The BCS is bad enough as it is

Congress intervening in the sports world can trigger at least two different reactions by libertarian sports fans. Some may be appalled by legislators seeking to wield power over the way a game is played, or called, or what an athlete is allowed in ingest. Others may look at the bright side and acknowledge that they're at least not spending even more time fucking up more serious issues, like the economy or something.

Either way, it's not good for Congress to be doing much of anything at all, and that includes meddling with the sports world. With baseball season over (thank goodness) and the steroid issue seemingly settled, members of Congress have now decided to befoul another sport: college football. According to this ESPN report, Congress has decided to conduct a hearing next week on the "deeply flawed" Bowl Championship Series, otherwise known as the BCS (or BS, depending on what team you root for). That's just great. The system is bad enough as it is, and will continue to be until some sort of playoff system is implemented. Given the inevitability for Congress to screw up anything it gets involved with, the BCS might end up seeming fair in contrast to whatever those meddling bureaucrats come up with. And I thought that referees sucked!

The good news is that no actual legislation is in mind, that they just want to brainfart (er, storm) some ideas and spark discussion. I think that there is something else that they have their eyes on though. As commitee chairman Joe Barton, a Republican from Longhorn country put it: "College football is not just an exhilarating sport, but a billion-dollar business that Congress cannot ignore"