College Football Playoffs

Pols Turn Up Heat on BCS "God Bless the United States of America, and a College Football Playoff System!" How hated is the BCS? Pick a current crisis: unemployment, war, health care, the economy, gas prices--with all of that going on, two members of Congress and one Senator yesterday formed a bipartisan effort...to support the "Playoff PAC," a legit federal political action committee with one goal: pressure the government to end the BCS and introduce a playoff system.  Before being elected president, then-Senator Obama appeared on Monday Night Football and pledged to fight for a college-football playoff system. Yesterday, he was given real support from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah--home of non-BCS Conference powerhouses BYU and Utah), Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii--home to the non-BCS Warriors), and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas--upset that the Longhorns were left out of the championship game in 2008). Will anything come of this?  Manny Ramirez would say yes. Congressional hearings on steroids in baseball scared the players' union to the point where they implemented 50-game suspensions for the first test failure for its members. Will we see a playoff anytime soon? Bowl games don't acquiesce to things quietly, as we learned with the Rose Bowl, but for a few days, it's a relief to unite as a country against a bully that seems weakened and beatable: the BCS.

My Scoreboard

BCS Challenge

Insider Knowledge: Darren Heitner With the Tailgate's $100,000 BCS Challenge under way (deadline is Oct. 31), we promised we'd ask some famous names how they'd fill out their entries, and give you a sneak peek each day to help you with your entry. The Challenge is open to all, and free, so send it along to anyone and everyone. Today's picks come from Darren Heitner, an up-and-coming player agent (he reps Buster Douglas) and the author of SportsAgentBlog.com. 1. Florida - I bleed orange and blue. 2. Texas - Jesus is a bigger fan of Florida. Ask Tebow. 3. USC - Too close to Pasadena. 4. Boise State - What will they do if they can't play on the Blue? 5. Alabama - Unfortunate losers of the real national title game, the SEC Championship. 6. Miami - It's all about the U, which these days means being mediocre. 7. Cincinnati - Bet you can't name more than one starter. 8. LSU - Had to have three SEC teams in Top 10. 9. Oregon - Quack. 10. Penn State - JoePa has another 50 years to win another national title. 11. Georgia Tech - All three girls who go there will attend the bowl game. 12. BYU - Steve Young's sleeper pick every year. 13. Houston - Yes, they have a football team, and strong offense. Just no D. 14. Utah - Uncomfortable being so close to BYU in rankings. 15. Iowa - Because there's nothing else to do in Iowa.

Worth a Click

Site of the Week: Old School Nintendo It's the time of year for reflection. There are only four baseball teams left, and Donovan McNabb has already been injured and returned. One way to capture perfectly the spirit of this season is to play old-school NES sports games at work while no one's watching. Nintendo8.com might be the best freaking website in the world. No downloads, no plug-ins, and best of all no having to take the game out, blow in it, blow in the Nintendo and try again. We kissed several work hours goodbye playing noticed Double Dribble, Blades of Steel, Tecmo Super Bowl...they're all there. And that's just the sports. The site has hundreds of other NES games, in categories like shoot 'em up, adventure, arcade and...puzzle. So go, now, and play some games, and marvel at how Astro Boy looks suspiciously like MegaMan, sans helmet. (Seriously? No lawsuit there?) -- Jim O'Connor

Couch Duty

Watch This Tonight "Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?" 8:00 PM, ESPN The latest in ESPN's increasingly brilliant "30 for 30" series pins the blame on Donald Trump for the USFL's collapse. Yankees at Angels, 7:30 PM, Fox Game 4! Big Break Disney Golf, 10:00 PM, Golf Channel It won't have the "hot girl" angle like previous "Big Break" seasons, but it does have Susan Lucci and Rudy Giuliani's sons battling it out for a shot at the PGA Tour.