Meet U.S. Representative Joe Barton; global warming skeptic, enthusiastic Civilization IV player, ranking Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee. Barton is introducing legislation today on Capitol Hill that would get rid of the BCS and force college football to adopt a playoff to determine the national champion. Oh, did I mention that he's from Texas? He's from Waco, to be exact, and if I'm not mistaken that's University of Texas country (well, OK; Baylor. But the Bears aren't going to play for the national title anytime soon, and UT is just up the freeway). So it's just a coincidence that he's crusading against the system that totally hosed the Longhorns this season. Yep.... "In some years the sport's national championship winner was left unsettled, and at least one school was left out of the many millions of dollars in revenue that accompany the title,'' Barton said in a statement released ahead of the bill's introduction. "Despite repeated efforts to improve the system, the controversy rages on.''.... He said the bill -- being co-sponsored by Reps. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat, and Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican -- "will prohibit the marketing, promotion, and advertising of a postseason game as a 'national championship' football game, unless it is the result of a playoff system. Violations of the prohibition will be treated as violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act as an unfair or deceptive act or practice.''
I will freely admit to be no fan of the BS...er, BCS, especially after this year's debacle. Texas got jobbed, while Oklahoma, a team that the Longhorns beat 45-35 on a neutral field, will play Florida for the national "championship". [Note to Texas fans: insert your favorite "Choke-lahoma" joke here.]
My intense, undying antipathy for the BCS notwithstanding, even I have to admit that we're talking about a kid's game. In an era when our economy is circling the drain, I recognize that college football is a mere diversion. Last month, our economy lost something like 533,000 jobs...the equivalent of the entire population of the state of Wyoming. Our auto industry is teetering on the brink, or banking industry is in similar straits, and there seems to be no end in sight. Relatively speaking, worrying about college football- however thoroughly (&^%$# up the system might be- seems rather silly and meaningless. Enter Joe Barton, who, being a Congressman, really should be more concerned with things like the economy.
Oh, and did I mention he's from Texas? Yes, to you and me, it's football. To a native Texan, it's FOOTBALL, which ranks just behind God and Country (and not by much) in the Texas list of priorities. Yeah, I know the economy is heading south...but the Longhorns gotted jobbed, damnit!!
Sure, Barack Obama may have come out strongly and publicly in favor of a playoff system...and there should be a playoff system in place. Nonetheless, you can bet that never in a million years would he ever be advocating that Congress pass legislation that would force the NCAA to put one in place. No, the President-elect understands that there are many far more important issues in need of attention...which is something that Joe Barton would do well to recognize. Yes, Texas got hosed, but six months from now few will remember and fewer still will care (unless they live in Austin and/or they're UT graduates)...which is as it should be. It's football. It's a game, and ultimately it doesn't really matter all that much. Losing your job, not being able to pay your mortgage and feed your family? Now those are REAL problems. Once we get those set right, then perhaps Rep. Dumb@$$ Barton can obsess over the bad hand that was dealt to his beloved Longhorns.
(&^%...er, Hook 'em, 'Horns! Or not....
Memo to Rep. Barton: fix the real problems facing this country. THEN feel free to obsess over the gross injustice represented by the BCS. 'KAYTHNXBYE.... ;-)
