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Bowled Over

By on 1.3.11 @ 6:05AM

The Rose Bowl goes the way of all good things.

Once upon a time, not long ago, there were three bowl games known to the United States for college football teams. Chief of them was the Rose Bowl of Pasadena. There were also the Sugar Bowl of Louisiana and the Orange Bowl of Florida. But even these paled before the Rose Bowl, with its magnificent pre-game parade of floats composed of flowers and bedecked with pretty girls and interspersed with marching bands. There was nothing to compare.

Today, we are literally “bowled over.” There is the Ticketcity Bowl, the Outback Bowl, the Capital One, the Gater Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl. I have omitted the Meineke Bowl, Sun Bowl, Liberty. Chic-Fil-A, Cotton, Fight Hunger Bowl, even the GoDaddy. These will stretch on until what is called a BCS National Championship Bowl to be played January 10. There is not yet a Toilet Bowl, not at least to our attention.

One suspects that money has to do with this. Regional competition used to rule — the West would pick a good team from the east or Midwest and invite it to California for the Rose Bowl, which, by the way, has already been played this weekend and won by Texas Christian University over Wisconsin.

While these college teams are playing, the National Football League is battling it out to select two Super Bowl teams, but that is another story — a long story.

There is something for everybody in this. Teams hardly heard of are now debarking for bowls in strange cities, their players, many of them, preparing to declare for NFL teams and money-drenched careers. Speaking of money, five teammates from Ohio State were accused of selling trinkets — rings etc. and were banned from playing the next five games. Well, not quite. They have been re-instated in order to play in the upcoming Sugar Bowl and the five-game suspensions can come later. Wouldn’t want to miss a big bowl game, and school officials wouldn’t want that to happen, either.

This correspondent may miss some of these contests. Will be attending a Testicle Festival in Montana.

About the Author

Reid Collins is a former CBS and CNN news correspondent.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (92) |

Karl Lucifer Marx| 1.3.11 @ 6:08AM

Your article needs one correction.

There is a Toilet Bowl. It's the area inside the beltway and the truth is flushed away each and every day.

cris| 1.3.11 @ 12:08PM

Let's not forget the NYC doubleheader: The Snowbowl and the Bedbug Bowl.

ggoblue| 1.3.11 @ 6:32AM

it was texas christian not texas tech.

i wonder if you mix up harvard and yale?

D| 1.3.11 @ 6:59AM

Maybe it was just a little lest to see if we noticed.

Tex Expatriate| 1.3.11 @ 12:33PM

Not only did Collins get the Texas team wrong, he got the number of bowls wrong. There were four original bowls: Rose, Sugar, Orange, and Cotton.

Not only that, but the tenor of Collins' essay makes it clear he does not earnestly support enteprise, which all these new bowls represent. In fact, he seems critical of it.

His bona fides---he is a CNN and CBS correpondent---tell us much of what we need to know about this lefty.

missbosslady| 1.3.11 @ 6:08PM

I think the larger point being made is that the bowls, ad infinitum, kinda dilute the whole process, much the same as has been done in children's organized sports. Everyone gets a trophy!

Yes, the proximate cause of the proliferation of college bowls games is the dollar, but the end result is still the same. Instead of four, highly anticiapted bowl games, there are a myriad of barely watchable games. Kinda ruins it.

Dollface| 1.3.11 @ 7:08PM

The Sun Bowl dates from the 1930's, the Gator Bowl from the 1940's and the Liberty Bowl from the 1950's, too. But, I agree with the overall point of the article that there are way too many bowl games and they go on for far too long.

Tina B| 1.3.11 @ 6:35AM

Perfect. Thanks for the laugh before I go off to work this morning.

Tina B| 1.3.11 @ 6:37AM

That was for Karl, and what, pray tell, is the difference between harvard and yale???

Steve in Pittsburgh| 1.4.11 @ 1:55AM

This discussion took place on a different page.

Groad| 1.3.11 @ 7:36AM

The sponsors and promoters are simply Bowling for dollars.

Dean from Ohio| 1.3.11 @ 7:47AM

The TCU Horned Frogs get no respect!

Ryan| 1.3.11 @ 8:30AM

Let 'em play 5-6 ranked teams a year, a la the SEC. Then there will be respect.

Travis| 1.3.11 @ 9:32AM

Puke. You can't talk college football without someone getting on an SEC rant. Thanks for keeping the streak alive.

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 10:01AM

As much as I dislike the SEC's ever-growing arrogance by fans, shools, etc., I have to agree it's by far the strongest conference in the country.

My school is from the Big 12 conference but I tend to prefer watch an average SEC game than a Big 12 one.

Ryan| 1.3.11 @ 10:08AM

I think the issue is mostly over the consistent disrespect given by entities such as ESPN - who are West Coast or Big East/10/12 guys - toward the SEC.

And...we're better at football. So there.

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 10:15AM

You make a good point but just remember from where the network's bread is buttered.

Mark| 1.3.11 @ 2:44PM

And the worst for graduating players.

Occam's Tool| 1.3.11 @ 4:51PM

This Horned Frog (Class of 1984, Magna Cum Laude) is outraged! Wa, wa, zoo, zoo, give 'em Hell, TCU!

Ryan, we played all the ranked teams we could. Then we beat Wisconsin. We have only lost 1 game in two flinkin' years!

who cares?| 1.3.11 @ 5:18PM

big freaking whoop, cockroach, enjoy being in the worst conference in the country.

