Penn State instituted a tradition in which 107,000 fans all agreed to show up at Beaver Stadium for one highly anticipated game each season clad top-to-tail in white. All white. Then they called the place the White House because Penn’s marketing people are paid to be clever like that. At least that’s what I assume they’re supposed to do. I don’t think we see eye-to-eye on it.

The tradition started in 2007 when Notre Dame arrived in University Park. The White House Game continued in ’08 with Illinois and last year against Iowa. Ticket holders for the September 25 game against Temple noticed a message that said “Everyone wear white.” Considering this is well past Labor Day and a fashion faux pas in most contexts, it’s safe to assume the ticket was referring to that game being this season’s White House Game. Nah.

“The White House is a tradition that everyone can agree should be saved for only certain games and certain opponents,” Paternoville Coordination Committee President Alex Cohen wrote in a text.

Suck on that, Michigan. Not only Michigan, but Michigan State should suck on it. And, of course, Temple too. But mostly Michigan. None of them are worthy of a White House Game distinction, despite the White House Game tradition only being three years old and hardly a tradition yet (especially if they skip it this year). The bruised and broken Wolverines program just announced that it spent $226 million in renovations that, among other things, gives Michigan’s Big House the largest capacity in all college football, replacing who? Why, Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, of course.

Are you telling me Penn State can’t leverage this to create a frenzied atmosphere in a game that might not otherwise have one (relatively speaking, of course. This is still Penn State)? Here, try: “109,901 screaming Wolverines ain’t nothin’ but white noise. Show ‘em how it’s done, Lions.”

See? That’s not bad for a a hopelessly drunk guy giving it six seconds worth of thought. Notice how I made it “‘em” instead of “them?” That was for the kids. They love that stuff. Or how about this? The Michigan-Penn State game is the day before Halloween. Can’t we work in a reference to “white as a ghost” or something? C’mon, Penn. You now have the second-biggest stadium in the nation and the people that lowered you to that distinction are visiting you the day before Halloween! You can’t make an event out of that, but you’re willing to host your next White House Game against ‘Bama on the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks? Good luck with that.

I can understand not hosting another White House Game if people were complaining that all the white was somehow bothersome:
…’Cause this is how Klan rallies get started.
…’Cause the albinos are beginning to stir.
…’Cause this is literally the only way Pennsylvanians could get an whiter.

I could keep going, but I won’t. All I’m sayin–

‘Cause such a concentration of white lions in one habitat is unnatural!

… Sorry. I thought I had tucked that one away. Won’t happen again.

The truth is, college kids don’t need a reason to … well, to do anything as a huge group. Tell ‘em to wear white, they’ll do it. They’ll do it awesomely. This is like “Iron Man 2″ leaving $100 million in box office grosses on the table by not going 3-D. It’s your funeral. Enjoy getting smacked by “Alice in Wonderland,” a movie which I believe was shot in the extra space created by Michigan’s Big House renovations.

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Photos courtesy of Flickr

In the past two weeks, the Bowl Championship Series has made a string of moves that are about as strange as that time your weird uncle Harold signed up for a MySpace account.

Last week, the BCS promoted Bill Hancock to the role of BCS executive director. His job is to be the face of college football’s much-maligned postseason system. And he’ll be the guy doing all those media interviews every time there’s a BCS controversy. He’ll also have to march in front of Congress every time the BCS gets called into a congressional panel.

Shortly after Hancock was promoted, he set up social networking sites for the BCS on Twitter and Facebook so fans can have access to the system. So far, this has made for some great entertainment, as football fans around the nation can direct their hate to the very source of so much postseason despair. Just take a look at what people are saying.

Finally, on Monday it was revealed that the BCS hired Ari Fleischer as a PR consultant to help pump even more sunshine on the system. Without getting all political here (we are a sports blog), it is interesting that the BCS went with a former political flack to help them absorb the hate. As Fleischer’s own website says: “No one faces tougher coverage than sports figures – except for Presidents and top government officials.”

