It’s just a game

December 8, 2005

I noted last week that Congress’ interest in sports seemed to be moving in an unhealthy direction. The House Government Reform Committee won’t hold hearings on issues pertaining to government reform, but it will devote time and attention to steroids and baseball. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee won’t hold hearings on a White House criminal investigation, but he will consider a hearing to explore whether the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL violated anti-trust laws with Terrell Owens’ suspension.

Yesterday, lawmakers shifted attention to the college level.

Members of Congress played amateur sports commissioners again yesterday as the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection held a hearing on the controversial Bowl Championship Series (BCS), which determines — at least in theory — college football’s national champion.

But first it was left to members to argue whether they should be hearing the issue at all. “I believe my constituents are wondering why this Congress and their congresswoman are talking about football” when there are so many other pressing concerns, said ranking member Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).

But Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), chairman of the full committee, said, “Man doesn’t live by policy alone. Sports is an important part of American society.”

Now, I don’t follow sports as closely as I used to, but I can appreciate the fact that the BCS is a ridiculous system. While every other collegiate team sport relies on a straightforward playoff system to determine an annual title holder, including smaller universities playing in Divisions II and III, Division IA college football teams rely on what’s called the Bowl Championship Series — a complex formula involving regional conferences, the opinions of coaches and journalists, corporate-backed bowl games, and a series of byzantine computer formulas. It’s one of the more widely hated systems in American sports.

Is it really worthy of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s time? Not really. But the problem isn’t necessarily that Barton’s BCS hearing is particularly offensive or wasteful, but rather, it’s Barton’s selective use of his gavel. Like his other sports-engaged colleagues, Barton has rejected calls from Democrats for hearings on substantive policy matters — oil prices, prescription drug reimportation, and the politicization of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, among other things — but jumps at the chance to talk about football.

Barton said yesterday that “man doesn’t live by policy alone.” That’s true, but it’d be easier to tolerate the occasional diversion if lawmakers like Barton (and House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter) didn’t rebuff legitimate policy issues so frequently.

It’s enough to make one wonder if Congress has taken its eyes off the ball, so to speak.

I have mixed feelings about this. I agree that Barton should be less of a hack, but I also agree that the BCS is infuriating. I guess the ideal would be both — Congress creates a college football playoff AND holds hearings into things that matter.

  • It takes courage to deal with the big issues and the questions/consequences that arise out of that. Most politicians and definitely the GOP congressional leadership have no courage, so that is why they focus on issues that are silly, mundane, non controversial, or have little impact.

    Heck look at the flag burning legislation that pops up like those dang ducks in a shooting gallery. They can propose it and tout their patriotism, focus attention on that legislation and away from GOP scandals, and immediately obsess over the “liberals” when “liberals” roll their eyes. It’s the trifecta, the 3 cherries on the slot machine, and an all around winner.

  • Anything to get rid of the BCS is fine with me. Of course, I don’t think congress has the power to do so but any pressure that can be put on the NCAA, conference and bowl executives, and university presidents about this problem makes a playoff more likely. I hope. Why they can’t see how the enormous success of the NCAA basketball could be applied, maybe even more so, to the bowl system is beyond me.

  • I don’t know why everyone is so upset with the BCS. I am amazed they actually are coming as close to a National Champ as they are.

    The big money in football is the bowls. And, as you know, big money has the power.

    They can get a playoff as soon as they figure out how to compensate the bowls for their lost income.

    However, the bigger problem is that people like Reggie Bush are WORKING for a very small salary while his coach and employer, USC, are getting rich off of his work. I thought slavery was illegal but it still lives in big time college sports.

  • The bowls and playoffs can happily coincide, and make MORE money. Here’s how:

    1. Limit regular season games to 11, and ensure they are completed by the weekend before Thanksgiving (or for teams that do not play in conferences with championship games, by the weekend following Thanksgiving).

    2. All conference championship games must be played the weekend following Thanksgiving.

    3. The top 8 teams in the BCS rankings, regardless of conference alignment or sweetheart deals with the BCS, then play quarterfinal games the weekend after the conference championship games, highest ranked team v. lowest ranked team and so forth. The NCAA, participating conferences, participating teams all split the proceeds from these games.

    4. The 4 winners play the following week in the semifinals, highest ranked team v. lowest ranked team and so forth. The NCAA, participating conferences, participating teams all split the proceeds from these games.

