Post by 2much4U on Apr 29, 2009 22:02:55 GMT -5
This is a story from the Anderson Independent Mail. I thought it was interesting, especially since I'm a big college football fan.
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College football and its loyal fans deserve to be left alone by Congress
By Brad Senkiw
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Talking with a co-worker recently, we were discussing the sports we care the most about and the ones that do little for us.
He was very knowledgeable and passionate about many, but when it came to college football, he said he had a hard time getting into it because it was a sport that he felt didn’t name a “true champion.”
It appears while my colleague is a journalist, he would fit in quite well in Congress.
It was announced Wednesday that Mr. Swofford is going to Washington.
That’s BCS coordinator John Swofford, also the ACC’s commissioner, who is among several witnesses invited to appear at a Congressional hearing Friday.
In attendance will be Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee. He’s already known for investigating the BCS in 2005, calling it “deeply flawed.”
This time, he and others are looking to pass legislation — something four years ago he said he had no intention of doing — that would keep college football from calling it a “national championship.”
Several representatives of states that have schools recently “hurt” by college football’s system have called the BCS illegal.
Look, I don’t need a law degree or a stack of books to tell me that the BCS isn’t illegal. You want crime breaking? Walk down the streets of Washington, D.C.
While the argument that Congress has more important issues to worry about will always stand, there’s something else that irks me about this situation.
Congress thinks it’s terrible that a billion-dollar business is deciding how it wants to name a champion. Guess what? It’s so profitable because we the public make it that way. There’s no government funding lining Swofford’s pockets.
It’s the fact that Ohio State can put 96,000 people in the stands for a spring game.
It’s ESPN demanding insane advertising prices so it can pay out even more absurd TV contracts to the SEC because millions of people not just in the South are going to watch an Alabama play a Georgia.
And don’t forget the fans at many schools nationwide that are paying actual seat-licensing fees so that they can then buy season tickets.
College football is probably the most loyal fan sport in the country and doesn’t need Congress getting involved in the game it loves. We already deal with enough of our legislators’ decisions.
Is the BCS system fair? No, not really. Will people still pay to see the 2009 season? You better believe it.
Really, how many times does college football need to defend itself? As bad as the current system is, it obviously doesn’t take away from something the nation cares so much about.
Hopefully, this hearing will be much ado about nothing. When the BCS contract runs out five years from now, then we’ll talk.
Until then, the nation will only care about those unbelievably competitive 12 regular-season games and a ton of bowl matchups to boot, even if a champion isn’t “true.”
www.independentmail.com/news/2009/apr/29/college-football-and-its-loyal-fans-deserve-be-lef/
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Now, I think Brad Senkiw has a good view of this BCS crap. But all in all, I want to see it change, and like he said, the BCS contract runs out in five years, so in five years, maybe, just maybe, we'll start having a playoff system like every other sport does.
----
College football and its loyal fans deserve to be left alone by Congress
By Brad Senkiw
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Talking with a co-worker recently, we were discussing the sports we care the most about and the ones that do little for us.
He was very knowledgeable and passionate about many, but when it came to college football, he said he had a hard time getting into it because it was a sport that he felt didn’t name a “true champion.”
It appears while my colleague is a journalist, he would fit in quite well in Congress.
It was announced Wednesday that Mr. Swofford is going to Washington.
That’s BCS coordinator John Swofford, also the ACC’s commissioner, who is among several witnesses invited to appear at a Congressional hearing Friday.
In attendance will be Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee. He’s already known for investigating the BCS in 2005, calling it “deeply flawed.”
This time, he and others are looking to pass legislation — something four years ago he said he had no intention of doing — that would keep college football from calling it a “national championship.”
Several representatives of states that have schools recently “hurt” by college football’s system have called the BCS illegal.
Look, I don’t need a law degree or a stack of books to tell me that the BCS isn’t illegal. You want crime breaking? Walk down the streets of Washington, D.C.
While the argument that Congress has more important issues to worry about will always stand, there’s something else that irks me about this situation.
Congress thinks it’s terrible that a billion-dollar business is deciding how it wants to name a champion. Guess what? It’s so profitable because we the public make it that way. There’s no government funding lining Swofford’s pockets.
It’s the fact that Ohio State can put 96,000 people in the stands for a spring game.
It’s ESPN demanding insane advertising prices so it can pay out even more absurd TV contracts to the SEC because millions of people not just in the South are going to watch an Alabama play a Georgia.
And don’t forget the fans at many schools nationwide that are paying actual seat-licensing fees so that they can then buy season tickets.
College football is probably the most loyal fan sport in the country and doesn’t need Congress getting involved in the game it loves. We already deal with enough of our legislators’ decisions.
Is the BCS system fair? No, not really. Will people still pay to see the 2009 season? You better believe it.
Really, how many times does college football need to defend itself? As bad as the current system is, it obviously doesn’t take away from something the nation cares so much about.
Hopefully, this hearing will be much ado about nothing. When the BCS contract runs out five years from now, then we’ll talk.
Until then, the nation will only care about those unbelievably competitive 12 regular-season games and a ton of bowl matchups to boot, even if a champion isn’t “true.”
www.independentmail.com/news/2009/apr/29/college-football-and-its-loyal-fans-deserve-be-lef/
----
Now, I think Brad Senkiw has a good view of this BCS crap. But all in all, I want to see it change, and like he said, the BCS contract runs out in five years, so in five years, maybe, just maybe, we'll start having a playoff system like every other sport does.