Now, Fleischer wasn’t talking about college football postseason structures on his website, but you have to wonder if any U.S. president has ever faced such universal disdain as the BCS. It’d be great to see the Harris poll conduct an approval rating on that system. Even in the best of times, it’d be hard to imagine more than 15 percent of college football fans are in favor of it.

All of these moves come at an interesting time, because can you think of a year that’s had less BCS controversy? Since about early October, it’s been the Florida-Alabama winner versus Texas in the national championship game. So long as those teams win out, the deck is stacked in their favor.

Then again, just for giggles let’s look at what would happen if Texas lost. TCU and Cincinnati would both then be neck and neck to face the Florida-Alabama winner. Meanwhile, Boise State could also make a claim for a title shot after winning out for the second straight year.

Naturally, that sort of scenario could be solved with a playoff structure, but that must be why the BCS is taking such defensive measures. Since there’s little controversy now, maybe the BCS is just ramping up for years when it won’t be so cut and dry.

But we’re more interested in how Hancock’s role will evolve. Beyond being a stooge for the BCS, will he one day begin to act like the commissioners in the pro leagues? David Stern and Bud Selig tend to show their faces for the championship games, but they also are quick to speak out over big controversies as well. It’ll be interesting to see how visible Hancock makes his role. For some reason, we picture him sitting in various luxury boxes at big BCS games, laughing with his cronies about the continued lack of a playoff system.

Then again, maybe it’d be best if Hancock stayed behind the scenes. Judging how the BCS Twitter page is being received, we probably don’t need a walking, talking BCS promoter right now.

Labor Day seemed as good of a day as any to clean out the Sidelines attic of all the rubbish that no longer had any real use for us in the office, foolishly concluding that our future-gazing crystal ball was one of such items. There are no surprises left in sports, right? Of course Tila Tequila risked getting choked out by a San Diego Charger. Of course Venus Williams was going to get busted out in the third round by a player who’s been breastfeeding for two years. And of course an Oregon Duck was gonna do some punching to start the college football season.

I mean, who couldn’t see those things coming?

In the case of Oregon’s pluckiest Duck, LeGarrette Blount, there are enough unknowns left in that kid’s future to make keeping the ol’ crystal ball around a while longer seem like a decent idea.

Obviously, most NFL teams aren’t going to want a player – any player – who attacks the opposition, teammates, and fans no matter what his stats might suggest he’s capable of. And make no mistake, this single incident does paint him as “someone who does this.” That’s the way it goes. Half an athlete’s job is to put a ball into or onto some sort of goal. The other half is not doing anything dumb while they do it. Blount was only able to complete half that task and because of that, he’s been branded. From here on out, Blount is no more a man guilty of a single incident of angry hysteria than Ron Artest is someone guilty of a single incident of punching out chubby Pistons fans.

All right crystal ball o’ mine, is Blount’s punishment fair?

He did act like a damn fool on national television (the worst time to act like that) and his damage was most certainly not imagined. But his season is over and, as a senior, it suggests his career might be kaput too. Blount’s been allowed to practice with his Oregon teammates, he’ll no longer see any of the spotlight associated with playing for a Division I university. Staying with the Ducks will serve only as a chance for a recommendation from Oregon head coach Chip Kelly and top-dollar conditioning while he awaits the NFL draft seven long months from now. His only other option is to play for a non-Division I school and hope that the Cowboys are paying attention to whatever goes on at the University of Portland.

Either way, the writing’s on the wall, all because Byron Hout had a sweet “Yo Mama” joke that he just had to test out on Blount.

No one argues that Blount had some sort of punishment coming, but a whole season? Effectively a whole career?

When Kermit Washington almost killed Rudy Tomjanovich on December 9, 1977 he was suspended 60 days (26 games) and was back by the all-star break. Rudy T had to retire soon after that incident.
[UPDATE: Washington reached out to Blount shortly after the incident.]

Detroit’s Ty Cobb climbed into the stands to beat up a disabled heckler on May 15, 1912 and got a 10-day suspension. He played more games that season than all but two of his teammates.

