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Lawmakers want BCS probed

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Three congressmen suggest Bowl system's illegal

Three congressmen (Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., and Mike Simpson, R-Idaho) are introducing a resolution rejecting the oft-criticized bowl system as an illegal restriction on trade. Can you say posturing for votes while wasting taxpayers’ dollars?

Not that I’m a fan of the BCS - the idea of a college football playoff curls my toes. Just forgive me if i doubt that a bureaucratic organization in dire need of campaign reform because it only answers to corporate dollars (the US congress) has any chance of fixing a bureaucratic organization in dire need of a complete overhaul because it only answers to corporate dollars (the Bowl Championship Series).

What is your take? Do you think the antitrust division can sort this mess out?

shaneykakes
18 Apr 08 (Modified [Never])

Interesting story - thumbs up.

From what I understand, the vast majority of BCS money (some estimates are 95%) is split among the 60-some schools in BCS conferences. In other words, BCS revenues are split up among BCS Conferences, and the conference gives money out to individual schools. Therefore, representatives from non-BCS schools (i.e. Hawaii and Boise State) actually do have something to gripe about. To the contrary, the Congresswoman from Georgia is likely just posturing for votes as the Dawgs are in a BCS conference.

I don't think we'll ever really get away from this "it's not fair" kind of thing in college football. Even if a playoff is instituted, who gets to choose the 8 (or 12 if you want the season to last until March) teams that will be a part of the playoff?

At any rate, I think schools from the WAC do have a legitimate complaint in principle, however I can't imagine that the tv revenues would be sustained with regular appearances from these schools in big bowl games.

HokieDave
22 Apr 08
(Modified [Never])
-0
+24

Nice job Hokie Dave - and thumbs up all around. I started to reply here yesterday but ended up crunching a ton of numbers and going into a pseudo dissertation (which turned into its own blog post):

A playoff system isn’t a financial fix

Give it a read and let me know what you think!

shaneykakes
24 Apr 08
(Modified [Never])
-0
+25

You're right, the "it's not fair" mentality will always be around as long as there are competitions around the world. I'd just rather those who are complaining complain about being left out of a playoff bracket rather than the championship game. To me it's the best of the two situations. Perhaps not as fair, but it's a whole lot easier to tell a 9th or 10th ranked team to shut-up than a 3rd ranked team.

HokieSteeler
22 Apr 08
(Modified [Never])
-0
+25

Good calls!

HokieDave
22 Apr 08
(Modified [Never])
-0
+0

I highly doubt it, and the big reason..I feel is the fabled "Good ol' Boy system. Correct me if I'm wrong but every team that goes to a bowl, be it BCS or not get's a sizeable amount money. Now, every political figure that I know of has a college degree, do you see where this is going? "Hey millionare Jim, this is millionare bob how are things up on Capitol Hill? Look I'm gonna need you not to vote on this BCS bill...yeah our team is in a big bowl every year so we want to keep getting that money! Right, thanks millionare Jim. See ya at the 30 year reunion!"

hokiefaninGA
20 Apr 08
(Modified [Never])
-0
+24

Holy shit!!! I just paid attention to what states these bozo's represent! I'm all for a playoff system too but I find it ironic that these gentlemen are from states that represent teams that have recently been in the national spotlight critizing the BCS, or stating why they should have played for the NC.

hokiefaninGA
20 Apr 08
(Modified [Never])
-0
+24

My thoughts exactly. Talk about throwing a tantrum. Congress never fails to astound me in their efforts to investigate, probe, and molest ball games while the rest of the country is going to hell. The works of men like these simply pile on the bureaucratic layers that lead to the development of such systems as the BCS in the first place. Hey guys, how about we fix the economy, then maybe, if you're good, we can spend a few mill on your life's work of bringing the BCS to its knees! Idiots. How does it go...the opposite of congress is progress?

HokieSteeler
22 Apr 08
(Modified [Never])
-0
+0
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