U.S. Congress: On the Battlefield

The shotgun is loaded... Could this could be the end? One little mistake, and it will all be over – in just a fraction of a second. Minds are calculating, as hearts are racing. Who will be standing in the end? Who will live another day? Who will be the one that will ultimately scream, "VICTORY!"?

The Captain calls for back-up, as he breathes warm air into his hands. He steps back, surveying the field, as his training and strategies are replaying in his head – like a high-speed slideshow. Go left? No, the guard will surely stop him. If only he had one more rocket – one more bomb – if only he could avoid the inevitable blitzkrieg awaiting behind the enemy lines.

I wish I was talking about war. But, I’m not. No, I’m talking about football. Football, you ask? Yes. Football. Why? Well, it seems that our Congress is more concerned about college football right now. We have two war-fronts (that we are retreating from), and Congress wants to talk “football”? Great. I wish college football had a playoff system too, but I think now is not the time to address the issue. We have so many other important issues that need to be attended to, that this one, well, just seems like a convenient distraction.

Okay, I love college football, and I have long since claimed that it is the most corrupt college sport, by far. In the current system, the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rates all teams, and selects only two colleges to compete for the BCS National Championship, after regular season. However, there are more than 30 bowl games in total. In the BCS Championship series (4 games total, with one championship game) each team receives a 17 million-dollar check. The other  bowl game checks range from around $1-2 mill.

So, what’s the problem? The problem is that big conferences have ties to most bowls, and “smaller” conferences have virtually no chance to earn the “big” bucks. For example, the NCAA Basketball Tournament is an “equal-opportunity” venture. If you make it in (the basketball tournament), you get to play for the Championship, and you get paid. In football? Well, not so much. In football, money talks.

First, like I said earlier, only two teams get the opportunity to be Champs. Plus, with all of the “conference-bowl” alliances, smaller schools with good teams often sit at home – or play for "chicken feed" in smaller bowl games. Each bowl game chooses teams primarily on how many tickets they will sell, plus, the ever-lucrative TV contracts. Only about half the time does a team get a “bowl bid” for its accomplishments – it’s usually about its “marketability.”

Okay, so there’s your football lesson. The system definitely needs to be fixed, but should Congress be the instigator? Is this just another stepping stone on our socialistic pathway? Many think that the BCS should police itself, and many, like me, think that our Congress has bigger issues to deal with right now.

It’s not just the significance of the issue, it’s also the appearance. Do we really need to be focusing on football right now? We are dealing with struggling automobile companies, folding banks and job cuts across the board. And, our Congress is investigating football? Gee whiz! I don’t like the BCS system either, but this does not make me feel like my tax dollars are really working for me.

So, I think Congress should “punt,” and try to score this one later in the game – when we don’t have so many “injured” players on the bench (autos, banks, jobs). I think Congress should be focusing on the real battlefields, not the "football" fields.