It Ain't None Of Their Business
Talk about government being too big! Where does the US Justice Department get the authority to question or intervene in NCAA football? It sure isn't from the Constitution. Maybe they need to spend time where they have some authority and even that is doubtful. You know, places like interstate crimes. ~ Merg
Justice Department asks NCAA why it doesn't have football playoff
The Department of Justice has sent a letter to NCAA President Mark Emmert asking why the association does not have a major-college football playoff and it wants to know if Emmert believes some apsects of the Bowl Championship Series system do not serve the interests of fans, schools and players.
Christine A. Varney, assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, pointed out in the letter sent Tuesday that "serious questions" continue to arise as to whether the BCS system is consistent with federal antitrust laws.
Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff recently said he plans an antitrust lawsuit against the BCS, and Varney wrote that 21 professors have requested the Justice Department conduct an investigation of the system.
"Your views would be relevant in helping us to deternine the best course of action with regard to the BCS," Varney wrote.
NCAA spokesman Bob Williams, in a statement Wednesday, said that the association will respond when it receives the letter.
"It should be noted that President Emmert consistently has said ... that the NCAA is willing to help create a playoff format for Football Bowl Subdivision football if the FBS membership makes that decision," he said.
To date, the FBS schools have opted to stick with the bowl system.
Bill Hancock, the BCS executive director, has long expressed confidence that the BCS complies with the law. "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," he said.
However, Matthew Sanderson, a founder of PlayoffPAC.com., a politcal action committee pushing for a tournament, said: "I'm surprised the BCS still trots out that tired argument. This issue may not be of international importance, but this is a billion-dollar enterprise involving tax-exempt entities and institutions of higher learning."
Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday made reference to Varney's letter at a Senate hearing, while responding to a statement from Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who has been a critic of the BCS.
Hatch called the present system a "mess" and said that "privileged conferences" have tremendous advantages with the status quo.
"I just hope that you'll continue to follow up on that particular issue," he said. "It's an important one, I think."
"I don't disagree with you," Holder said. "You and I have talked about this issue, and I think I'm free to say that we have sent a letter to the NCAA about this issue and will be following up."
Penn State law professor Stephen Ross, an antitrust expert who once worked for the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department, called the letter "curious."
"It doesn't commit the Justice Department to anything," he said. "They haven't done any investigating, they just sent a letter."
Ross also found it "strange" for the department to make an inquiry public rather than send an investigator to talk to NCAA officials.
"They raise the question whether the BCS is operated not in a manner consistent with the principles of the antitrust law, as opposed to any suggestion in the letter that the BCS actually violates the antitrust law," Ross continued. "Then, (the letter) questions why doesn't the NCAA offer a particular product. Again, it's sort of a curious question. What is the antitrust conspiracy that would be illegal?"
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Originally Posted by JABIII
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