WASHINGTON -- Forget government corruption or corporate fraud. Three members of Congress want the Justice Department to investigate whether college football's Bowl Championship Series is an illegal enterprise. Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) and Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) are introducing a resolution rejecting the oft-criticized bowl system as an illegal restriction on trade because only the largest universities compete in most of the major bowl games. The resolution would require Justice's antitrust division to investigate whether the system violates federal law. "Who elected these NCAA people? Who are they to decide who competes for the championship?" Abercrombie said at a press conference Thursday on Capitol Hill, gripping a souvenir Hawaii football. Abercrombie said the matter is worthy of federal review because college football is big business with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. "It's money. That's what this is all about," he said. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3351626 Wow, this could be fun to watch unfold.
I dont understand what the fuck are people in congress are thinking sometimes so much else to worry about and they pick college football. Dont get me wrong I thate BCS standings and such I think they should have a tournament like the college basketball one.
If I remember correctly, for the last few years, congresspeople from the states where schools just missed out on getting into the BCS bowls or just missed out on getting into the BCS championship game have complained about the system. Can't solve real problems, so lets try to look big by complaining about something else.
I wouldn't call it illegal. More like STUPID for the amount of ratings & money they the NCAA is leaving on the table with this current system. If college teams seriously wanted to change the way the system is I would recommend they boycott it. They never will tho. But they should.
It's run like a monopolistic cartel, and the whole system of not paying players while the colleges make millions in profits is absurd. University presidents, ADs, coaches and others make six and seven figure salaries but this is a tax exempt non-profit institution? As bad as all that is, Congress does have far more important things to work on. Enough of this pandering to the public with sports topics. Let the appropriate department (Justice Dept? IRS? NLRB?) deal with it.
