Dirt Off Your Shoulder, Part Deux
It's funny. I don't think any team I have actively rooted for has ever "won it all."
When you grow up having to watch Michael Jordan push off on Byron Russell in the 1998 NBA Finals, you develop a healthy pessimism and a distrust of the art of referring.
And to a certain extent even now I haven't watched one of my teams "win it all." But after the Utes demolished the Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl, it sure feels that way.
I mean here is a team that had won 7 straight bowl games and wrapped up its second perfect BCS season in a conference that was 25-11 against non-conference opponents and 6-1 against the Pac-10.
And yet the Utes earned no respect.
Just go back and listen to the condescension of the pre-game commentaries -- many by people who probably never even saw the Utes play a single game and still held them down in the Harris and Coaches' Poll.
After all is said and done, the BCS house of cards will probably remain standing.
But hopefully the Utes win will further delegitimatize a systematically unfair process and help pave the way for a future playoff system so that other marginalized schools have a shot at truly "winning it all."
posted by d l wright at 1/05/2009 11:12:00 AM
9 Comments:
The yahoo article you link to makes a good point, but it doesn't mention that the mountain west conference helped to dig its own grave in 2004 by signing the tv contract with CSTV starting in 2006.
Maybe coaches didn't watch games because they couldn't find them.
I was going to mention that too Brad -- but I think Wetzel's point is that even if they did, would they have even bothered. Furthermore, if they don't have access to the games, should they even be voting.
well that's the real point to be made, but wetzel sort of threw that in at the end, after he was done shaming the coaches.
what business do coaches from the sec have voting for on the rankings for teams from the mountain west? they have time consuming jobs, which require them to focus on the teams they're going to play. coaches have zero motivation to make sure their rankings are fair, their motivation is to make sure their own teams are successful, that's what their jobs depend on. the coaches shouldn't be determining jack.
like wetzel said the ncaa basketball selection committee has actual criteria and are told to go watch games. it's their job. beyond that they then go and have a real playoff.
If there were a playoff, wouldn't that just mean we'd have to watch the U lost to Kentucky's football team every few years?
Rick Reilly thinks the Utes are national champs.
Feinstein of the Washington Post wants AP Poll voters to choose Utah.
(Thanks Sam)
Mark: way to twist that dagger in my heart :(
I'll be honest: I get a little teary-eyed reading all these columns.
One last thought: why not do a playoff similar to the NFL? 12 slots. One for each conference (and an extra spot for independents or an AP voted wild card). To convince the "power" conferences to play along, you can give them a first week bye. Case closed.
If you want in, you win your conference. You want a better seed, your conference has to play adventurous out-of-conference games.
No more Florida playing Citadel at home bullshit.
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