual voters, who break down that team's games each week with digital DVD technology provided by poll organizers.
That's right, informed voters actually watching the teams they vote for, breaking down strengths and weaknesses with a coach's trained eye. Makes too much sense in the mixed-up world of the BCS.
Do you think Bowden knows a little bit about this Florida State team? How about Don Nehlen and West Virginia? John Robinson and USC? These are some of the team assignments the Scripps Legends uses. And unlike the clandestine current coaches' poll set-up, each Legends' voter's vote is open to the public each week, as well.
Despite its strengths, the Scripps Legends Poll is unlikely to ever replace one of the BCS polls. And it does not mean we're ignoring the sport's glaring need for a real playoff system.
It's just another voice, one we find far more qualified. The first poll differs significantly from the Associated Press, the former BCS partner with savvy writers and broadcasters voting.
Both have Oklahoma No. 1. (Early prediction: the Sooners won't make it through the Big 12 unbeaten). After that from 2-6, A.P. goes LSU, Alabama, Boise State, Stanford and Wisconsin while the Legends has Alabama, LSU, Wisconsin, Boise State and Stanford. These small differences could loom huge by the end of November.
So in the interim before the Harris Poll comes out next month with new panelists such as Pat Sajak and Vanna White, give the Scripps Legends Poll a look. It will make you think.
UPSET PICK: Texas' pummeling of feeble UCLA dropped us to 0-3 and 1-16 dating back to the start of last season. With numbers like that, there's nowhere to go but up. So watch host Pitt celebrate its pending move to the ACC by ambushing 6-point favorite Notre Dame Saturday.
UNHAPPY VALLEY: Suffice it to say that Penn State fans were a bit underwhelmed by Saturday's harrowing 14-10 survival at Temple, a team the Nittany Lions haven't lost to since 1943. Here's how the PSU alumni newsletter summed it up: "Penn State's Nittany Lions came home from Philadelphia Saturday with a win they didn't deserve. Despite making just about every mistake in the book -- fumbles, an interception, dropped passes, a blocked punt, a 52-yard touchdown nullified by a holding penalty, missed tackles, missed blocks and missed field goals -- the Lions eked out a 14-10 victory over a tough Temple team in the last three minutes of the game ..."
Did we mention that 84-year-old Joe Paterno "coached'' from the coaches' booth again due to injuries suffered in a preseason practice spill? If the Lions are indeed this bad with a nasty end of the season run (Nebraska, at Ohio State, at Wisconsin) looming, you have to wonder if this could finally be JoePa's swan song.
(John Lindsay is sports editor for Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
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