Boise State’s Impact On The Big Time
The old comic Rodney Dangerfield’s signature line – “I can’t get no respect” – can no longer realistically be applied to the big time college football program at Boise State University.
When the New York Times is commenting, the world is watching.
In a lead article Wednesday headlined, “Boldly, Boise State Moves The Question,” the newspaper of record summed up the impact of the BSU victory over Texas Christian in the Fiesta Bowl with this sentence: “Perception in college football is driven by star power, and Boise State now has it.”
A USA Today blog picked up, as others did, the suggestion that when President Obama invites the eventual national championship team for the standard post-season White House visit, he should also include an invite to the Broncos.
Associated Press sports columnist Jim Litke’s take on how underdog Boise State gets real respect – it’s a political issue. So, cue the politicians and the issue ads aimed at reforming the Bowl Championship Series. Litke says: “Matt Sanderson, a Utah graduate and former campaign-finance attorney for GOP presidential contender John McCain, founded Playoff PAC with a half-dozen similarly politically savvy friends.
“We wanted to give a home to the tremendous grass-roots energy that’s formed around the BCS and channel it toward a proven method to get results — in this case, political pressure.”
Fixing college football’s dysfunctional national championship system may not rank in importance with health insurance reform or reducing the deficit, but it may actually be something Congress could do. It should.