Mutual respect. Those two words get taken much too far at college campuses around the nation with all the kind words college football coaches and athletes have to say about their upcoming opponents.

In a few short hours, I’ll be at this week’s football press conference, but it’s really pretty clear what will be said.

It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure it out and I’m obviously not Miss Cleo, so throw the fortune-teller theory out the window.

My guess is something to the effect of: Kansas State has a great defense, solid offense and good special teams.

Sounds eerily similar to comments about another team this season.

“They’ve got good players, they’re well-coached and they’re sound, and we’ve just got to be ready,” ISU head coach Dan McCarney said the week before the Golden Eagles of Tennessee Tech flew into Ames.

And we all know how that game turned out.

It’s not just McCarney. It seems as if every coach across America feels the need to beat the other team’s drum.

Take Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, for example. He has a reputation for scheduling the Southeastern Arkansas Techs of the world and then slowing down about the time they’re up by 70 points.

He had this to say about an upcoming matchup with Louisiana-Monroe earlier this season:

“They do a lot of things well. Formations are the most difficult thing they bring to the table to defend,” Snyder said about Louisiana-Monroe’s offense. “They get a lot of different alignments, and we’ve got to be really alert in order to be just lined up.”

The Wildcats proceeded to pound the living daylights out of ULM, 68-0.

Louisiana-Monroe was only able to run one play on the Kansas State side of the field.

All those wild and crazy formations Snyder spoke about netted Louisiana-Monroe a whopping 160 yards — which adds up to mere crackers in the all-you-can-eat buffet.

Is Snyder a liar?

No.

Is he trying to make the opponents look better than they are, so his team comes out better after demolishing them?

I don’t think so.

Snyder is, like every other coach, afraid of what might happen if he comes out and says what’s on his mind.

And don’t forget, when he’s getting questioned, he has to say something.

No pleading the Fifth in this ball game.

Just once I want to see a coach tell 20-some members of the media that his team will dominate the competition, that the other team doesn’t deserve to be in Division I or that his team could take the week off from practice and still win Saturday.

My hopes will never come true, because people in the collegiate coaching profession are, for the most part, pretty professional and polite about the things they say concerning the opposition.

It’s not a big problem, just one that gets under your skin a little — like a telemarketer’s call.

Iowa linebacker Fred Barr, as much as I hate to say it, is one of a handful of players I’ve come across who tells it like it is.

Before the Iowa-Iowa State game, he said he hated the Cyclones and their school colors.

As much as I disagree with the opinion, he’s saying what he thinks.

I’m all for that.

Why should he have to pull something out of you-know-where?

The outcome of that game made him put his foot in his mouth, so maybe that’s why most hesitate to go out on that limb.

Then again, who cares about a little embarrassment?

If you can’t back up your words, take it like a man and move on.

Don’t be modest with what you say, coaches and players.

Don’t sugar-coat anything.

Tell it like it is.

Be real.

It sounds like a commercial for jeans or perfume, but it’s much more refreshing to not have to sift through the courtesy quotes.

Jeff Raasch

is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Odebolt.