Between the unseemingly confluence of money and collegiate athletics and the ungangly Bowl Championship Series, the potential for abuse and scandal often seemed to lurk just below the surface.
Enter the Arizona Republic and allegations that employees of the Fiesta Bowl were reimbursed for campaign contributions to local politicians whose votes could influence contracts related to the bowl game. Some $38,000 were contributed to Arizona pols over the past decade from current and former Fiesta Bowl employees – hardly a massive sum either in sports or politics. But the scandal has managed to renew talk of a college football playoff series from some high-profile politicos with too much time on their hands:
Playoff PAC, a federal political action committee created by six college football fans with political expertise — including Matthew Sanderson, former campaign finance counsel to Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign — filed a complaint with the Arizona secretary of state’s office Tuesday after the Arizona Republic reported that five current and former Fiesta Bowl employees were illegally reimbursed after making political contributions…
“The Arizona Republic finally offered a glimpse into the BCS’s opaque family of organizations. What they saw wasn’t pretty — a tax-exempt organization blowing $4 million on boondoggles and reimbursing employees’ political contributions illegally,” said Matthew Martinez, a spokesman for the PAC.
Whether the BCS should meet the same fate as the metric system and parachute pants in this country or not, it shouldn’t be decided through a lawsuit. As flawed a result as the BCS often produces, a college playoff system is bound to be as messy. The NFL playoffs now take nearly over a month – how long is the NCAA willing to play 18-22 years olds who are accustom to 12-13 games at most in a season? How many teams would qualify for a playoff and how? Much like the BCS system, sports fans and pundits would again be debating the merits of undefeated smaller schools playing again the best from the larger traditional conferences.
The Fiesta Bowl scandal should be fully investigated – and not just by an “independent” counsel hired by the bowl’s authorities. Whether guilty or innocent, the Fiesta Bowl’s mixture of money and politics shouldn’t be influencing what ought to a sports-related decision.
Besides, if you have Time Warner Cable, you’re not seeing the game this year anyway.