Let’s start with the big picture, and work our way down. As for the worthiness of the subject, Ann Arbor has drawn over 100,000 fans every football Saturday – roughly equivalent to the town’s population – for the past 35 years to watch college players compete, while the very next day the Detroit Lions struggle to sell out their 65,000-seat stadium downtown, with players who are clearly bigger, faster, stronger and more talented than the college kids.

In this state, college football is much more popular than the pros. Why? That’s a question worth asking.

I can’t speak for the 112,784 Michigan fans who watched the Iowa game, so I answered the question for myself.

As I wrote, I prefer college football partly because money did not inspire its creation, nor does it tempt teams to move, change their colors or hold up taxpayers for new stadiums – and it does not motivate the players, only a few of whom will never see a pro camp. (Some Michigan’s players receive up to $250,000 in scholarship money – which no parent paying out of state tuition would consider chump change — not to mention free meals, coaching, medical care and the like. But they don’t get any more of any of these things for playing better.)

But from there it’s a bit of a leap to the conclusion I therefore must be oblivious to money’s role in college athletics. Regular readers here might recall my pieces condemning the NCAA’s decisions to expand March Madness and add a 12th regular season football game (“a shameless money grab”), among many others. But all that is driven by the presidents, the athletic directors and the NCAA – not the players, who almost always oppose playing more games in every sport.

Now, those are just a few of my reasons for preferring college football, but they might not be yours. But that’s why it’s a column, not a news story. To say I’m wrong to prefer college football is tantamount to saying, “No, you’re favorite color is actually red, not green – and here’s why.”

Yes, the column is simplistic – as any piece under 550 words is bound to be. I had to cut my reflexive bashing of the Fab Five, my praise of the Ford family, which has never threatened to move the Lions, and my love of – yes – Green Bay, and the college-like love affair between the Packers and their Backers. (Agreed, Mr. Edward Vielmetti!) This response already runs longer than the original piece, and the first reader’s letter runs about a third as long. You see the problem.

However, Steve Bean, you are absolutely right that Appalachian State deserves to have its name spelled correctly, with an ‘n.’ Well done, sir. And kudos for signing your name, too. I always admire readers willing to stand by their statements.

Sincerely,

-John Bacon

If the players should have to give away their skills for free, so should the NCAA, the coaches, the schools and the networks, or…pay the players what they are worth! The stench of the hypocrisy just gets smellier every year.

They’re all about pulling in more cash, without regard to whether college stadium appearance gives way to a somewhat pro exterior or whether realignments eliminate old rivalries that you consider so important; Nebraska’s joining the Big Ten will end 80+ year old traditions. Come to think of it, what meaning does “Big Ten” Conference have any more? Not the one I had growing up in a Big Ten state.