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The Prologue: Characters and Plot
The 2007 football season is upon us with the usual glitz, hype, and hoopla reserved for New Year's. Who will win it all? Can anyone stop USC? Is Michigan as good as advertised? Does Joe Pa still have a few good years left in him? Who has the rowdiest fans? The best atmosphere? Can anyone stop USC? Seriously, can they?
Then there's me. Marcus Richard Wigim of Cedar Falls, Iowa, unmoved by the festivities. I feel nothing for USC. The season for me does not lie in the success of the juggernaut-like program being run at Southern California. No, I don't feel like I'm watching something special whenever I see them take the field. Michigan means nothing to me, and hasn't ever since I cleared my soul of the last remnants of Hawkeye pride some seven years ago. Joe Pa is old. So old in fact that he's really just a figurehead at Penn State so the question of if he still has it in him is irrelevant. Who has the best atmosphere is a question that will give you seventy different answers, and would undoubtedly spark a few fistfights if the question were posed forum-style to taligating SEC fans.
No, my passion has been smoldering for a few weeks now and will likely turn into a five-alarm blaze at 7:05 p.m. tonight. Panther fans rejoice! The 2007 FCS season is upon us!
You see, unlike basketball, UNI has its own little niche that it doesn't have to share with the respective Dukes and North Carolinas of football. That's what makes being a UNI fan great: if you are an FCS fan you know UNI football. You know it just as well as Montana, Appalachian State, Furman, Georgia Southern, and all those cost-containment heavyweights that have found themselves darlings of their fanbases by giving the people what they want: a chance for a meaningful championship, budget constraints be damned. For UNI, 2007 is that chance.
I could ramble on about how UNI's expectations are lofty this year, but I won't. I won't for two reasons: one, I already wrote an article on that after Media Day (which I hope you all read), and two: I'm not going to restate the plot to a story you're already aware of. No, instead I'd like to introduce you to the characters.
You have Illinois State, the Johnny-come-lately to the bastion of FCS elite. I once remarked that Illinois State was a sleeping giant in football, and Denver Johnson has awoken the beast. The interest is high, the talent is there. If this keeps up, UNI has a serious conference rival on their hands. If there's one thing UNI truly lacks right now, it's a conference archrival. Sure, Western Illinois, Missouri State, and Southern Illinois have been nice surrogates, but it's time for UNI to have that one special team every Cat fan loves to hate. Why shouldn't it be Illinois State? What, you say North Dakota State and South Dakota State will be Gateway members next year? Never mind. Illinois State will still be pretty good this year.
You have Youngstown State, a former FCS powerhouse that has lost considerable steam lately. Their last national title came in 1997, well before they became Gateway members. They have been solid, and it's always meaningful to beat them (ask Coach Farley, he's done it six times in six seasons), but they don't carry the punch necessary to win it all anymore. Yes, that's right: Youngstown State is the Penn State of FCS football.
You have Missouri State, one of those schools that constantly leaves you scratching your head in bewilderment. This is probably the number two school in the state, but only pays its men's basketball coach 90,000 dollars? They haven't done anything in merit football-wise in quite a while. Bear Week at UNI used to mean something, but now it just means a game that UNI should either win, or feel ashamed that they lost. Missouri State did a great thing by making their program relevant once again hiring the formerly-revered Terry Allen, but time remains to be seen whether or not Bear Country will become a sovereign nation, or just a weak commonwealth.
You have Iowa State. This year Iowa State has the look of the grade-school bully who might have picked on the wrong nerd for too long. That nerd went out and got his dad to teach him to fight. The last time these two met by the bike racks the nerd put the bully on his keister a few times, but in the end the bell rang and everyone had to go to class. The other kids goaded the bully into a continuation after school, and that is essentially what has happened here as UNI, one year stronger and more experienced, takes on Iowa State in the middle of a long and arduous transition. I'm just going to go ahead and say it: it might be the early 90's all over again.
There are seven other characters in this story, and UNI will know all of them well by the time the curtain closes on the season. Whether or not that story is an idealistic epic fairy tale or a nihilistic tragedy all depends on how the story gets written. We're all paying attention because no one knows how it all ends, and that is the beauty of sports.