Then there was (of course) Artest’s odyssey into the Palace of Auburn Hills stands. That incident was so nasty it’s become shorthand for bad athlete’s behavior. Like “Hitler” has become for evil, “vanilla” is for boring and “Aerosmith” is for sellout. Tru Warrior lost the remainder of his season (86 games: 73 regular season, 13 playoffs) but has since maintained a successful career five years later.

But everyone mentioned above were professionals, with money (sorta) and experience. Since when do we punish the youngest the hardest? Blount didn’t climb into the stands, nor did he put anyone anywhere near the hospital.

It’s been said that if Blount wasn’t prepared to pay the penalty, he shouldn’t have gone berzerk all over the Smurf Turf last week. But that’s the thing. Perhaps right before LeGarrette used “Blount force” to knock the smile off Hout’s smarmy 80s-villain face, he thought to himself, “Gee, is this worth the 3-5 game suspension I’ll probably get? Yes. Yes, it is?” The saying goes: “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.” In Blount’s case, it’s closer to “don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time-and-a-half.”

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Photos courtesy of Flickr

The SEC’s television deal with ESPN made national headlines a year ago. But as the SEC on ESPN debuts this fall, the conference’s policies on new media are starting a brush fire across the Internet.

As the New York Times pointed out on Thursday, the real issue is with video. The SEC and ESPN don’t want bloggers messing with game footage, because that’s what they hope to sell to fans in many different ways. And in order to make that happen, the SEC is choosing to crack down new media. The problem is, college football has been majorly influenced in the past 10 years by exactly what the SEC hopes to muffle.

Moreso than other sports, college football wouldn’t be what it is today without the Internet. Just ask the creators of fireronzook.com. That site earned a whole chapter in Stewart Mandel’s excellent “Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls.” And there’s no doubt that recruiting websites like Rivals and Scout have altered the game forever. Blogs are the third leg on that stool, and they’re especially adept at creating highlight reels and mash-ups on YouTube.

Without bloggers who devote their hours to the obsession of college football, we might have missed this, this and this along the way. And if those bloggers are severely restricted in using game footage, we could never look back on jump passes, miracle plays and cleat-removing blocks.

More importantly, access the game footage gives fans a much-needed outlet when there’s controversy. Just imagine how Missouri fans would have taken to YouTube after the fifth-down play against Colorado. And there’s no doubt Miami fans would have protested even louder over the 2002 National Championship game if they could call up the replay anytime they wanted. We won’t even mention how Stanford fans might have utilized YouTube back in 1982.

Streaming-video might have even helped conferences go to instant replay. So why are the SEC and ESPN being so Big Brother about this? Since it’s big-time college football we’re talking about here, then it’s obviously about the money. Instead of cracking down, they should look toward how other sports have handled this. And they wouldn’t need to look any further than NASCAR.

This year, NASCAR created the Citizen Journalists Media Corps. It’s a motley band of bloggers from sites like Racingtoday.com and Frontstretch.com. The sites are run by people ranging from seasoned journalists to hardcore fans, and they’re all given access to the races so long as they pay their own way.

The SEC should draft its own version of a citizen media group. Give the bloggers access to the press box and let them get some face time with the athletes. Sure, there will be some homerism, but you get that with traditional media anyway. Hand the bloggers some guidelines for professionalism, and let them go at it. The content they’ll produce will have the passion and the depth that you can’t always get in traditional media.

But what to do about the video? It’s another easy fix. The conference should make it a competition to create the best highlight reel or video commentary each week. Make it part of the SEC’s website, or even better, put it on ESPN. The blogs would go crazy for it, and they’d churn out more original pieces than the local TV stations could put together.

As Keith Jackson might say, the SEC is closing the barn door after the horse is long gone. The Internet and streaming video is too much a part of college sports to clamp it up now. If the SEC wants to make best use of its content, it should be giving bloggers more access, not less.

