[FONT=e35ef666d2c5649c0931fc10#940d00]20 College Football Figures Who Just Irk the Heck out of Us[/FONT]
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By Amy Daughters
(Featured Columnist) on April 26, 2012
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photo from politico.com
College football is so passion driven that it’s almost natural to have a select group of individuals that annoy us in a big way.
Yes, when you care so deeply for something you’re bound to be vexed by someone who defies all logic or takes an opposite position on an issue you deem critical.
The following slideshow highlights 20 figures in college football who simply irk us, bother us and make us scrunch up our faces and think, “Seriously….?”
These are the individuals who do their part to make our college football “love/hate” meters go right off the scales, which at the end of the day is a beautiful thing.
Lane Kiffin
Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
USC’s head coach, Lane Kiffin, may well be one of the most irksome personalities in all of college football.
First you’ve got a legion of jilted fans in Knoxville, Tenn., and then you’ve got the overwhelming sense of entitlement surrounding Kiffin, which is palpable regardless of whether it’s fair or not.
If Kiffin can take the Trojans to the promised land in 2012, he will be wearing a big fat gold ring, an accessory that will still irk some folks but will more than likely garner the respect of others.
John Marinatto
Tom Pennington/Getty Images
The current commissioner of the Big East conference, John Marinatto has served as the face of the league that has literally fallen apart before our very eyes.
You can’t entirely blame the sinking of the Big East ship on Marinatto (who has been the commish since 2009), but you have to believe that the decisions made on his watch have a lot to do with the conference’s shaky ground in terms of BCS status.
What’s irritating about Marinatto is that he comes across as super confident and almost triumphant as he announces the attrition of Syracuse, West Virginia and Pitt and the addition of SMU, UCF and Houston.
DeLoss Dodds
Erich Schlegel/Getty Images
The AD at Texas since 1981, DeLoss Dodds is one of the most influential administrators in collegiate athletics.
What gets under folks’ skin regarding Dodds, especially those in College Station and Norman, is the stroke that he wields via Texas’ financial and political prowess both within the state of Texas and in the bigger arena of the Big 12 conference and beyond.
Many people blame Dodds and company for the recent erosion of the Big 12 and point to a power check by Oklahoma when explaining how the conference is still a viable entity.
Perhaps it’s jealousy that makes Dodds and Texas a target, but the influence of the Longhorns in college sports is the real deal.
E. Gordon Gee
Ohio State’s president, Gordon Gee, has an unfortunate knack of saying the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time, again and again.
From Gee’s “I hope Tressel doesn’t fire me” quip during Tattoo-gate to his “ little sisters of the poor” comment in reference to TCU and Boise State’s BCS title bid, he’s done little to endear the throng of non-Buckeye fans who resent the “The” in The Ohio State University.
Gee is yet another example of why collegiate sports shouldn’t be run by guys with bow ties.
Craig James
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Craig James’ 2012 campaign to become a U.S. Senator basically ended his career as a broadcaster for ESPN, but that doesn’t mean that he’s still not annoying.
Though the people of Lubbock, Texas, and the wider Red Raider Nation have good cause to be forever miffed at James, he’s a guy who seemingly did everything he could to foster rankled feelings with a wider swath of college football fans.
James’ silly but presumably infallible predictions as a commentator, his undeniable misuse of power and his memory loss over his own involvement in wrongdoings at SMU as a player make him irksome and intriguing all in the same breath.