Bruce Paine possesses a classical education, it doesn't make him smarter than you, but it means that he has carefully cultivated a sense of history according to the requirements of Indiana University.
My sense of history leads me in a minority direction. I don't believe we need a national championship playoff for college football, and I don't believe we need the Bowl Championship Series, either. The BCS is broken, everyone has to see that truth it, and it has never served to produce an undebated national champion. It has ruined the mystique and drama of the individual bowls and reduced their individual histories that added to their charm. It is also a politicized nightmare, as all bowls have always been, but it draws more attention to the BCS events because they have TV contracts in the prime times. A four game playoff will do all of these things, as well. It will be ploticized to the 7th level of Hell and there will still be teams on the outside looking in who will thow hissy fits. Any bowl series or tourney or playoff will require someone to take strength of schedule into account. You have to, and I don't see anyway around it if you are going to seed teams on a national level.
If we were to return to a situation where the bowls were independent and isolated I would enjoy it much more. The bigger bowls will always be great and they will continue to thrive and attract higher profile and more successful teams. The game I wanted to see at the end of last year was a rematch of Michigan and Ohio State. The idea that the Buckeyes were only a field goal better than Michigan AT the Horseshoe with the Wolverines charging back on the feet of Hart was a finish that answered me nothing. I wanted to see those bastards knock heads again at a neutral site, say.. The Rose Bowl, and find out if that field goal meant anything or not. Thanks BCS, thanks. A playoff will only do the same thing to me, and the mystique of the big bowl will mean less and less as they invent a new bowl to supplant the Cotton and Orange and Rose Bowls as the "most important" just as hey brought the Fiesta to the forefront. I don't want a playoff or the BCS, I just want to watch good football games, and the BCS hasn't always given me want I want, and I doubt the plaoff will either.
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2008 Cubs Preview
Carrie Fisher used to be hot.
She had her moments, return of the jedi was the highlight, the Burbs with Tom Hanks had her looking excellent as a young middleaged housewife. Gifted writer, mediocre actress, great icon of my childhood
many a potential son or daughter of Boney had been wasted by me as a youth when I got my own VCR and could rewind and fast forward in the comfort of my bedroom at my mom's house.
Of course, all of this happened while I was wearing my Darth Vader costume...