In college football, 90 percent of the games you attend are your team’s home games. And if you’re lucky, you go to the bowl game and maybe an away game too. But sometimes you need to dig out of a single-team rut. We’ve found a way.

By undertaking the SportScape College Football Odyssey (SCFO), you will attend the best game of the week, for 13 weeks in a row. The SCFO manages to cram in Auburn-Alabama, Oklahoma-Texas and Ohio State-Michigan all in one season. You’ll even get to see Notre Dame.

We know what you’re thinking, the SCFO costs a fortune, right? Well, we crunched the numbers. And for tickets, airfare and hotels across 13 weeks of the season, it comes out to this…

$7,811.96

For just under eight grand, you could catch the USC-Ohio State game at the Horseshoe, the Red River Rivalry game and even the epic Florida-LSU game in Baton Rouge. Your fall would be a never-ending torrent of college football.

Here’s your itinerary for each week. The neutral site games are in parentheses.

Sept. 5 Alabama-Virginia Tech Atlanta (Georgia Dome)

Sept. 12    USC- Ohio State Columbus, OH
Sept. 19    Texas Tech-Texas Austin, TX
Sept. 26    Miami-Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA

Oct. 3      Texas A&M-Arkansas Arlington, TX (Cowboys Stadium)
Oct. 10    Florida-LSU Baton Rouge, LA
Oct. 17    Oklahoma-Texas Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl)
Oct. 24    TCU-BYU Provo, UT
Oct. 30    West Virginia-South Florida Tampa, FL

Nov. 7      LSU-Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL
Nov. 14    Notre Dame-Pitt Pittsburgh, PA
Nov. 21    Ohio State-Michigan Ann Arbor, MI
Nov. 28    Alabama-Auburn Auburn, AL

Oh, and you’d still need to pay for food, transportation and the like. But come on, this is college football! Pack some sandwiches, buy some Budweiser and bum a ride!

The most expensive ticket we found was for the upcoming USC-Ohio State rematch ($345 on StubHub). Meanwhile, you can catch TCU-BYU in Utah for only $23.96 at the gate.

In one season, you’ll see games at Death Valley, the Cotton Bowl, the New Cowboys Stadium, The Big House and even Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

Just imagine the tailgating.

Breaking it down week-by-week, after the jump. (Note: we’ve figured travel to/from Chicago.)

September 5: Alabama-Virginia Tech (Atlanta, Georgia)
Flight: Round trip to Atlanta- $179 (Airtran)
Tickets: Section 306 of the Georgia Dome ($149)
Hotel: A Sheraton near the airport ($100 a night for two nights)
Total spent: $528
September 12: USC-Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio)
Flight: Round trip to Columbus: $159 (American)
Tickets: Deck 34 B at Ohio Stadium, $345
Hotel: A Best Western in Columbus ($79 a night for two nights)
Total spent: $662

September 19: Texas Tech-Texas (Austin, Texas)
Flight: Round trip to Austin: $339 (American)
Tickets: Section 111 at Royal-Memorial Stadium ($139)
Hotel: A Quality Inn near the Airport ($89 a night for two nights)
Total spent: $656

September 26: Miami-Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Virginia)
Flight: Round trip to Roanoke (closest Airport): $363 (United)
Tickets: Section 505 at Lane Stadium ($151)
Hotel: A Super 8 in Radford, Virginia ($85 a night for two nights)
Total spent: $684

October 3: Texas A&M-Arkansas (Arlington, TX)
Flight: Round trip to Dallas: $190 (Airtran)
Tickets: Section 219 at the New Cowboys Stadium ($99)
Hotel: A Days Inn in Arlington (two nights at $50 a night)
Total Spent: $389

October 10: Florida-LSU (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
Flight: Round trip to Baton Rouge: $378 (American)
Tickets: Section 612 at Tiger Stadium ($236)
Hotel: Ramada Inn in Baton Rouge (two nights at $82 a night)
Total spent: $778

