Page 16
Sporting View
NCAA, Coach Paulsen
won't change ways
b Wm Musser
The Collegian
Here are some of my sportly thoughts as The Collegian's
newspapering season comes to a close.
• If you think the National Collegiate Athletic Association is
going to create a playoff format for its Division I•A football
schools, don't hold your breath. The likelihood of such a system
being implimented soon has about as much chance of happening
as Behrend does of getting a new library in my lifetime.
The way the system works now, a team merely has to win an
election to be crowned the national champion in football. To win
this election, a team needs only impress the voters in the two
major polls, composed of sportswriters (AP) and coaches (UPI).
So why doesn't the NCAA devolop a
playoff format for its highest level of
football? The answer: Money -- and
lots of it. The present system has
placed and will continue to place a ton
of green into the NCAA's greedy little
hands.
Meanwhile, every other level of football in the NCAA has a
playoff system to determine their best football team. From
Division 111 to Division I-AA, you have to do more than just
have an undefeated season and impress sports dinks (i.e.
sportswriters). You have to defeat the best teams in the nation
before you can claim you're the best.
Look at other sports in Division I-A and you'll find some sort
of playoff format. Note the success of the basketball tournament
in Division I-A. So why doesn't the NCAA devolop a playoff
format for its highest level of football?
The answer: Money -- and lots of it. Under the present
system, with teams playing in corporate-sponsored bowl games
trying to win an election, the system has placed and will
continue to place a ton of green into the NCAA's greedy little
hands.
Until the bowl-election system becomes unprofitable, the
NCAA will stand pat on its present system.
• Speaking of standing pat, don't expect Men's Basketball
Coach Fred Paulsen to change his coaching style.
For those of you who haven't seen Paulsen in action, the best
way to describe him is intense. Paulsen expects a lot from his
players. and when they make a mistake he lets them know about
it.
I've heard several people around campus say that Paulsen is
too hard on his team, that he is like Indiana Coach Bobby
Knight, only meaner.
Perhaps Paulsen, in his fast year at Behrend, is too much like
a drill sergeant and shouldn't coach a team that way. At least that
is what fans at Behrend basketball games are saying.
While Paulsen's coaching style may appear too abrasive, the
idea that the style cannot be successful is wrong.
At Huron University in South Dakota, Paulsen had a winning
percentage of 65 in the last six years. That includes four 20-win
seasons, four conference championships, and three top twenty
finishes.
In fact, after going 8-19 in his first season at Huron,
Paulsen's team compiled a 28-3 record.
Whether or not you like his coaching style, give Paulsen
some time and he will produce a winner.
• Not sure what to give to that special someone this
Christmas -- how about the new hand-held game that has football
and baseball games back-to-back? And whose name is on it?
That know-k-all Bo Jackson, that's who.
• If you're looking for a gift for the literary one in your life,
. then Bo Jackson's new book, "Bo knows Bo," would be an
excellent selection.
While I've only read excerpts of the book, which was written
in conjunction with Dick Schap!), it was enough to show that
there is more to Bo than professional sports and Nike
commercials.
What elms is there to know about Mr. Jackson? You'll just
The Collegian
3-041-
lAf 4 ?e.
Thursday, December 6, 1990
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