Kicking Off Another Season
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Kicking off another season The beginning of college football We encourage you to send your com- August 2002 season is less than a month away. And ments to FWAA president Kelly White- the Football Writers Association of Amer- side at kwhiteside@usatoday. Other Vol. 40, No. 2 ica is gearing up for another big year. officers and board members are listed on Page 2 of The Fifth Down. Here are The first addition to the FWAA pro- some other key people to query or send grams this season is a regular-season Inside this issue: information to in the FWAA: college football poll, which will debut on Sept. 30. ● Bert McGrane nominees: Tom Kensler, Denver Post The FWAA’s preseason poll to be re- President’s column 2 ([email protected]) leased on Aug. 16 will serve as a pre- view of the regular season poll, which ● Volney Meece Scholarhips nomi- will feature 16 FWAA voters who will nees: Dave Sittler, Tulsa World Super 16 Poll Q&A 3 vote exclusively in the association’s poll. ([email protected]) The mechanics of the poll are explained ● Internet questions: Ted Gangi, elsewhere in this issue of The Fifth HiTex! ([email protected]) Poll voters 3 Down. ● FWAA Directory: Charlie Fiss, Cot- The FWAA print directory will be out ton Bowl ([email protected]) in late August and will have a different ● Press Box complaints, suggestions: look this season. Members will be listed Ron Higgins, Memphis Commercial Ap- All-America checklist 4-5 in alphabetical order instead of by state. peal ([email protected]) Hopefully, this will help you locate a ● CoSIDA liaison: Maxey Parrish member if you don’t know where he or ([email protected]) she lives. The team pages have been FWAA All-America expanded. FWAA members will be able ● Fifth Down: Ken Stephens, Dallas 4 committee members to access the directory on-line. It will be Morning News (kstephens@dallasnews. updated with changes. com) And speaking of on-line, www.fwaa. ● FWAA History: Gene Duffey, Hous- com is bigger and better than ever. For ton ([email protected]) Outland Trophy watch 6 those of you who have forgotten your ● Eddie Robinson Award: Shawn list password to the members’ side, remem- Schoeffler, Fiesta Bowl ber you can access it with rosebowl ([email protected]) (username) and pasadena (password). ● Bronko Nagurski Award: John Obituary: Former In order not to slight the Tostitos Fiesta Rocco, Charlotte Touchdown Club FWAA president Earl 7 Bowl, you also will be able to access the ([email protected]) Luebker members’ side of the website by typing ● Outland Trophy, All-America Team, in fiestabowl and tempe. All the letters Steve Richardson ([email protected]) Membership applica- are lowercase and the bowl names are 8 one word. Here’s to a great year of college foot- tion ball! Page 2 THE FIFTH DOWN President Kelly Whiteside USA Today First Vice President President’s column Wally Hall Now that the near future, and since the formula Arkansas Democrat-Gazette start of the football has been tinkered with every season, Second Vice President season is almost we would hope that the Grantland Dick Weiss here, it's certainly Rice Super 16 Poll would be consid- New York Daily News not too early to ered for inclusion in the 2003 BCS Executive Director discuss the race formula. This will add another human Steve Richardson Dallas Morning News for the national element to the equation. Also, if the championship. NCAA ever decides to move to a 2002 Directors With that in mind, playoff system in Division I-A, there Shelly Anderson we introduce the probably would be a 16 team-format, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Grantland Rice as the playoff systems in the other David Teel Super 16 poll. divisions already have. Daily Press, Newport News The concept This poll will also have more (Va.) KELLY Kurt Caywood has been dis- credibility because the 16 voters cho- Topeka Capital-Journal WHITESIDE cussed during the sen will be writers who attend na- Stewart Mandel last few years by tional games every weekend. Many CNN/SI Steve Richardson voters in the AP poll and of course Eric Crawford Louisville Courier-Journal and Cody Monk and Ted Gangi of the coaches in their poll only get to Wright Thompson HiTEX! Enterprises, FWAA's online see the individual teams they cover New Orleans Times- and marketing partner. But now we or coach. We will have a balanced Picayune want your feedback on our proposal, geographic representation among Brian Landman on what works and what doesn't the voters, which will further ensure St. Petersburg Times Ted Miller work for you. we are adequately covering the na- Seattle Post-Intelligencer We will begin the poll