The U.S. Senate is calling for hearings on Division I college football’s method of determining a national champion. Senators are squirming in their seats to force a playoff system. Division I currently uses the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) to choose who plays for the national championship. Some in Congress claim that violates anti-trust laws and that the BCS is a “cartel.”
Anti-trust laws? Cartel? College football?
In the House, Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX), the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, has sponsored legislation that would prevent the NCAA from calling a football game a “national championship” unless the game culminates from a playoff system.
What does that mean? Is it a misdemeanor or a felony to call Florida the national champion? What is the punishment? Jail time? The rack? Thumbscrews? The needle?
To quote bombastic tennis legend John McEnroe, “You cannot be serious! You must be joking!” Sorry, John. Serious. No joke.
McEnroe’s sometimes spoiled-brat tirades over what he thought were bad calls became boorish, I admit (although instant replay would show that he was right more than wrong). Still, I liked McEnroe, if for no other reason than he tirelessly represented the United States in Davis Cup competition. McEnroe helped the U.S. win five Cups.
While McEnroe freely gave of his time, Congress freely wastes ours. With the nation’s economic future and the futures of our great-grandchildren twisting in the wind, bombastic, boorish, spoiled-brat Congressmen find time to screw around with college football.
I’m for a playoff system, too, as long as it doesn’t pay for itself with the glamour of bowl games. On the other hand, I worry more about roaches in my kitchen. Proponents of a playoff system point out that other divisions of college football are successfully using playoffs. Other divisions don’t have bowls. We’re not comparing roaches to roaches.
In this issue of CottonGrowerExtr@, there’s an item on a letter authored by U.S. Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) tirelessly fighting Congress and the Obama administration to protect a bipartisan farm bill. There are too many co-signatories to mention here, but it’s in the item on the letter.
In last week’s issue of CottonGrowerExtr@, there was a comparison of peasants storming the Bastille to peasants (we, the taxpayers) storming an AIG building, pitchfork and torches in hand. (If you’re interested, .)
Here’s what I propose: Leave the pitchforks and torches at home. Let’s take wooden stakes, crucifixes, holy water and John McEnroe up to the Hill and use them on the vampires up there. Drag them into the sunlight. What Roberts, Lincoln and a few others are tirelessly trying to do is protect a farm bill that is nothing more than a very small pimple of the nose of a vampire willing to run up a $1.3 trillion deficit.
Fiddling with college football while farmers and other taxpayers burn? You cannot be serious! You must be joking! Nope.
In last week’s poll, we asked that if you were growing corn this year, have you started planting. 55% of the respondents said they had not; 45% said they had. The caveat is that this poll was taken on March 24th.
Let’s break from the serious and have fun with this week’s poll question. In regards to Division I College football only:
Do you favor a playoff, no matter what?
Do you favor a playoff, but not at the expense of bowl games?
Are you completely against playoffs, no matter what?
Do you worry more about roaches in your kitchen?
Click here to vote