As I watched college basketball last Saturday, I was reminded why I like the BCS. Of course, the BCS has its flaws and it's by no means a perfect system, but it makes the regular season important. I don't even really care to watch college basketball until March Madness. Well, I do enjoy regular season games and will watch them if they're on, but at the same time I know they don't really mean that much. Even if it's a great game between two great teams, it doesn't really matter who wins. The regular season's only real purpose is to seed for the tournament and the excitement they try to build around "bubble" teams is pretty pointless as well. Besides the occasional cinderella, a team that barely made the tournament isn't going very far, much less win it all. They could just substitute them for any other mediocre team and nobody would really care or notice. In fact, I'd prefer they play about ten to fifteen games just to gauge the teams and then have the tournament. Maybe even just go straight to the conference tournaments. It'd save a lot of tedium.
For sure, the college football regular season would still be much more exciting than college basketball, if only because of fewer games, but a playoff would drastically dampen the intensity. As it is now, every game matters in football and every win or loss can make or break a season. A game in the first few weeks can be the most important game of the season. College basketball doesn't really have an important game in the regular season. At least not a single game that can mean success or disaster for a team. In college football, that's every game. Every single week matters. Every play matters.
Having a playoff wouldn't really stop people from feeling like their team got slighted either. Only so many teams would be in the playoff and some would get left out. It'd be a whole new debate. Then it'd get expanded so more and more teams would be let in and then eventually their regular season would only be slightly less meaningless than college basketball's.
I'm not sure it'd even crown a "true" champion either. Admittedly, there would be much more consensus, but fans would still be able to find a way to argue that their team was deserving of a better chance, or even that their team was better than the champion. For example, say USC beat both Oregon and Notre Dame during the regular season and they did so pretty easily. However, all three teams still make the playoffs. Due to seeding, USC plays Notre Dame in the first round. After being blown out in the first meeting, Notre Dame barely beats USC to knock them out of the playoffs. Then, Notre Dame and Oregon end up in the championship game and Oregon wins. Two teams that were blown out by USC during the regular season are playing for the championship. But, based on the regular season results it would be hard to argue that Oregon is a better team than USC. But, Oregon won the tournament so they are the "true" champion, even if they are arguably not the best team.
In fact, as it is, the BCS is a playoff system in a way. It's basically a double-elimination tournament. Plus, it's not like in a traditional playoff every team has to play every other team so that's not a requirement to crown a "true" champion. Nobody seems to complain about the lack of a playoff during the regular season. People, of course, want it both ways. They want to keep the intensity of the regular season and have a playoff. That's not how things work, though.
Another plus of the bowl system is the bowl themselves. People will say we can keep the bowls and still have a playoff, but it wouldn't be the same. Is the NIT any real consolation for not making the NCAA tournament? Plus, even with a playoff, a team that loses more than a few games wouldn't really have a chance to win it all. But, with the bowl system, teams get rewarded at the end of the season even if they have no chance to win the championship. Sometimes even getting to a bowl is reward enough for a team. With a playoff system, they'd be outsiders playing meaningless games. A playoff system would be even more exclusionary than the BCS because it would take the meaning out of a bowl victory for a school just happy to be there.
So, I like the BCS system because I don't want the football regular season to become the basketball regular season. Basketball's regular season is simply a prelude to the postseason. The games don't really matter. Not compared to football, at least. In football, the regular season pretty much is the postseason. Every game can mean the end of your championship run. But, hope is not lost because a loss by another team can put you right back in it. It's a three month emotional roller coaster and I enjoy the ride every year. If you love college football's regular season, then you love the BCS.
Showing posts with label BCS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BCS. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Too Obvious to be Oblivious?
To be honest, I don't really know what to make of the Cam Newton situation. It's been pretty well determined that his father shopped him around, but the only school that's been proven guilty is one he never went to. He left Florida to basically avoid expulsion after getting caught cheating academically. Then, he attended Blinn Junior College and was extremely successful on the football field. It was there that Cam's father, Cecil, negotiated with people with ties to Mississippi State about paying him for his son to go there. It was ultimately decided however, for reasons unknown, that his son would go to Auburn.
It's hard to imagine that Auburn got him for free. But, nothing's been proven. Even if something is proven, the NCAA seems to have inexplicably set the precedent that as long Cam doesn't know about it, he is eligible. However, I would think that if he didn't know at the time, but does know now, then that would make him culpable. And how could he not know? I can imagine him not knowing before his father's actions became public, but I can't imagine him not remembering things or tying events together after he found out. If he didn't downright ask. The only way he would not know is if he didn't want to know. It would be the Ken Lay defense and it's not a very good one.
