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Title: House Panel Votes to Ban BCS **NOT A JOKE**
Source:
AP MyWay News
URL Source: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091209/D9CFVTR01.html
Published: Dec 9, 2009
Author: Frederick J Frommer
Post Date: 2009-12-09 17:51:29 by echo5sierra
Keywords: None
Views: 708
Comments: 29
WASHINGTON (AP) - A House subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine its national champion, over the objections of some lawmakers who said Congress has meatier targets to tackle. The bill, which faces steep odds, would ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision game as a national championship unless it results from a playoff. The measure passed by voice vote in a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee, with one audible "no," from Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga. "With all due respect, I really think we have more important things to spend our time on," Barrow said before the vote, although he stressed he didn't like the current Bowl Championship Series, either. The BCS selections announced last weekend pit two unbeaten teams, No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas, in the Jan. 7 national title game. Three other undefeated teams - TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State - will play in a BCS bowl game, but not for the championship. "What can we say - it's December and the BCS is in chaos again," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He said the BCS system is unfair and won't change unless prompted by Congress. The legislation, which goes to the full committee, would make it illegal to promote a national championship game "or make a similar representation," unless it results from a playoff. There is no Senate version, although Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has pressed for a Justice Department antitrust investigation into the BCS. Shortly after his election last year, Barack Obama said there should be a playoff system. In a statement before the vote, BCS executive director Bill Hancock said, "With all the serious matters facing our country, surely Congress has more important issues than spending taxpayer money to dictate how college football is played." The subcommittee chairman, Rep. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, said, "We can walk and chew gum at the same time." Yet Barrow wasn't alone in criticizing his colleagues' priorities; Reps. Zach Space, D-Ohio, and Bart Stupak, D-Mich., made similar arguments. Space said that with people facing tough times, the decision to focus on college football sends the "wrong message." The bill has a tough road ahead, given the wide geographic representation and political clout of schools in the six conferences - the ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-10 and SEC - that get automatic BCS bowl bids The current college bowl system features a championship game between the two top teams in the BCS standings, based on two polls and six computer rankings. Eight other schools play in the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose bowls. Under the BCS, the champions of those six big conference get automatic bids, while other conferences don't. Those six conferences also receive far more money than the other conferences.
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#1. To: echo5sierra (#0)
Ya think?
"The only thing better than a Federal Reserve audit would be a Federal Reserve autopsy." ~ unknown
This could be the best thing that they've done in my lifetime.
What???? You wait, they have other things to do with YOU in mind.
What???? You wait, they have other things to do with YOU in mind. Rationed Healthcare ... hehehehehe !!!
Doing what's right isn't always easy but it's always right.
My understanding is that people near 65 will be the FIRST to be weeded out of the free health care, and if they come up with the loot (gold) to pay for their health care, the government will confiscate all such assets. They know people my age are broke so there are no turnips to squeeze, no blood to drain. But those around 65 are still hanging onto some goodies and they will cough it up.
Who knows what the kenyan will try to do to us? Some of us will not go willingly into that dark night. Things could get most interesting in our pitiful country.
It is akin to a blind man walking a tightrope. If I were 18, I would be looking to move to some small far off place.
That is the essence of the problem. Whether 18, or 81, there is no freaking place to move.
good. nobody likes it. ;)
Check the far Southwest Pacific Islands. North of New Zealand and East of Australia there are hundreds of laid back Islands. I could go there, no radio, no TV, no newspapers, just the continuous sea breeze and always warm. I had the good or bad fortune to visit many of those places, hated every one of 'em. Now I know I was rash. On one there was nothing, a bar on the ocean at nite that opened, two or three hundred people. I loved the warm ocean breeze. Watch the sun sink into the ocean at nite, every nite. Think I will go off in the corner and cry. I am stuck here in the frigid Arctic, just damn.
Personally I was happy with the pre BCS System of several polls. Then everyone could be both happy and unhappy about it. Someone gets to be the consensus number one and everybody else whose team was in the hunt can bitch and whine about how "we wuz robbed". Works for me. :-) With a Playoff system all you get is a slightly more refined BCS - it is still hit or miss. At the championship level there is rarely one team so dominant that they will blow through everybody.
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. ~ Anatole France
You just reminded me of the pleasures of setting on the covered veranda in shorts, sandals, and a safari shirt at a sleazy hotel in the Phillipines as the monsoons pour - drinking a San Miguel. Bastard! It was 11 degrees last night.
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. ~ Anatole France
Little history for you . Did you know that at one time MacArthur owned a large share of San Miguel?????. It was bought afore the war. San Miguel is all we drank while in the Islands, if I recall correctly, it was made from rice. And I think it was like 8 per cent alcohol???? Maybe you remember. American beer was standard 3.2 swill.
