Presidential Power: What Barack Obama Should Do for Sports

Well, the President has been sworn in much to the chagrin of most conservatives (including myself), but I'm over it and I have a list of five sports-related ideas I would like to see our President use his influence for (other than fix the economy!).

In no particular order.

1. Encourage NCAA Football to do away with BCS system

Already well documented, President Obama has said on several occasions that he would do everything within his power to instill a playoff system in college football.  Every other major sport has one—including fellow collegiate members of the Big Three(baseball and basketball). Why not college football?

Think about it. What is the one time that almost everyone, sports fanatics and gambling fiends alike, looks forward to each year—March Madness. I, for one, am also a huge fan of the College World Series. I don't pay attention to college baseball much (besides my Texas A&M Aggies) until those glorious few weeks in June in which the college baseball champion is crowned.

Imagine the revenue college football would make if they allowed for a playoff. Imagine the excitement of actually crowning a REAL champion for the first time in college football history—rather than the BCS game or the polls. It is a major concern in the eyes of football fans and it needs to be handled by the highest authority.

2. Tell Roger Goodell to have a set form of discipline.

From Adam "Pacman" Jones being in altercations all season and still being allowed to play (for the most part) to Ray Lewis and others being fined in excess of $50,000 for complaining about the refs, something needs to be done about the obvious inconsistency in regards to NFL discipline.

I'm not saying Goodell is a racist, but there is something to be said about black players getting fined for simply speaking out against the horrible officiating this season, and Matt Jones being caught with six grams of cocaine in his car, with intent to sell, and getting a slap on the wrist—a small fine and drug therapy courses.

Don't even get me started on the big hits that players have been fined for. Not the hits that get unnecessary roughness called as a result of them, no, no, no.... I'm talking about fines given out for hits that did not even warrant penalties on the field! When Troy Palomalu (known for being soft spoken) speaks out against you saying "he's turning it into a pansy game," you know you're doing something wrong.

Goodell needs to ease up on the fines, and have set rules in stone.

3. Increase the qualifications for making a Bowl game.

Anyone else tired of seeing games like Central Michigan against Florida Atlantic? Well, I am.

There are obvious cases as to why some teams should be allowed in bowls with six wins (Vanderbilt), but there are also those that should not be in a bowl game at all (Memphis).

If I were arranging the qualifications, I would allow teams with six wins from BCS conferences to be in bowl games but increase the number of wins for non-BCS schools to eight or even nine wins.

The only reason for allowing teams with such a low number of wins to compete in bowl games seems to be for gambling and publicity for those programs. The focus should be more on not awarding mediocrity. Can anyone honestly say that they watched the Northern Illinois (6-6) vs. Louisiana Tech (7-5) game, without having picked or bet on the game? I don't think you'll be filling up my phone lines for that answer.

4. Make Notre Dame football join a Conference already.

Enough is enough. Their basketball team is in the Big East. It's time for the football program to follow suit.

Their bowl bid this season (6-6) was basically gift wrapped due to the soft scheduling. The bowl win seems to be the only thing that kept a job for Charlie Weis which is ridiculous given his record. If they want to turn their program around, join a conference and fire Weis. This will help recruiting on more than one level.

Speaking of recruiting, I have a little conspiracy theory. It seems like Notre Dame's past three seasons' of recruiting classes have been ranked near the top, yet they are not getting results.

I'm not sure what the reason is, but in my opinion, all the recruiting magazines overrate Notre Dame's recruiting class to raise profits. Notre Dame has such a huge following, and if they report that they have a poor class, it is less likely that people will buy the magazine.

Again, that's just a little conspiracy theory.

5. IMPOSE A SALARY CAP FOR MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

For goodness sakes, enough is ENOUGH. With the Yankees seemingly snatching up every major free agent this year, baseball has got to realize it's getting ridiculous. Not only does not having a salary cap discourage developing young players, but it also does not provide parity which makes other sports more interesting.

With a salary cap, the teams with better markets will not be able to dominate the game forever. We'll have different champions, different playoff teams, and more enlightened fan bases for those small market teams.

If you don't believe me, look at the NFL. Maybe it has something to do with the excitement, hitting, and fast paced nature, but the reason the NFL is so popular also has a lot to do with the fact that we just don't know who's going to be the favorite year in and year out. We have our ideas, sure, but most are almost always wrong. Parity is alive and well in the NFL, which is what attracts the "casual fan."

Trust me, this is coming from a Yankees' fan (who desperately wishes they would develop a farm system for once), a salary cap will help Major League Baseball.