about the BCS "system" is that it gives the illusion of legitimacy to a system that is not designed to crown a true champion. The "old" system, meaning the one in place in ones formative years (for me the 70s and 80's), was corny, but it was what it appeared to be. The polls crowned "mythical" champions and the bowl games were fun and full of tradition and that was all there was to it. Now, somehow people treat the BCS title game as if it really is for a legitimate championship, not the old Mythical one. Except of course when USC got shut out and claimed it anyway, and many people said "right on."

What makes a true champion, as opposed to a mythical one, is to win through a PROCESS that is widely recognized as being fair. At the end of the day, after a fair competition there should be no wiggle room to argue about who is actually the champion. College football and boxing stand alone. The St. Louis Cardinals were not the best team this year, but they are the champions, this cannot be rationally argued to the contrary. the team that wins the super bowl or the NCAA basketball tourney or the 1AA footabll playoffs is the champion as recognized by all who care. that cannot be said for the BCS champ. In all those other sports, teams control their own destiny on the field. If an NFL team wins all its games it will win the championship, if a college basketball team wins its conference and six tourney games, it wins, that's it, destiny is in one's own hands, not a pollsters or a computers.

I both agree and disagree that a team that fails to win its conference can win the championship. In this system, because there are so few games between the conferences, there is simply no way to know which teams are the best. How does anyone know Ohio St is the best. Maybe the big ten was just horrendous this year. The only way we know how good any team is compared to the other teams is when they play each other, or at least common opponents, which is also rare. If you had a Michigan-Ohio st rematch we would never know whether Florida is in Ohio State's league. Now we'll know, for better or for worse. If we had a legitimate multi-team tournye chosen through a fair process I would have no problem with a non-champ winning the national champ, as long as they earned it on the field, rahter than by virtue of somebody's opinion

Do you people (specifically Wes and the Joe Paterno admirer) not have friends from all political persuasions. Do you not get out in the world. Not everything is political. Why do I think you could turn someone's choice of dinner vegetable into a political issue.

Can we forget about the extraneous garbage and just focus on the incident at issue. At worst, it was slightly over the line of acceptable conduct for a college basketball coach. King says it was a punch. I tend to think not, but the point is debatable. Anyway, I dare say that it is accepted by most people that at times a coach will touch his players to make a point.

Legally speaking it's an issue of implied consent and whether Knight's conduct was offensive to the kid. whether he used too much force is really between Knight, the kid his parents and the university. Unless the kid presses this it's not a criminal matter given the context. If another coach with a better reputation did this, let's just say hypothetically Rick Pitino, I think no one would care.

And could whoever that idiot is who said that the deranged footabll coach must be a Republican please keep politics out of a good old fashioned sports discussion. I guess this is what happens when a bunch of left wingers get themselves worked-up over a little physical contact in an all-american game like basketball, they go completely nuts. I guess only Republicans beat their kids. maybe you should go back to smoking your joint at your pacifist nudist colony

The Sox will sign this guy and it will be on their terms. The reason is the power relationship. He needs the Sox more than they need him. If he doesn't sign with Boston he goes back to Japan for two years where he earns in the 3-4 mil range. So he has no leverage to up the ante. The Sox can just walk away and spend their money on someone else and this guy knows that. that's why he will sign a long term deal for far less than market value

Can anyone name any other competitive sports league in the world where the championship is not determined on the field of play? I would guess there isn't one.

I believe the reason for this has something to do with the fact that the conference system predated the NCAA. Originally college football consisted of different conferences and independent schools. Conferences had champions, but there was no national umbrella, therefore no national championship. Winning your confernece was considered winning the championship. all you had after that was the end of season exhibitions, also known as bowl games. Now fans want college football to enter the 21st century rather than remain stuck in the 19th, but we can't seem to shake the old system