CFB Playoff Proposal Quietly Gaining Momentum in Congress
by War Eagle Atlanta on May 4, 2009 11:00 PM CDT
Email
Print
Mr. Jacobs, we called you to appear in front of us today to explain your cowardice in scheduling more than one OOC BCS team in a single season. That's not what the gentleman from Tuscaloosa would have done...
Last week in the US House, with little fanfare, two congressmen held a hearing to bring attention to the notion of changing the BCS format to become broader and more inclusive to teams not in the historically big conferences. Representatives Joe Barton (R-TX) and Bobby Rush (D-IL) lead the hearings designed to force not a tweaking of the current system, but a general overhaul designed to turn the BCS up on it's ear. Presumably, Barton, from Texas, has an axe to grind with the Longhorns allegedly getting hosed last year by being left out of their conference championship game. We might have to assume he truly is a CFB fan or a non-partisan politician because as a Texas A+M alum, it's hard to imagine him lobbying for anything favorable to the Burnt Orange. For Rush, perhaps he's just trying to ride the coat tails of another Illinois politician, President Obama, who has voiced concern on this subject.
It appears that the new angle they're working is the introduction of a bill in the house that would preclude the attachment of the phrase National Championship to any game who's participants weren't decided through the use of a playoff system. Taking a cue from Nick Saban's grandiose and often inappropriate comparisons of historical events and football, Barton compared the current BCS model to communism:
It is like communism; you can't fix it," Barton said. "Sooner or later, you are going to have to try a new model."
No word yet if it's going to take a Pearl Harbor or 9/11 type impetus to provoke this change.
Barton also told ACC commissioner and current BCS director John Swofford that he will aggressively push this bill if he doesn't see a serious effort begun in the next two months, which coincidentlly, is the exact same interval it normally takes for teams to decide which cleats they're going to purchase for the next season. Perhaps the honorable Mr. Barton is unaware of current BCS agreements and conference television contracts that don't come up for a few years, leaving the best window for a 4-team playoff to arrive somewhere around 2013. But seeing how the government now fires CEOs of private companies and decides which employees of the same firms can receive what compensation, I am seriously not wont to doubt them at this moment.
And perhaps the most disturbing relevation in this article is either the fact that the Mountain West Conference has actually hired lobbyists in Washington to push through their version of reform, or their plan itself, which includes the scrapping of the human and coaches polls and the computer polls and having playoff participants selected by a committee of 12 individuals. Are you kidding me? Because 62 AP voters, 119 coaches and a few algorithmic programs aren't supposed to be as objective as a gang of twelve? Have they lost their ever-loving minds?
For those of us who do want to have a realistic playoff introduced as soon as possible, perhaps the notion of having Congress give a little jolt to the process may not seem like a bad idea, but when have you ever seen government pull out of something once they got in? Yea, that's what I thought. Just like budgets and spending never get cut, Congress dallying in events they have no business in can seldom be curtailed.
And from the home office in Atlanta, GA, today's Top 10 list of things we can expect from the federalization of college football:
10) $100 handshakes now considered to be taxable income
9) Similar to TARP receipients, coaching salaries now capped at $500,000
8) Two words: BCS Bailout
7) Recruiting limos now required to have DOT certification and fuel tax stamps
6) Stadium expansions now require HUD approval
5) Players reclassified as federal employees. They unionize and get workers comp benefits
4) Football conferences now headquartered out of closest Federal Reserve Bank
3) Bench-warmers and scout squad players eligible for unemployment benefits
2) NCAA disbanded. FBI now investigating all recruiting scandals
1) New Playoff marketing slogan: Games we can believe in!
.
26 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Great
Just one more thing for the government to take over and ruin. Why can’t they just stay out of sports? This is as stupid as the MLB hearings.
I'll just rant...
There are currently at least 15 Senators and 40-65 Representatives that should be hung for treason, right now, serving in our congress.
These idiots need to stay away from college football. Get out of our personal lives, and get back to what they are suppose to do. REPRESENT US!
