Happy Bowl Season?

At 43, I can remember sitting on the floor as a boy, watching the Big Four of college bowl games. Of course, we watched the Rose Parade first thing that New Year's morning. Then, if I recall correctly, the Cotton Bowl, with Lindsay Nelson and Paul Hornung calling the action, kicked off at around noon, followed by the granddaddy, the Rose Bowl, on ABC, then it was off to New Orleans and the Sugar Bowl, and the last game was the Orange Bowl on NBC.

Now I can't exactly remember when the Gator, Peach, Independence, and Sun Bowls began, but I do remember watching them with my dad, so I know they've been around for a while.

Even with the addition of the Fiesta out in Tempe, college football still maintained its identity and control over the quality of play in "major" bowl games.

But along came the decade of corporate sponsorship back in the late 80's and into the 90's and every Tom, Dick, and auto parts store wanted and got its own bowl game. In fact, my friends and I like to make up names for bowl games since they've gotten so ridiculous.

How about the Starbucks Coffee Folgers Dixie Cup Liberal Bowl? Or, The New Mexico Green Chile Tortilla Posole Soup.com Bowl? Try it...it's a lot of fun and would make a great game. We could call it "Name the Bowl Game" game.

My best friend says it doesn't matter. It's football so he watches the games. Unless I'm a real fan of whoever is playing I probably won't pay much attention to the game until it's the major ones in January. I can't imagine the NCAA, ESPN, and the sponsors of some of these ludicrous-sounding fiascos bringing in a big wad of cash from the dozens that are bored enough to tune in.

My point is this. Number One: bring a playoff system to Division 1 college football and, as an ESPN analyst suggested, use the top bowl games as game sites while rotating one bowl game as the national championship. Makes way too much sense, right? Number two: get rid of some of these boring bowl games that make absolutely no difference or impact on the final rankings. I heard a head coach argue that it is exposure for his kids that they might not otherwise get. If only a handful are watching then it's still little exposure. No one cares about the highly-hyped "Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl or the much anticipated Emerald Cashew Mixed Nuts Bowl." Sorry.

I'm a football purist and really don't give a flip about a lot of these games and don't get me started on the NFL. Like the NCAA they have sold out the fan to make another buck to hide in their burgeoning war chest. The NCAA is sending mediocre players into a league that is chock full of mediocrity. All of this is a mirror of a whiney society that doesn't believe in winners or losers and wants to counsel boys every time they get a scratch or don't get picked for the team.

Bring back the best of the best and realize not EVERYONE gets to participate the way little leagues have done. We don't need 32 bowl games. We need 7-8 quality games and a playoff system that will give the smaller-market teams a chance to participate.

Well, with that being said, I'm off to watch the Stop-n-Pop/Truck Stops of America/Gas and Blast/Toot-n-Totum Car Care Central/Allsup's Bean Burrito Bowl. I hope my team wins.

Let me know what you think.

Happy bowl season!!!




TFR