Goin' Bowlin' 2011: AP Champion (Unbridled Opinion)

I read crap headlines like this and it gets under my skin: "Some voters might not pick BCS winner" http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls11/story/_/id/7424042/allstate-bcs-championship-game-some-ap-voters-not-pick-bcs-winner-no-1

What a bunch of horseshit. Who cares? While I'm tired of hearing the endless bitching about how the BCS blows goats because it's so unfair, no one does a damn thing about it. I don't see any schools stepping aside and saying "we respectfully decline an invitation to a BCS level game until some sort of playoff system is devised and implemented." No, they'll gladly complain this year about being left out, then suck at the BCS teet when they make it in the next season. But the bigger asinine story is the one regarding the all-powerful AP voters and how they might vote for someone other than the BCS winner as the national champion.

I'll say again, "who cares?" I really don't give two farts about the eventual winner of the SEC rematch. I'm sure the TV will be on in my house next Monday night and it'll be tuned to ESPN, but I just don't care. Yes, I'm one of those people that would have preferred to see OK State get a shot over Alabama. Or Stanford. Oregon. Wisconsin. Boise State. Pretty much fill-in-the-blank-anybody-but-Alabama. Probably slight prejudice. So what? I think any of those match-ups would prove to be more interesting. Perhaps even draw larger ratings. We'll have to wait and see. But despite having said all that, no matter how I feel personally, the team that wins on the field at the Superdome will be the one and only champion. AP or no AP.

Politicians are decided by voting. Champions of football are not. You know what you get when there's a split BCS and AP champ? Obnoxious USC fans telling you they almost won three national titles.

I live in L.A. I'll often hear Trojans proclaim to my face, due to my Texas roots, "if it wasn't for Vince Young, we'd have had three national championships this decade." How quickly one actual championship becomes nearly three. One on the field against the Sooners in 2005. The one in 2004 came from AP voters. LSU won that year; looking toward Monday, they can actually say they've nearly won three in a decade. And then the 41-38 loss in 2006, when those same Trojans all claim to have known from their seats in the Rose Bowl that VY was running, but couldn't yell loud enough for their coaches to hear. One championship. But the AP voters have empowered a fan base of knuckleheads to proclaim that they were inches from three.

That's OK. Approximate conversation I had with a Trojan around mid-season this year:

TROJAN: So, think your Horns are going to be worth anything this year?
ME: Yeah, I think we've got some rebuilding ahead of us, but things are looking up.
(then she...she...decides to get personal)
TROJAN: You didn't do so hot last year.
(ok...)
ME: Well, at least one of us can be Bowl eligible this year.
TROJAN: Bowls are for salad.

Huh? Not sure if this is a Trojan thing or L.A., but almost makes me long for interaction with Aggies instead. Almost. I guess Bowls are for salad if you can live on AP voters giving you fictional titles.

And I say that with all honesty. If I were a player on that field, an AP title would feel like a participation trophy. That's nice. What does it do for me? No one pulls on a victory hat and t-shirt and sprays Gatorade for an AP title.

Bowls are for salad but some dudes who write for The Daily Press or CSN Bay Area are going to decide a football champion with a vote? No thanks. I don't like Alabama, I'd prefer to see someone else in their place, but if they win, they win. Crown them. Again (fuckers). End of story. Any other list seems as meaningful as a Maxim "100 Hottest Women" list.

Do they still make Maxim?