October 17: Oklahoma-Texas (Dallas, Texas)
Flight: Round trip to Dallas: $180 (Southwest)
Tickets: Section 138 at the Cotton Bowl ($237)
Hotel: The Radisson in Richardson ($77 a night for two nights)
Total spent: $571

October 24: TCU-BYU (Provo, Utah)
Flight: Round trip to Provo: $259 (Delta)
Tickets: Section 144 at LaVell Stadium ($23.96)
Hotel: A Marriott in Provo ($89 a night for two nights)
Total spent: $460.96

October 30: West Virginia-South Florida (Tampa, Florida)
Flight: Round trip to Tampa: $179 (United)
Tickets: Section 327 at Raymond James Stadium ($47.99)
Hotel: A La Quinta in Tampa ($69 a night for two nights)
Total spent: $364.99

November 7: LSU-Alabama (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
Flight: Round trip to Birmingham (closest airport): $305
Tickets: Section 435 at Bryant Denny Stadium ($217)
Hotel: The Hilton Garden Inn in Tuscaloosa ($99 a night for two nights)
Total spent: $720

November 14: Notre Dame-Pitt (Pittsburgh, PA)
Flight: Round trip to Pittsburgh: $159 (United)
Tickets: Section 518 at Heinz Field ($90)
Hotel: A Quality Suites in Pittsburgh ($93 a night for two nights)
Total spent: $435

November 21: Ohio State-Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
Flight: Round trip to Detroit (closest airport): $159 (Northwest)
Tickets: Section 37R at Michigan Stadium ($174)
Hotel: A Victory Inn in Ann Arbor ($119 a night for two nights)
Total Spent: $571

November 28: Auburn-Alabama (Auburn, Alabama)
Flight: Round trip to Columbus, Georgia (closest airport): $574
Tickets: Section 42 at Jordan Hare Stadium ($214)
Hotel: A Knights Inn in Opelika ($102 a night for two nights) Total spent: $992

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Photos courtesy of Flickr Images

Tim Tebow has mastered college football. And he’ll master the NFL soon enough. But until then, we think he should take on some higher challenges. Here are three things we’d like to see Tebow face off against before he wins his third national title this upcoming 2009 college football season.

Tim Tebow versus the Joker
Let’s say Tim Tebow had to square off against Heath Ledger’s Joker, because let’s face it, Tebow would easily snuff out Jack Nicholson’s version. Tebow would do things Batman wouldn’t dream of. Tebow would flip it on the Joker and let him implant a bomb in his chest, just to show how indestructible he is. The Joker could also blow up Tebow’s girlfriend, shoot the mayor of Gainesville and turn Urban Meyer into Two-Face, but old Timmy T wouldn’t be incited into a fight, because that’s what the Joker wants. The final straw would happen after the Joker blows up the orphanage in the Philippines where Tebow worked so hard to circumcise all those newborns. But once again, Tebow will not show the slightest reaction, and  the Joker would give up out of frustration and go find a day job.
Winner: Tebow

Tim Tebow versus the Recession
Had Tebow not been too busy winning another national championship, he would have been able to save all of us from this recession. There’s no question he would win in a head-to-head battle, because economic problems are simply no match. If he put his mind to it, Tim Tebow would find a way to cure the loss of jobs and resurrect Circuit City back from the dead using his own line of Tebow-related electronics. And as for Detroit? The Ford Tebow, the Chevy Timmy and the Chrysler Town and Tebow would all be bestsellers by 2010 because of their use of alternative energy. And what energy would that be? You guessed it, Tim Tebow.
Winner: Tebow

Tim Tebow versus Chuck Norris

This would be the mother to end all battles. You’ve got the most feared killing machine on the planet going toe-to-toe with Chuck Norris. We all can imagine how it might go down. Any punch that connects would cause aftershocks in Malaysia. And if blood should hit the ground, then Vatican priests would rush to collect it. Tebow and Norris would eventually realize that their battle could go one until the end of time, so we think they could simply give each other a handshake and go out for a burger.
Winner: A gentlemanly tie