Imrem: College football no longer land of make-believe

The college football community must find it increasingly difficult to play make-believe.

Take Saturday night's huge Notre Dame-Florida State game.

Remember when this could be passed off as a contest between fine young college students participating in a rah-rah competition in the name of school spirit?

Now it's easier to think of it as pseudo-professional mercenaries swirling around in the cesspool that college football has become.

In the fake old days, Lou Holtz coached the Fighting Irish and Bobby Bowden the Seminoles and the preview would be full of homespun humor and belly laughs courtesy of two of college football's true characters.

Now the respective coaches have to provide dour updates on the respective schools' respective scandals.

Fans have to scavenger through the sleaze to hear much about how ND's quarterback plans to limit his turnovers and whether FSU is as good at defending the national championship as it was at winning it last season.

Only the naive believe big-time college sports was innocent even back in the good old days. There always have been coaches skirting the rules, boosters specializing in $20 handshakes and players getting in trouble.

Meanwhile, there were university presidents boasting that the exercise was all about the student-athletes.

Now it's folly to pretend that's still true.

This week's storylines are Florida State investigating itself and Notre Dame sorting out its own academic cheating case.

Everybody in Tallahassee from Jaemis Winston to local law enforcement to school officials to athletic administrators to maybe even the horse the Seminole mascot rode in on is under suspicion for something.

Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher has had to put out a one-alarm fire one day, a three-alarm fire the next day and a five-alarm fire every other day.

Fisher is running interference for Winston, his star quarterback who is one really mischievous college kid or one really dangerous dude.

A rape accusation … a shoplifting incident … a profane disturbance in the student union … a potential NCAA violation involving the signing of autographs …

Winston has become Florida State's usual suspect.

While Florida State appears intent on playing the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner against Notre Dame, it's scary trying to figure out what's rattling around in his head.

Except, that is, for Fisher, who has had all the answers this week: No, nothing new will be discovered in the school's rape probe; no, Winston didn't exchange his signature for money; no, see no evil here; no, hear no evil there; no, speak no evil anywhere.

Fisher either is one of the few still able to play make-believe or he really does know something as No. 2 Florida State prepares for No. 5 Notre Dame.

Speaking of the Irish, for a change they're angels by comparison if not really angelic.

Head coach Brian Kelly has had to answer questions all week about the status of players suspended for academic cheating.

This, a year after Golson, ND's gifted quarterback, missed all of last season for his own classwork violations.

Take your pick: Notre Dame can be commended for trying to clean up the mess or condemned for what some might characterize as a lack of institutional control.

Oh, how entertaining it would be if Holtz and Bowden still were around to "by golly" and "dagnabit" their way around these ugly issues.

The only good news now is that by game day, fans will be ready for some football: Gasp at the sins for six days and cheer the saints on Saturday.

The games are so beautiful that it isn't hard to table the indiscretions and transgressions for three hours.

But being able to table them isn't the same as being able to pretend they don't routinely occur in college athletics.

mimrem@dailyherald.com