Tackling the BCS
By Amit Singh | Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 | PolicyI love college football despite being a Cavalier (maybe this year the new coach will turn things around). And of course I hate govt intervention, especially into the things I love. Back in 2004, I remember writing Gov. Warner a nasty letter about forcing UVA’s hand into helping VT get into the ACC. And while I can understand scrutiny from Congress about drug-use in professional sports, I cannot accept their role in determining how the BCS should run the college football championships.
To start off, I am no fan of the current BCS system and thought Obama’s answer on MNF the night before the election was a brilliant way to win over a few extra undecided voters. But now that Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who’s state team went undefeated yet did not play for the championship, is attempting to pass a bill to require the BCS to have a play-off system is simply going too far.
Do I want a playoff system in college football? Yes. Do I want Congress to have anything to do with college football? No. What would happen if the majority of college football fans got what they wanted with this bill? Once Congress has set a precedence in “correcting course” in college sports, then we are much, if not inevitably, closer to a day where congressional subcommittees will establish pass interference rules, regulations on cheerleader skirts, and demographic quotas for athletes. I am willing to continue with the current BCS system rather than let Congress gain control of a sport I love.
Go Hoos!
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8 Responses to "Tackling the BCS"
Besides, does Congress really have time for such nonsense?
With every bill comes a bureaucracy that sticks another blood funnel into the national carcass.
I like Orrin Hatch, but he needs to be reminded of his job description to focus on the pressing issues of our time, not be a booster for a college football.
team.
The BCS isn’t changing. There’s too much money involved in all these mini-championship bowl games.
This whole thing of college sports is why I laugh at the academic community when they get all snobbish – that special teams player, that O-line blocker, that punter – they have the same degree for free that they’ve driven many of their other students deeply into debt for. And those “Liberal Arts” and “Philosophy” degrees don’t exactly pave the road with gold.
Aren’t those “Liberal Arts” and “Philosophy” degrees prerequisites for “Community Organizing” post graduate study where you can learn to organize and manage your own cartel?
It’s why I disagree the notion of college athletes being “paid”. They get a $100,000+ college education FREE with no debt. While some are stars and generate large sales for tickets, many more are bench warmers their entire 4 year careers, get more dirty in practice than in a ball game, and if they are smart to take advantage of the situation, graduate with a degree that many of us go into debt for to obtain.
my guess is that only possibly profitable sports programs for a college would be football and basketball. in my 4 years at college I rarely attended one of the “olympic” type sports (i.e. swimming, track)
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