Sept. 30. tional scene in our poll. Rob Biertempfel Sixteen FWAA members who cover Now it's your turn. What do you Tribune Review (Pa.) the sport nationally would vote each think? Please e-mail your thoughts to Darryl Richards foxsports.com Sunday, ending with the Bowl Cham- us at [email protected] Andy Bagnato pionship Series title game. The final and [email protected]. Chicago Tribune No. 1 team would receive the Grant- Another thought before the first Ken Davis land Rice Trophy, which has been kickoff: Now is the time to be vigilant Hartford Courant awarded to the FWAA's national about the issues that mean most to Chris Fowler ESPN champion since 1954. us. With games seemingly on every Herb Gould Of course, there's plenty of debate night of the week and of course Chicago Sun-Times over the current BCS system, even prime time TV Saturday games, our Brian Higgins its two polls, the Associated Press deadline pressures have increased. Oakland Tribune Natalie Meisler Poll and the Coaches' Poll. The bal- We need to communicate to sports Denver Post lots of the voters who participate in information directors the increased Dan O'Kane those two polls are mostly anony- necessity of speed during the post- Tulsa World mous. Ours wouldn't be. We will post game. We need quicker locker room Tim Peeler Greensboro News & Record the ballots on our website, and each or press conference availability and Greg Pogue voter's affiliated medium also will quicker postgame stats. Daily News Journal (Tenn.) have the option of publishing their Also, it's not too early to be think- voter's ballot as well. This will be an ing about plans for the Fiesta Bowl, Ex-Officio improvement over the existing two the site of the national championship polls because our voters will be held game on Jan. 3. Hard to believe it's Jim Daves accountable. only a few months away. Enjoy the University of Washington Maxey Parrish So why now and why 16 teams? rest of the summer. CoSIDA Since the BCS will be around for the THE FIFTH DOWN Page 3 Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll Q&A Why 16 teams? There already is a writers poll. Why do we need another? The traditional coaches and writers polls now rank 25 teams when, in fact, the BCS formula, which determines Yes, the Associated Press poll is voted on by various the premier bowl matchups — including the so-called media — most of it writers. However, many of the voters national title game — only ranks 15. To have the Grant- are from small markets and all of the voters can choose land Rice Poll be considered for participation in the BCS to remain anonymous. The Grantland Rice Poll will bring formula, there is no need to rank more than 16 teams. together an elite group of voters who will take more time Also, if the NCAA moves to a playoff system in Division to vote and, thus, be able to fully consider the results of I-A, the likely number of playoff teams — as it is in Divi- all of the games played each week. sions I-AA, II and III — will be 16. What makes the Grantland Rice Poll credible? Do we need another poll? The pollsters will be an elite group of national media Because the BCS committee has stated publicly that chosen from the 1,000-member Football Writers Asso- it will be de-emphasizing its various computer rankings, ciation of America. All pollsters will be media who cover it will need another element for judgment in its formula. the game from a true national perspective for some of The FWAA would provide this option with the Grantland the largest media entities in the country. Rice Poll. What makes this poll different? Since college football's polls have been published, the rankings of the individual voters — media and THE VOTERS coaches — have been almost completely anonymous. Four FWAA members from each of four regions — The Grantland Rice Poll will change that. Aside from East, South, Midwest, West — have been chosen to ranking just 16 teams, each of the 16 voters has agreed vote in the Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll. to have individual rankings published each week — both In addition to voting, each pollster will provide a in print and online — thereby accepting accountability for short synopsis detailing his/her vote. The rankings of the rankings. each voter will be made public, along with the complete poll, on the FWAA's website, www.footballwriters.com. Why not release rankings each week? The pollsters will also select a weekly "Team of the Week" based on the previous week's games. After the preseason poll is released, the Grantland Rice Poll will not be released again until the week before • Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the first BCS rankings are released.