Steven M. Sipple: Perlman perfect for BCS post

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So, Harvey Perlman gets the onerous task of defending the Bowl Championship Series.

Hundreds of media members throughout the nation lead us to believe that defending the BCS is akin to defending Bernie Madoff. The BCS is widely regarded as an unfair and arrogant enterprise — an outfit that the vast majority of fans passionately despise, or so we’re led to believe.

I’m still not convinced the BCS is as unpopular as it’s often portrayed. More on that in a minute.

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I am convinced the BCS is wise to have Perlman as its public face.

Perlman’s public-approval rating as Nebraska chancellor dipped precipitously — and rightfully so — when Steve Pederson and Bill Callahan left town with buyouts totaling $7 million. Perlman now gets to withstand the many slings and arrows from the vociferous anti-BCS contingent. Lucky him.

No problem for Perlman. His temperament and training make him well-suited for such a role. To be sure, BCS supporters should be thankful that Perlman on July 1 took over as chairman of the powerful BCS Presidential Oversight Committee.

Perlman seems to always retain an even keel, as was the case last week when he calmly withstood Sen. Orrin Hatch’s hyperbolic huffing and puffing about imperfections in the BCS. During a Senate subcommittee hearing, Hatch, in a burst of unoriginal rhetoric, described the system as an arrogant monopoly that violates antitrust laws.

As a lawyer, Perlman feels comfortable in a Senate hearing room. He also has demonstrated a keen understanding of the intricacies, nuances and legalities of the BCS. What’s more, as a past Big 12 representative on the BCS oversight committee, he’s studied the issues closely for years.

In testimony at last week’s hearing, Perlman essentially said the BCS  recognizes that the public prefers to watch powerhouse programs from conferences with rich histories and traditions. It’s those very programs that attract large TV audiences (and advertising revenue) while helping formulate the unique personality of college football.

One final thought and I promise to let the BCS issue rest:

Since it’s clear that fans embrace college football’s unique personality — the 2008-09 bowl season set all-time high-water marks for television viewership and attendance — why are so many people in a rush to radically alter that personality by creating a playoff?

* I goofed Friday when I wrote that Tom Osborne is in the final stages of completing his fifth book. Actually, it’ll be his fourth book. I erroneously counted “What It Means to be a Husker” because Osborne is listed by Amazon.com as a co-author of the book.

“I think I just wrote the forward or something like that,” Osborne said.

So, the official list of Osborne’s previous books: “More Than Winning” in 1985, “On Solid Ground” in 1996, and “Faith in the Game: Lessons on Football, Work, and Life” in 2000.

* I was struck by Kansas football coach Mark Mangino’s candor last week when he was asked which team represents the Jayhawks’ most heated rival, Missouri or Kansas State?

“We want to win all of our games if we can,” Mangino said on ESPN. “But you have to beat Missouri. That’s what I was told by everybody, that Missouri is Kansas’ No. 1 rival.”

Makes me long for the days when Nebraska had a clear-cut rival.

Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.