I've tried to avoid posting about sports thusfar on this blog, but I heard some great comments that I'd like to share. This is the first of a three-part sports series.
Beano Cook, longtime sports journalist from Pittsburgh, did a radio interview yesterday and discussed the current state of college football. The ongoing controversy, of course, is that college football uses the bowl system instead of a playoff system, and thus does a terrible job of crowning a national champion. Also, many detractors contend that there are vastly too many bowls.
Beano said that the number of bowls is actually good, because when you think about it, the bowl games are for the students. If college football is truly about the students, then you want as many bowls as possible, because all students will remember that experience for the rest of their lives. Nobody forces you to watch all the bowl games, so pick and choose what games you like to watch, and ignore the rest.
The bowl system still isn't the right way to crown a national champion. But maybe it is a better system for the students than anyone ever credits it to be.
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1 comment:
That's a great insight, I never thought of that.
I'm also against the playoff system; it seems to me that when you're discussing "student athletes," the emphasis should be on the "student" part - any playoff system would be physically and mentally exhausting, not to mention the sheer number of weeks necessary would render focus on other academic studies more difficult (for those participating and spectating alike).
The NFL already does a great job with a playoff system, no need to replicate it on the college level.
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