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Tuesday Question - Bowden's Samford Wins
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CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Mar 10, 2009
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Tuesday Question ... Do you have a problem with Bobby Bowden's wins at Samford counting in the all-time race, and do you have a problem with the idea of FSU vacating wins?
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Pete
Fiutak
Q:
Do you have a
problem with Bobby Bowden's wins at Samford counting in the all-time
race, and do you have a problem with the idea of FSU vacating wins?
A:
I only have a problem with the wins over teams that weren't a part
of the college football world. The win over the 1959 Tennessee Tech
freshman squad shouldn't count, and neither should the 1959 win over
Gordon Junior College or the 1962 win over the University of Mexico. I
have the bigger problem with counting the 1983 forfeited loss to Tulane.
That wasn't like it was a powerhouse Tulane team beating up a rising
Florida State; it was the opposite situation. The Seminole program was
tremendous by then and it was a major upset that ended up being counted
on the FSU record books because of NCAA sanctions against Tulane.
I hate having to dog Bowden or his career in any way. He's one of
the legends of the sport who has more often than not taken the high road
when it comes to off the field issues. There are several instances of
wrongdoing that would've been swept under the rug by other programs or
other coaches. But if we're really going to compare the careers of
Bowden and Joe Paterno, Paterno's overall body of work is stronger.
As far as vacating wins, that's just ridiculous. Go ahead and punish
the program going forward if you must, but outside of gambling issues or
cheating (and I'll throw steroids in that mix ... good luck with that
can of worms), vacating wins doesn't do anything and it shouldn't count
against Bowden's record. I don't blame Bowden for the cheating scandal
because it happened across the FSU athletic program. He shouldn't be
punished.
Richard
Cirminiello
Q:
Do you have a
problem with Bobby Bowden's wins at Samford counting in the all-time
race, and do you have a problem with the idea of FSU vacating wins?
A: Counting those wins at Samford, or Howard when Bowden was coaching
there, never made much sense to me. Still doesn’t. Why doesn’t Major
League Baseball add Tony LaRussa’s wins when he was with the AAA New
Orleans Zephyrs? It’s all professional baseball, right? Or how about
Marv Levy for that year he spent with the Chicago Blitz of the USFL? The
fact is that Bowden was competing in a different league, the minor
leagues of college football, when he won those 31 games between 1959 and
1962. Just as a point of comparison, would anyone ever crown a back who
played his first two years at Florida State and his final two at Samford
as the all-time rushing champ? Of course not. The same standards should
apply to coaching records.
Regarding the current NCAA sanctions,
I won’t miss a wink of sleep if Florida State is forced to vacate a few
wins. Assuming the Seminoles used some ineligible players along the way,
where exactly is the grey area? I’m guessing Bowden had no knowledge of
the academic misdoings, but the reality is that they occurred when he
was in charge, so he’s got to pay the price. If some of the players were
not eligible student-athletes, some of the victories shouldn’t count.
Period.
Matthew
Zemek
Q:
Do you have a
problem with Bobby Bowden's wins at Samford counting in the all-time
race, and do you have a problem with the idea of FSU vacating wins?
A:
Neither item is problematic, in my mind. Samford didn't exactly
play the likes of Navy, Syracuse and Texas in the late 1950s and
early '60s, but longevity should bring its own rewards... as
should success at any level of competition, even if its the
lower end of the football food chain.
But for anyone who
had their knickers in a twist over the entry of the Samford victories
in Bowden's official win column, perhaps this academic fraud
balances things out.
Should Bowden deserve withering
scrutiny for this incident? Not really. Some coaches do run
renegade programs in big-time football and basketball, and ought
to be taken to task for doing so. Bowden has had his share of
police-blotter embarrassments at Florida State, and while that's
nothing to be proud of, the larger reality is that the sexier
sports schools attract the shadiest sharks and the most dubious
dealers in the athletic-industrial complex. Steve Spurrier
wasn't immune to this (Tank) Black mark at Florida, and even a
man as upstanding as Larry Coker endured some cringe-worthy
moments at Miami. Pete Carroll couldn't effectively police
Reggie Bush or Dwayne Jarrett at USC (among a few others), and
Jim Tressel had this kid... Whatshisname? Oh, yeah... Maurice
Clarett... at Ohio State. Sadly but surely, most of the
big names on the block, especially in football, are not immune
to the ugly side of college sports. Coaches are responsible for
their programs, but at the same time, they're not the gods or
messiahs or all-preventing crime protectors they're often made
out to be.
Bobby Bowden is responsible for this only to
the extent that he bears a position of responsibility.
He shouldn't be raked over the coals, but the vacating of 14
wins seems like a reasonable sanction that, without the Joe
Paterno factor, would be garnering precious little media
attention. (Had Bowden been just 13 games ahead of Bear Bryant
at the time of this incident, national buzz would have
re-emerged.)
Notre Dame fans will view this as cosmic
payback for 1993. Florida fans will view this as divine
retribution for the 1999 season, a year in which Peter Warrick
and Sebastian Janikowski were let off the hook for various
indiscretions. In the end, keep the Samford wins and allow
this not-so-fun "vacation" to stand. Bobby Bowden's place in
college football history is no less secure, or elevated, as a
result of this latest episode in Tallahassee.
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