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Sports Arena
Sportsman in Chief
Alas, Commssioner Obama isn't the only pol BCS-ing about college and professional sports.
(Page 2 of 2)
Although time ran out last year, Vermont Law School professor Michael McCann predicted that the new Congress is likely to hold "a hearing on ties between professional sports, illegal gambling and game-fixing. Should the NBA, and possibly also the NFL, MLB and NHL, fail to impress members on that topic, those members could threaten to change or repeal the Sports Broadcasting Act, which provides an antitrust exemption for lucrative, leaguewide television contracts."
Even as the conservative Rep. Barton suggested further expanding government authority, he essentially admitted that his effort was bound to fail: "We're never going to abolish all controversy, and who'd want to be rid of it, anyway? People will argue about who should be in and out of playoffs, too." The benefit of acting? "I am confident when more of the most deserving teams can compete, a true national champion is much likelier to emerge."
However, on what issue does Congress exhibit anything other than the reverse Midas touch? Whatever it touches turns to, well, you get the point. Notes Radley Balko of Reason: "however broken some aspects of the sporting world may be, it's time we stopped looking to politicians for any kind of fix. They only make it worse. The playing field is one of our few remaining sanctuaries that hasn't yet been corrupted by politics." Even the biggest economic spenders and regulators, such as Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush, didn't try to (mis)manage college sports.
The question is not whether the BCS system is the best way to organize college football. The question is not whether Congress could do a better job of doing so. The question is whether government has any role to play in determining which college football team is called the national champion. The answer to that question is no.
About the Author
Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and the Senior Fellow in International Religious Persecution at the Institute on Religion and Public Policy. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics (Crossway).
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Ryan| 1.12.09 @ 9:31AM
Two points, one more important than the other:
1. Politicians need to stay the heck away from sports. Yeah, maybe deal with the drugs because they can kill people, but that's it. The steroids fiasco is best dealt with by the Leagues themselves, not by Congress who has better ways of wasting our tax dollars. (You know, that being said, maybe we need them to concentrate more on sports, and that way they won't mess up anything important...)
2. Colleges - not Congress - should tweak the BCS, maybe to a +1 system. The great thing about college football is the MASSIVE importance of the regular season, which negates the need for a big playoff. If smaller schools want a seat at the table, play a competetive schedule. Yeah, the system is broken, but it beats the way everything USED to work and just needs some tweaking and getting rid of the stupid Notre Dame bumping up rule. A playoff would STILL leave out some teams, anyway, and non-BCS divisions would still be fighting for a seat at the table because of their pancake schedules.
Ryan| 1.12.09 @ 9:32AM
One more point. Playoffs are about who's hot, not about who's best. Reward the regular season.
Trotter| 1.12.09 @ 10:16AM
I am so glad that the country has absolutely nothing going on that deserves the attention of the members of Congress so that they can involve themselves in things they have no business meddling with. Whew, for a minute there I thought we might be in an economic meltdown.
Steve| 1.12.09 @ 10:32AM
Reward the regular season?? You mean like when Texas beat OU in the hallowed regular season? How were they rewarded?
I hear this specious argument from bcs defenders, but it is hollow at best based on what actually happens.
Ryan| 1.12.09 @ 11:12AM
Texas MAY have had an argument, but you also have to figure in how and who they got beat by - a Texas Tech team that also was trounced later on. Oklahoma had a bit better argument.
In any case, it still shows the overall strength of the system. It does need some tweaking, however.
Chris| 1.12.09 @ 11:22AM
I wish these bloody pols would stay out of sports. They're only going to screw it up worse than it already is. The same way they screw up the world. The NCAA is already corrupt enough without the corruptor-in- chief getting involved.
This is also one of those debates that I'm tiring of. Until the greedy NCAA can find a way to make more money out of determining its "champion" then everything is going to stay the way it is. That's reality. Deal with it. For all of you people so upset with the "system," I don't see or hear any of you encouraging and organizing boycotts. That's probably because you would accept and celebrate a so-called "tainted" national championship if it came your school's way. Money talks. If you don't like it stop the whining and don't watch.
Alan Brooks| 1.12.09 @ 1:37PM
it must have been great to be at the field when Ty Cobb was playing.
progress.
phooey.
macdaddy| 1.13.09 @ 1:04PM
The current BCS system is lousy but it is a far better compromise than a play-off system. If a play-off system gets implemented, we should remove all pretense of the scholar-athlete and just pay these guys. As it is, with a play-off system, even with only 8 teams, you're talking a minimum of 3 more weeks of prep (probably more like 4). So why are these guys in school again? It's a little ironic that Obama is The One who is denigrating a college degree.
Personally, I think we should return to the old way. I watched nearly all of the 5 bowl games on New Year's Day and saw some great games. I watched about 5 minutes of the runner-up game and 10 minutes of the championship game. I just couldn't get into either game. The moment had passed. I realize that numbers were up for the championship game this year, but the Rose Bowl still out-drew the runner-up bowl. If Ohio State had played in the Rose Bowl instead of in the runner-up bowl, you may have seen Rose Bowl numbers that rivaled the championship game.
But all this is beside the point. And that point is that the government needs to stay the hell away from sports.
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