FanPost

Josh Levin of "Slate" Steals My Idea in 8,000 Fewer Words

Josh Levin, an editor of Slate magazine, wrote an article today called "The Case for Canceling College Football's National Title Game" in which he basically says that no one has differentiated themselves this year to the point where the winner of any one game should be named national champion.  It's a pretty simplistic article, as the Sports articles on Slate usually are.  But then in the last paragraph, he drops this bomb:

My modest proposal for college football is to have a little flexibility. In an ideal world—one without pesky things like TV contracts—the sport would play it by ear. If Texas vs. USC is the only game anyone wants to see, make it happen. If there are four one-loss teams, throw them all into a playoff.

Huh.  That sounds awfully familiar...like perhaps something I wrote almost a year ago and posted on this very website.  In fact, it sounds exactly like something I named the Flex System and explained in great detail.

Now, I'm willing to believe that Mr. Levin didn't just blatantly copy my idea without giving credit.  His little "proposal" isn't nearly in depth enough for me to know whether he got it from me or just came up with it on his own.  And I'm a firm believer in the notion that once an idea is out there in the "ether" so to speak, people end up formulating that same idea and legitimately believing it to be their own.  Hell, maybe that's how I came up with mine, I don't know.

Anyway, I've written a nice e-mail to Mr. Levin with the links to my piece.  If he writes back, I'll let you all know what he says.  Regardless, good to see something BON made "famous" getting some play in the MMM, even without a shout-out.

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