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Sweetness And Light
11:01 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

Why The BCS Is The Holy Roman Empire Of Sport

Credit Jeff Gross / Getty Images
In the Rose Bowl Monday, Oregon defeated Wisconsin, 45-38. And later that night, No. 3 Oklahoma State beat No. 4 Stanford, 41-38. But despite those wins, neither team has a chance to win the BCS championship.
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The Bowl Championship Series climaxes Tuesday, with a game in New Orleans between Louisiana State and Alabama for the national bragging rights to Dixie.

As there is a joke about the Holy Roman Empire — that it was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire — so can the same be said about the Bowl Championship Series.

It's not a bowl; it's a game played in the Superdome.

It's not a championship, just an exhibition, because the teams have been appointed to show up without earning the right to challenge for the title.

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Business
11:01 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

Fiat's First Year Back In The U.S. Marred By Missteps

Credit Filippo Monteforte / AFP/Getty Images
An original Fiat 500 car (left) is seen in Rome next to its newer version, which was introduced in 2007.
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Health Care
11:01 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

In Tight Times, Medical Schools Market Themselves

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Credit Vanderbilt University Medical Center
A screen grab of a video ad for Vanderbilt University Medical Center features Dr. Mia Levy (right), an oncologist.
Credit Aurora Fierro / Cover/Getty Images
MD Anderson Cancer Center, which is part of the University of Texas, has sought to build a higher profile nationally as it seeks new patients.
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By Blake Farmer

Hospitals stepped up their advertising in 2011, and some newcomers to the national marketing game are academic medical centers. While the coast-to-coast commercials help attract faculty and students, they're also aimed at getting more paying patients to travel for treatment.

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Middle East
11:01 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

Syrian Uprising Raises The Specter Of Sectarian War

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Credit SANA handout / EPA /Landov
Syria's embattled President Bashar Assad still has supporters, particularly among his fellow Alawites, a minority who believe they will suffer if Assad is ousted. Here, Assad supporters rally Tuesday in the capital, Damascus.
Credit Anonymous / AP
Syrian President Bashar Assad, shown meeting with U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford last January, blames the uprising in Syria on Islamic radicals.
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For the past 10 months, Syrians have taken to the streets in large numbers to oppose a repressive regime that has not hesitated to use force. The United Nations estimates more than 5,000 Syrians have died, and it is far from clear how the uprising will play out. President Bashar Assad's regime blames the revolt on Islamist militants and casts the uprising as a threat to Syria's minorities, including Assad's fellow Alawites and the country's Christians.

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Presidential Race
7:14 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

Kohut, Continetti Discuss Iowa Caucuses

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Robert Siegel talks about the Iowa caucuses with Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center; and Matt Continetti, a contributing editor at the Weekly Standard.

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