BCS ratings down 17% ...

[NavyCrimson]

<A HREF="http://www.sportingnews.com/cfootball/articles/20020102/371722.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.sportingnews.com/cfootball/articles/20020102/371722.html</A>

now i think this is nice to see....as if the handwriting wasn't on the wall anyways!

duuuuhhhhhhhhh

[PK]

The other nice thing is that the Sporting News calls it like it is....."No. 1 vs No. 4", not "No. 1 vs No. 2" which is the BCS crap being spewed on TV. At the rate they are going, the BCS will kill it's self in due time. People are going to get tired of this make believe crud they are putting out. Everyone will eventually figure out that the computer is only crunching the numbers, but some human is making up these criteria for strength of schedule, etc. and that he probably has to bend way over to pull the numbers out!

[Kiper]

Drop in bowl ratings is a little surprising. There have been some really entertaining games (South Carolina/Ohio State, Florida State/Virginia Tech, Auburn/North Carolina, Washington/Texas, etc.)
Folks who didn't watch missed some good games.

[jettison]

Kiper... note that the bowl games you mentioned were chosen more along the lines of the old methods (i.e. not a computer). Those bowl organizers were not limited to 6 teams (8 minus #1 and #2) to match up, resulting in, thus far, 3 BCS bowls that have been completely lopsided blowouts. 56 to whatever, 47 to whatever, 38 to whatever. I've never been so bored watching football on TV.

There was always one (at most two) games that had national championship implications. But now, with 2 dozen bowl games, many of them just well-intended but nevertheless feeble attempts by the lesser conferences to get some meager piece of the pie, matching their 5-6 champ vs a 6-5 runner-up in another lesser conference... I think the quality of play and sincere interest from your average detached viewers - who make up the majority of the ratings audience - has diminished a bit.

It's a deceitfully complicated mess, this modern display of college football, with all its money and selfishness and elitism. A lot like television. Who is the chicken? Who is the egg? Ah, heck, let's all go watch Depauw & Wabash play the 132nd time for the Monon Bell. That actually means something.

[NavyCrimson]

"deceitfully complicated mess"

that makes more sense than anything!!!