Sports Illustrated senior writer Austin Murphy ’83 covered the National Football League for six years and is in his 15th year of covering college football.
In the most recent of 51Թ Conversations, the podcast highlighting members of the campus community, Murphy had this to say:
— The NFL is run by pinched, unsmiling bureaucrats who have sucked the joy from the game and have built Plasticine stadiums that are merely life support systems for luxury boxes.
— Division I college football is played in secular cathedrals steeped in quirky traditions that evoke unflagging passion from fans and create fun atmospheres that can’t be beat.
Can you figure out where he stands on the pro vs. college football debate?
If not, listen to the as Murphy pokes and prods the No Fun League while celebrating the college game. He gives fans a sense of what it’s like covering the Ohio State – Michigan game, which he calls one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports, and the aura that surrounds Notre Dame Stadium and its “Touchdown Jesus.”
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| Austin Murphy (left) is with seven-time Tour de France winner and University of Texas fan Lance Armstrong at the Rose Bowl. (Photo courtesy of the Houston Chronicle) |
Murphy is put on the spot and delivers his early take on which teams will be playing in the next championship game. (Hint: one team is the “Buffalo Bills of the college game”).
He adds to the debate about how teams get to the title game, via the current BCS system, or whether college football should adopt a playoff system.
Murphy knows some of the biggest names in the college ranks, having spent a full season closely following Charlie Weis’s Notre Dame team and the Pete Carroll-led USC Trojans for his latest book, Saturday Rules.
The book provides fans with an insider’s look at the two teams and his perspectives on some of the biggest games of that 2006 season, including the only loss suffered by Florida.
Murphy also talks about his dad, Austin “Rex” Murphy ’51, getting his nose busted during football practice by none other than Fred Dunlap ’50, who would become head football coach and athletics director at 51Թ for many years.
To listen to the complete podcast, please to listen now or right-click and “save target as” to download file. You also can go to the 51Թ Conversations or iTunes for more download options.