PageC2 WinslaiSalemamnick: Thursday, September 1, 1988
TV coverage next to nil
From Page C1
lege football does capture the inter
est of the multitudes.
Every year on Thanksgiving
weekend in New Orleans, Gram-
bling and Southern play the Bayou
Classic in the Superdome. The
Bayou event consistently draws the
largest crowds for black college
football. For 14 years, this contest
has been a showcase in Louisiana.
On several occasions the game has
drawn 50,000 or more people. Last
year, the attendance was a little over
56,000.
In Indianapolis, the Circle City
Classic is moving in on big-time
status. That game is played in the
Hoo'^iCi Dome and has grown sig
nificantly during its four years of
existence. In '87, 47, 400 people
went to "Nap Town” to see Central
State and Florida A & M. Accord
ing to the game's marketing offi
cials, ticket sales are far ahead of
what they have been at this time in
previous years. They fully expect to
hit or go over the 50,000 mark this
time around.
But beyond the size of the
black consumer market and atten
dance figures, you have to wonder
why the major networks don’t see
black college football as a viable
venture. Black colleges have pro
duced some of the NFL's greatest
performers over the years and that
isn’t likely to slop anytime in the
foreseeable future.
There used to be a time when
you could see black college football
on TV, even though you had to wait
until midnight on Sundays. But it
was worth staying up to see.
In the early 70s, you'd watch
the best. I remember "Jefferson
Street" Joe Gilliam, Tennessee
State’s sizzling quarterback and
James "Shack" Harris of Gram-
bling. Both made the grade as NFL
quarterbacks - Gilliam with the
Sieelers and Harris with the Rams.
Incidentally, both were instru
mental in their teams making it to
the 1973 playoffs. Pittsburgh, of
course, won the '74 Super Bowl, but
Gilliam kept them afloat while
Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris
' were out of the linc-up for the first
half of that season. Gilliam led the
Steelers to a 6-1 mark before Brad
shaw reclaimed his prosition. Harris
came one play away from taking his
team to the Super Bowl in LA's
NFC championship loss to the
Vikings.
The point here is that you get a
chance to see these top people play
and you know what they can do.
These days, you aren't familiar with
the top players unless you either
live in an area where you can attend
a black college football game or
read publications like Black Col
lege Sports Review.
Believe it or not, national expo
sure, or the lack of it, has a major
impact on a college athletic pro
gram -• for the athlete and the
school.
In the case of players with pro
potential, it can mean the difference
in which round they are drafted, or
whether they are drafted at all. The
way the pros cover all levels of col
legiate sports, there are very few
players they don't know about. But
the catch is that if you're a black
college football player, you aren’t
likely to have gotten much national
recognition. Because of that, you’re
more apt to go to a pro camp as a
free agent which means that upon
making the team, you’ll sign for far
less money than an early round
draft choice.
And as usual, this will be the
case for several black college foot
ball players who are playing their
final collegiate season in '88. Jack-
son Stale running back Lewis Till
man is felt by many to be the best in
Division I-AA. He may be better
than some of the projected first
round picks from the major football
powers. But in all likelihood, he'll
be drafted in a lower round in large
part to not having as much national
notoriety as Alabama's Bobby
Humphrey. And what about comer-
back Robert Massey from North
Carolina Central? The pros are
impressed with him also, but he's
likely to meet the same fate when
you compare his "name recogni
tion" with say Donnell Woolford of
Clemson.
From the school's perspective,
national recognition helps recruiting
immensely. The selling job that a
coach has to do may not be nearly
as hard because the prospect has
watched the team on television. The
college that has national recognition
won't be unknown to the high
school or junior college prospect.
The folks involved with the
Circle City Classic are determined
to land a major network contract for
their game. If they are to expand
and consistently be on the same
financial level as the Liberty Bowl
or Bluebonnet Bowl, they'll have to
crack the network’s iceberg of indif
ference and insensitivity.
If and when that happens, black
college football will be all the better
for it.
Pete's Rams set for opener
From Page Cl
power I, they run from the one back
set as well as the split backfield.
The split formation allows them the
luxury of using Dixon and Clark in
the game at the same lime.
being a back-up for the past two
years. Wadsworth excels at running
the option and is rated as a better
than average passer.
John Wadsworth will start at
quarterback and enters this cam
paign as a seasoned veteran, after
Elon feels it can put points on
the board. Stopping folks with any
regularity could be a problem in the
early going. They lost all of their
defensive linemen from '87. In
addition, they shifted two of their
secondary people to linebacker.
They were burned by the option last
year and so they’ve decided to go
with quickness at those positions.
They are hoping that the added
quickness will compensate for their
lack of size.
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