The cartel previously known as the Bowl Championship Series has changed its name. Since nothing says school baseball playoff better than, well, College Football Playoff. Yeah, it's unimaginative. The capital letters are pretentious, also. But tell me you don't envy the marketing specialists who were called in and almost dared to provide the old BCS crowd a dose of these own medicine. Advisor A: "How about the SEC Championship?" Specialist B: "Just because they won the last seven does not mean they will win the next seven. Besides, it's already taken." Specialist C: "The Grifters?" Consultant B: "Same problem." 5 minutes of silence ensues. Advisor A: "I first got it. Think about college football playoff?" Consultant B: "Hmmm. Limited, and to the level, but let's ensure it is limits. OKAY? We are unanimous, then? ... Great, call room service and keep these things send up lunch." Guide A: "Just therefore it seems like we really did something for several that money?" Expert B: "Exactly. Because game acknowledges game." In equity, there is plenty to like about the upgrade. Most critical, after two decades approximately of ignoring public opinion, the blazers who hijacked school football's postseason have finally agreed to some semblance of a playoff. For another thing, those dreadful money characters NCAA continue to be nowhere to be found. And for a third, there will be seven big activities instead of five, and with both semifinals and four other main plates scheduled for New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, the activity is reclaiming what was previously its best time of the entire year. Nevertheless the disadvantage is considerable, also. It still focuses too much money and much more energy in the hands of too few. By successfully gutting what was previously the Big East, the commissioners of the five remaining power seminars a SEC, ACC, Big 10, Pac-12 and Big 12 a' is likely to be able to arrange even more slots in big-paying dishes due to their category members, and take home an even bigger share of the excess loot a playoff system earns. Plus, chances that an outlier like Boise State, or a team from the Mid-American or Sun Belt meetings, could get a title shot, or a position in one of different payday activities, aren't a lot better than they were under the previous system. Even though the hush money they will get to just forget about anti-trust problems will make it just a little more straightforward to take. There's also the matter of picking a selection committee to decide which groups end up in the playoffs. The exact same cabal may have a disproportionate say for the reason that subject, also. Therefore far, they've hinted at some thing modeled after the board that picks the clubs for the NCAA basketball tournament a' made up of discussion commissioners and athletic directors a but with far less visibility. That much should have been clear when Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said one aim of the redesign was to come up with some thing "more just like the Masters than NASCAR". While most people thought that reflected a want to distance corporate sponsorship from the newest name, what the good-old boy network probably had in mind was a dozen roughly men in blazers deciding things virtually because they pleased. Speaking of misdirection, there is already a website up and operating, www.collegefootballplayoff.com, encouraging visitors to cast their votes on a fresh brand. Above the four alternatives is the motto, "It is Your Playoff. It is Your Choice." Obviously, if there clearly was really any truth in advertising, that slogan could have involved a third sentence: "But it is still our money." The strange thing is that the truly good news for fans of the game came in a much-less publicized shift Tuesday at the same Pasadena, Calif., hotel. It absolutely was an announcement by ACC commissioner John Swofford that league members had agreed to sign over their TV rights to the discussion through 2027, efficiently turning off any more modification of conferences for the foreseeable future. Three of the five other important participants a the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big 12 a' have similar arrangements in position, and whilst the SEC has not asked its schools to do the same, the category is indeed rich that chances any member could bolt are in regards to the same as Alabama coach Nick Saban going for a day removed from work. That signals the almost-certain end of a chaotic age, if nothing else. The big-name schools and conventions won't be playing musical chairs, or shuffling rivalries like Michigan-Ohio State all over the schedule to fit out a few extra dollars. There's already a term for that, and it will not require marketing specialists to find it. It is called a truce, and even more when compared to a playoff, it suggests the game is going to be balanced yet again a' or at the least until the next cash grab comes along. Dumb Jim Litke is just a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke( at )ap.org and follow him at twitter.com/JimLitke
No comments:
Post a Comment