More football madness

FIrst of all, let me admit that, under my girlfriend's influence, I've become something of a Michigan fan, and I hate it when Ohio State wins anything, let alone gets to play in the national championship game. But that's not what bugs me about the *huge* developments in the BCS over hte weekend, when both #1 and #2 got beaten on the las Saturday of the season, throwing the BCS into chaos (admittedly, it's the type of chaos that is fun and that I rellish, as opposed to the type they've got in Iraq). One thing that bugs me is the inevitable calls for a playoff system. I talked about this with my students on Tuesday: that the calls for a national championship game are the natural result of televison--particularly ESPN--taking ove college football, and that the only group that benefits from a national championship game is the tv networks who get to sell advertising for the game, and that the bowl system is better for students, athelets, and schools-those who should really matter in all this. On ESPN, only Kirk Herbstreet seems to be willing to stand up and say this. The rest of them are whores to the advertisers. But I've writtena bout all that before.

It doesn't particularly bother me that a 2-loss team will play in the national championship game while undefeated Hawaii gets another bowl game.

It *did* bother me that my cable started pixilating with about six minutes to go in the West Virginia game. I was like that TV commercial when the guy was sure the tree would fall the other way. That bothered me!

But what really bothered me was that Cal lost to Stanford int eh Big Game. Nothing in football cuts deeper than that. Who cares about Ohio State vs. LSU after a disaster like that!