Too good for media attention
COMMENTARY
By Braden Howell

In a recent article on ESPN.com (BCS glad to see uninvited guest exit, Nov. 20), college football analyst Ivan Maisel put in writing what the BCS executives were too afraid to say: The BCS is glad TCU lost.

Maisel said there’s no way any of the BCS bowls actually wanted to invite TCU, but they would have felt pressured to if the Frogs had finished the season undefeated. In fact, Maisel goes so far as to equate inviting TCU to a BCS bowl to taking your cousin to the prom and that as dates go, TCU has a “real good personality.”

I couldn’t agree more, but when did that become a bad thing?

TCU is lacking the most important criteria to be considered one of the “Big Boys” of college football: overwhelming media coverage.

But why did everyone want them to lose so badly?

Writers and analysts alike say it’s because 1) TCU is not that good, and 2) It is not marketable; you can’t name anyone on its team. It’s not attractive financially. Therein lies the problem.

TCU did not get all the attention it should have this year until it was time for a controversy.
It’s understandable. After all, what kind of story lines does a TCU team have to offer?

This year TCU has not had a public controversy over players losing their starting jobs. No one player deemed himself a “soldier” and attacked his teammates for not playing hard. None of the players have been involved in off-the-field problems, such as drunken driving, drug possession, assault, theft, or even breaking and entering.

How boring is that?

Look at the “Big Boys” and media darlings of college football. I promise you can find at least one of the above-mentioned problems within their programs. Those problems make headlines and networks like ESPN can’t wait to broadcast them.

So there was that one little mishap earlier this year with a TCU assistant coach being involved in a drunken driving incident, and let me tell you ESPN was all over that one. The network actually broadcast that information more than TCU’s victory the same night the incident became known.

Of course, TCU took action and suspended the assistant, who did not appeal or publicly speak out against the university’s decision. Where’s the drama in that? Fittingly, after that incident, TCU faded back into obscurity among the media.

Love them or hate them, you must start talking about them. Up until Thursday night, the Frogs had won every game they played in but were nothing more than a thorn inside of the big money bowls.

TCU may not be the media darling you want, but it is a team that college football needs more of.

Down here, egos, awards and individual success don’t mean much. The Horned Frogs are a team in the truest sense of the word. Until those writers and analysts take the time to come down here and get to know this team and this program, TCU will remain the team with a “good personality.”

What is sad is that in today’s money-hungry world of college football, a “good personality” is not marketable.

Sports Editor Braden Howell is a senior broadcast journalism major from Dallas.