UTAH A.G. GETS DEFENSIVE ON HIS BLOG

Last week, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff (we sure hope he named his first-born son “Detlef”) suggested that the BcS system might violate federal antitrust laws.Over the weekend, Shurtleff posted an item on his official blog defending the effort."As a first team All-American at West Virginia University, Sam Huff played in the Sugar Bowl 55 years ago,” Shurtleff writes. “I don’t want to speak for Mr. Huff, but had he joined the other Sugar Bowl legends at the game last week, I’m sure he would have agreed that the best ‘man’ won; but I wonder what he thinks of the unsportsmanlike system that has unfairly prohibited the men from the Mountain West Conference (and a thousand other NCAA Division I-A athletes who play in an ‘ugly stepsister’ conference) to ever have the chance to prove themselves, unarguably, the Best in the Nation. Instead, the BCS has artificially crowned THEIR national champion."Shurtleff then offers six numbered reasons for his interest in exploring whether the BcS violates the law.None of the given reasons suggest to us that there’s an actual antitrust issue, but Shurtleff’s goal isn’t to win the case -- it’s to muster public support for one if he decides to pursue it.And we support the effort, primarily because it draws continued attention to a system that leaves even the winner of the title questioning in those quiet moments whether it truly is the best team.