Obama’s thoughts on college football
President-elect Barack Obama, during a 40 minute interview with
CBS’
”
60 Minutes
”
on Sunday, went through the usual gauntlet of questions you’d
expect a president-elect to go through at this time: national
security, the bailout, and a college football playoff system.
Yep, it’s that time of year.
Obama’s thoughts on college football
President-elect Barack Obama, during a 40 minute interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday, went through the usual gauntlet of questions you’d expect a president-elect to go through at this time: national security, the bailout, and a college football playoff system.
Yep, it’s that time of year.
“I think any sensible person would say that if you’ve got a bunch of teams who play throughout the season, and many of them have one loss or two losses, there’s no clear decisive winner,” Obama told Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes.” “We should be creating a playoff system.
“Eight teams. That would be three rounds, to determine a national champion. It would add three extra weeks to the season. You could trim back on the regular season. I don’t know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I’m gonna throw my weight around a little bit. I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Whether or not Obama was joking around remains to be seen. But President Bush did throw his weight around when it came to Major League Baseball and steroids, so government involvement isn’t totally out of the question when it comes to matters that have absolutely nothing to do with the government.
Thankfully, Obama is well versed in sports without trying to be, unlike his political counterpart Ted Kennedy, who has recalled the summer of 1998 as the Mike McGwire and Sammy Sooser home run chase.
Almost, Teddy. Almost.
Sadly, Obama’s opinion regarding the state of college football – which was asked of him during the “60 Minutes” interview and took him all of 30 seconds to answer – is riling up the country perhaps more than any debate on the state of health care ever will.
On one end, we have the college football junkies, who’ve been pining for a playoff ever since the BCS National Championship game decided to cause more questions than answers.
On another end, we have those suits that feel the current BCS system is perfectly fine, which is a perfectly fine opinion to have.
And on another end, we have those that feel Obama is completely out of line, discussing playoff systems when there are wars going on and an economy going nowhere.
Well, Mr. Obama, no one said uniting the country was going to be easy.
But while Obama’s terribly minor digression shouldn’t be used for political fodder – he does have an opinion and an undeniable right to remain sane – his “60 Minutes” response certainly placed a presidential flare on this year’s debate surrounding a college football playoff system, which is the exact same debate that took place last year regarding a college football playoff system.
While I am all for a playoff system in college football, the people who could actually make that decision happen, aren’t. Athletic directors and conference commissioners are morally opposed to a playoff system – whether it be four, six, eight or 16 teams deep – because it would turn college football into a two-semester sport and would devalue the importance placed upon the regular season.
“First of all I want to congratulate newly elected President Obama and I am glad he has a passion for college football like so many other Americans,” BCS coordinator John Swofford said in a statement this week. “For now, our constituencies – and I know he understands constituencies – have settled on the current BCS system, which the majority believe is the best system yet to determine a national champion while also maintaining the college football regular season as the best and most meaningful in sports.”
Fair enough. But ignoring the fan, who is more or less angry with the college football postseason, doesn’t seem to be a great idea either.
The plus-one system, which was proposed by SEC commish Mike Silve last year, would implement a four-team playoff – sorry, Mr. Obama – with “plus-one” game played for the national championship.
It would please the fans – God, forbid – who would be rewarded with a “true” national champion, and the regular season would keep its current value and remain the same length.
If the sport did extend into a second semester, then officials could very easily move the bowl games up in the calendar, instead of waiting more than a month between the regular season and the postseason, which they do now.
On Tuesday, though, the BCS and ESPN reached a television agreement through 2014, meaning any chance at a playoff scenario seems unlikely for the next six years.
That is, unless someone can throw their weight around.
