There are several HUGE jokes...
...in major sports. These jokes are also sad because they need not be.
Anything judged by the French and Russians: Ice skating, UN resolutions.
Gymnastics
Boxing
Div 1 College football.
Ice skating, well, it's ice skating. The soap opera fits it. Personally, I think the WWF way, Tonya Hardings way, is a neat twist on settling competitons.
Gymnastics somehow doesn't seem to have the big controveries, at least not the women. Mens gymnastics, like intimate relations with chickens, should be against the law.
Boxing should be banned. You are GUARANTEED to be mentally damaged everytime you strap it on. UFC on the other hand is actually way more safer for the competitors and a much better test.
That leaves us with Div 1.
Basketball, no one can deny, is as fair as it can get, 64 teams. Everyone with a chance, and then some, gets in. The winner has to win six in a row. Yes, you're voted in, polled in, but the system is broad enough to acceptable by the vast majority of colleges, fans, coaches and writers, aka, the 'interested parties'.
The problem is that in basketball a #16 has a decent shot of winning it all. In football, #16 doesn't have as good a chance against the top 5 or so.
Basketball also plays upwards of 30 games and very few major injuries affording many more opportunities to settle it on the court leading up to the tournament, thus the polls are a very good guage.
Another thorn is that, in basketball, conferences matter. The ACC might send 8 teams this year with those 8 having lost a game here and there to conference opponents who didn't get in. Remember Jimmy V and his NC State hero's?
In football, say the ACC, you've got Tech, Miami and Florida State. They are 'there' year after year. Then there is NC State, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Clemson and Maryland. Then Wake, Duke, Carolina. That's 3 major year in and out competitors, 5 more that usually are top 25 and only 3 hopeless causes. Tech has recently won a national title, Maryland was fairly close a few years ago and Virginia is knocking on the door as is State. Clemson has been top 10 in the not to distant past.
ACC= 3 instantly recognizable top teams and 5 top 25-ish teams.
SEC: Tennessee, Auburn, Florida and LSU are recent major players. How can we leave out Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas and now South Carolina with Spurrier coming on board? That's 8 more.
I'm not sure how Maryland would fare against Kentucky.
Big 12: Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas and Texas Tech and A&M. Can't leave out Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma State and one or the other of the Kansas schools pops in and out, it seems, of the national picture all the time. That's 8 or 9 more.
Pac10: USC, UCLA, Cal, both Oregon and Washington schools tend to get in the mix, same with Arizona and you can't leave out Stanford. You could call that all 10.
Big 10: Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa. Can't leave out Penn State or Illinois. Perdue has been good as has Mich State, Northwestern and Minnesota.
Then there's Marshall, Boise State, Louisville, Boston College, Utah, Fresno State and hell, Navy is top 25 this year.
How about West Virginia? Pitt? Northern Illinois? Bowling Green. Toledo? UTEP? Wyoming? Hawaii? Even Connecticut? They all received at least a few top 25 votes.
Oh yeah. Did I forget the other team from Indiana? Notre Dame.
I'd argue there are about 48 names on there that can be considered as in the business of fielding top teams year after year. And some of the best games every year are something like the Alabama/Auburn game even when one is having a down year. In a tournament, Auburn probably wouldn't want ot have to face 'Bama in an early round.
So, what about a poll fielded tournament, say the top 32? The winner and runner up play 5 games.
Everbody can keep their normal conferneces which would give a decent ranking picture.
Create a 'Super Conference' so that each of the 40-50 schools that persue big time football are members in that they may be considered for the top 32, pay a fee to be members and only get ranking points by playing each other for their non conference games.
Perhaps reduce scholarships by 10 increasing the talent pool.
Eliminate conference championships.
Keep your season down to 8-10 games.
Viola.
Viola?
