by White-Night

Created on: January 23, 2009

For years now, sportscasters and analysts have been debating over the arguably corrupt and unethical college bowl system. Normally, only teams that start out the season in the top 10, let alone the top 25, have a fighting chance for a trip to the Rose Bowl. Heated discussions go on about this subject comparing it to the NFL and its playoff system. However, who's to say that the NFL got it right in the first place? Now I wouldn't necessarily say that the National Football League's playoff system is "all" wrong, but a few minor touch ups here and there wouldn't hurt.

For the most part, I'd say that the NFL has done an excellent job in their playoffs. The structure of the playoff tournament is sound. The four teams that top out their divisions are automatically in and guaranteed to at least play one home game, and then the next two teams with the best records of that conference that did not obtain a division title make it to the wildcard round. Some people find that to be absurd because teams that earn a winning record, higher than that of a team in a weak division, can miss out on the playoffs and the wildcard completely. I say that it is fair because the first goal by any teams stardards to make the playoffs is to win their division, and no matter how weak a division is, it's still a challenging task regardles.

Do you need an example? Here's one: The San Diego Chargers posted a barely respectable 8-8 record, but still clinched their division title, while the Indianapolis Colts reached a wild card birth with a highly respectable 11-5 record. The two played each other, and in overtime, the 8-8 Chargers defeated the 11-5 Colts in San Diego - the Chargers home field. This goes to show that records do not mean anything when it comes to the playoffs. It's about how tough, healthy, and how mentally prepared a team is for the spotlight of the NFL's postseason. And what helps you get that prepared? Winning a division title perhaps?

You can argue that the system is rediculous, but fact of the matter is that the teams that should make it into the postseason definitively do, and even the ones that we don't believe should have made it - like this year's Super Bowl contending Arizona Cardinals - end up surprising us, and become a cindarella story.

So you might be asking yourself "Okay Mr. Smarty-Pants, what's wrong with the system then?". Well, as I said, I believe the NFL has done an excellent job with their playoffs when it comes to how the teams make it to the "Big Game". However, my problem stands on where the Super Bowl is played. It is planned a few years ahead of time what city will host the next Super Bowl: A neutral ground where the two best teams from each conference will battle it out for the right to call themselves Champions. Neutral grounds? Wait a minute! This year the game is between the PITTSBURGH Steelers and the ARIZONA Cardinals. Each team represents their city or state, so why should they be playing in TAMPA BAY? I don't see the Buccaneers in the Super Bowl this year, do you?

The point I'm trying to make is that other sports like baseball, basketball, even the sometimes forgotten sport of hockey, gives home field advantage to their teams that are fighting for a championship. Why not football? In the MLB, the All-Star game decides which League - American or National - will receive four out of seven home games. Same goes for the NHL and the NBA All-Star games. The NFL's Pro Bowl is nothing more than a vacation for the best players in the leauge. A time for them to enjoy the smell of the Hawaiian oceans, and the motion of the hula dancers hips. Why not give the game meaning, and award the winning conference home field advantage in the game-of-all-games?

It's just a thought.

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