Most discussions surrounding Super Bowl XXXIX will obviously center on the Eagles’ inexplicable late-game clock (mis)management or the merits of various commercials, but ESPN’s Jim Caple took a different tack, venturing among the Pennsylvania Amish to watch the game. And yes, he did actually see it and talk sports with the locals. Funny sometimes are the ways and paths that one can take to gain visibility into another lifestyle.
Bob Verdi, in today’s edition of the Chicago Tribune:
The NFL is built not on blocking and tackling but on marketing.
…
Whether the NFL has the best product is debatable, but there’s no argument about who has the best packaging.
I like college football, but I’ve always found it idiotic that the national champion is decided by polling. I do believe that the best few teams can be identified by those who have closely followed the full season, but the best team can only be determined on the field. Considering that the sport involves 1) universities and 2) lotsa money, it’s astounding that they haven’t figured out a better system. Why not select the top eight teams for a quick three-round playoff? Yeah, there might still be arguments about some possibly deserving team being left out of the mix, but those arguments will be about who is the eighth-, ninth- or tenth-best team and thus can be brushed off. Really, the arguments against a playoff system–importance of the Bowl games, sancitity of the regular season, yada yada–don’t pass the laugh test.
However, the AP’s decision this week to withdraw from the BCS system might be helping nudge the NCAA (kicking and screaming) towards a better system. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese had this to say
The polls are flawed. I don’t know who deserves to be in the championship game, but I do know Auburn started at No. 17, and that was a disadvantage. USC and Oklahoma started 1 and 2, but based on what? Neither team had played.The Big Ten’s Jim Delany also agrees, and adds that not only should the first poll be delayed until at least six weeks into the season but also that the ballots should no longer be secret. Good to hear someone say those! I’ve thought for years that the early-season, and especially the pre-season, polls were a big part of the problem and that simply delaying the first poll until October would be a vast improvement.
After several decades, maybe the NCAA will get this whole championship thing right eventually, despite themselves.
Hey, look! The Illini won their second game of the season, so they’re already vastly improved from last year’s debacle. I would have thought that it wouldn’t take a last-minute touchdown to beat the likes of Western Michigan, but I suppose that MAC teams aren’t pushovers and the talent on the Orange and Blue side is less than overwhelming. I’m still not confident in having much to watch between the end of the World Series and the start of college basketball season. Can someone find a way to clone Kurt Kittner and bring some excitement (and winning) back to Memorial Stadium?