Like the case of the athlete who takes his own press clippings to heart, the Buff faithful are beginning to believe that they are important enough to be courted by other conferences. And now they’re starting to talk about the possible move to the Pac 10.
For years they have been convincing themselves that they are special and having mountains in their back yard has finally formed an irreconcilable difference with schools that don’t. Maybe some of them really believe that they are the culture equivalent of Hollywood. I suppose that if you replaced all the bums on Pearl Street with prostitutes it would start to resemble Sunset Blvd. But whatever the reasons, a good number of them are itching to leave the Midwest behind.
To Rumblin’s point, that Boulder is a better fit with the likes of Los Angeles and San Francisco, is exactly where they will find their downfall. For years Buff Nation has stood by their clams of having the best destination in the Big XII. And have never missed a chance to hold it over their rivals. But their standard chants of “we don’t live in Kansas” and “we don’t live in Lincoln” etc. will sound a little hollow when UCLA rolls into town. Their identity in the Pac-10 will be that quaint little mountain town from the other side of the divide and pretty soon they’ll be the hicks of the conference.
Rumblin, like many others, has fallen into the trap of letting images trump substance. He has let himself be convinced that the Call Girls… uh, Song Girls of USC can hold a candle to chaps.
It also speaks volumes to the character of Rumblin that he would run from one the two, if not the, best conference in college football. Perhaps it is the Corn Husker in all of us that that would let cowardice keep us from scheduling the best of teams so that we can get easy, meaningless wins. But if your eudemonia is to play football, then play football. Die by the hands of the nation’s best teams rather than shrink from a challenge and run to the safety of the mediocre. Otherwise you might as well be playing soccer.
