I like Ivan Maisel. He’s a good writer who tries to avoid spouting the company line when he can – not an easy task when you’re employed at the WWL. So I got a kick out of this exchange yesterday:
Chris (Phoenix)
Ivan,So, you say it’s a control issue. What role (if any) do you see ESPN playing in the implementation of at least a Plus 1 format which would use the set up we already have and substitute the current NCG with a set of winners from a BCS National Semi-Final? As ESPN is distributing the $$$ for the conferences to control, I would think that The Worldwide Leader has a say, no?
Ivan Maisel
(2:30 PM)Valid question, Chris, and if I didn’t work here, I’d answer it.
That’s pretty good. As is Maisel’s summary of what the BCS/playoff battle comes down to:
Arthur (Atlanta)
When folks in the media say that “money” is the reason why we will never see a college football playoff, explain exactly what that means. Are the BCS conferences making too much now and are afraid a playoff would pay them less, or is it more giving up control/power than just strictly dollars and cents?
Ivan Maisel
(2:01 PM)I can tell you what I mean when I write/say it: not the money per se but the CONTROL of the money. The BCS allows the commissioners of the major conferences to control the money, just as they did under the bowl system. If the NCAA ran a playoff, as they do in every other sport, then the commissioners and their members fear that they would lose control of the money.
4 Comments
July 14, 2009 at 9:47 am
[...] a playoff would suck for the SEC: the NCAA would control the money. Blutarsky found this excellent explanation from an Ivan Maisel chat, “If the NCAA ran a playoff, as [...]
July 14, 2009 at 10:00 am
I still say the BCS sould control the tournament in the same way the countrol the BCS Bowls, giving themselves more money and more control.
Not going to get into it today….
July 14, 2009 at 10:58 am
I think you’re absolutely right on that point, Mike. Frankly, I believe that the conference commissioners/TV people/bowl organizers are overcome with complacency that they don’t feel like figuring out the logistics of change when the current system has padded their wallets so well and they already understand how to make it run like a well-oiled machine.
July 15, 2009 at 9:44 am
[...] At least he’s frank about it. It’s odd to us that ESPN even has an online side anymore; aside from Bruce Feldman’s quality online work, they appear to be mired balls-deep in the hottest websites of 1999, and only lack spinning gumball light gifs and “Congratulations! You’ve won a free iPod” audio ads to complete the picture. Yet they still have online chats, and sometimes their employees will actually admit during said online chats that their employers have some serious and far-reaching influence over the structure of the games they cover. [...]