It seems like his father is the bad guy in this situation. And he is. But, he's not the only bad guy. He exploited a corrupt system. He knew what he was doing was wrong and everyone involved knew the same. It may have been a common occurrence that just got brought to daylight, but that doesn't excuse it or make it less wrong. A corrupt system can never be blamed for individuals making bad decisions. Corrupt systems exist because of many people making many bad decisions and using it as an excuse only serves to perpetuate it. So, Cecil Newton has to be painted as a bad character in this situation, but so do many other people. But, I guess the only real question is whether or not Cam Newton is one of them.
To answer that, there are only two possibilities. One is that he knows absolutely nothing. He did what his father told him and never asked questions. His father did an exquisite job of keeping it quiet and never slipped up or let on to anything. That is the only solution in which Cam could be cleared. But, unless Cecil is a former CIA agent and Cam just isn't that bright, it seems pretty unlikely.
The only other possibility is that he knew. Either he knew something was going on but just never asked, or he knew all along. Even if he didn't want to be part of it and avoided knowing anything, or if his father protected him from it and ensured that he knew nothing, he still must've known there was something going on. To think that his father could be found guilty of offering him up for sale to one school and then let him go to another for free is pretty hard to imagine. And it seems like Cam must realize that too.
Well, I did leave out one solution. It's the one in which Cecil asked for money from one school and then sent his son to another school for free. But that's not really a possibility, is it?
I also can't figure out how I feel about Cam Newton. If he's simply a pawn, as he claims to be, then I feel sorry for him because his father treated him like a commodity and tried to sell him to the highest bidder. To know nothing and simply be told what to do doesn't seem very pleasant. He seems to appreciate his father, though, so maybe it's not so bad. I just wouldn't want to live like that.
However, I can't imagine him not knowing so I'm a little perturbed. It seems like he's smiling in our faces and knows he's pulling a fast one on us. He just doesn't care. Cam Newton and his father exploited a corrupt system, profited, and now he's about to play in the BCS Championship game, Heisman in hand, and then make millions in the NFL. He beat the system and he knows there's nothing anyone can do about it. But, maybe that's because no one is willing to. The fans want to watch him play and the schools and sponsors want to line their pockets. Everybody wins. Nobody wins.
It's hard to imagine that Auburn got him for free. But, nothing's been proven. Even if something is proven, the NCAA seems to have inexplicably set the precedent that as long Cam doesn't know about it, he is eligible. However, I would think that if he didn't know at the time, but does know now, then that would make him culpable. And how could he not know? I can imagine him not knowing before his father's actions became public, but I can't imagine him not remembering things or tying events together after he found out. If he didn't downright ask. The only way he would not know is if he didn't want to know. It would be the Ken Lay defense and it's not a very good one.
It seems like his father is the bad guy in this situation. And he is. But, he's not the only bad guy. He exploited a corrupt system. He knew what he was doing was wrong and everyone involved knew the same. It may have been a common occurrence that just got brought to daylight, but that doesn't excuse it or make it less wrong. A corrupt system can never be blamed for individuals making bad decisions. Corrupt systems exist because of many people making many bad decisions and using it as an excuse only serves to perpetuate it. So, Cecil Newton has to be painted as a bad character in this situation, but so do many other people. But, I guess the only real question is whether or not Cam Newton is one of them.
To answer that, there are only two possibilities. One is that he knows absolutely nothing. He did what his father told him and never asked questions. His father did an exquisite job of keeping it quiet and never slipped up or let on to anything. That is the only solution in which Cam could be cleared. But, unless Cecil is a former CIA agent and Cam just isn't that bright, it seems pretty unlikely.
The only other possibility is that he knew. Either he knew something was going on but just never asked, or he knew all along. Even if he didn't want to be part of it and avoided knowing anything, or if his father protected him from it and ensured that he knew nothing, he still must've known there was something going on. To think that his father could be found guilty of offering him up for sale to one school and then let him go to another for free is pretty hard to imagine. And it seems like Cam must realize that too.
Well, I did leave out one solution. It's the one in which Cecil asked for money from one school and then sent his son to another school for free. But that's not really a possibility, is it?
I also can't figure out how I feel about Cam Newton. If he's simply a pawn, as he claims to be, then I feel sorry for him because his father treated him like a commodity and tried to sell him to the highest bidder. To know nothing and simply be told what to do doesn't seem very pleasant. He seems to appreciate his father, though, so maybe it's not so bad. I just wouldn't want to live like that.
However, I can't imagine him not knowing so I'm a little perturbed. It seems like he's smiling in our faces and knows he's pulling a fast one on us. He just doesn't care. Cam Newton and his father exploited a corrupt system, profited, and now he's about to play in the BCS Championship game, Heisman in hand, and then make millions in the NFL. He beat the system and he knows there's nothing anyone can do about it. But, maybe that's because no one is willing to. The fans want to watch him play and the schools and sponsors want to line their pockets. Everybody wins. Nobody wins.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)