Robert Does Not Want To Rap (Part II)

Or, Good Leaders Lead

And Have Opinions

Mr. B. has previously written on OurLeader's reluctance to face hard issues in his dealings with the press. For example see: "Robert Cannot Come Out To Rap" and the related piece: "It's Not Easy Being Green, Or Why Robert Doesn't Want To Rap."

OurLeader is a member of the NCAA board of directors member responsible for overseeing the athletics policies for Division I schools. The otherworldliness of this fact, given the situation at BigU, has previously been explored in the post: "One Can Only Marvel."

Chip Scoggins in the Strib writes today:

The goal of the BCS is to determine — through a combination of human poll voters and six computer rankings — the No. 1 and No. 2 teams and match them in the title game. Problem is, it’s rarely clear cut, particularly this season. Parity reigned and made a mess of the system.

A so-called plus-one model — essentially a Final Four — has gained some traction among the sport’s power brokers, but even that proposal has its share of detractors who believe the current BCS system works well enough to keep in place.

Pac 10 Commissioner Tom Hansen told The Sporting News last summer that his conference would walk away from the BCS if it adopted a plus-one model because it could damage a longstanding alliance with the Rose Bowl. Ohio State President Gordon Gee was equally blunt when asked recently about a playoff.

“They’ll have to wrench a playoff system out of my cold, dead hands,” he said.

Critics of a playoff consistently say they want to protect the importance of the regular season, prevent making football a two-semester sport and preserve the current bowl structure.

“Basketball involves few players and covers only a part of each semester, whereas football already takes up more than an entire semester, with practices starting in August well before classes begin and with some bowl games going into January,” Penn State President Graham Spanier wrote in an e-mail. “Presidents do not wish to encroach into the spring semester for academic reasons.”

Northwestern President Henry Bienen said he isn’t opposed to a plus-one format as long as it doesn’t expand beyond that.

“I like the BCS system because it preserves the bowl system, but I’m not against a plus-one,” he said. “I think it would be reasonable for two teams to have one more game. I don’t mind tinkering with [the system].”

University presidents often voice concerns over the academic issues associated with playoffs. They argue that a playoff might stretch the season into the second semester, which they won’t allow, even though basketball bridges both semesters. University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks declined an interview request for this story.

So Chip was Driven to Discover (SM), but Robert did not want to play ball. Well-known presidents of some other big time universities could apparently make the time to communicate with Chip. But OurLeader declined to have a conversation with a writer for our local paper. Good leaders lead and have opinions on relevant matters that they communicate to stakeholders - such as the local newspaper...

Happy New Year from Mr. Bonzo

ps: In other developments the Strib reports the arrest of a Gopher football player:

U football player charged with assault

By Jim Foti, Star Tribune

Last update: December 31, 2007 - 11:31 PM

A University of Minnesota football player has been charged with two counts of fifth-degree assault after an altercation early Sunday outside a bar in McLeod County.