CONGRESS BLASTS BCS OFFICIALS, COMPARES SYSTEM TO COMMUNISM

If you heard an unexplained sound at some point this morning, don’t be alarmed.That noise was simply various members of the BcS machine getting ripped a new one by various members of Congress.In their first day of testimony in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, BcS officials -- already feeling the heat from various levels of government, including the POTUS -- had the thermostat cranked up yet again. Chief among the flame-throwers was Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, the sponsor of a bill which seeks to force a playoff in the crowning of a national championship.During the course of today’s proceedings, Barton went Sonny on the members of the BcS in attendance, taking them to the mattresses on the truth finally coming out as to why there is no playoff system in place at the highest level of collegiate football.”It’s about money,” he said. “It’s not about athleticism on the field."And Barton wasn’t finished, saying, among other things, that the current system is something that Fidel Castro would seemingly enjoy."You should either change your name to BES, for Bowl Exhibition System, or just drop the ‘C’ and call it the BS system. It’s not about determining the championship on the field,” Barton said."It’s about truth in advertising ... [the current system is] like Communism. You can’t fix it.... Sooner or later, you’re going to have to try a new model."BcS Coordinator and ACC commissioner John Swofford attempted to fend of the challenge of Barton and others, telling the committee that “the polls ... reflect what’s happened on the field” and that the current system is merely a facilitator in getting the two “best” teams in the current championship game.Swofford’s biggest defense, however, and as it’s been recently, is that the demise of the BcS and rise of a playoff system would be the death knell for the mid-level bowls."Sponsorship and television revenues that historically have flowed into bowl games will inevitably follow (to the playoff system), meaning that it would be very difficult for any bowl ... to survive. Certainly the 29 games that are not part of the BCS would be in peril."What’s wrong with that argument?When the BcS was created, they didn’t give a flying fart about the lower bowls. Only now that their system is under fire do they rally ‘round the “hey, look what you’re gonna do to the little man” argument in propping up their own beaten and battered power structure.While some people may say that Congress has better things to do than worry about a college playoff system, I say kudos to the legislators who see through the BcS’ arguments -- and their lobbyists and their stubborn insistence on continuing a system that was broken almost the minute it was created -- and want to see an end to the economic and competitive inequities it brings to the table.