    5. The two winners then play in the rotating BCS championship game as they do now, and the other bowl games pick as they do now, all using the BCS rankings following the semifinal games.

    The bowls still make boatloads of money. The NCAA, big conferences and teams still make boatloads of money, if not more money. The season is no more than one week longer than it is now so this is not too much of a stretch for players. The BCS is still being used. Small conference teams will not be discriminated against if they make the top 8 teams, but the bowls (with the exception of the championship bowl) can still discriminate all they want.

  • And you can throw Pat Roberts of the SSCI into the mix of Committee Chairs that refuse to use their authority to conduct legitimate hearings on matters of the utmost urgency…

  • From Kevin Drum:

    FROM THE ANNALS OF CONGRESSIONAL IDIOCY….LA Times sports columnist Chris Dufresne reports on Rep. Joe Barton’s moronic hearings to investigate college football’s postseason bowls:

    To my mind, the most interesting question of the day was posed by Barton to Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany:

    “Why are there 11 teams in the Big Ten?”

    Delany, obviously unprepared and reeling under this intense grilling, had no answer.

    And you know what else? Nose tackles. What’s up with that? Don’t all the players have noses? Oh, and does a field goal count if the ball goes higher than the top of the uprights? And what about the yardlines? I’ve always wondered how they manage to paint those lines on the grass and not have them get all torn up by the end of the game.

    Let’s call a hearing.

  • What’s with all this dumping on the BCS? I mean, how do we know that the system fails to identify the two best-performing teams? What criterion or benchmark are people using to criticize the BCS as invalid? The fact that all of the polls & the BCS consistently tell approximately the same story means that the BCS is–if anything–redundant, not invalid.

    Anyone could have predicted that the BCS would be a failure the second it was announced, for at least two reasons that have nothing to do with who’s really number 1. First, except for the two teams at the top, everyone else who could concoct at least a remotely plausible belief in their ability to beat the #1 team would whine that the Champion should be “determined on the field.” Second, as bubba said, athletic departments are losing out on more bucks–as if their money hadn’t already corrupted Division I schools beyond belief.

    But yes, CB, this is a waste of government time. And so much for the GOP blather about lassez-faire(sp?) government.

  • Just out of courosity: do we even have a press anymore with the cojones to ask these idiots about this? How in the world can the BCS issue even be considered with all that is happening of a sustantive nature? Ok so to the Repubs the BCS is a big issue. Bigger than oversight of wars, bigger than ethics scandals, bigger than actually solving entitlement programs. I could go on, but what’s the use.

  • Hmmm. . . . This couldn’t possibly have anything
    to do with all that money the bowl games
    generate, could it?

    Because, I’m kind of wondering why they don’t
    hold hearings on the unbelieveable mess the
    boxing world has become.

    I’m thinking, too, that football hearings might
    continue the trend set by the recent oil industry
    show and tell – kind of without those oaths and
    affirmations – a good ol’ boys get together to
    divide up the spoils, agree on the new job
    opportunities for the Congressfolk when
    they’re out of office.

  • Probably nothing more than a “boondoggle” attempt at securing tickets to a bowl game. Barton may be a Texas A&M Aggie, but don’t be surprised to see him in Pasadena for the Texas-USC Rose Bowl on January 4th. He’ll be on an official “fact-finding” mission, no doubt.

  • Football is religion #2 in this country.

    ‘nuf said…

    Except… why does the skinniest guy get to stick his hands up the ass of one of the biggest guys?

    Makes no sense.

    Shouldn’t the big guy be the top?
    And the skinny guy the bottom?

    Could someone please ask Congress to look into this?

  • How did the (largely public, taxpayer-supported) universities get roped into providing the NFL and NBA with their minor leagues for free when pretty much the NHL and MLB run minor leagues on their own (private) nickle?

    (Yeah, there’s some college hockey, and some college baseball, but that’s not where the majority of player development takes place.)

    What’s the society-wide cost of outsourcing this task?

    And why hasn’t the gospel of privitization reached this corner of society?

  • Angela Merkel and Condoleezza Rice were doing a good job of healing the rift between Germany and the US

    last Tuesday, until Germany’s new chancellor made a serious diplomatic gaffe.
    The US secretary of state had admitted the kidnap of a German citizen by the American security services

    was a mistake, Ms Merkel said. As soon as the press conference was over US officials denied Ms Rice has

    said any such thing
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