Is Congress Going To Take Over Sports??

                                     

With what is going on in the world....you'd think that our elected officials in the Senate and House would have a bit more on their plate than what is happening in our sporting fields.  Alas...no...as Congress seems to be satisfied with clubbing Major League Baseball into a tougher steroid policy.   Now they move on to a new plague.

The BCS.

The House Energy and Commerce subcommitee [who apparantly govern over sports] believes there are huge flaws in the current BCS system.   They will conduct hearings to figure out what's going on. 

Well, DUH!!!  Analysis, bloggers and the casual fan all know that the BCS is flawed in many ways.  But none of us demanded government action.

Chairman Joe Barton [R-Texas]: "College football is not just an exhilarating sport, but a billion-dollar business that Congress cannot ignore.  Too often college football ends in sniping and controversy, rather than winners and losers.  The current system of determining who's No. 1 appears deeply flawed."

Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiberg, the current chairman of the BCS:  "If members of the subcommittee have ideas on how the college football postseason can be improved, we welcome that input.  The current structure is designed to match the No. 1 and 2 ranked teams, identified through a ranking system, in a bowl game. It is an extension of the bowl system and a method to determine a national champion through the bowls," Weiberg said. "It has paired teams in bowl games that would not have been possible under the bowl arrangements existing before its creation."

In 2003, the subcommittee looked at the BCS as unfair to smaller schools. 

This is yet another hit to the always controversial BCS this year.  The Associated Press demanded that their poll not be included in the BCS rankings.  ESPN pulled its name off the coach's poll [which is still sponsored by USA Today].  A new poll, the Harris, was pulled together at the last minute and takes the AP's spot.  Not to mention the reconfigured Big East conference kept it's BCS bid despite losing, arguably, their top three football programs Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College. 

Look...I am one of those people who favor a playoff system.  I think the BCS is horribly flawed and, basically, is unfair to smaller conferences, certain regions, and conferences with that extra postseason game.  But in no way should Congress be looking into this right now.  As Utah showed, there is a way that the smaller schools have an ability to work into one of the lucrative BCS games. 

I think the easiest way to get Congress off their backs is to eliminate the Big East's automatic bid and leave it open for the highest ranked conference champion of the Big East, Conference USA, MAC, WAC, Mountain West or Sun Belt. 

Or better yet....PLAYOFFS!!!