Good Lord.
"Satan / Cheney in "08" No, I didn't know that MacArthur was an owner of San Magoo. All I remember is that it was gooooooood. I particularly liked the Negra - the black beer. Yum. Not as stout as Guinness but a good dark head and full flavor. I once cleared 3 ranks the day after a San Miguel evening. I was sooooooo proud. ;-)
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. ~ Anatole France
Yes Sir, that it was, good to the last drop. Back then I think it was ten or fifteen cents for a bottle. I recall it was a dark bottle with white printing. A dozen or so and you forgot all your miseries and your name. I do well remember the setting sun and the long evenings in the Islands. It affected everyone, without exception. The mosquitos were small but armed with a twenty MM stinger. Lot of drunken nites, drowning our miseries, crying in our beer, damning the war and all in sight.
and speaking of football... In football, Texas Horns are nation's biggest cash cow If the BCS awarded a championship for making money from football, the University of Texas would win in a walk. "We used to be No. 2 behind Ohio State. Now we've jumped out to a pretty good lead," said Ed Goble, UT's associate athletic director for business. According to data the schools filed with the federal government, the top five money makers in college football also included Southeastern Conference powers Florida, Georgia and Alabama, which will face Texas on Jan. 7 in the BCS national title game. The data showed that while the country was in the midst of a lingering and deep recession, revenues generated by the Longhorns football program increased by 20 percent in 2008, rising by $14.6 million to a whopping $87.6 million. That's by far the most money ever generated by a college football program and almost $20 million more than Ohio State — now relegated to second place — pulled in. "I don't really like comparisons," said Ben Jay, senior associate athletic director at Ohio State. "We're trying to do different things (than Texas)." Ohio State fields 36 men's and women's teams on the NCAA level; Texas fields 20. Typically the only sports that take in more than they spend are men's basketball and football, with football the big money-maker. After the 2007 season, Ohio State and four other schools were within $10 million of Texas in terms of football revenue. Not any more. Even Alabama's increase of $7.2 million in 2008 fell far short of Texas' leap of $14.6 million. "It helps to have oil wells on your freakin' campus," joked Dan Fulks, an accounting professor at Transylvania University in Kentucky and an NCAA consultant. "Revenue is all about ticket sales, and Texas is going to sell tickets." For the 2008 season, Texas made $33.4 million in ticket sales and student athletic fees, up from $24.6 million the previous year. "We added 9,000 seats when we finished the north end zone," Goble explained. Texas also had seven home games in 2008, up from six in 2007. It doesn't hurt revenues either that Texas has some of the most expensive tickets in college football. Before the 2008 season, The Oregonian polled the member schools in all six BCS conferences plus Notre Dame. Texas' individual-ticket prices, ranging from $65 to $90, were topped by few schools. Michigan, for example, offered tickets ranging from $50 to $65 that season. In contrast to the increase at UT, revenue for some other big-time programs remained relatively flat in 2008. Georgia, Auburn, Notre Dame and Michigan ($52.2 million) reported slightly less revenue on the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act forms they were required to file with the federal government in October. Of the top 10 money-makers, six are in the Southeastern Conference, which also has produced the previous three BCS champions on the field. Florida, Alabama and LSU have joined Texas and Ohio State in topping $100 million in total athletic department revenues. Texas led the way with more than $138 million in total revenue in 2008. For the 2008 season, Texas made more than twice as much from football as Big 12 South rivals Oklahoma ($42.6 million) and Texas A&M ($38.4 million). Nebraska had football revenues of $55.2 million, good for second place in the league and just outside of the top 10 nationally. Last year, $15.6 million of Texas' football revenue came from suites and premium seating, up $1 million from the 2007 season. Revenue from development and fundraising also increased by about $1 million, to $14.6 million. Bowl game revenue also was up about $1 million, reflecting the difference between payouts from the Holiday Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl, part of the Bowl Championship Series. Royalties, advertising and sponsorships in football grew to more than $10 million. On the government forms, camp revenue is counted as athletic department revenue. Goble estimated that, for Texas camps for all sports, revenue was about $8 million for 2008-09. In UT's own accounting system, the camp revenue is often not included in the athletic department budget, which is why the department might sometimes refer to its total athletic budget as $130 million. The EADA forms also do not include capital expenditures or debt service in expenses, which is why Texas' total in that category is "only" $113 million. Goble said that for the 2008-09 school year, the athletic department had $4 million worth of construction projects, including the installation of new artificial turf in Royal-Memorial Stadium, and that debt service on previous construction was $15 million. The debt service was not included in the $113 million listed as athletic department expenses, of which $22.6 million went toward football. Major costs for all sports include coaches' salaries, scholarships and travel. The difference between total revenues and expenses, Goble said, typically are placed in an operating reserve fund. Fulks said that college football, as part of the entertainment industry, might be largely recession-proof. He and other experts have speculated that the recession might widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots in the sport. The most recent data, however, strongly suggests the gap is also growing between the rest of the haves and the University of Texas.
i'd die of boredom.