WAR EAGLE!
No more National Champions...
The winner will be proclaimed….
“Government’s Winner of the Playoff system but that doesnt make them better than anyone else because we are all equal and it doesnt matter anyway because everyone has to bail everyone else out for their personal mistakes in the game..so we really don’t have a winner just someone who was left standing but still shares in all the blame Champions”…and there won’t be a trophy…just a bill for their time and effort to fix our problem for us and it will be awarded to the congressman who came up with the idea in the form of a golden parachute that he will sail off into the sunset with never to be seen again.
On the fence...
I’ve never been one to shy away from Playoff discussion. I whole-heartedly believe that we need one. Atleast a plus one, but no more than an 8 team free-for-all. However i’m not to sure that the government needs to be the one to make this happen. Too much room for error.
Hopefully this is a simple ploy to get the ball rolling. Make the BCS people start to atleast talk about the change to a playoff. Which they absolutely refuse to do.
“So you get what we had here last week. Which is the way he wants it. Well he gets it” —-Cool Hand Luke
nothing is gonna happen
the fact that noone was actually at these hearings gives me a pretty good idea that noone really cares about this outside of congressman whose state schools have been screwed the most by the BCS. as much as i totally hate the BCS calling it communist is ridiculous. it’s the ultimate form of capitalism.
I don't think he called it communist.....
I believe he comared it to communism in that it will never work. That being said I am all for a playoff but I would prefer my government be working on the current economic crisis rather than CFB. They should be figuring out how to get the banks to start lending again and I mean quick.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
Ridiculous
This is why republicans are getting their a$$es handed to them every election cycle. They’re just as big government as the democrats, and the dems are way better at it. It is shameful that we have elected people that can’t stay out of private contracts. I called Barton’s office a few weeks ago when i heard about this and got nothing. He is an idiot.
I was one of those....
An Auburn fan at ua. Its a tough row to hoe too. Being trapped with all the arrogance was unbearalbe at times. Then again it has its moments of greatness too (1997 last minute fumble and fieldgoal, Wore my Auburn shirt to classes that monday. Didnt really appreciate the glares i got. I was just supporting the win, but for some unknown reason alot of people didnt like it….wonder why?).
it's rough now, but
the two years before this were glorious. I’m in my third year of grad school after spending my allotted time on the plains. There is a big group of us here that does “auburn shirt fridays” during the season, and it never fails to draw some looks and comments. But, like any other trial by fire, it really does make you appreciate what we’ve got. That’s why I’ll always get upset when we start showing signs of bammer-like fandom. We’re above that, and we need to stay that way.
Amen to that....
Yeah i was the only Auburn fan that i knew for the 1st 2 years but i finally found a friend in 1999. He and i still had to watch the games with bammers but it was alot easier. But in 1997 i was in the room with all bammers. They were talking mad shit until Riddle got lit up by Houston and fumbled the ball in the last 2 or 3 minutes of the 4th quarter. After that they were quiet as mice. That is right up until we kicked the final field goal to win the game. I was the only smiling face in the house of 20 or 30 people. I was laughing so hard i almost flipped my wheelchair over. It was without a doubt one of my fondest memories in IB history.
War Damn Eagle.
Good stuff!
And now we know why you call yourself Paratiger! Your story gives me an idea…
I call dibbs on a future thread about the trials of a true football fan who has matriculated behind enemy lines. In other words, like Paratiger, you are actually an Auburn fan who went to school at Tuscaloosa, either in part or for the whole ride. I’d like to know exactly how it felt to be the wolf in sheep’s clothing, or the sheep in wolves’ clothing. I’ll post a notice up on our site and on RBR.
Thanks for the being the impetus, PT!
by War Eagle Atlanta on May 5, 2009 10:39 PM CDT up reply actions
I'd love to get in on that...
There’s actually a video of Auburn fans at school at Bama Law they did on the news before the iron bowl this year. We’ve got several former Auburn SGA presidents here and many more who are die-hard aubs.
