FanHouse Latest Posts

Alfonso Soriano Is On His Way

Comments (0) Read More

The Braves Have Been Historically Unlucky This...

Comments (0) Read More

All-Star Grievances: The NL Central

Comments (3) Read More

> View All

Currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please refresh page or try again later.

Blog Roll

  1. Awful Announcing
  2. Dan Shanoff
  3. Deadspin
  4. We Are the Postmen

    Thanks for Nothing

    By JIM ARMSTRONG,
    AOL
    Posted: 2008-05-02 14:45:58
    Filed Under: College Football
    Sports Commentary

    Just when you thought there were no more heroes in sports - good morning, Roger Clemens - along comes Mike Slive.


    If the name doesn’t sound familiar, Slive is the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, where food and water go overtime every Saturday to beat out football on the list of life’s bare essentials.

    Slive spent this week with several other conference commissioners at some swanky resort in South Florida. While there, he pitched the idea of a four-team playoff to determine a national champion in Division 1-A.

    The reaction from his fellow commishes? Hurricanes are greeted more warmly in the Sunshine State.

    Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese was quoted as saying, ‘‘We don’t think a playoff is in the best interest of college football.’’

    Not even the relatively scaled-down version proposed by Slive, which would have kept the BCS rankings intact until after the bowl season. After that, the top four teams would have squared off, with No. 1 playing No. 4 and No. 2 playing No. 3, with the winners meeting in a national championship game.

    A true national championship game, that is. A legitimate national championship game. A real national championship game. As opposed to what we have now: chaos waiting to happen.

    Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford is the chairman of the BCS. He said the system is experiencing an ‘‘unprecedented state of health,’’ prompting him and his colleagues to preserve the status quo and, presumably, hit the hotel bar for a few umbrella drinks and fish stories.

    Unprecented health. In case you were wondering, that means the powerhouse conferences and Notre Dame, which concocted the BCS 10 years ago, are making boatloads of money. As opposed to giving college football fans what they desperately want and richly deserve.

    Forget of the people, by the people and for the people. This is all about the cash. So instead of determining a national champion on the field, of all places, the BCS will continue to determine its champion via computers and Harris Poll voters, many of whom are retired coaches, players and media types.

    Think about that for a minute. Instead of players determining the best team in college football, it will continue to be left up to a bunch of computer nerds and retirees. ‘‘Gee, Emil, what should we do today, play shuffleboard, visit Agnes in 14D or determine the national champion?’’

    I don’t get it. And no one I know gets it. Far as I can tell, the only people in America who don’t want a playoff are the commissioners, athletic directors and university presidents from the major conferences. That leaves roughly 300 million people who think those guys ought to jump in the nearest dunk tank.

    There will continue to be a playoff in baseball, basketball, hockey and every other division in football, but Division 1-A will remain the black hole in the sports universe. The Beatles will launch a comeback tour, gas will cost 29 cents a gallon and Charlie Weis will wear a tux on the sideline before we see a playoff in major college football.


    Oh, I get why the suits refuse to change their system, flaws and all. It’s about the money, a whole lot of money, and nothing but the money. What puzzles me is how a playoff system couldn’t generate even more money.

    As we all know, sports in the 21st century is all about TV revenue. Fine. So switch to a playoff system and rake in more TV revenue than ever. Or maybe you haven’t checked out the cost of a Super Bowl commercial lately.

    For the record, it’s $2.7 million for 30 seconds. That’s $5.4 million per minute and the gross national product of Ecuador per hour. I only mention it because a spot during the 1-A national championship game would have to go for a slightly discounted number.

    They say Super Bowl Sunday has become a national holiday. What would National Championship Saturday be? Trust me, it would be a bigger deal in the Southeast, not to mention countless other dots on the map.

    So why don’t they do it? Money, for one thing. But not the only thing. The conference commissioners also claim a playoff would discount the regular season, render it less meaningful. Uh-huh. As if this is about preserving the sanctity of the season, one in which Ohio State played Akron, Kent State and Youngstown State in 2007. As if an early-season matchup between Southern Cal and Nebraska or Notre Dame and Michigan would suddenly become insignificant or irrelevant.

    I’d use this paragraph to say just do it, just institute a playoff, just give the fans what they want. But they’re not going to listen. Instead, we’re stuck for several more years, and probably several more decades, with the BCS.

    And you thought the economy was depressing.

    Jim Armstrong is a sports columnist for The Denver Post. Feel free to e-mail him at dontmissjim@aol.com.

    2008 AOL LLC. All Rights Reserved.
    2008-04-29 17:32:35
    Bookmark:

    Recent Comments

    Post Your Own  
    1 - 10 of 11
    11 comments

    jump4us 05:33:54 PM Jun 06 2008

    Report This!

    Seems to me that in 2004, when Auburn opted to play Western Carolina instead of a willing Fresno State, and subsequently ended up with a pedestrian, 64th strength-of-schedule ranking, they screwed themselves.

    mbestfrnd 11:58:47 PM May 23 2008

    Report This!

    The NCAA and bowl executives line their pockets with monies from the bowl games. It is about time that college football dumps the NCAA for an organization that has the best interest of college football at heart.

    mbestfrnd 11:56:43 PM May 23 2008

    Report This!

    The NCAA executives line their pockets with monies from the bowl games. It is about time college football dumps the NCAA for an organization that has the best interest of college football at heart.

    realtorben 02:37:46 PM May 12 2008

    Report This!

    Seems to me that if the SEC and the ACC are the only two conferences supporting any kind of playoff, they should be the two teams playing at the end of the season when we have another three way tie like back in 2004 when Auburn got screwed by the BCS.

    realtorben 02:36:42 PM May 12 2008

    Report This!

    Seems to me that if the SEC and the ACC are the only two conferences supporting any kind of playoff, they should be the two teams playing at the end of the season when we have another three way tie like back in 2004 when Auburn got screwed by the BCS.

    realtorben 02:35:29 PM May 12 2008

    Report This!

    Seems to me that if the SEC and the ACC are the only two conferences supporting any kind of playoff, they should be the two teams playing at the end of the season when we have another three way tie like back in 2004 when Auburn got screwed by the BCS.

    dilpickll 08:50:16 PM May 10 2008

    Report This!

    Of course a playoff would generate more money than the bowl system. The difference is who controls the money. If is is an NCAA sanctioned event, the NCAA will control the money. Keeping it the way it is keeps control of the money in the hands of the conferences.

    There will never be a playoff- - - get over it.

    tlknpngwn 01:54:22 AM May 03 2008

    Report This!

    I agree we deserve a playoff. EXCEPT .... what if every team but one has two or more loses and the one team is undefeated? Shouldn't they be awarded the championship without the risk of losing in a playoff?

    paskulo 06:34:00 PM May 02 2008

    Report This!

    The graduation rate of football players from Division 1A teams is just about zero.

    gshort3011 05:09:26 PM May 02 2008

    Report This!

    Every bowl game, except the championship bowl is meaningless, which is no way to run a sport. Boycott the bowl games is the only way to stop this corruption.

    1 - 10 of 11
    11 comments

    Add your own Comments

    Clear
    Add