Shame on the BCS and the NCAA

The Bowl Championship Series had a repeat in the national championship game for the first time in the history of the series.  Alabama and LSU met for the second time, by far one of the bigger snubs in college football.  Not to discredit the talent or second guess the outcome, considering it was a 21-0 victory, but the system severely punishes teams for losing because of the conference in which they play.  Alabama, essentially, got a pass for playing a weak schedule and was able to replay LSU, who beat two eventual conference champions and BCS bowl winners: West Virginia and Oregon.  On the outside looking in are programs such as Oklahoma State and Boise State knocked out of contention only because they failed to complete an undefeated season. 

To say something needs to change in the BCS is an understatement.  There are too many questions left at the end of the season.  The championship matchup is decided on paper, which unfairly penalizes teams from “weaker” conferences.   

It should matter that Boise State beat the SEC East champions, who Alabama did not play.  It should matter that Alabama allowed 21 points to a FCS school.  
It should matter that Alabama played the weakest team from the eastern division of the Southeastern Conference.  
It should matter that Alabama avoids playing strong competition and cites its conference schedule as the reason.  
It should matter that Oklahoma State lost an emotional game on the road after losing a member of its athletic staff to a tragedy.  
It should matter that Alabama lost at home and got a second chance to a national title that is supposed to be, well, a national title.  

It cannot be called a national title when most of the teams in the nation are constantly and systematically removed from the running before the season starts.  What is the point of the regular season when everyone else will only be playing for third place?

The right and wrong of coaching changes.

When handling coaching changes, schools have to consider many issues.  First is the overall upheaval of job transitions.  Second is what to do with current students.  Finally: what to do for the future of the program.  There have been recent coaching changes in NCAA sports that indicate major differences in how schools handle these transitions.

Because of a motorcycle accident, Arkansas is in search of a new football coach.  Bobby Petrino was dishonest about who was involved in the accident, which in turn resulted in an investigation of why he hired a particular football assistance.  However, the track record of this particular hire made this a more risky endeavor than the Arkansas AD realized at the time.  Petrino sort of backhanded his former school, Louisville, by visiting other schools undercover before unexpectedly leaving to coach the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL.  He leaves Atlanta by placing a note on the players’ locker room informing them of this decision to become the coach at Arkansas.  In his contract, Petrino had provisions to remain in good character to save the face of the program.  It is no surprise that he failed to live up to the expectations set forth and is now unemployed.  He may not have been hired under the best terms, but his firing is right on target.  This turns a preseason top 5 team into one of the biggest question marks of the college football season. 

Florida International, on the other hand, fires its basketball coach without any explanation.  Isiah Thomas is a hall of fame player fired with two years left on a 5 year contract.  He did not have a full roster of his own recruits but was bringing solid talent to an unattractive FIU program.  The administration provided no reason for his removal, though general consensus is because he only won 26 games in three seasons.  It took storied Indiana over 9 years to bounce back to prominence, and FIU has never been a relevant program in the sport.  To ask Thomas to work wonders in one-third the time it took a historically dominant program to return is ludicrous.  And his successor is a man with no head coaching experience or playing relevance.  In addition to this, FIU refuses to release the student athletes from their letters of intent to play at FIU. 

Athletic programs make changes for different reasons.  From Arkansas, there is a well-known reason why the head coach was fired.  At FIU, there are too many questions surrounding their head coaching change.  In order to sustain support, people need to trust that what you are doing as an athletic director does not appear to have a glimmer of underhandedness or dishonesty.  Penalties from the NCAA are not always so kind to this behavior.  Time will tell how successful these decisions were.  

Necessary changes to the NCAA

The NCAA is the governing body of collegiate athletes.  They currently operate with no true government involvement and are outside of the rules of the constitution.  As more issues and violations appear from colleges and universities all over the nation, it is time for serious changes in this entity. 

One of the more notable issues is the discrepancy between division I schools and the rest of the NCAA.  The Division I schools are moneymaking institutions banking millions of dollars in revenue annually.  This is from the growth and popularity of football and basketball at such schools as Alabama and Kansas.  With increases in revenue come opportunities to abuse rules and regulations by the NCAA.  In addition to this, advancements in technology and the use of social media introduce avenues and concerns not addressed in the rules.  On the other hand, there are other outdates rules and many rules are not universal for the member schools.  Changes are also as simple as rewording the language so that it is easier to understand and minimizes confusion or misapplication of rules.  This speaks to an effort to increase fairness no matter the size of a school or how much money it makes. 

