Florida State football is truly a continuous source of entertainment. It’s like an ongoing joke, reminiscent of an Aesop fable that imparts lessons over and over. Imagine if Maryland were still in the ACC—the Seminoles could lose to the Terrapins, reminiscent of the tale of the Tortoise and the Hare.
The arrogant hare, who mocks the slow tortoise, accepts a race challenge and ultimately falls asleep, allowing the tortoise to win. Sound familiar, Seminoles? They faced another blow on Friday, losing 23-16 to Duke, prompting laughter from observers.
The school trying to escape the ACC by claiming it’s too valuable is now 1-6. This is a program that sees itself as football royalty but just lost to a team FSU fans often dismiss—one they claim doesn’t care about football or “invests” in it, despite every school doing so today.
Indeed, the underlying issue for Florida State and the ACC is the belief that the conference fails to grasp the significance of football as a noble pursuit. FSU perceives itself as too elite to compete alongside schools it views as less reverent toward the sport. Yet, many fans of ACC schools enjoy a broader range of interests, which is actually beneficial. FSU would do well to diversify its passions, especially given that they hold a 30-32 record in the ACC over the past eight seasons, including a previously flawless 8-0 season. The ridicule surrounding this current dismal season is endlessly entertaining and offers valuable lessons about the nonsensical nature of FSU’s arguments, particularly its claims about financial necessity.
Despite financial advantages over teams it deems inferior, FSU continues to lose—most recently to Duke, a school FSU fans insist is not serious about football. Furthermore, losing to SMU, which opted not to receive ACC revenue to join the conference, highlights that one doesn’t need the most resources to compete successfully. Many schools that have beaten the Seminoles exemplify this.
Additionally, FSU’s desire to play the victim in the ACC is ironic; their consistent losses evoke satisfaction akin to watching a schoolyard bully get its comeuppance. Once dominant in the 1990s, FSU is now like an aging athlete who fails to realize they’ve lost their edge. Their defeats spark joy among observers, illustrating that despite wanting to leave the ACC, their departure may not come until closer to 2036, coinciding with the conference’s Grant of Rights agreements.
When FSU moves to a new league, it may discover that life there isn’t as favorable as anticipated. Many schools that think they are too big or valuable to fail often find themselves losing frequently. Watching the Seminoles struggle to maintain a 6-6 record in a new conference would be less amusing than their current situation, but it will nonetheless reflect the reality that money alone does not guarantee success, just as it hasn’t in recent years.
ONE BIG THING
You know it probably wasn’t going to end well for Mike Houston in Greenville after ECU’s 55-24 loss at Charlotte earlier this month. That’s a no-go for the Pirates, who were long the state of North Carolina’s best non-ACC program, but who’ve certainly been passed by in that regard by Appalachian State — and now, apparently, by Charlotte, whose program is still new. And so it wasn’t all too surprising that ECU fired Houston on Sunday, the day after a 45-28 defeat at Army. The timing, though, was mildly surprising. The loss against the 49ers, after all, was a lot more shameful than losing on the road against a ranked Army team. And was it that bad at ECU, that athletics director Jon Gilbert couldn’t wait? Well, yes.
Apparently so. A bigger question, now: What does ECU aspire to be in this landscape?
THREE TO LIKE
Leave a Reply