and know more clowns want to get involved, Congress

[buckley503]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9QG58303&show_article=1

(AP) - The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee wants hearings on antitrust and other issues surrounding college sports, including the recent series of conference realignments.
Michigan Rep. John Conyers tells the committee chairman, Texas Republican Lamar Smith, that recent developments in college sports have reached a "tipping point" that justifies congressional review.

Surprised that it's coming from a Michigan rep.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

All of this talk about what'll happen six or seven years from now with the Big 12 contracts and yada yada is almost moot because odds are, this whole thing will end up before the Supreme Court either with respect to the conference realignment, the BCS setup, or both.

 

[The Funster]

All of this talk about what'll happen six or seven years from now with the Big 12 contracts and yada yada is almost moot because odds are, this whole thing will end up before the Supreme Court either with respect to the conference realignment, the BCS setup, or both.

Both. That's why ultimately UConn will be safe but may have some years of insecurity if we don't get a major conference bid or the BE temporarily rights the ship.

 

[Stinger92860]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9QG58303&show_article=1

(AP) - The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee wants hearings on antitrust and other issues surrounding college sports, including the recent series of conference realignments.
Michigan Rep. John Conyers tells the committee chairman, Texas Republican Lamar Smith, that recent developments in college sports have reached a "tipping point" that justifies congressional review.

Surprised that it's coming from a Michigan rep.

Don't forget about the voters that graduated from WMU, CMU and EMU etc....
Lamar Smith went to SMU Law School (also Yale)

The MAC schools would like to be a part of the BCS too.

 

[RS9999X]

The MAC and Sun Belt playoff. It makes one shudder.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Too many public institutions are/will be screwed over by this, and if this all goes to some sort of exclusionary conference set up, the charges of collusion, monopolization, illegal corporate dealings with ESPN/FOX/CBS or whoever will be running rampant. That said, UConn can't sit around and bank on that happening, we need to solidify ourselves now and if that comes down the road, let the pieces fall where they may. But it's not guaranteed to happen at all. Legal action in this field in the past has been generally unsuccessful, as we've seen in the past.

 

[Stinger92860]

Want to see leagues get smaller very quickly? Have the NCAA announce an 8, 12 or 16 team playoff for football. One team per conference. Sell the rights to the highest bidder, ala the basketball tourney. December Delirium!!! Could Congress force this outcome, perhaps? Watch how fast we would go back to 9/10 team leagues....

 

[freescooter]

Sometimes Confgress doesn't need to do anything. See the sports drug ttesting. It simply needs to llok like it might possibly consider doing something. In fact, the NCAA came about because Congress and the White House (Teddy Roosevelt in particular) were raising concerns about the safety of college football. It was at least in part a response to a movement to outlaw the sport because it was dangerous. So there is a prcedent. One of the first things made illegal was the practice of tossing ball carriers over the goal line. Players had handles sewn onto shirts and pants to make it easier for them to be tossed.

 

[businesslawyer]

Colleges are sticking their tongues out and publicly ignoring important federal laws. Damn right Congress ought to be sticking their noses into this.

I think it is a mistake to count votes based on what states are strong in football. Most Senators and Congressmen do actually believe in enforcing our laws (for the most part at least).

 

[metsfan2323]

This is great news!

 

[upstater]

Too many public institutions are/will be screwed over by this, and if this all goes to some sort of exclusionary conference set up, the charges of collusion, monopolization, illegal corporate dealings with ESPN/FOX/CBS or whoever will be running rampant. That said, UConn can't sit around and bank on that happening, we need to solidify ourselves now and if that comes down the road, let the pieces fall where they may. But it's not guaranteed to happen at all. Legal action in this field in the past has been generally unsuccessful, as we've seen in the past.

A lot of those public institutions should breathe a sigh of relief that the Presidents won't be forced any longer to squander precious resources on winning the MAC championship.

 

[Stinger92860]

Sometimes Confgress doesn't need to do anything. See the sports drug ttesting. It simply needs to llok like it might possibly consider doing something. In fact, the NCAA came about because Congress and the White House (Teddy Roosevelt in particular) were raising concerns about the safety of college football. It was at least in part a response to a movement to outlaw the sport because it was dangerous. So there is a prcedent. One of the first things made illegal was the practice of tossing ball carriers over the goal line. Players had handles sewn onto shirts and pants to make it easier for them to be tossed.

How old are you?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

One of the first things made illegal was the practice of tossing ball carriers over the goal line. Players had handles sewn onto shirts and pants to make it easier for them to be tossed.

I so desperately want to call B.S. on this but you were probably at some of those games so it must be true.

 

[flyonthewall]

Total silliness. What's next a Congressional investigation of why certain 20 win teams did not get a NCAA tourney bid?

Conyers has been a gadfly whose legislative accomplishments are nil.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Colleges are sticking their tongues out and publicly ignoring important federal laws. Damn right Congress ought to be sticking their noses into this.

I think it is a mistake to count votes based on what states are strong in football. Most Senators and Congressmen do actually believe in enforcing our laws (for the most part at least).

What fed laws may I ask?

 

[HuskyHawk]

What fed laws may I ask?

Sherman Act most obviously.

 

[businesslawyer]

Sherman Act most obviously.

this

 

[The Funster]

I wonder if antitrust is the reason no conference wants to be responsible for dealing the death blow to the Big East. Is it possible that conferences have determined that bringing about the demise of another conference, leaving just a few members alone and creating a tangible negative financial event as a result, would trigger an antitrust investigation?

 

[sportsart]

Duke will have played Vandy in a NC game before congress sorts this mess out.

 

[freescooter]

I so desperately want to call B.S. on this but you were probably at some of those games so it must be true.

Nelson, I'm telling you, that was a play. I saw an exhibit at the Smithsonian years ago on "Sport in America" or some such thing. Part of the exhibit dealt with football and how it evolved. Some of the early stuff was wild, and among the items was a uniform with grips on the shirt & pants with that explanation. they also exhibited a drawing from some early pre-cursor of SI showing a player being tossed. I actually thought about that last weekend. Imagine if that rule was still in effect...No way they keep an airborne McCombs out of the endzone from the 1 with that play! By the way, there were something like 10 deaths per year as a result of injuries in college football games at that time, so it was a pretty violent game...they also made the forward pass a legal play, I believe, though as a UCONN fan I'm not sure the word of that change has reach Storrs yet.

 

[ruskin]

Colleges are sticking their tongues out and publicly ignoring important federal laws. Damn right Congress ought to be sticking their noses into this.

I think it is a mistake to count votes based on what states are strong in football. Most Senators and Congressmen do actually believe in enforcing our laws (for the most part at least).

I believe Sen. Blumenthal will in the near future borrow from the Utah senators' playbook and loudly decry the BCS. Funny how Utah ended up in the Pac-12 and BYU is on the verge of joining the Big XII.