The BCS Has Becomea Thorn in Their Sides

Ticket to the big game: $150.

Admission to “Husker Huddle” pregame party: $75.

Souvenir Nebraska Rose Bowl hat (that I’ll never wear again): $25.

Parking: $15.

Ten ounces of warm beer: $6.

Leaving early to end the misery, beat the traffic (and get one of those bacon-wrapped hot dogs from street-vendor): PRICELESS!

Dane Eurich

Redondo Beach

*

The Rose Bowl was a disaster. No San Gabriel Mountains. No Southern California winter sunset. No New Year’s fun. Instead, it was a Thursday worknight, boring blowout. Please tell the bean counters who brought about this awful game to go away. Bring back the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day ... followed by the Orange Bowl ... please!

Larry Brooks

Sacramento

*

A haiku humbly submitted for your consideration regarding the BCS national title game:

Without the parade,

the Rose Bowl

just doesn’t float.

Dennis H. Dutton

Fontana

*

No! Miami did not erase all doubt. It played the fourth-best team in the country. Colorado scored 62 points against Nebraska. Oregon soundly defeated Colorado. It would have taken 82 points against Nebraska for anyone to believe all doubts were erased.

Al Dibrell

Adelanto

*

I’m so glad the college football season is over so I don’t have to read and listen to the constant babble of sportswriters bad-mouthing the BCS. While I will admit that the Rose Bowl was less than exciting, the supposition presented by writers and reporters that they are more objective and less biased than computer software makes them look as intelligent as a sizable percentage of players down on the field.

Many writers feel the AP poll is the only way to crown a national champion. Heaven forbid we should take away their weekly dose of ego gratification as they cast their ballot.

Those who don’t get to cast a ballot in the AP poll claim that a playoff system is the only way to crown a true national champion. The playoff system certainly works to produce a highly competitive, edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting Super Bowl year after year, doesn’t it?

Dick Fischer

Burbank

*

The BCS never did guarantee a consensus national championship game--it provided only an objective mechanism which took into account many factors and evaluated them as objectively as possible. Is it perfect? Of course not. Want a true national champion, get a playoff. Otherwise, let’s enjoy the system as it stands.

Oregon seems to be the darling of the media these days, but the Ducks have only themselves to blame for not being in Pasadena. First, they looked woeful in barely winning on national TV against Oregon State. To what extent did this game hurt them? If they had played against the Beavers the way they did against Colorado, they’d probably [have played] in Pasadena.

Second, strength of schedule now counts a lot more than in the pre-BCS days. Having Utah and Utah State on your schedule does not help; an underachieving Wisconsin was also not an asset to the Ducks. Looking ahead, who do the Ducks have on their nonconference schedule in the next five years? Indiana (twice), Portland State, Nevada (twice) and Utah State again--not exactly the lineup to enhance your strength of schedule component.

Pete Griffith

Arcadia

*

While watching the bowl games during the last week, I finally figured out what BCS stands for: Begin Channel Surfing.

Thomas D. Leahy

Thousand Oaks

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That was a disgrace. The Rose Bowl should tell the BCS to give back the football game and go away. Forever.

Donald E. Warner Jr.

Santa Monica

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On TV today, they were showing reruns of the ball dropping to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Then I realized it was just highlights of the Miami-Nebraska game.

R.J. Johnson

North Hollywood

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Is there any way that I can thank ABC television for giving me that authentic taste of actually being at the Miami-Nebraska championship game? I could hear the roar of the crowd just as though I were actually in the stands at the Rose Bowl.

Of course, I could not hear a word that the play-by-play announcer was saying or the color commentators or the interviewers or interviewees. Please let me know if any of them said anything remotely intelligible.

Was there at least one sane person in attendance who could have pointed the way to a soundproof broadcasting booth?

Marvin Petal

Oxnard