Beating a Dead Horse
I know, I know, I’m sick of talking about the BCS system as much as you are, trust me. But for some reason, I think that for every column I write pointing out how idiotic the rankings are, let alone the concept of determining a national championship by rankings in the first place, I am performing a service in the interest of a nation sorely in need of shedding aside a black mark on its sporting landscape.
Let me preface this discussion by reminding everyone that last Saturday’s final score at Camp Randall was 83-20. This was a conference game, against an Indiana team that by all estimates should have been coming off a last minute victory over a top-20 team in Iowa. It wasn’t a non-conference farce against Austin Peay, Chattanooga, or some other FCS team paid to come up and perform the role of sacrificial lamb for a crowd of 80,000 plus red-clad homers.
This was a conference game. And yet winning by 63 points, tying the Big Ten record for points in the modern era, none of this mattered because while they stayed put at #7 in the BCS, Wisconsin somehow moved further away from #6 Stanford and is now just a measly .0055 points ahead of #8 Nebraska.
83-20. Against a conference opponent. Did I mention Stanford squeaked out a 17-13 4th quarter win over Arizona State, a 4-6 team just like Indiana?
My question is what exactly does the BCS want the Badgers to do in order to prove they are worthy of inching up the BCS standings? Is 100 points enough?
Obviously the answer is that nothing will ever do when the national media or whoever retains control over the BCS, because it isn’t really all that clear anymore, sees Indiana as another sacrificial lamb that just happens to belong to the Big Ten. The Iowa game? Fluke. Michigan? Lucky. Northwestern? Doesn’t count.
But Wisconsin was running up the score, why reward that?
There is a clear double-standard being set here. #5 LSU had a non-conference cupcake on their schedule with Louisiana-Monroe (4-6 also), kept their first string in the entire game and won 51-0.
But somehow this isn’t considered to be running up the score and Wisconsin’s win, despite taking the first string out midway through the 3rd quarter and finishing off the game with Nate Tice and the 3rd string offense, is unwarranted BCS pandering.
Should Coach Bielema call for a punt every time Indiana gives up the ball? The score may be lopsided, but this was nowhere near the threshold for criticism. The 2nd and 3rd string doesn’t get the opportunity to play every week and we cannot expect them to roll over so as to not hurt the Hoosiers’ feelings. This is their one chance and they should be given every opportunity to succeed out there just as the first team would in a tie game late in the 4th quarter.
I have already voiced my concerns about the ignorant acceptance of the SEC being the premier conference in college football, but I am starting to think the attraction with this group of schools is getting to be over the top.
It is enough that we criticize Big Ten teams for “cupcakes” like Arizona State (Pac-10, ever heard of it?) while allowing the likes of LSU and Auburn to schedule Chattanooga and Louisiana-Monroe without objection. But the double standard in terms of defining what constitutes “running up the score” is unacceptable. What one conference does to prove its prowess cannot be accepted as unsportsmanlike when done by a team in another, let alone when done in a conference game.
On the surface, Wisconsin moved further back because ASU and Kansas are slightly better opponents than Indiana and the BCS no longer allows the computers to account for score spread.
Still, when I hear people accuse this Badger program of running up the score, I cant help but think that there is a deeper level of disrespect, not only for Wisconsin, but for the Big Ten in general, that is truly keeping the Badgers outside the top-5.
With BCS rankings being the tiebreaker should OSU, MSU, and Wisconsin all win out, I am sure that the controversy is only beginning. In the meantime, at least basketball is back.
