Posts Tagged ‘Shameless Pandering’

In case you hadn’t heard, the United States Congress has been hard at work lately—tackling the hard-hitting issues that our country is facing.  Our representatives in the House have been addressing monumental concerns impacting the daily lives of all Americans far and wide.  What, you might ask, is the single most important question in the minds of Representatives Joe Barton (R-TX), Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) and Mike Simpson (R-ID)?

Whether the BCS / Bowl system for determining NCAA football championships needs to be replaced by a playoff system.

As a result, these congressmen introduced a House Resolution in April seeking to have the United States Congress and the United States Department of Justice investigate the Bowl Championship Series.  In particular, this obscenely overstated meaningful legislation resolves that the House of Representatives:

(1) rejects the BCS system as an illegal restraint of trade that violates the Sherman Anti-Trust Act;

(2) demands the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division investigate and bring appropriate action to have the BCS system declared illegal and require a playoff to determine a national champion; and

(3) supports the establishment of an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Championship playoff system in the interest of fairness and to bring parity to all NCAA teams.

• 111th Congress, House Resolution 68

Heavy stuff, that…

As a result of the tireless grandstanding efforts of these shameless self-promoters champions of the common man, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection held hearings this past week to look into the actions of the BCS in hopes of determining whether something nefarious is afoot.  This included taking testimony from: John Swofford (Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Coordinator of the Bowl Championship Series), Craig Thompson (Commissioner of the Mountain West Conference), Derrick Fox (President and CEO of the Valero Alamo Bowl), and Gene Bleymaier (Athletic Director of Boise State University).

For those of you out there that hate yourselves, you can view a streaming video of the entire hearing through the committee website.  Note: Apparently the Congressional muckety-mucks are too busy to hire someone schooled in the basic art of video editing.  Thus, you will want to fast forward to approximately 19:45 to view the hearing (that is, unless you just enjoy watching a blank screen for almost 20 minutes).

During the hearing, the Committee specifically looked into whether the BCS amounted to a monopoly, running afoul of federal anti-trust provisions.  With the great all-encompassing seriousness that can only come from the stuffed shirts of Congress and with the aire of the Watergate hearings, the committee set about digging deep into the bowels of college football’s deep dark secret.  Having watched some of the video of the hearing, it was obvious, in the minds of some of the assembled officials, that they felt the very sanctity of our American Republic hung precariously in the balance.

Right…

Don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to the idea of a college football playoff, in fact I would gladly support such a system—so long as it is fair.  The disdain that is oozing from this article comes not from my opposition to the notion that college football needs a playoff, but rather from the nauseating belief by those in Congress that they are the answer to this problem.  Oh yeah, there is also the minor fact that the entire nation is passed out from the H1N1 flu in the economic toilet of the world with chunks of last night’s General Motors and Wall Street flavored hot dog still clinging to its mouth while these clueless egomaniacs are wasting their time trying to determine how we end our football seasons.

I’d love to sit around in a fancy conference room with hospitality service and get paid to talk football all day as much as the next guy, there’s no denying that.  The thought that our Congressional leaders have nothing better to do than just that, is more than a little bothersome.  The fact that they can do it with a straight face while purporting to represent the best interests of their constituents, makes me think of three words: “explosive projectile vomiting.”  I suppose that this sentiment is precisely what led CBS Sports.com’s Dennis Dodd to note that “Retching is common for these kinds of mundane Capitol Hill gatherings.”

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Just wanted to remind everyone that the balloting for the 2007 College Football Blogging Awards is now open. You must be a blogger with a blog devoting a substantial amount of coverage to College Football to vote for all but the “People’s National Champion.” Balloting runs through the end of the week. The folks over at EDSBS concocted a handy-dandy voting thing-a-ma-jig which makes it easier to vote than falling asleep after drinking 9 bourbons before a game. The “voting booth” includes links to all of the nominees in each category, thus, you can give blogs a final look before you cast your vote. Just make sure you read the instructions when you vote.

The ballot for the “People’s National Champion” is on the sidebar over at EDSBS.

Not to engage in overt electioneering, but Gate 21 has been nominated for “Best New Blog” and “Best Looking Blog.” Being nominated was a real surprise (considering I didn’t even start until November 2007). I’d appreciate the vote of any and all out there entitled to vote. I do this because I enjoy it, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t like to win one of the awards. That’s all the campaigning I’m going to do.

 At any rate, head on over to Everyday Should be Saturday for instructions, and the chance to make your vote count.

– Go Figure …

My updated nominations for the 2007 CFB Awards (including all of the ones from Round 1) are as follows:

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Well, since there isn’t a lot going on in the world of college football, the powers that be have now declared open the nominations for the 2007 College Football Blogger Awards. You have until Midnight, Sunday 27 January 2008 to vote.

Do you regularly read college football blogs? Have a favorite team blog? Want pretend that your opinion really matters, because your Mother never hugged you? Like receiving money in return for your nominations? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the 2007 CFB Awards needs you to nominate your favorites. You need not be a blogger to vote, you only need to know how to point and click.

There are a wide variety of categories which are listed after the jump.

Since Gate 21 is — as the title says — a college football blog, I would appreciate any and all nominations the folks out there in blogworld see fit to bestow upon me. I’m not much an electioneer, but any votes you’re willing to cast for Gate 21 would be greatly appreciated. Not to tell you what to do (but I’ll do it anyway) I — lawvol, the master of ceremonies here at Gate 21 — feel that this blog is deserving of consideration for a nomination in the following categories:

1. Best New Blog
2. Brady Quinn Award (Prettiest Blog)
3. The Jenn Sterger’s Rack Award (Best Photoshopping / Farking of a photograph)  (Click for List of Examples)
4. Tyrone Prothro Award (Best Individual Post) (Suggestions:  Thoughts on the BCS Championship, and Sam and Andy’s Forever)
   

Anyway, here’s a link to the nominations page: 2007 College Football Blogger Awards, or you can click the banner at the top of the Right Sidebar.

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