While reading the Wall Street Journal this morning, I stumbled across a word that looked foreign to me. Yes, the paper was written in English, but I was convinced that the word I was reading was not English. A letter with one vowel, one apostrophe, and five consonants: "Mightn't". Out of context, this word looks even more ridiculous than it did at first glance. It is so very ironic that English, the worst language in the world, is also the most widely spoken/used language in the WORLD.
Spelling, grammar and sentence structure aside, my rant this morning has more to do with improper acronyms and definitions. Today's culprits are "BCS - Bowl Championship Series" and "NCAA - National Collegiate Athletic Association".
Let's analyze the first: BCS. "Bowl" is appropriate as indeed bowl games are played. However, after those first four letters, "Championship Series" more deceiving than a transgendered hooker in a little black dress with a deflated adam's apple. Perhaps my interpretation is too simple but when I hear "championship series", I am led to believe that 1) a true champion is identified and 2) that there is an associated series (plural; more than one) of events occurs to identify the preceeding. In the current state of the BCS system, there is only ONE game (a singular word, for all you grammar folks) that is played to determine a champion. Strangely enough, this one game does not successfully identify what it is intended to do. There are four BCS games and a "national championship" game. The five games share only one commonality: money. You get paid to play in these games. Otherwise, these five games are no more alike than the elements of earth, wind, fire, water and poop. This year, poop is the National Championship game and the process by which the teams were selected.
My discourse about the NCAA is more based on the definition of its "Core Purpose". As stated: it's purpose is to "govern the competition in a fair, safe, equitable and sportsmanlike manner, and to integrate intercollegiate athletics into a higher education so that the educational experience of the student-athlete is paramount." They obviously wrote it wrong because based on their actions it's purpose is to "govern the competition, student-athletes and athletics in the most equitable manner as deemed profitable, fruitful and productive to the NCAA and its constituents."
The End.
PLEASE go read this post which is far more interesting than the above.
in point, the winner was none other than Miss Indiana.
