ESPN Now A BCS Cheerleader

It has recently been announced that ESPN signed a new four-year deal with the Bowl Championship Series to all digital rights from 2011-2014.  The purported price tag?  $500 million.  

For the first time, BCS football games will only be available live on pay television stations.  More importantly, the signing of a rights deal could render the heated conversation about the needs for a playoff totally toothless.

This pisses me off.  

Dave Curtis said it best recently in a piece on Sporting News. 

Curtis reported on a statement by ESPN President, George Bodenheimer, who, in response to a question about whether or not his commentators would influence BCS decision, said "We have a church-and-state operation between our talent and the business side."  

Pardon me for being skeptical.  There are a variety of personalities on ESPN who I believe, influence voters as to their decisions with the AP and Coaches poll, which have an impact on BCS standings.  

ESPN will now have a direct financial stake in the final makeup of BCS teams.  So when it looks like one team with a great fan-base could use a boost to get into that final first or second position, doesn't it look a little weird for the Gameday crew to be rallying support for that team?  

How is the "separation of church and state" maintained when one side actively benefits from the turnout on the other side?

Further, this will likely have a chilling effect on any real progress towards a playoff in the near future.  

Continuity is the name of the game in these financial relationships, and neither side will want the boat rocked tremendously.  Otherwise they will question whether they are actually getting what they bargained for.  

The bottom line for me is, this season looks like we are heading towards another vicious, meaningless debate about at least three REALLY good football teams, to find that two of them that deserve a shot at the Big Cheese.  

As with numerous seasons in the past 10 years, we are once again going to have a few teams left out that have very legitimate arguments for getting in.  Without finding out who the best teams are on the field, we will never have the kind of championship that we can all truly believe in.

I think that many ESPN commentators believe this.  

Needless to say, however, this team is run by "the moustaches" as Colin Cowherd likes to call them.   The corporate corner office types have spoken, and it makes me truly believe that they don't want a playoff.  Not now, and not ever.  

If we can't get ESPN on board, no matter how much public or political pressure can be mounted, the road will be tougher for actual change.  A change that we really need.