[NU Sports] Re: Utah and the playoff ... (fwd)

[cherron604 at aol.com]

I prefer to think of us as (to be entirely non-partisan) somebody like George HW Bush or Jay Rockefeller, somebody who woke up one day, and fornd out they were members of a very exclusive club.? We have woken up and found that we are part of the BCS, and, despite the fact that we have not done alot historically to merit this spot, it is not in our self interest to oppose or question it.

Perhaps Bush and Rockefeller, in their more contemplative moments, have wondered - 'Do I deserve this ?? Is it fair ?'.? I am sure they both have, through charities/foundations, sought to do some good with what they have.? But I don't believe that either of them has ever advocated tearing down the system that has gotten them to this place.

We too would be foolish to tinker with a system that rewards us, perhaps unfairly, for being part of a very exclusive club.

The University will always do good works, both nationally, and in the community.? All of our student athletes are active in charitable works and in their communities.? That we benefit from the BCS' inequity is perhaps an unfortunate result of our society's systemic inequity, but lacking a change in that fundamental fact, we should probably not expect change anytime soon.

And tell the BCS to get that inflated bowl-share/TV check to Central Street soon...We have got to start preparing (spending money)?for 2009...

Chuck Herron?? Tech '85







-----Original Message-----
From: SjT (Stephen J. Truog) <sjtruog at yahoo.com>
To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
Sent: Wed, 7 Jan 2009 7:46 pm
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Re: Utah and the playoff ... (fwd)



Well, here I came home thinking that it really doesn't feel like college 
football season anymore after Monday's game (despite the attempts to hype 
tomorrow's so-called title game) and we're on to college hoops, the NFL 
playoffs, etc.

Then I open my inbox and find all these messages.:) I was worried any more 
B(C)S-MESS posts would seem like me beating a dead horse and dragging on a 
topic, but it's alive without me, so I think I can post again.:)

Chuck wrote:
> If Utah wants to win a National Championship, join the Big
> 12 or the Pac 10

Sure, because it's so easy to just call up and join these conferences. They had 
to threaten congressional subpoenas just to get in the B(C)S, have gone 2-0 in 
B(C)S bowls in the last five years, DOMINATED an Alabama team that was #1 half 
the season (and one that was giving mighty Florida all it could handle into the 
final minutes) and went 6-0 against bowl teams.

Really, what more can they honestly do? They've gone out and scheduled tough 
foes (I know Michigan was down this year, but certainly not when they made the 
game) for road games because no one comes to Utah. They won all their games and 
they beat #4 by a healthy margin in a bowl.

> If I were a Utah fan I might feel mistreated, but as an NU
> fan I do not care at all

You should. If we were 12-0 this year, would we have gotten a shot at the title 
or would they say that the Big Ten is down, we didn't play Penn State and we 
should really just join the SEC if we want a shot at the title? Yup. We're far 
closer to Utah's predicament than Texas/USC this year or OSU last year. We have 
to be perfect to even have a shot and even then, we probably wouldn't get it.

> Life is often not fair.  In the early days, If you wanted

So just lie there and take it then, to paraphrase Coach Knight?

Pointing out how much the B(C)S sucks and calling for change is hardly whining. 
But trying to defend the current system is close to insanity.:)

As for Mike's post ...
> I'm not so sure the NFL has achieved parity.  There are
>
 still a lot of
> have-not teams, some of whom (like KC) have had their

I'd say the NFL has come closer than any other sport or league (when Atlanta and 
Miami can make the leaps they did this year, just about anything is possible :) 
).

Interesting how college football seemed to be on the cusp of moving toward 
parity in the mid-90s with the Kansas States, Northwesterns, etc. of the world.

What ended that? The evil B(C)S. Sure it created a plethora of consolation prize 
mediocrity bowls (hooray 6-6!) so everyone feels happy and gets a participation 
trophy. But for those not drinking the Kool-Aid, it was really a powergrab by 
not just the Big Six conferences, but by their megapowers. Oklahoma, Ohio State, 
USC, Florida, Texas and LSU have dominated the B(C)S landscape and it's almost 
impossible to break their grip now.

> Give me a college game between any two teams in the
> division formerly
> known as 1-A over an NFL game between any two NFL teams any
> day!

OK, I give you the GMAC Bowl. Or the Sun Bowl (or is it Viagra Bowl?). Or the 
Weedwacker Bowl.

I love the college atmosphere and college game ... but I think I'll take any of 
the four games this weekend in the NFL's elite eight. Even the Cards @ Panthers.

> BTW, the argument that going undefeated in the regular
> season means you're
> a good team seems not to have worked for Ball State.  First

Aaah, but they didn't finish their regular season unbeaten - that conference 
title game still counts.

And there's a world of difference between playing winning the MAC (which they 
didn't even do) and winning the Mountain West (topping two top 15 teams), 
beating the likes of Michigan and Oregon State in the regular season and 
clobbering #4 Alabama and the mighty SEC in their Sugar Bowl.

Northwestern is in a B(C)S conference, yes, but let's not fool ourselves into 
thinking we have a chance in this system or anything close to enough of a stake 
in it to swallow the bull and defend it. You can count the number of schools who 
truly want the B(C)S on a 
hand or two at most - unfortunately for fans in 
general and NU fans in particular, they're the ones in charge.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT


      

_______________________________________________
nwu-sports site list
nwu-sports at tssi.com
http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports