I’m all about lifting up each and every HBCU sports program in America. Really, I am. But when levels of BS come across your desk, you have to shine a light on it and call it what it is. Not for your own benefit, but for the purveyor of the jive to know that their product can’t go without consumer feedback.
So that’s my issue with this recent story in the Hilltop, Howard’s prestigious on-campus newspaper. In it, you will find some of the most braggadocious rhetoric you could possibly want out of a team that has gone 7-16 in conference play over the last three seasons.
According to offensive coordinator Alvin Harper there are five running backs that can be inserted to the game at any time without a drop off in talent and ability. Harper also said that the offense has about seven players that are a threat to score every time they touch they ball, but the success of the offense ultimately depends on the offensive line.
Alvin Harper is the former standout NFL wide receiver who spent time with the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. I respect him as a player, but this one graf shows you a lot of what’s wrong with the Bison’s approach to football.
First off, why in the world would a team have five running backs on the squad? If you are the Naval Academy, I can see it. Not for an offense that was sixth in the conference in rushing last season. Who knows, maybe running by committee may get that number up, but it certainly doesn’t bode well for continuity between the backs and the offensive line.
Second, seven players that can score every time they touch the ball? I don’t know an NFL team that can boast that claim. Seven? You couldn’t even pull that off on Madden 09′ on ‘rookie’ difficulty. If I ever see a team that can take it to the house on any given play, hopefully I will be beside Coach Eddie Robinson in Heaven watching that great scrimmage in the sky.
Lord knows I don’t mean to dog out Howard, and I would hope that they have confidence in themselves. But these and other claims in the article ring with the sound of overconfidence, and that may not work out to well for the Bison in 08′, in a MEAC with no clear favorite for the title.