That, and tailgating.
The 2007 football season is upon us with the usual glitz, hype, and hoopla reserved for New Year's. Who will win it all? Can anyone stop USC? Is Michigan as good as advertised? Does Joe Pa still have a few good years left in him? Who has the rowdiest fans? The best atmosphere? Can anyone stop USC? Seriously, can they?
Then there's me. Marcus Richard Wigim of Cedar Falls, Iowa, unmoved by the festivities. I feel nothing for USC. The season for me does not lie in the success of the juggernaut-like program being run at Southern California. No, I don't feel like I'm watching something special whenever I see them take the field. Michigan means nothing to me, and hasn't ever since I cleared my soul of the last remnants of Hawkeye pride some seven years ago. Joe Pa is old. So old in fact that he's really just a figurehead at Penn State so the question of if he still has it in him is irrelevant. Who has the best atmosphere is a question that will give you seventy different answers, and would undoubtedly spark a few fistfights if the question were posed forum-style to taligating SEC fans.
No, my passion has been smoldering for a few weeks now and will likely turn into a five-alarm blaze at 7:05 p.m. tonight. Panther fans rejoice! The 2007 FCS season is upon us!
You see, unlike basketball, UNI has its own little niche that it doesn't have to share with the respective Dukes and North Carolinas of football. That's what makes being a UNI fan great: if you are an FCS fan you know UNI football. You know it just as well as Montana, Appalachian State, Furman, Georgia Southern, and all those cost-containment heavyweights that have found themselves darlings of their fanbases by giving the people what they want: a chance for a meaningful championship, budget constraints be damned. For UNI, 2007 is that chance.
I could ramble on about how UNI's expectations are lofty this year, but I won't. I won't for two reasons: one, I already wrote an article on that after Media Day (which I hope you all read), and two: I'm not going to restate the plot to a story you're already aware of. No, instead I'd like to introduce you to the characters.
You have Illinois State, the Johnny-come-lately to the bastion of FCS elite. I once remarked that Illinois State was a sleeping giant in football, and Denver Johnson has awoken the beast. The interest is high, the talent is there. If this keeps up, UNI has a serious conference rival on their hands. If there's one thing UNI truly lacks right now, it's a conference archrival. Sure, Western Illinois, Missouri State, and Southern Illinois have been nice surrogates, but it's time for UNI to have that one special team every Cat fan loves to hate. Why shouldn't it be Illinois State? What, you say North Dakota State and South Dakota State will be Gateway members next year? Never mind. Illinois State will still be pretty good this year.
You have Youngstown State, a former FCS powerhouse that has lost considerable steam lately. Their last national title came in 1997, well before they became Gateway members. They have been solid, and it's always meaningful to beat them (ask Coach Farley, he's done it six times in six seasons), but they don't carry the punch necessary to win it all anymore. Yes, that's right: Youngstown State is the Penn State of FCS football.
You have Missouri State, one of those schools that constantly leaves you scratching your head in bewilderment. This is probably the number two school in the state, but only pays its men's basketball coach 90,000 dollars? They haven't done anything in merit football-wise in quite a while. Bear Week at UNI used to mean something, but now it just means a game that UNI should either win, or feel ashamed that they lost. Missouri State did a great thing by making their program relevant once again hiring the formerly-revered Terry Allen, but time remains to be seen whether or not Bear Country will become a sovereign nation, or just a weak commonwealth.
You have Iowa State. This year Iowa State has the look of the grade-school bully who might have picked on the wrong nerd for too long. That nerd went out and got his dad to teach him to fight. The last time these two met by the bike racks the nerd put the bully on his keister a few times, but in the end the bell rang and everyone had to go to class. The other kids goaded the bully into a continuation after school, and that is essentially what has happened here as UNI, one year stronger and more experienced, takes on Iowa State in the middle of a long and arduous transition. I'm just going to go ahead and say it: it might be the early 90's all over again.
There are seven other characters in this story, and UNI will know all of them well by the time the curtain closes on the season. Whether or not that story is an idealistic epic fairy tale or a nihilistic tragedy all depends on how the story gets written. We're all paying attention because no one knows how it all ends, and that is the beauty of sports.
That, and tailgating.
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