BCS polls are approaching, but they need a little fixing first

With the anticipation of the initial BCS standings peaking, I wanted to post another entry as it has we have seen roughly half the season completed. We have been amazed by the Denard Robinson and Taylor Martinez show, we are left wondering how Florida and Texas can fall so far despite being told they rake in 4 and 5 star recruits year after year, and there is a new sheriff in town in the Pac 10. Alabama suffered their first regular season loss in over 2 years to a very physical South Carolina team as we saw the Mark Ingram-Trent Richardson show come to a screeching halt and Greg McElroy forget how to throw the ball away. One would think that this would open up the door for Boise State a little bit but, if the coaches' poll is any indication, that door has only closed further.

Paying college football players?

Ah the timeless debate of whether or not we should pay football players. My response to Michael Rosenberg's article about paying college football players...

Dear Michael,

I hope you're doing well. I read your article about how college football players should be paid and want to share my thoughts. College football is the only sport I follow anymore and I have certainly thought about this argument a lot, and consistently discuss this with my girlfriend who is not a huge follower of college sports, and her non-sports opinion provides a nice balance to the conversation.

And a response to my email

Good morning Drew,

Thank you very much for your response. We disagree on some points but we do agree on others. I will respond to your paragraphs as you do bring up veyr interesting and thought provoking points.

I appreciate your response and while I probably won't hit on all your points, I have no issue with you being a supporter of the BCS. I just have an issue with an organization claiming it can't do something it already does and always pointing to "protecting the student-athlete" as the reason. If all other Divisions can handle a playoff and if every other sport can handle a playoff, why can't college football in Division 1?

Response to Load of BCS article

Here is my response to the article by Drew Ellis (http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2010/08/02/sports/srv0000008988157.txt)

Good afternoon Drew,

I hope you're doing well. Living in Austin, TX, I unfortunately don't have the pleasure of reading your paper regularly, but thanks to the wonderful people behind Google News, I was able to access your article as I try and stay on top of what is going on in the world of college football.

Now, right off the bat it is clear that we disagree on one major topic: the BCS. While I recognize it has its flaws, it is a better system than a playoff, and certainly a better way to determine the best team in a given year than a 16 team playoff. While I'm not going to go through why I believe that, I will simply focus on what is in your article.

Get a grip, Senator Hatch

as posted on Orrin Hatch's website...

your fight against the BCS is honorable, but unfounded and incorrect. the BCS has clearly improved the clarity of true national champions versus the old bowl system, and i'm not really sure how you can debate this. the perfect scenario is 2 clear cut teams that deserve to be in, but that doesnt always happen, so it becomes subjective. the BCS is a process in determining that. it is always going to be 100% correct? well, that's an opinion, and you're opinion seems to be that it has not been correct. but keep in mind, the BCS never said it was going to be perfect, and they frequently change their system and formula to optimize its performance. by the way, the exact method of how they select the teams is on their website, so any claim that they are secretive about it is false.

Boise State with no chance? Hardly

Mr. Sarbinsky,

I had the pleasure of reading your April 4th article as it was mentioned in a recent column by Andy Staples. As I don’t live in Birmingham I don’t have the opportunity to read your work regularly, but did have a response to your article.

Response to Pete Fiutak's "Anti-Playoffer" article

Hey Pete,



I hope you’re doing well. I enjoy your writing and thought this article in particular was particularly intriguing. As an ‘anti-playoffer’ myself, I am always interested in the other side’s viewpoint, especially when it comes from an educated viewpoint like yours.



You bring up many good points and do a good job in dismantling the pro-BCS arguments for the most part. Argument 4 has always been flimsy as the other divisions in college football seem to work around finals just fine, and quite honestly I don’t care about many of the bowls even though college football is sport I keep up with the most. However, you fail to directly address what I believe is what makes college football great and that is the importance of the regular season. You mention it in the first argument, but it is the point that the pro-BCS people hold on to the tightest. The other arguments are pretty weak, as you point out in the remainder of your article. How can you fail to address the importance and meaningfulness of the regular season with its own “argument?”

A response to Andy Staples article

Andy,

To start, I must say that I do enjoy reading your work. College football is the only sport that I follow regularly, and your articles are those that I read more frequently than most other authors. However, the latest introduction to your latest power rankings was off the mark and blames “the system” for things that it isn’t supposed to do.

I definitely agree that this week’s slate of games is pretty weak, maybe the most unimpressive of the season. However, then you bring the BCS right into the picture, implying that the BCS is responsible for this week’s poor schedule. How exactly does that connect? As you know, the BCS is primarily responsible for determining which 2 teams most deserve to play for the national championship game. When did it become the scheduling authority?

Old Bowl System?

We are starting to hear the typical anti-BCS, playoff proponents more loudly, which is to be expected as the nation awaits the college football season. What’s alarming is the amount of “scrap the BCS and go back to the old bowl system” type of chatter over the airwaves, and that scares the hell out of me.

Letter to Rep. Joe Barton

This is an open letter to Texas Rep. Joe Barton for wasting taxpayer time and money to attempt institution of a playoff system in college football. There are many problems facing Texans and Americans, and those are the issues that should be addressed by Mr. Barton and his colleagues. Changing the national champion selection of a sport of increasing popularity should not be the priority of our government.