a playoff is gayoff

It cant be all about money, it cant be. unfortunately it is. unfortunately we live in a time where the high school basketball landscape is shaped by nike and addidas. its an era that forces us to think of banks and thieving corporations every time we refer to a baseball park or football stadium. i always nervously envision my credit card bill every time i talk about the mets next home game. my sweet tooth activates when i watch kyle busch race. when the spurs (at&t center) play the wizards ( verizon center) ,to me, its a battle for cellphone supremacy as much as it is a basketball game.

maybe its not so unfortunate. maybe these big money corporations provide sports with massive dosages of sponsorships that it allowed the leagues to reach financial levels never before imagined, which in turn it used to produce a greater product for us fans to enjoy. maybe money and tv contracts are what fuel sports, maybe professional and collegiate sports have been sleeping with the devil for so long it has developed into a conglomerate as well. maybe they no longer know how to survive without their medication ($). maybe we'd still be stuck in the time of short shorts, hairy legs, long white socks and chest passes. yes, money spoils players and fans and management and owners and it devalues details and fundamentals, but maybe the games would never have evolved into what it is today in the first place. and no one can argue that sports is becoming more and more popular each day. it has become a multi-billion dollar industry despite what the old men with no teeth will tell you about the good old days. purists are fine with me, but, baby, come on. its 2,00freaking9 lets start realizing what sports really means (product/business/entertainment) and forget what it used to be(i dont even know what it used to be). simply put, in order to maximize every detail of a sport to increase production from athletes, you need large amounts of cash. down to conditioning, uniforms, facilities, their breakfast meal, you name it, it is of superior quality today compared to what it was back in the day because of superior financing. whether we want to admit it or not we as fans are spoiled and need this money infused in our sports. we can never go back to the way it was.

all this brings me to the vaunted debate TO BCS PLAYOFF OR NOT TO BCS PLAYOFF? that seems to be the question of the decade. so ill try to logically opine as to why we should keep it the way it is (cash cow) as opposed to what it can be ( pure playoff system for the weak-hearted).
pretty much the the second biggest argument bcs detractors make is that the bowl games are all about money and sponsors. so once people get over their jealousy and simplemindedness they will appreciate what the influx does for game in a broader sense and instead of just a few games at the end of the year. really quickly, my version: massive companies paying millions to attach their name to bowl games allows ncaa to offer a payout to schools who in turn use that to better their program, including better coaches, newer facilities, etc. Then maybe next time your hungry for a steak youll reciprocate and choose Outback Steakhouse.

Here are some of the numbers i found:

Under the rules, the championship teams of the Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pacific-10 and Southeastern Conferences go to the B.C.S. automatically. This season, the first team in each conference to qualify receives $18 million — win, lose or draw — and that money is distributed in that team’s conference. If a second team from a conference qualifies, the conference shares an additional $4.5 million.

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, FedEx Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl presented by Citi, Allstate Sugar Bowl, and the BCS National Championship Game (with rotating sponsors) have a payout of $17 million each, for a total of $85 million

Its true purpose is to generate the most money for the various sponsors that support this system and the academic conferences. The BCS makes about $96 million a year in total revenue.

yes, its a crap load of money and yes its probably rooted in greed but all im saying is that this money is what makes it the great sport we have come to know and love.

im moving on.

every game has meaning. this is a fact no one can argue with. this creates a playoff atmosphere for an entire season. not one sport can claim to play a meaningful game on their season debut. even in college basketball, in supposed big regular season conference games, they really have no impact bec there is a post-season conference tournament. all the games do is determine seeding for the conference tournament and maybe get you brownie points from the selection committee if you're a bubble team. baseball is boring till late summer. basketball not till at least the all star break. and even football their are often teams that start off slow and reach playoffs with 9-7 record. but in college football 99% of the time if a preseason top ten team with high hopes loses, it completely changes the entire outlook of their season. they go from undefeated and in the drivers seat to a paranoid team with one loss, playing hard and just hoping for an opportunity to prove it was a fluke just like last years gators. (see how one loss meant so much to that team and energized them for the remainder of the season). clearly a playoff would devalue the regular season games. and thats not what we want, do we?

personally my favorite devils advocate reason is this: Playoffs do not reward the best team. it sounds lunatic, but pro playoff people just yell SETTLE IT ON THE FIELD!!! and thats gonna make it all better. but to me the playoffs would just reveal to us the hottest team at the moment, not the greatly superior team all year long. other than the once-a-generation-magical-wire-to-wire-undefeated-season it wont truly reveal the best, just the best of the day. think of 2006 steelers as an example of a team that rode heat off their ass to capture a title. ill never admit they were the best team that year. the colts would have beaten them 9 out of 10 times

the biggest risk in all of this is taking a chance on all the unnecessary injuries. adding these games would greatly increase the chance of injury, which would effect other areas including diminished draft status, missed classes, missed combine and other workouts. remember these are kids.

Controversy = Ratings: one of the great little perks of this system that no one talks about but everyone talks about is the fact that this whole controversy gets everyone amped up. the bcs system creates controversy which creates dialogue which translates into ratings and more airtime and exposure(bad press is good press too) for their sport.

all anybody can think about are themselves. how can i make my life funner, more exciting. how can my team get better. what about the kids that dont go the nfl? do you know 95% of college football players dont sniff the pros. they actually have to study for their exams and pass and graduate so they can hopefully get an actual job. if there were to be a playoff it would likely extend into finals period and interrupt studies for most of the participants. didnt think of that one, did ya.

do people realize that if there were to be a playoff it would be at the same time as late season nfl games and playoff games. do you think ncaa wants to go up against the most popular time of year in sports. nah.

Lastly, how do you go about deciding on the teams who will compete in the 8 or 16 team mini-tournament? Based on the rankings/polls? These are the same rankings and polls that are so despised beyond belief. how do you seed? How do you make everyone happy?