Monday, November 15, 2010
The Fallacy of CNN
While the reality of the elections, and of other political stories in today’s partisan cable news probably lay somewhere in the middle, CNN tried but failed to articulate this reality. As has become too often the problem with today’s media, “balanced” coverage is being interpreted not as unpartisan news reported, but rather as bipartisan news reporting. Conventional wisdom has grown to accept MSNBC as representative of the left and Fox News as the platform of the right. But CNN’s role in this cable news mess is much less clear. While many have characterized them as the “moderates”, this is a completely misinformed characterization. CNN, in trying to find the “middle ground”, has chosen to use the political keyword of “bipartisan”, displaying what they see as objectivity by giving each side equal representation. Ignoring the possibility that equal exposure may not necessarily be representative of national opinion, the thing that CNN is missing is nonpartisan information. Rather than giving viewers the news in a manner freed from the party talking points that comprise MSNBC and Fox News’s coverage, CNN has simply chosen to give viewers what amounts to a sampling of talking points from both sides. Going back to the discussion of the 2010 midterm elections, CNN’s coverage was in essence a highlight show of what was being broadcast on the other two cable news networks. Anderson Cooper, on the same night that Fox was highlighting the FreedomWorks memo calling (again) for a health care repeal, covered that same “story”, justifying their position in the “middle” by immediately moving on to coverage of the “Democratic response” (Anderson Cooper 360, November 5, 2010).
This tendency of CNN to claim that the “Crossfire” approach of involving both sides of the aisle does indeed serve as a form of objective reporting is exactly the point made famously by Jon Stewart and others that led to the eventual cancellation of the show with that exact title, Crossfire. Still, CNN did nothing to change the content of their broadcasts, essentially adding a moderator in the form of an Anderson Cooper or a Wolf Blitzer to moderate the same argument between the same partisan pundits (in fact, Paul Begala of Crossfire was the man responsible for this “Democratic response” described earlier). The partisan nature of MSNBC and Fox News aside, cable news is dangerously misinterpreting bipartisan coverage as nonpartisan coverage, a mistake that could mean the end of truly objective television news reporting.
This tendency of CNN to claim that the “Crossfire” approach of involving both sides of the aisle does indeed serve as a form of objective reporting is exactly the point made famously by Jon Stewart and others that led to the eventual cancellation of the show with that exact title, Crossfire. Still, CNN did nothing to change the content of their broadcasts, essentially adding a moderator in the form of an Anderson Cooper or a Wolf Blitzer to moderate the same argument between the same partisan pundits (in fact, Paul Begala of Crossfire was the man responsible for this “Democratic response” described earlier). The partisan nature of MSNBC and Fox News aside, cable news is dangerously misinterpreting bipartisan coverage as nonpartisan coverage, a mistake that could mean the end of truly objective television news reporting.
Friday, November 5, 2010
This is why we need to be smarter
Since when is the Indian press a legitimate source of American news? Ironic that it is the GOP, the party that is "dedicated" to "saving American jobs from outsourcing" that is now outsourcing its sources.
Well, there is a reason why we dont generally look to the Indian press from American political news and unfortunately, our worthless media set cant even see that nowadays.
I expect the Republicans, especially the nuts on the right like Bachmann and Huckabee, to be dump (and devious) enough to go on the air quoting an Indian report that the Obama trip to Asia is costing $200 million a day. What I did not expect, and what I think is indicative of where we've dropped to as a nation, is that the press would treat this as an even quasi-legitimate argument.
Not to mention the fact that the same article erroneously said that 10% of the entire US Navy is off the coast of Mumbai for security, this is an absurd perversion of the national discourse. It is a distraction from reality and a feeble attempt at ignoring the responsibility that this so-called "mandate" election has no placed on the good ole' party of no.
What is sad is that our media, the barrier to American stupidity, is no longer able to leave these stories to the tabloids. Even though Anderson Cooper thankfully noted that the facts and figures Bachmann brought forth in his interview of her are highly exaggerated, the mere fact that CNN allowed her interview to air is indicative of how bad things have gotten. Whether we like it or not, the press has to stop people like this from saying things like this. Because now that Bachmann got her 15 minutes of fame, a couple hundred thousand Americans will believe that the US Navy is now off the coast of Mumbai and that their tax dollars are going to fund rooms at the Taj (better expenditure than tax cuts for the wealthy, at least its a nice hotel).
