CBS Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer (10/31/10) explained on Sunday that he hates the way college football’s Bowl Championship Series works–mostly because the computer model doesn’t give smaller schools a chance to compete for a national championship. Fair enough–criticism of the BCS system is plentiful. But Schieffer bizarrely went on to argue that our political system doesn’t work that way: “Aren’t you glad that even though our system isn’t perfect, we still finish our elections the right way? We vote.”
He goes on to explainother ways our politics are nothing at all likecollege football:
What the BCS really is, of course, is all about money. It’s controlled by the big schools who want only the big schools in the bowl games because they believe they’ll get the biggest TV ratings.
You’re asking now, why is he off on this rant? Well, it’s very simple. I went to TCU, a smaller school with a very good team this year, and we want to play the big guys. But even if we go undefeated, we may not get that chance. The computers will decide our fate.
If we did our politics like that, computers would decide who wins our elections, maybe based on the strength of their opponents or their positions. And maybe there would be style points for the best yard signs. But we don’t do it that way, thank goodness.
Yes, thank goodness we don’t have a political system that’s all about money, that discourages the participation of small parties and obsesses over trivialike yard signs. That would be horrible.
… or where shadowy computers can decide your fate.
Bob Schieffer says, “Why Can’t Sports Be Like Politics?â┚¬Ã‚ “Yes, thank goodness we don’t have a political system that’s all about money, that discourages the participation of small parties and obsesses over trivia like yard signs.”
He hasn’t been paying attention. I can tell this on Sunday mornings.
If he could draw (or use some other graphic means of communications) Schieffer would give Tom Tomorrow a run for his money.
Why can’t sports be like politics?
Seems like sports is doing just fine without politics. Yeah…and I’m bloody Father Christmas.
It’s not like anybody could actually separate the two. I wonder why.
Let’s see: first of all, The Big Ten Conference would suddenly become The Big Two Conference. Ditto for the PAC 10. And while we’re at it — the NCAA Basketball Tournament can forget about those “preliminary rounds” they have. In other words, we could cut sixty-five invitations down to just two. Think of the money we’d save. Why, you wouldn’t find a Tea Partier in a dry seat anywhere.
Or we could call the NCAA hoop prelims something like “primaries” and allow the “also rans” to appear in a game at a later date as write-in candidates. Joe Lieberman could become another Red Auerbach.
Again.
As for the BCS, why not just change the names of the major bowl games from — let’s say — the “Sham Wow” Rose Bowl to something more mundane like the “Rose Bowl.” What school would want to send a team to play in that?
Not at those prices. Sham Wow is worth millions. So players would either have to trade in their bonus airline miles or else hitchhike to the game. NCAA rules actually prohibit both. [I’m not kidding.]
As for Schieffer, I didn’t think he had the spleen to go out on a limb on a subject like this. Especially after spending eight years as George W.’s sycophant and turning “Mace The Factions” into a bully pulpit for right-wing politics.
re: Pelle Lindbergh
I think you are being overly generous. I think we would have only one sport, one league, and two teams with the same owner.
Love this analogy.I have always thought people vote as if they are voting for a team.With your team …win or loose,playing well or playing badly, you support them.If you look at the African American vote in the next presidential election(as in the past) you will see a consistent 90 plus percent voting for Obama.Without regard to job performance or any other factor.I see it as the most blatant racism i have ever seen in major political voting blocks though the press will be loathe to call it that.I know union people who do not agree with almost any of Obama’s policies personally – but will never vote other than Dem.Of course the right has the same thing. This is where politicians are able to count their votes before any vote has been cast.It allows 60 % of our people to be fore gone conclusions.Sad. Though the last election showed enough people willing to at least sit home in disgust let alone vote out these big spending non representing unrepresentitives. Hopefully people will do better.