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Full-Court Press
THE emails stack up so high, you wonder how your computer sees anything else on its desktop. Sooner they pick,
the betterEvery time the telephone rings, you cringe as if the IRS is on the line wondering why last month's back-tax payment hasn't arrived.
Friends you haven't heard from in years are leaving messages on your machine: "Hey man, how's it going in Hawaii? Heard your paper survived the JOA Death March. That's cool. Anyway, the reason I called was to see if you could tell me who your top three are in the Heisman? We're doing a random poll. Totally confidential. Anonymous quotes. Completely off the record. You know the drill, so give me a call. It would be great hearing from you."
Now you know why June Jones has gone voice mail. Only a fool would pick up a phone that didn't have caller I.D. These writers and broadcasters from around the globe are brutal. You'd think the selection of college football's top player was as important as those 25 electoral votes in Florida.
Fortunately for you, the last two Heisman Trophy campaigns were landslides by comparison to this year's race. Ron Dayne of Wisconsin and Ricky Williams of Texas were like Reagan over Carter. The other finalists wrote their concession speeches in September.
Had Virginia Tech's Michael Vick not been slowed by an ankle sprain, he would have followed in his predecessors' footsteps. It was his to lose and unfortunately for him, fate stripped the trophy like a ball-hawking safety roaming free in the open field.
That leaves you with one of the closest races in Heisman Trophy history. The four finalists, Josh Heupel of Oklahoma, Florida State's Chris Weinke, Texas Christian's LaDainian Tomlinson and Drew Brees of Purdue will be as tightly knit as their seating arrangement at tomorrow's announcement at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York.
If you tire of speculation on whether Gore or Bush is your president-elect, click on the lighter side of life and take a look at this chase for the trophy. All four have the credentials to wear the Heisman well. An oddsmaker might have Tomlinson at 10-1, Brees coming in at 6-1, with Heupel and Weinke at even-money.
Since you can only select three, one candidate has to go and in the case of your ballot, that guy is Weinke. Be prepared to defend yourself on this one. Leaving him off is tantamount to voting for Ralph Nader or Ross Perot.
For you, it's a vote for the Western Athletic Conference. Years ago, Gino Toretta won at Miami of Florida when any right-thinking person would have selected Marshall Faulk. History has proved that's true with no doubt.
GRANTED, Tomlinson isn't as good as Faulk and not as deserving to win the award, but he did several things Williams did two years ago that led to his winning of the 1998 trophy. Chief among them was matching Williams as the only NCAA back to rush for more than 5,000 yards in a career and 2,000 in a single season. Your conscious is clear selecting him No. 3 on the ballot.
The second one may raise a few eyebrows as well, but clearly not as many. You have selected Brees, the man you had at the top of the list in September, because he threw for 3,393 yards and 24 touchdowns in leading the Boilermakers to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 34 years.
Heupel probably isn't as good an NFL prospect as Weinke, but give him credit for putting Oklahoma football back on the map. Whether he beats Weinke in the title game is open to debate, but he will win the Heisman by the length of the football, thanks in part to you.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
Email Paul: parnett@starbulletin.com.