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BCS under microscope
Cowen convenes bigwigs for
NCAA pow-wow
Bonesville.net Staff Report
�2003 Bonesville.net If a looming New
Orleans meeting doesn't make waves concerning intercollegiate sports, it
won't be for lack of influential participants.
The Tuesday gathering, billed as a
'National Symposium on Athletic Reform,' will tackle the debate surrounding
the Bowl Championship Series, the NCAA and what lies ahead for college
sports, according to the published agenda.
A press briefing is scheduled beforehand,
then the symposium itself gets started with a luncheon address by NCAA
president Myles Brand on "The Future of Intercollegiate Athletics."
Brand is perhaps most famous for his
still-controversial firing three years ago of legendary Indiana basketball
coach Bobby Knight when Brand was president of the Bloomington, Ind.,
school. A judge recently issued an order granting new life to a lawsuit
Knight filed over the firing. Knight is now the head coach at Texas Tech.
Following Brand's address, an "Athletics
Reform" panel discussion is slated. The session will be moderated by Tom
McMillen and will involve panelists William G. Bowen, James J. Duderstadt
and Scott Cowen.
McMillen, a Rhodes Scholar, served as a
U.S. congressman after his playing days, during which he was a basketball
All-American at Maryland and a star in the NBA.
Bowen, an author, was president of
Princeton University and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Duderstadt is
President Emeritus of the University of Michigan.
Cowen is president of Tulane University,
and it is likely no coincidence that the symposium is being held in the city
that is home to that school. Not long ago, Tulane considered dropping
football because of financial losses incurred by the program as a result of
what Cowen has described as an inequitable Division I-A economic and
competitive power structure dominated by the BCS.
The afternoon's final exchange, "Postseason
Play and the Bowl Championship Series: A Conversation," will be moderated by
Len Elmore with panelists Britton Banowsky, Craig Thompson, Pete Dalis and
Todd Turner.
One of the most dominating players in
Maryland's storied hoops history, Elmore excelled in the NBA and is
currently an ESPN and CBS Sports analyst.
Banowsky and Thompson are commissioners of
Conference USA and the Western Athletic Conference, respectively, and Dalis
is a former UCLA athletic director.
Turner, a one-time N.C. State AD, was
athletic director at Vanderbilt until that school decided to abolish its
traditional athletic administrative structure in favor of bringing the
department's functions under the auspices of the university's main
administrative hierarchy.
Cowen, who ultimately decided to continue
Tulane's participation in I-A football while challenging the premise of the
BCS, will make closing remarks. His message is not likely to be favorable
toward the cartel of six conferences and four major bowls which was formed
to crown a so-called national champion but in the process has placed almost
half of the teams in Division I-A in inferior positions at the bank, in
recruits' living rooms and, in most instances, on the field.
The symposium is but the latest chapter in
a burgeoning uprising led by Cowen against the BCS. He has formed an
activist coalition of like-minded schools and his cause has ignited a
national debate in the media and among fans about the monopolistic
tendencies of the BCS � a debate which has gained the attention of Congress.
�2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bonesville.net
contributed to this report.
02.23.07 11:20 AM
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