Dec
9
U.S. Congress moves on with pressing business
December 9, 2009 | 4 Comments
While I do support a playoff for division-I college football, I’m probably not along in thinking that this is none of Congress’s business.
Federal legislation that could lead to a college football playoff tournament will move a step closer to reality on Wednesday in a hearing before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will consider a bill that would allow the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prohibit any bowl game from calling itself a “national championship” unless the game is “the final game of a single elimination post-season playoff system.” The subcommittee is expected to vote on the proposal on Wednesday after a line-by-line consideration of the bill.
Joe Barton (R-Tex) is leading the charge, and is backed by Bobby Rush (D-Ill). Hopefully both gentlemen will find themselves out of a job come January 2011.
One would think that Congress should have more important priorities, though I don’t necessarily mind them being momentarily distracted from destroying our country via serious legislation. Sadly, there are actual citizens group promoting this junk.
“We’re pleased that Congressman Barton’s bill is moving forward because it will require the BCS to choose — either make college football’s championship a competitively earned honor or admit that it’s currently the equivalent of being elected homecoming king,” said Matthew Sanderson, a founder of Playoff PAC, a political action committee aimed at electing members of Congress who favor a playoff system.
Seriously? There are people who came together to form a frakking PAC dedicated to this issue? How lonely and sad is your life that you actually decide to lobby Congress to create a college football playoff?
It is a joke, to be sure, but it’s also another indication that too many people think it is the federal government’s business to involve itself in every sphere of human life and correct all ills. We have a long way to go to eradicate this disease of thought.
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4 Comments so far
I don’t think this is as out of place as Congress’ investigation of steroids in baseball, but I do think the timing is poor. My main issue with the BCS system is that it is a money scam that government funded institutions are a part of. But I don’t have any faith that anyone in our Congress is interested in actually fixing a scam, but they are just using this to gain populist support.
There’s a part of me that hopes this stupid-assed boondoggle passes. As Harvey Perlman, the Nebraska Chancellor, noted when testifying before Congress on this matter, it’s effect will be just the opposite of what Congress hopes. It will bring about the much-needed demise of the BCS craptacular, and bring about the much-needed return to the former bowl alignment system, which worked just fine:
Even then, the BCS still would not be obligated to adopt a playoff. The more likely result is that the BCS would simply dissolve. The bowls would go back to making their own individual deals with conferences. The Rose Bowl would go back to hosting the Big Ten and Pac-10 champs, the Sugar Bowl the SEC champ, etc. Maybe the Fiesta would still take an occasional stab at an undefeated Utah or Boise State, or maybe it would take 9-3 Notre Dame instead. Whatever would sell more tickets.
The sport existed in this manner for nearly the entire 20th century, and there’s absolutely nothing stopping its leaders from returning to it, as Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman — recently appointed chairman of the BCS’ Presidential Oversight Committee — told the Nebraska State Paper last week.
“The alternative is not a playoff,” said Perlman. “The alternative is to go back to the system we had. That’s fine. Many of us would think that’s not a bad outcome.”
What we had before the BCS system was markedly better than the current thing were they decide one of two teams will be the national champ regardless of how other teams do in their bowls. I didn’t have a problem with the old system that didn’t necessarily match up the top two teams and then the voters weighed how they did in their bowl and who it was against and ranked the teams. Did we occasionally have some controversy? Sure. A little controversy won’t kill anyone.
Oh, and to the subject of your post. To paraphrase a wise man, congress is an ass.
My issue with the old system is the same as with the BCS today: The national champion is not determined on the field of play. Oh sure the BCS gives us #1 vs #2, but that’s largely a function of opinion polls (human and non-human). You can’t tell me FIVE teams can enter the bowl season undefeated, either two or three of them will remain undefeated after the bowl games are done, and call whichever team between #1 and #2 that wins is a legitimate champ.
There’s a simple solution to the problem that should have been implemented 30 years ago: A playoff. If it can work for every other team sport at the collegiate and professional levels, it can certainly work here if the NCAA ever grows the stones to enforce it.