The NCAA currently is not a “state-actor,” which means it is not an arm of the government.  This means that any rules, old and new, are not a violation of the constitutional rights of a school.  This was decided in 1988 when NCAA vs. Tarkanian established this status of the NCAA.  However, in a more recent case, the NCAA may have overstepped its bounds by collaborating with a university, an entity that is an arm of the government, to possibly get a coach fired because of false allegations.  NCAA investigators coerced students to lie on their coach.  No matter the reasoning behind the coercion, by acting with the school, the NCAA becomes in effect a state-actor.  The results of this case may go a long way in determining how the NCAA governs schools, sets regulations and punishments.  This may be just the window of opportunity many schools have been looking for to completely overhaul the NCAA. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/24/opinion/nocera-standing-up-to-the-ncaa.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/7752910/ncaa-looking-potential-governance-changes-division-i

Universal keys to negotiation

In the business world of today, computer software is priority for any business.  This is especially true for sports.  Whether analyzing player performance, ticket sales, or facility maintenance, a good computer infrastructure is fundamental in supporting the sports industry. Many startups and smaller companies do as quality a service as the icons of the industry, but have to negotiate deals based upon other strengths of their respective companies.  At Applications Technology Inc., CEO Mudar Yaghi relies on how he can benefit the customer.  The most important facets of negotiation for him revolve around creating mergers and acquisitions, setting price and licensing with computer software. 

In his business, the most important outcome of the negotiation is the market value of the client.  The ability to analyze the benefit to the buyer and maximize the value of the product from the supplier is very significant to the success of his negotiations.  In order to sell products, he seeks to lower the cost to the buyer, increase the profit margin and increase productivity.  If he meets this goal and accomplishes all three goals from the prospective of his company, then he has fulfilled his promise to the client.  At this point, his payment is comparable to the benefit the client received on his behalf.

Because it is a smaller company, App Tech depends on its brand.  Yaghi emphasizes how performance, history in the market, product quality, and reputation define a brand.  When negotiation, the brand speaks for the company since people know who the company is and where they stand in the market.  Because they are not Google or Microsoft, they have to pitch the reputation of their company and how they increase margin and profitability.  App Tech wants to understand your business in order to help grow your business.  Though Yaghi says the name is implied, he understands that as a smaller organization, “I cannot rely on my name, I rely on what I can do for the client.” 

Affiliations are also a key component of negotiations.  Yaghi cites his connections with industry specific associations whose comparisons and rankings assist in building the brand.  In addition to this, he references the significance of how your product tests and assesses according to relevant independent institutes and agencies.  It matters how various trade organizations perceive and rate App Tech.  This also helps with negotiations as being better than your competition guides business to you, whether or not they know who you are. 

Yaghi views negotiations as a marriage: “they end up in a compromise.”  Take it or leave it does not exist when negotiating.  Having a solid reputation and strong connections are just as important to the negotiation as what you are able to provide the client.  Remembering this is key to successful negotiations in the future.

PAC-12 Network sets the bar very high

College athletics is big business.  College sports programs compete with professional entities for coaching talent, prospective players, and state-of-the-art facilities.  The introduction of networks such as NFL network and the Golf Channel provided an advantage to the professional sports by broadcasting their respective sports programming 24 hours a day.   Now the college programs have made a huge leap in the same direction. 

The larger conferences sign multi-billion dollar deals with networks such as ESPN to broadcast their sports year round.  However, The Big Ten made a huge leap by starting its own network.  This means they can generate income from games not typically shown nationally by putting them on their own network.  This helps to generate income.  In the offseason, they can show classic games from years past in various sports and adjust their programming to address the changing of the sports with the seasons.  Also, women’s athletics gets more national attention, since most men’s sports are more than likely going to be broadcast in preference. 

The creation of the Longhorn Network caused many shifts in conference alignment.  The Pacific-10 has now added two teams, changed its alignment to two divisions, and is now preparing to launch its own network.  One of the main differences between the new PAC-12 network and The Big Ten Network is how in formatting.  The prospective design of the PAC-12 network will include one national network and six regional networks.  Thy currently have deals with the four major cable providers in their geographic region: Bright House, Comcast, Time Warner and Cox. The Big Ten only broadcast through DirecTV at its onset and the Longhorn Network has minimal outreach.

There will also be a digital platform not featured with the Big Ten Network.  This takes advantage of the surge in social media and technology such as the iPad and various applications for other products such as phones and computers.  In addition, the PAC-12 will be the sole owner of its network, whereas the Big Ten Network is collaboration between its conference and television stations such as FOX. 

All of this comes from the desk of PAC-12 commissioner Larry Scott.  His vision for the conference and the network create a dynamic new arena for college sports.  With plans to host games overseas, such as in China, college sports will continue to ride at the front of the money train.