The Year of College Sports: 2008

NFL vs. NCAA

There are sports fans and there are sports fans. There are those who like professional sports and dislike collegiate sports, and vice-versa. There happens to be reasonable arguments for both sides.

NFL Pros:

1. More well-known players

2. Greater fan base/more merchandise

3. Greater parity

4. Playoff system

NCAA Pros:

1. Greater enthusiasm amongst fans and players

2. Every game is essentially a playoff game

3. Not dominated by money/salaries

4. School spirit and pride is displayed on the field every weekend

5. Bowl games give teams subdivision championships

As you can see, the Pros for NFL and NCAA are almost equally matched. But what I believe stands out the most are the amount of enthusiasm/pride/emotion that athletes in college play with. They go out every weekend and give it their all, because if they lose, their season could (theoretically) be finished.

The passion to win that is present in all college sports is found nowhere else. The players might be looking to play at the professional level later on in their lives, but how they perform in order to get to that level is rarely seen again. If I were to choose between an NFL or NCAA game, my choice would be NCAA without a doubt.

Watching an 8-4 Ole Miss crush an 11-1 Texas Tech is much more exciting than watching Terrell Owens complain about not getting enough passes or Plaxico Burress accidentally shooting himself in a strip club. Well, I guess that's just how I feel.