Feds want to manipulate the NCAA again

[tornado]

This is becoming a constant effort-- remember this from a couple months ago??

http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18158

NOW the feds want to step in and mandate how the NCAA runs their National Championships and playoffs !!
Will it never end?? Why do they have to control everything?? don't they have some baseball player jacking homers on steroids to go after??

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6479279

[amettrick]

so you're in favor of the nonsense way they currently decide the college football "champion"?

[SFP]

so you're in favor of the nonsense way they currently decide the college football "champion"?

I'm not but it is not the Feds problem to solve. They could just stop funding higher ed to make a point but actually trying to change it through legislation and what not, is a waste of time, when there are much larger issues.

Do we really want a society where we need the Feds to come and solve every little issue? I for one do not and for the most part I'd rather them do less and perhaps do the things our founding fathers expected the feds to do such as protecting our liberties and serving we the people and not special interest.

[AE Braves Fan]

Right on SFP!!

[amettrick]

I agree with your overall point SFP, but when you're talking about a multi-million dollar a year business, it no longer counts as a little issue.

[algotrader]

So we can complain about a private institution unfairly giving an advantage to some (big school) customers over others(mid majors) but when something is done about it we complain about that too?

The Justice Department's antitrust division is specifically laid out to provide regulatory guidance to businesses. That is what they do.

So complain about the unfair practices of the NCAA, or the government trying to provide regulatory guidance to it. But not both. Because it is a bit contradictory.

[BU Firsty]

Can't those Republicans - Shurtleff and Hatch - stop pushing the feds to get involved in every little thing!

Some interesting quotes:

"Goodness gracious, with all that's going on in the world right now and with national and state budgets being what they are, it seems like a waste of taxpayers' money to have the government looking into how college football games are played," from Bill Hancock, the BCS executive director.

"Bob Williams said Emmert has consistently said the NCAA is willing to move to a playoff format if schools with the nation's major football programs want to go that route."

Sure those guys - the Director of the BCS and the "major football programs" are objective.

This is huge "business" and is under investigation for not only the unfairness of the system, but the not-for-profit status and excessive compensation of those in charge. It is well worth investigating.

[tornado]

.... It is well worth investigating.

because....??

there are no claims of people being scammed or cheated -- you admit people are paid well and hundreds of millions are fed into the economy via NCAA events...
The operation is run totally by private means and no government subsidies and handouts are involved, and the vast majority of people are happy with the way it runs...
sure, there will always be a few whiners, but do we need the government people, as inept as they are in doing just about everything...stepping in and telling a successful operation like NCAA how to run itself?

If anyone thinks letting the feds have their say will make NCAA run better and everyone'll be happier - then I have a health care plan to sell you.....

btw-- breaking news on the west coach -- JL hired?

[SFP]

I agree with your overall point SFP, but when you're talking about a multi-million dollar a year business, it no longer counts as a little issue.

They could better spend their time on the billion dollar bailout to private financial organizations. I'm sure there is something there they could get involved with to make the average tax payer better off. The NCAA as much as I disagree with them are a legitimate business that does not take taxpayer handouts. I'm betting their problem is that they do not give enough to political candidates so they are being put through a shakedown. As soon as they start contributing you'll see those politicians go away.

[amckillip]

So wait, for instance, the state of Illinois cannot afford to pay it's bills, and is leaving U of I underfunded, but an organization that brings in TONS of money on the backs of public institutions is in violation of numerous anti-trust laws, and it's not worth a look-see? The pure sports aspect of it, the government shouldn't care less about. But the funneling of money to Alabama instead of Idaho because they're part of the good 'ol boys club and the fact that tons of money is being skimmed of the top is a huge issue and very worthy of public investigation.

[SFP]

So wait, for instance, the state of Illinois cannot afford to pay it's bills, and is leaving U of I underfunded, but an organization that brings in TONS of money on the backs of public institutions is in violation of numerous anti-trust laws, and it's not worth a look-see? The pure sports aspect of it, the government shouldn't care less about. But the funneling of money to Alabama instead of Idaho because they're part of the good 'ol boys club and the fact that tons of money is being skimmed of the top is a huge issue and very worthy of public investigation.

No one has to play or do business with the NCAA they are given a choice. How the state of Illinois wants to do their business is their choice. The institutions have options plain and simple. I'm not taking up for the NCAA here and if you have read any of my threads you would see I really believe they are a bunch of greedy bast%^ds. I just do not believe it is the governments job to get involved. How about for once the fans make their objections felt by not attending games and tuning out. Now that would be a much more powerful and quicker way to make the changes we want.

I do not want to live in a Nanny State and by prescribing to that I will sometimes not get what I want. I can live with that.

[Headless Bobcat]

I do not want to live in a Nanny State and by prescribing to that I will sometimes not get what I want. I can live with that.

Good luck living in a country without anti-trust laws.

No...the government doesn't care how an NCAA champion is crowned. But they DO CARE when big bucks are on the line and unfair business practices are determining who gets those dollars. It certainly is the government's job to step in a play referee when there are unfair business practices hurting individuals (in this case, people working in smaller athletic programs).

The feds review anti-trust cases every day. This is only unusual to you because it's a high-profile entity like the NCAA.

[Headless Bobcat]

The NCAA as much as I disagree with them are a legitimate business

I think you're just viewing this wrong. The NCAA is not the target. BCS schools collectively are the target.

The Feds will view the BCS schools as individual businesses. If they're plotting together to limit open competition...well that's collusion...and it's illegal.

This is a case for the Feds.

[Beninator]

No one has to play or do business with the NCAA they are given a choice. How the state of Illinois wants to do their business is their choice. The institutions have options plain and simple. I'm not taking up for the NCAA here and if you have read any of my threads you would see I really believe they are a bunch of greedy bast%^ds. I just do not believe it is the governments job to get involved. How about for once the fans make their objections felt by not attending games and tuning out. Now that would be a much more powerful and quicker way to make the changes we want.

I do not want to live in a Nanny State and by prescribing to that I will sometimes not get what I want. I can live with that.

I am more in agreement with Amckillip on this one. I think that businesses and in this case the NCAA need a degree of checks and balances. All one has to do is to look back to 2008 to see what happens when regulations are eased or ignored.

[tornado]

Good luck living in a country without anti-trust laws. ....

Some laws - but they should only be used where there is massive harm being done by monopolies...

anti-trust laws do in effect penalize success -- and it is arguable if they result in any benefit to the consumer

The laws have only been sparsely used -- such as in the breakup of Bell Telephone and against Microsoft..
and yet most consumers have little tangible benefits in their hands to show for it as all the technology we have now was developed despite the anti-trust suits...how many pieces of electronics do you own that were actually made in the US??

Lastly -- the use of anti-trust laws against the very successful companies and technology developers in the US this past quarter of a century have led to the hampering of further development in the US and the rise of many foreign companies that then take over and who are NOT as controlled by laws in their nation..(eg...China)

thus the use of anti-trust laws has led DIRECTLY to the loss of supremacy of many US corporations and the rise to prominence of foreign corporations that have taken an enormous amount of their business....thus leading to massive economic losses inside the US and the massive flow of money to other nations.

You can, in part, thank the anti-trust laws for making American companies far less competetive in the world and for us being owned by China.