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

What I miss about college football - Whiskey

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.

What's college football without whiskey? It's carried into tailgates by the handle, poured into soda bottles for easy stadium entry and used to make ordinary chicken breasts extraordinary on Saturdays. It gives you the courage to follow your team on the road and the illogic to defend the BCS when it benefits your alma mater.

Despite all that, I'm not really interested in the elixir itself but rather the vessel that used to carry it. Whatever happened to the college-branded decanter?

I grew up in a house that prominently featured a shrine to The King and bourbon. As far as I knew, we had every single Elvis decanter available.

But that wasn't all. Mixed in with the demolition derby trophies and ceramic Presley bottles, were liquor-laced shrines to the Devaney era Huskers. Jerry Tagge, Johnny Rodgers, and some ugly, random helmeted dude took their place alongside beer league bowling trophies as honored talismans.

Today such marketing seems like another casualty of the politically correct era. What college would knowingly link themselves to hooch? None and that's too bad because packaging booze in team-themed decanters probably wouldn't result in fans drinking more whiskey, just buying more. Just check out the number of decanters available on eBay right now, half of them still full.

Well begin our tour of the sadly defunct, appropriately enough, in the former Southwest Conference:

Texas Tech -- Looks a lot like Yosemite Sam, which is appropriate considering the offensive stylings of Mike Leach. Shoot early and shoot often, accuracy be damned. I doubt that any of the following decanters were "officially licensed" as no official university trademarks appear, but that's what makes them great and gives us hope for the future. Maybe there are still ways around using the copyrighted stuff.

University of Houston -- There is some debate on-line as to whether or not this decanter is meant for Washington State or Houston fans, but based on the fact that we have three other SWC teams represented, I'm guessing this one rooted for Andre Ware.

Oklahoma State -- Is it just me or does this decanter look suspiciously like another Big XII trademark?

Texas Ag. & Mech -- Young cadet or park ranger? You decide.

Baylor -- Oh, poor Baylor. That's the same dazed look you'll see before or after 6 conference games in any given season.

Texas -- I know there are better Longhorn decanters out there. Who drinks more whiskey than Texans? Distillers are sitting on a gold mine in the Lone Star state.

Of course, this wasn't just limited to the SWC, at one time or another almost every college received the full treatment...

Kansas State -- As the Yun' Ball Coach said, "even their decanters are ugly as hell." Sure, the Wildcat is sitting on a basketball but we all know that K-State basketball is a joke. Just ask Bob Huggins. (Yes, Nebrasketball is a joke as well, I know.)

Missouri -- I'm not even sure I could drink the contents of this and that's saying a lot. It's got a garage-sale quality kitty cat head and some tiger stripes on the legs. Frightening, but not in an intimidating sort of way.

Drake -- Yes, there are more than just relays going on at this Des Moines school. That's how wide spread the decanter movement used to be. Even 1-AA schools got their own.

Now, however, no school gets a decanter and that's a shame. Tell me you wouldn't forgo the Bud on a fall Saturday if Sparty was staring back at you from the shelves. Convince me that popping the head of Smokey for a snort isn't better than some random bottle of Jack.

You can't do it and, literally, you can't do it. Those days are gone like the tearaway jersey. But if you're looking for a way to crack into collegiate marketing this might be the way to go. Just think about the tailgating arms race that takes place each weekend--who's got the biggest grill, who's got the most elaborate spread-- and imagine the potential market for these things.

If you ever get that business up and running, you can mark me down for all of them.