I’ve ripped on a lot of things in my columns. I’ve chastised MLB umpires, the NCAA and Rick Reilly. I’ve assaulted the Yankees’ money, ESPN and Twitter. I’ve even lambasted fans for going overboard and pissed off the state of Minnesota when I tried to teach Gopher fans a lesson in tradition.

So, I can only wonder where I should go next. Who else could possibly attract my wrath?

What’s that — a House of Representatives subcommittee passed a bill trying to force a college football playoff?

Target acquired.

Let me be clear. I don’t have any problem with the idea of the BCS meeting a fiery, painful demise. I even praised Utah’s attorney general for trying to bring an anti-trust suit against the BCS in this same space, back in April.

But doesn’t Congress have bigger issues to worry about than a college football playoff? Things like a beat-up economy, overseas wars and health care reform, to name a few. I might be a lowly sports writer, but even I realize there are bigger things than the BCS title game.

According to Tom Benning of The Dallas Morning News, the legislation would ban the BCS “from calling its title game a ‘national championship game’ unless it was the result of a playoff system.” The bill is being pushed by Texas’ Rep. Joe Barton, who is apparently still sour about Oklahoma getting the chance to lose to Florida last season, even though Texas gets the chance to lose to Alabama this season.

If somehow, the rest of Congress decided this bill warranted enough attention to move forward, it still wouldn’t destroy the BCS. It would be a kick to the nuts, though; the whole idea behind the BCS was to create a better system for determining a national champion. Take that away, and well, just what would the Bowl Championship Series have to live for?

I mean, besides the money.

There’s too much cash invested in the Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl and Captain Bob’s Discount Liquor McMuffin.com Bowl for the BCS and bowl system to fold completely, even if the bill were to pass. There’s not a single bowl game that would go down quietly in that case, which is why Stewart Mandel of SI.com’s push for a plus-one system seems like the best solution. But you can check that out in your own time.

So, Congress can’t stop the BCS. More importantly, though, it shouldn’t be able to. The men in Washington have been far too involved in sports for their own good.

Congress first thrust itself into the sporting world with the Sims Act, which prohibited transferring boxing footage from state to state. Long story short, the reasoning behind it was racism. Not a good start.

Most of the rest of the legislative branch’s dealings with sports this century involved antitrust acts. Various interpretations of the Clayton Antitrust Act have resulted in, among other things, the creation of the modern NFL — there’s a plus.

The Education Amendments of 1972 ended up affecting college athletics in a huge way — Title IX anyone? Thanks largely in part to that, anyone in Madison who has a hankering for live Division I sporting action involving a bat and ball has the choice of watching a 15-40 softball team or leaving the city.

Most recently, however, were the congressional hearings involving Major League Baseball and steroids. If watching our neck-less baseball heroes lie through their teeth in front of a grand jury was supposed to help the sport, it’s beyond me. Granted, MLB instituted its steroid policy afterwards — years after every other major sport had already done so. Way to go, Mr. Selig.

Just last year, there were additional hearings about whether the government should regulate performance-enhancing drug testing policies for all major U.S. sports. Smack dab in the middle of that discussion was Joe Barton.

The NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB all have their own regulations concerning the use of PEDs. They all have punishments for players who are caught doping. Under the Controlled Substances Act, anabolic steroid use without a prescription is illegal. So tell me, what problem would that legislation be solving?

To recap, when Congress pokes its nose into sports, the following things happen: black boxers are conspired against, measures to end discrepancies in gender equality create discrepancies in gender equality and the steroid problem in baseball is addressed by having baseball players deny there is a steroid problem in baseball.

And the NFL-AFL merger — which, among other things, has contributed to a proliferation of gambling in America.

Based on Congress’ past track record, I feel justified in telling Rep. Barton to just. Leave. It. Alone. Somewhere along the line, if the NCAA decides a playoff is the best way to crown the Division I champion, then there will be a playoff — without congressional intervention. Sports will be fine governing themselves; Congress just needs to worry about making sure there’s still a country around to play the sports in.

Adam is a junior majoring in journalism. Should Congress butt out of sports? Or is Adam just an idiot? E-mail him at [email protected].