Mingjai wrote:

1967cougar wrote:

You think the six BCS conferences are bad. Just wait until the federal government gets it's hands on it. These are the guys, remember, that caused the school mascot fiasco. I can see it all now. BYU, if you don't play on Sunday, we will take away all federal funding from your school. Utah, if you don't play a certain percentage of females, you will lose accreditation (Oops! they already field 100% sackless females). Nicholls State, you can play Ohio State but to make it fair we will spot you 50 points. And then to cap it all off, they will have fair and sensitive playoffs but will not declare a national champion due to the psychological damage to the losing teams and how it might affect their yet unborn offspring.

Let's play cards with the deck we have. Getting the gov't. involved is a recipe for disaster!

Wow... I couldn't have said it better.

Come on now. You know that the PC way to play sports is to not keep any score so everyone feels good afterwards.

Conosticator wrote:

Come on now. You know that the PC way to play sports is to not keep any score so everyone feels good afterwards. :huh:

That's why I only play tee-ball. I've got to shelter my fragile psyche.

If the issue were all about sports and athletic competition, then I would agree. In point of fact, however, college football is also a BUSINESS--and a multi-billion dollar one at that. The government has the right to regulate the economy to some degree, at least when legitimate competition is threatened by anti-competitive behavior.

When unscrupulous businessmen (i.e., BCS conference chiefs) enter into agreements aimed at stifling legitimate competition, I think the government has the right to intervene. Such is the case here. It's not about deciding when the game clock starts to run, or how far apart the goal posts should be. It's about whether the BCS conferences are running an illegal cartel. Without these investigations, the BCS would never change because they have no incentive to.

Real.Men.Wear.Blue wrote:

If the issue were all about sports and athletic competition, then I would agree. In point of fact, however, college football is also a BUSINESS--and a multi-billion dollar one at that. The government has the right to regulate the economy to some degree, at least when legitimate competition is threatened by anti-competitive behavior.

When unscrupulous businessmen (i.e., BCS conference chiefs) enter into agreements aimed at stifling legitimate competition, I think the government has the right to intervene. Such is the case here. It's not about deciding when the game clock starts to run, or how far apart the goal posts should be. It's about whether the BCS conferences are running an illegal cartel. Without these investigations, the BCS would never change because they have no incentive to.

Exactly. College football, especially D-1 (FBS or whatever ) is big business. Sure the athletes don't get paid (legally) but everyone else sure does. I don't think the gov't should get involved so that it becomes easier for BYU to win a national championship, but I do think they should step in and really investigate the BCS. I am not an economist, but just from the layman's point of view, the BCS is in no way fair trade and the only ones who pretend to think it is are the ones stuffing their pockets with cash. As long as college football makes money, which it does, it should be regulated just any other major market.

Hengst wrote:

Doesn't congress have a recession to be worrying about?

I think we should concern ourselves about weightier matters.

Gosh, why the rush to judgement? Funny how the big boys start to cry when they get left out of their own party but the rest of us are yelling with no voices. I'm no economist, or business law expert, but it is quite obvious that the BCS is an unfair enterprise because it only allows automatic entrance to a select group within one pool while excluding the rest by means of "criteria" that don't pertain the group that is allowed automatic inclusion. 7-11 doesn't reserve the Slurpee machine for only those stores than are robbed once a year while excluding those that are robbed more frequently. Not allowing a lower division team like Appalachian State into the BCS is perfectly logical because they are not a part of the same "group" (D1) and are not considered equal. I had frankly put it in the back of my mind because it is so frustrating and a waste of mental energy thinking about it. COnsider this, using BYU as an example...school enrollment of approx 30,000, state-of-the-art facilities including 65,000 capacity football stadium and one of the largest indoor practice facilties in the country, along with outdoor practice fields, proven history of winning and competitiveness, dozens of personal and team awards, running history of coaches and players now contributing in big ways in the pro ranks, broad nation-wide fan base. All of this while competing on the same virtual "playing field" as the rest of D1. And yet, when it comes to selecting the best, they're excluded? Makes absolutely no sense to the neutral mind. I'm hoping Congress can do something about it because it is the most blatant, public display of discrimination and exclusion there is and it is all tied to money.