What I miss about college football - Guts

We're only a few weeks away from the start of college football practice but it feels like we're as far way as possible. Nothing is happening right now, trust me I know. I'll watch every classic game possible, read every non-story countdown there is and revive months old dynasties on NCAA 07 all in hope of making July pass faster. That said, I'm starting my own non-story thread: Things I Miss About College Football. Not college football in general, but the stuff from 10, 15, or 20 years ago that is painfully absent from today's game. (1st installment here.)

I miss guts in college football. Not the intestinal fortitude sort of guts; the courage necessary to go for two while down by one with no time left or having the heart to point out to Les Miles that USC is 4-0 against the SEC under Pete Carroll. I think that's still present in today's game.

I'm talking, literally, about guts. Bellys. Showing a little skin. Wearing a jersey that stopped a couple of inches short of the navel. Lineman, receiver, it didn't matter what you had to offer, for 20 years this was the signature style of college football.

The 1988 SI cover pictured here may as well be the epitome of the college game in the 80's. Beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, win the national title, wear the short jersey and get the cheerleader. If you can see somebody's hip pads it's not only an indication of a simpler time, but also distinctly collegian.

The stodgy NFL--they of the excessive sock fines--never allowed the cropped look. There's something barbaric about it. It's reckless by simply not being uniform and such personal displays of style in the League will cost you thousands of dollars.

But the college game was always more open to interpretation. Want to wear low socks? Go ahead. A bandana? Why not. Cover your helmet in pride stickers? Sure.

Of course the problem is, all of these things are still happening today. The gut, however, is gone; buried beneath layers of moisture-wickiness. But it likely stuck around longer than you thought.

Browsing through SI's on-line cover collection--about as good a pictorial time line as you'll find--it looks like jerseys began their northward migration sometime around the 1981 season. Here's Marcus Allen, still tucked in, but at right is Perry Tuttle, baring some of it. Same season, different style and this was just the beginning.

Over the next 15 years everybody seemed to take a stab at the abs: Penn State, Nebraska, Boston College, USC, Notre Dame, Michigan, everybody who was anybody.

I would've guessed that the short-shirt trend ended when the major shoe companies got into the jersey business, but the trend turned out to be tougher than I thought. Here's Ricky Williams in Reebok, Andy Katzenmoyer in Nike, Peerless Price in adidas, all still untucked but the jerseys are getting longer.

Eventually we'd end up at this. That 2005 Miami jersey could've been used to make four of the Playmaker's jerseys in 1987. Irvin's sleeves were nearly as wide as the entire jersey the Canes wore two years ago.

Now, of course, football jerseys don't have sleeves, just armholes. Stripes are truncated, holding almost impossible. I suppose the latter development is for the best, but what's a little technological advancement if we lose some attitude in the process?

Don't get me wrong, your team will still look great when they take the field this fall. Flawless, really, but perfection isn't always perfect. Sure you should strive for it when buying diamonds or undergoing brain surgery or bowling, but dressing a college football team?

It wouldn't hurt to keep things a little rough and ragged every now and then.

Photos: SI Cover Collection