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Thankfully I was there in peactime, but still after a month at sea you need a break. I think you could get 5 or 6 to the buck when I was there. Still not bad - a sixpack of good beer for a buck. It was cheaper if you went to one of the little mom and pop stores - about 4 Pesos or so per bottle and about 24 Pesos to the dollar. I could easily get lost in the Phillipines. We had one guy who did just that - and ex-Ranger who had joined the Navy and then had a bout of "PTSD" in the Phillipines and got discharged there - with medical pension. Even on an E-5 Pension you can live pretty good in the Phillipines - maid and house and plenty for necessities - like beer.
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. ~ Anatole France
i'd die of boredom. Just give me a pile of books and a place to garden and I would be in hog heaven.
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. ~ Anatole France
That is why the BCS is not going away - money. The big schools are addicted to it and for the measly cost of a scholarship, and with a little (wink, nudge) help from the alumni, they can attract top talent. The BCS allows them the maximum payback for a minimum outlay. The big schools in the name conferences are guaranteed a big payday if they win more than half their schedule. They are not going to give that up for the uncertainty of a playoff.
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. ~ Anatole France
Not me. There's always fishing. I'd build a boat, and sail around the world. I'm actually thinking about that very thing right now. Building a boat, and sailing off for points unknown, and getting the hell out of this country before it kills me. There are a lot of days where I know for a fact that we are all short timers in this country before the fall.
Better to be hated for what you are, than loved for what you are not.
It should be noted that Nebraska is the greatest State in the history of the world and with ANY OFFENSE WHATSOEVER AT ALL their Dear University would have this year's Big 12 Football Champs...
Good Rum eh? They could have gone back to the Wishbone and had more offense. All I have to say is Go Beaaaaaaaaavvvvvvers! Oh, and F**k the Ducks.
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. ~ Anatole France
Hook 'em Horns :)
Can they force the president to produce his birth certificate while they are forcing college football to have a playoff system? Maybe write it into the bill in small print just before it is voted on. If so, then I could support this bill. :)
God is always good!
*facepalm* Un-frickin-believable. It's pointless to ask where they have any Constitutional authority for this, as they have none but will do it anyway. It's pointless to wonder why the flying toot they feel they should even be involved, because they feel that they should be in control of everything. Good lord almighty.
MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
"With all due respect, I really think we have more important things to spend our time on,"
#2. To: echo5sierra (#0)
#3. To: Lod (#2)
This could be the best thing that they've done in my lifetime.
#4. To: Cynicom, Lod (#3)
This could be the best thing that they've done in my lifetime.
#5. To: noone222, Lod (#4)
Rationed Healthcare ... hehehehehe !!!
#6. To: Cynicom, noone222, all (#5)
#7. To: Lod (#6)
Things could get most interesting in our pitiful country.
#8. To: Cynicom. all (#7)
If I were 18, I would be looking to move to some small far off place.
#9. To: echo5sierra (#0)
#10. To: Lod (#8)
Whether 18, or 81, there is no freaking place to move.
#11. To: christine (#9)
#12. To: Cynicom (#10)
(Edited)
#13. To: Original_Intent, All (#12)
San Miguel.
#14. To: echo5sierra (#0)
#15. To: Cynicom (#13)
#16. To: Original_Intent (#15)
All I remember is that it was gooooooood.
#17. To: Original_Intent (#11)
#18. To: Cynicom (#10)
I could go there, no radio, no TV, no newspapers,
#19. To: Lod (#2)
#20. To: Lod (#6)
#21. To: Cynicom (#16)
#22. To: christine, Cynicom (#18)
I could go there, no radio, no TV, no newspapers,
#23. To: christine (#17)
In football, Texas Horns are nation's biggest cash cow
#24. To: christine (#18)
#25. To: christine (#17)
Nebraska had football revenues of $55.2 million, good for second place in the league and just outside of the top 10 nationally.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams 
#26. To: Rotara (#25)
#27. To: Rotara, OI (#25)
#28. To: echo5sierra (#0)
#29. To: echo5sierra (#0)
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