Representative Joe Barton demonstrates one of the many things wrong with Congress. This is not a congressional matter, and it has no bearing on the welfare of U.S. citizens. He should be spending his time on national issues. On the other hand, maybe we're better off if he stays away from them.

JOE SAGE Colfax, N.C.

 

Bill Hancock made no attempt to address Barton's primary concern -- the fundamental unfairness of the BCS system.

And why should he? We fans love college football and will watch it (evidently) no matter how much the NCAA screws it up. The money rolls in, the schools in the club split it up, and occasionally they toss a bone to an "outsider." Here is a case where government intervention may be the only way to seek a remedy.

BRADLEY WILSON Aledo, Texas

 

Lesser ranked teams have consistently surprised higher ranked teams -- that is where we get upsets. Every conference and NCAA commercial likes to highlight sportsmanship, fair play, and integrity. This system has none of those. With the NCAA basketball tournament, we may debate whether some teams should have gotten in, but in the end, each team controls its own destiny by performing on the court. In every other major sport, if a team wins all of its games, it can call itself champion. The current BCS system is about lining the pockets of the more established universities at the expense of smaller ones. In a day of greed on Wall Street, poor business ethics, and corruption, the bodies that govern our institutions of higher education should set an example to all students. Since most NCAA athletes will "be going pro in something else," as they advertise, it is the job of the NCAA not just to preach fair play but to abandon the BCS system and its hypocrisy and level the playing field so that all universities, regardless of size, religious affiliation, endowment, or tradition, have the same opportunity to achieve excellence and call themselves a champion.

RYAN KELLY Aston, Pa.

 

Someday when someone from a major network walks into the NCAA office with an attaché case with billions of dollars in it, [a playoff] will happen. That's what March Madness is all about. Now they talk about 96 teams in the championship. ESPN will pick up the early games. What's that all about? Money, of course.

BILL STALZER Ridgewood, N.Y.

 

College athletics? The tail is wagging the dog.

We pay our football coach more than the president of the university and several of his top operatives combined. Whatever happened to teaching youngsters how to think? Politics and "education" in the United States have gone nuts.

JAMES BOUSMAN Honolulu

 

I totally agree that a playoff system needs to be established and the current system scratched entirely. It can be done and really not disturb the current bowl system. It's hard to get fired up about the bowls because none of the teams playing have a chance to be voted No. 1, even though some might be worthy. If we, the followers of college football, are to crown a national champion, it must be earned through a playoff. Note that all the other divisions of college football have playoffs to determine the national champion.

THOMAS A. PETTIT Penn Laird, Va.

Bowl Championship Series College Football's Biggest Problem
Joe Barton

The principal goal of the BCS is not and never was to fairly determine a national champion. It was designed to maximize revenue for its members while limiting true competition. That makes it a cartel. If you ask me, they can still call it the BCS -- just change the words to Bowl Cartel Series.

College Football Playoff Would Increase Problems
Bill Hancock

Should there be four teams? Eight? Sixteen? Wherever a line is drawn, excluded teams will inevitably start clamoring to enlarge the playoffs. That's exactly what has happened with the NCAA basketball, March Madness has grown from eight teams to 65 teams and now is under pressure to expand to 96. Joe Barton's playoff idea turns out to be more of a problem than a solution.

Expensive Lesson: Gun is Not a Joke - Gilbert Arenas
Leonard Pitts Jr.

A gun is not a joke. Maybe Gilbert Arenas gets that now. But look at what it cost him to learn: his NBA livelihood, his reputation, maybe his freedom. But even at that, you could argue that Gilbert Arenas is a lucky man.

When Good Athletes Behave Badly - Gilbert Arenas
Clarence Page

Over the years I have often had the pleasure of introducing my son to significant people as politically diverse as Barack Obama and Pat Buchanan. (Welcome to my world, kid.) He turned the tables on me one day in his early teens when he rushed across Washington's Reagan National Airport to introduce himself to basketball star Gilbert Arenas.

Tiger Woods and Disposable Gods
Robert C. Koehler

Read the tabloids -- watch the tube -- if you want to know how a society that has lost its religiosity can still engage with the deities. The eerily appropriate term 'celebrity worship' is evidence of the extent to which we've improved on Greek culture: We've invented disposable gods and our latest example is Tiger Woods

 

 

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