Darrell Moody: Tired of being bowled over

The college bowl fiasco has been dominating the news recently, and rightfully so.

There are now 40 bowl games, and only 77 bowl-eligible teams (6 wins) this year, so three teams with 5-7 records (Nebraska, Minnesota and San Jose State) have been selected because their Academic Progress Rate has been at the top of the list for nonqualifying schools.

I’ve always believed there were way too many bowls, and the NCAA has finally agreed.

The NCAA has stuck its nose in everything related to college athletics, why not the bowls?

College football has gone the way of AYSO, Little League and high school athletics in the United States where mediocrity is rewarded.

I know nobody ever asks my opinion, but I’m getting on my soapbox anyway. If you want to make it interesting, make these bowls pony up a lot more money, so the schools don’t lose any money by playing in the game. Make the minimum to have a bowl $2.5 million and see what happens. That could scare a lot of these bowl game people off.

Maybe this is an aberration and maybe it’s a sign of things to come in terms of bowl-eligible teams. I just know .500 teams shouldn’t be allowed to play post-season. A 6-6 record is mediocrity, and every coach in America would agree with that. Is that what college sports has come to?

I just don’t see how the NCAA or college officials could go in and start chopping bowls, however. But, if they are going to do that, get rid of the newest games. Even better, let’s cap it at 32 bowl games (64 teams), and if some teams don’t make it, oh well.

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And, while we’re on the subject of college football, I’m waiting for the NCAA to go to an 8-team playoff. It’s coming believe me, and before all is said and done, I expect it to climb to 16.

I think there is that much parity in college football these days. If you have to tie in those games with bowl games, go ahead. A 16-team college playoff could be a gold mine for a TV network. It would be bigger than the NCAA Tournament. It would make gobs of money.

The NCAA has a 16-team bracket for all of its other football playoffs, why not Division I?

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John Burroughs of Eagle Valley Middle School is retiring after coaching basketball 15 years at the school. He carved out an 18-2 record this past season, coaching the EVMS girls squad.

“Fifteen years is a good amount of time,” said Burroughs, who was an off-campus coach. “I got a new job with new hours. I thought it was a good time to step down.”

Burroughs coached both boys and girls during his time at EVMS, and two groups came to mind when I asked him about teams he most remembered.

“I started in seventh grade with Brian Barnes, Matt Nuthall and Danny Gall, and that group went 18-1 as seventh graders and 33-4 as eighth graders when I moved up with them,” Burroughs said. “They won the league title both years, and I think we were the only (EVMS) team to win the South Tahoe Optimist Tournament.”

On the girls side, Burroughs said his teams that included Breann Perry, Whitney Nash and his daughter, Lindsey, went 44-2 over a two-year stretch.

One of Burroughs’ biggest fans is CHS history teacher Angila Golik, who tweeted about the veteran coach.

“How awesome that both my girls got to play for him and learn from him, be yelled at by him and be encouraged by him,” she said through social media. “He taught my kids a lot and built up their stamina for the game and for life in general. Not everyone likes his style of coaching, and at times I wanted to ring his neck, but my daughters loved him and appreciated his advice, tough love and sense of humor.”

Burroughs also got kudos from EVMS coach/teacher Julie Reid.

“John will never tell you, but he wold be at the school three days a week all summer to have open gyms for anyone who wanted to come learn about the game in preparation for school tryouts,” Reid said. “He did not get paid to do any of that.

“He truly loves the game and helping to instill that in young athletes as well. He is a very dedicated community member to our youth.”