| 14 December 2010
I thought we had reached the heights of incompetence when the NCAA made Cam Newton the first officially sanctioned professional football player in college ranks recently. Well, FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar might be an even worse decision but for most of those reading this that is not such a big deal. I was not ready for people in positions of power in American sport to make another decision as bad as the Cam Newton decision. I didn't think it was possible. Then the Big Ten powers that be came really close to making me forget the incompetence of the NCAA when they revealed the new names for the Big Ten divisions and the new logo.
Fans were excited about this. Kicking around names that went from outstanding like the Plains division and the Lakes division, to the stupid, to the honorary. I don't know anyone who was for north and south or east and west especially when the chances the divisions were going to line up that way were not very good. Recently it was floated that the Big Ten was leaning toward the Plains division and the Lakes division. Considering the geography of the region I thought it was such a great idea. College conferences so often are tied to the region geographically. The South East Conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Pac-10, etc. It is a tradition. The Big Ten has always leaned toward staying with its traditions. So where did they come up with the Legends and Leaders divisions? Did they get suggestions from the same geniuses who decided to change the names from Division 1A and Division 1AA to Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision? Quick. Don't look back at the sentence. Give me the new names for Division 1A and Division 1AA. I knew you couldn't do it.
In the video presentation Bucknuts Steve Helwagen said the Big Ten was trying to be about more than just football and basketball. But that is what this is. We are talking about the sports programs in the Big Ten. If the Universities want to be about more than that I could not agree more. I applaud any effort from any college and university to have an impact on the lives of its students and on the community. The Big Ten conference was put together to play sports not to create good will in the community. The Big Ten Network was created to show Big Ten sports not broadcast community outreach programs. This was supposed to be about sports. Why couldn't we just leave it that way? I do not see where giving names to the divisions that make sense to no one outside the decision making process makes the Big Ten be about more than what it is, which is the sports arm of twelve universities in the great lakes and the great plains regions.
I almost forgot. The logo. Did the men making the decision come out of the meeting wearing polyester suits? With all the computer graphic technology out there and they come up with a logo looks like some font they borrowed off the front of a Bee Gees album.
I see sports sanctioning bodies around the world making nonsensical decisions so often these days that I expect them to do the wrong thing. From the International Olympic Committee to FIFA to the NCAA I can't remember a recent decision that made sense to the fans. I do not see where they made the sports we love better. This farce from the Big Ten powers that be put them in that illustrious company.
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