As with anything having to do with the perversion of democracy that is 21st century America, I could go on and on. It is sad that our nation, the beacon of hope for the 20th century, is now the disaster that it is, the laughing stock of the western world. Come on America, wake up already.
Well, there is a reason why we dont generally look to the Indian press from American political news and unfortunately, our worthless media set cant even see that nowadays.
I expect the Republicans, especially the nuts on the right like Bachmann and Huckabee, to be dump (and devious) enough to go on the air quoting an Indian report that the Obama trip to Asia is costing $200 million a day. What I did not expect, and what I think is indicative of where we've dropped to as a nation, is that the press would treat this as an even quasi-legitimate argument.
Not to mention the fact that the same article erroneously said that 10% of the entire US Navy is off the coast of Mumbai for security, this is an absurd perversion of the national discourse. It is a distraction from reality and a feeble attempt at ignoring the responsibility that this so-called "mandate" election has no placed on the good ole' party of no.
What is sad is that our media, the barrier to American stupidity, is no longer able to leave these stories to the tabloids. Even though Anderson Cooper thankfully noted that the facts and figures Bachmann brought forth in his interview of her are highly exaggerated, the mere fact that CNN allowed her interview to air is indicative of how bad things have gotten. Whether we like it or not, the press has to stop people like this from saying things like this. Because now that Bachmann got her 15 minutes of fame, a couple hundred thousand Americans will believe that the US Navy is now off the coast of Mumbai and that their tax dollars are going to fund rooms at the Taj (better expenditure than tax cuts for the wealthy, at least its a nice hotel).
As with anything having to do with the perversion of democracy that is 21st century America, I could go on and on. It is sad that our nation, the beacon of hope for the 20th century, is now the disaster that it is, the laughing stock of the western world. Come on America, wake up already.
Monday, November 1, 2010
No, Seriously, Where has the Sanity Gone?
As with most able-minded Americans, I really should be getting to work and not writing about politics. I have three mid-terms coming up and honestly this is going to squeeze my time a bit. But thankfully I am a college student and have the energy to recover and the time to do as I please.
So anyway, I have to say that as election day looms tomorrow, I am worried about the direction this country is going. Not because I fear Republican leadership or a right-hand turn in national politics. No, I am worried about who is leading that rightward shift and why it is continuing to occur.
As I noted in my earlier post, I cant seem to grasp the concept of why our nation has chosen to ostracize intelligence and take on an ideology of the masses. This so-called "Tea Party" movement is garnering the most attention and is truly becoming a threat to the stability of our national government.
Ignoring the realities of their contradictory platform, this homogeneous group of older, white (except for the token minority, always prominently featured in PR), lower-middle class, uneducated Americans is a formidable foe to the progress of the United States.
We have two basic problems right now: partisanship and failing education. Unfortunately, the rise of the "tea party" is both indicative of and potentially enhancing both of these basic dilemmas.
First of all, the ignorant supporters of this movement have allowed themselves to be hijacked by corporate interests. Embarking on a policy of uncompromising political opposition to anything the Democratic administration puts forward, these so-called "constitutionalists" have served as bait, thrown into the political pool by the elite right in hopes of the Democrats taking the bait and responding with a reluctance to push forward in the face of an obvious mandate for social change in the aftermath of the 2008 election.
And take the bait they did. Allowing themselves to be ambushed by these "average Americans" throughout a summer of town-hall meetings, the Dem's were pushed off of their liberal agenda on health care, battered in what ended up being a largely successful stimulus (although the ignorance of an uneducated populous has failed to recognize the brilliance of this engineered turnaround, albeit slow to develop), and twisted into a foreign policy that, while identical to that of the Bush administration, comes off to the uneducated as weak and "un-American".
Not realizing that they are serving the very interests that seek to prevent their own achievement of the so-called "American Dream", the very interests that continue to outsource jobs and resist job growth, these "Tea Partiers" have taken over the national dialogue and hijacked national politics.
