Tuesday, January 08, 2008
A university president's focus is: the bowl games??
360 Correspondent
I enjoy all sports, including college football, and like millions of viewers, I watched LSU win the national championship last night with a 38-24 win over Ohio State. But something seemed a bit awry when I looked at the front page of the Atlanta Journal Constitution this morning, and saw that the president of the University of Georgia is calling for an eight-team college football playoff that will extend the season.
I'm not naive; I know that college sports are a critically important part of the college experience -- and college revenues. I also happen to think the idea is intriguing. But is it perhaps more appropriate for the university's president to leave such statements to his athletic director, and focus his public pronouncements more on ways to make a fine academic university even finer? Most college presidents who have gone on the record are against such a proposal. They fear a lengthened season would negatively impact academics at their schools.
Many Georgia Bulldog fans are still upset (and perhaps rightfully so) that their football team was not selected for the Bowl Championship game. But Georgia President Michael Adams told the Journal Constitution that's not the reason he's reached this conclusion. Instead, he says, "The bowl games this year....They ended up with some really screwy games." Should a college president really be publicly concerned about uncompetitive bowl games?
What do you think?