It’s really enough to make you go crazy. Maybe PT can back me up on this, but these people wear Bama athletic gear (crimson golf shirt and basketball shorts, with cap and maybe socks) to go eat at a chili’s on a Tuesday night in February. Auburn people just don’t seem to do that. I think their closets must be full of stuff auburn folks would only wear to a game or maybe to a round of golf.
except for the fact that Bobby Rush is a democrat
Both sides guilty, don’t try and pin it on one party. One is just as bad as the other. Both waste your tax dollars and your time.
Bobby Rush is one of my favorite blues artist as well.......
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
Take a gander.....
http://www.bobbyrush.net/deeprush/
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
That was my point
neither party has the self-control to stay out of our lives. My point is that’s why the blues are kicking the reds around right now, since the GOP is going to invade the BCS, MLB, and everything else, we may as well elect Dems who are well versed in big government and are good at it.
agreed with the above, the government should really stay out of this. we have SO much other stuff that we need to address right now.
on the other hand though, this would really screw any bama fan’s bragging rights over haha. what would they say now? got 12? nah how bout got 6 in a row?
War Eagle and Go Titans
Hmmmm...
If this whole playoff approval thing would be retroactive, I do think I would support it whole heartedly…
by War Eagle Atlanta on May 5, 2009 10:20 AM CDT up reply actions
Don't get me wrong...
I’m not against improvements in the system. Things can always be improved. I just don’t see the government getting involved with sports as any improvement. I can think of very very little that the government actually made better by getting involved.
Side notes:
Only 3 of the 30 sub-committee members were present.
I reviewed the proposed legislation (and the Justice department legislation) They both have the same flaw.
They poorly define the concept of tournament and playoff. The concept of what it means to be eligible is vague.
A structure with a two team single elimination tournament that all FBS teams can qualify for by placing in the top 2 of some ranking average would appear to fit the proposed legislations. No change would be required even if these bills pass.
I think anyone who has been to public school can understand the concept of an unpopular bully picking on a less popular victim. The fact that the most popular and revenue generating collegate sport has a championhsip system less popular than congress indicates a change is needed far greater than any threat of legislation congress could produce.
Revenue distributionThe BCS revenue is primarily due to TV coverage and the advertizing reveunue the games generate. The fans watching the game produce the value the BCS profits from.
Shouldn’t the BCS distribute its revenue in a way that produces a financial incentive for conferences to increase their fan base? Isn’t a conference’s fan base a strong measure of their BCS value?
Suppose the first team from a conference earnes 6 million and the second team and any independents earn 4.5 million. This would free up 81 million to distribute according to fan base.
Using a four year average of the annual sum of the average attendance of the members of each conference is a good measure of a confernece’s fan base.
Using this method(Millions of dollars) the Big East (7), PAC 10(3) and ACC profit annually at the expense of C-USA, MWC, SEC and MAC. This does not include lost revenue due to an undefeated team being left out of national championship consideration (Utah, Auburn 2004, Boise State 2006, Utah 2008.)
The MWC would have more fans than the Big East if they added Boise State.
Overall popularity lags fan base attendance considerably...
Even if a non BCS conference were to substantially and quickly raise their attendance, I think it would take years or even decades to raise their overall popularity to that of teams from BCS conferences. The only team to ever go from zero to hero and stay there was Miami in the early 80s, but I still think their example is a little suspect.
When TV networks are writing checks, I don’t know how they quantify popularity, but it’s probably a case of they’ll know it when they see it.
Networks would probably love a playoff because they’ll make more money with it, but in the current system, they are vested in televising games with the most attractive teams. That’s simply the law of nature.
by War Eagle Atlanta on May 5, 2009 3:36 PM CDT up reply actions
Take 3
ACC: 2
C-USA: 3.5
MWC: 3-0.75=2.25
SEC: 2
MAC: 1.4
Note: the WAC earned 9 million, rather than 6 million, twice for its participation in BCS bowls, negating its losses.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