But the even more dangerous implication of the right-wing rise is the fact that it coincides with a growing problem of inadequate education that seems poised only to heighten the ignorance of the American public.
THINK ABOUT IT: An uneducated movement is pushing for the election of candidates who's agenda includes an even further ignorance of education as a government priority, not just on the national stage (which is a debatable subject), but also on the state level. As the right gains more power, power obtained by a necessarily-uninformed populous coming to the polls, the lack of intelligence is sure to continue growing as education is ignored, a trend that itself will further strengthen the political prowess of the right.
This part of the dilemma could honestly keep me writing for hours on end, but as with most of us outside the so-called "tea party", I have work to do and not much time to do it (I would love to have done my own "Tea Party Express" ride across the country, but I have something called a job). Anyway, for the 2 people who read this blog: go vote tomorrow. I dont care who you vote for, just vote and vote with intelligence. Anyone who can justify their vote in a well-written sentence has my respect, even if that vote is for a nutjob like Rand Paul. The problem I have is that I fear the number of people able to do that is quickly dwindling.
So anyway, I have to say that as election day looms tomorrow, I am worried about the direction this country is going. Not because I fear Republican leadership or a right-hand turn in national politics. No, I am worried about who is leading that rightward shift and why it is continuing to occur.
As I noted in my earlier post, I cant seem to grasp the concept of why our nation has chosen to ostracize intelligence and take on an ideology of the masses. This so-called "Tea Party" movement is garnering the most attention and is truly becoming a threat to the stability of our national government.
Ignoring the realities of their contradictory platform, this homogeneous group of older, white (except for the token minority, always prominently featured in PR), lower-middle class, uneducated Americans is a formidable foe to the progress of the United States.
We have two basic problems right now: partisanship and failing education. Unfortunately, the rise of the "tea party" is both indicative of and potentially enhancing both of these basic dilemmas.
First of all, the ignorant supporters of this movement have allowed themselves to be hijacked by corporate interests. Embarking on a policy of uncompromising political opposition to anything the Democratic administration puts forward, these so-called "constitutionalists" have served as bait, thrown into the political pool by the elite right in hopes of the Democrats taking the bait and responding with a reluctance to push forward in the face of an obvious mandate for social change in the aftermath of the 2008 election.
And take the bait they did. Allowing themselves to be ambushed by these "average Americans" throughout a summer of town-hall meetings, the Dem's were pushed off of their liberal agenda on health care, battered in what ended up being a largely successful stimulus (although the ignorance of an uneducated populous has failed to recognize the brilliance of this engineered turnaround, albeit slow to develop), and twisted into a foreign policy that, while identical to that of the Bush administration, comes off to the uneducated as weak and "un-American".
Not realizing that they are serving the very interests that seek to prevent their own achievement of the so-called "American Dream", the very interests that continue to outsource jobs and resist job growth, these "Tea Partiers" have taken over the national dialogue and hijacked national politics.
But the even more dangerous implication of the right-wing rise is the fact that it coincides with a growing problem of inadequate education that seems poised only to heighten the ignorance of the American public.
THINK ABOUT IT: An uneducated movement is pushing for the election of candidates who's agenda includes an even further ignorance of education as a government priority, not just on the national stage (which is a debatable subject), but also on the state level. As the right gains more power, power obtained by a necessarily-uninformed populous coming to the polls, the lack of intelligence is sure to continue growing as education is ignored, a trend that itself will further strengthen the political prowess of the right.
This part of the dilemma could honestly keep me writing for hours on end, but as with most of us outside the so-called "tea party", I have work to do and not much time to do it (I would love to have done my own "Tea Party Express" ride across the country, but I have something called a job). Anyway, for the 2 people who read this blog: go vote tomorrow. I dont care who you vote for, just vote and vote with intelligence. Anyone who can justify their vote in a well-written sentence has my respect, even if that vote is for a nutjob like Rand Paul. The problem I have is that I fear the number of people able to do that is quickly dwindling.
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