Members of the U.S. Senate surely have better things to do than to hold hearings on how college football's national champion is chosen. Yet, on Tuesday, such hearings are scheduled to begin.
Some senators even have the audacity to issue warnings that if the current Bowl Championship Series system is not abandoned, Congress may order that a new system be adopted.
With everything else on its plate, Congress is worried about the selection process to name a college football champion? Are they serious? It's not enough that President Obama and the federal government have intervened in the banking industry, taken control of automobile companies, now Congress is ready to assume control of sports, too? Then again, Congress has done a bang-up job when it meddled in baseball and other sports (insert your own joke or sarcasm here).
We can hear the floor debate now.
"The senator from Florida is recognized for two minutes to discuss the intricacies of the spread offense."
"Senator Conrad, what's your opinion of the proposal before the Senate requiring that national championship teams come only from Florida and Tennessee?"
Let's see: The Senate is scheduled to debate a massive, billion-dollar "cap and trade" bill this summer. A national health care system is being discussed. International relations with any number of foreign countries are a major concern. And the economy still is a mess.
Yet some senators are willing to interrupt their deliberations on these important issues to discuss how college football names its champion every year.
If they keep it up, they may be in danger of drawing a penalty - roughing the taxpayer. Our advice: Get back to work on the real issues before Congress.