[Andy Baker]

I hate the BCS and I am glad to see how screwed up it is by not letting the #1 team in the Nation play in the national championship game. This year's scenario makes the BCS the laughing stock of the NCAA's.

On one hand, I think that there should be a single level playoff. On the other hand, there should also be much less importance in sports... so what does it really matter? College and pro sports have both gotten so out of hand these days, that I am ashamed to be a fan. In a way, I don't really care who ends up the national champ, due to the level of ridiculousness in sports.

With that said, I love football, the sport. It is really a difficult game to play well. The strategy and specifics to play the game well requires some brains. I played it for many (too many) years, from pee-wee to college (Division II and III) and even semi-pro. I think that I put in 14 years of playing a sport that I can't ever play again. Now that I look back on it, that was pretty silly. But, it was fun.

As for college football players, even at the level of division II and III, players get special treatment. They do get special tutors and better treatment in many instances. While Stanford Univ. is a great example of how a school should treat their athletes, I am guessing that they are not in the majority in what they require from their students. In a perfect world, all students would be treated the same. However, since atletics is important to alumni support, marketing (recruiting), and revenue generation, then it will remain important. While we may not like it, this will continue to happen.

OK.. too much rambling.

Andy B.