PowerMonkey| 1.4.11 @ 1:22PM

Heck yeah, '94 here. Patterson and the team are a true class act. I would argue that we could beat just about any team out there, given the matchup. I hate big conferences and the damage they have done to college football, but the BE will give us some more recruiting clout to replace our seniors. Plus when they come to TCU, they actually have to earn their degrees and learn some class. Win win win for a kid in college.

cockroaches deserve no respect| 1.3.11 @ 5:16PM

TCU, like the cockroaches they are, don't deserve respect because of the things they fall into and mess up. Having them go to the big least is a fitting reward for falling into and messing up Wisky's season. The big least is so bad that OU (sucks) was actually able to win a BCS game against the big least "champion".

VW| 1.3.11 @ 10:19PM

That's alot of hatred you've got there for a little school that has done alot the past couple of years. Perhaps the class they exhibit is beyond your reach and intellect. Why condemn them for seeking out a BCS conference so they may prove they belong? Are you afraid of them embarrassing YOUR team on a more regular basis? Maybe you should stick to beer pong and booger picking like other morons 'cause your *** is showing.

John Cooper| 1.3.11 @ 8:02AM

"Reid Collins is a former CBS and CNN news correspondent."

No wonder he doesn't know the difference between Texas Tech and Texas Christian University...

Bob K.| 1.3.11 @ 8:11AM

Anyway, who cares?

Occam's Tool| 1.3.11 @ 4:59PM

Texas Tech is out in remote annoying West Texas. TCU is home to the Van Cliburn international piano competition, among other things. That's who cares. (Also, TCU has the most beautiful college coeds, taken as a whole, on the planet.)

arf arf| 1.3.11 @ 5:21PM

Also, TCU has the most beautiful college coed cockroaches, taken as a whole, on the planet.)

fify

hell that dang yappy aggy dog is better looking than a typical Texas Cockroach University coed.

MoeBlotz| 1.3.11 @ 8:13AM

Cotton Bowl used to have a game as large as Rose,Orange,or Sugar Bowls and the locals know about the mountain oysters Mr.Collins will be celebrating in Montana.

Tippecanoe| 1.3.11 @ 8:16AM

The Rose Bowl *used* to be big on my radar. And the parade was nice. But this time the Rose Bowl was on ESPN, and not on one of the four alphabet networks. That meant that I could not watch it since I am an Over the Air TV viewer [in HD now]. It would have looked great in HD, but I just lost interest. And that drags down my interest in the others. College has gone a long way from being about education, to being more and more about sports, money, and fame.
Sometimes change is not good. Sometimes less [of that] and less government is the right course.

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 9:50AM

I was not aware the Rose Bowl was played on ESPN and not on a major network.

More tradition tossed to the curb.

I find it laughable when bowl committees, conferences, and large schools talk about "bowl tradition".

THERE IS NO MORE BOWL TRADITION.

The championship game to be played on JAN 10??

Give me a break!

joe| 1.3.11 @ 5:40PM

could not believe the Rose Bowl was on ESPN
college football may still be big, but the bowls have gotten small

Ryan| 1.3.11 @ 8:34AM

Sadly, as much as I like the concept behind the BCS (a points-scoring system that rewards a winning season with a bowl game, and negates the need for a playoff, maintaining the regular season), it's been drowned in money and not enough chances for smaller divisions to have a seat at the table (and unfairly promotes Notre Dame).

That being said, yeah, the bowl system is too watered down. 6-6 is NOT a winning season. Only alumni and guys who watch too much football care about all those bowls...and then we get shafted even further for those of us who won't buy cable with ESPN getting the good games.

MikeD| 1.3.11 @ 8:46AM

Once upon a time the Friday Night Fights glued Americans to their radios, and then to their newfangled TVs. It was almost as big as Major League Baseball, which was truly the top of the mountain.

Then, the "Mob" saw a way to make lotsa bucks on it by fixing fights and raising purses and increasing the availability of gambling, hence the 'fix'. It didn't happen instantly, but it is all just a bruising and battered memory; not that anybody can really glorify two men beating the crap out of each other for the enjoyment of others...sorta like hockey.

Enter the college bowl games. I remember four: Rose, Cotton, Orange, and Cotton, with a fifth 'wannabee' played a few days earlier in Jacksonville, the Gator. Now, there are 35 ncaa approved bowl games, which means that 70 teams out of a total of 120 qualify by winning six games. Most coaches think a .500 record is nothing to brag about, but now it gets a bowl game payoff; which ain't all that much either. Most schools LOSE money on bowls. It is just another example of the line attributed to P.T. Barnum: There's a sucker born every minute. As far as I'm concerned; about 30 of the 35 games should be named "The Toilet Bowl", with numbers added to differentiate. It matches neatly with what Karl Lucifer Marx wrote above. It IS just like inside the beltway: roughly circular, full of people and lots of sh*t, with all sorts of noise and fury leaking out... which signifies absolutely nothing! (Apologies to Gilbert and sullivan.)

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 9:38AM

I agree with the vast majority of your post but you are incorrect when you say "most shools LOSE money on bowl".

Just the opposite: Schools and coaches make money when appearing in a bowl game, any bowl game. Their travel expenses are paid for by the bowl committee, the money they recieve - as much as several hundred thousand even from those lesser bowl games - goes directly to the athletic department, they receive additional money from their shoe/apparel contracts, and coaches bonus money is contigent on making A bowl appearance.

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 9:42AM

...in addition. Studies have proven schools receive more money in the off season from alumni boosters when they appear in a bowl game - any bowl game - the previous year.

A 50 year Longhorn fan| 1.3.11 @ 11:15AM

It was the Rose, Cotton, Orange, and Sugar bowls that you were remembering as being the big bowls.

Bob K.| 1.3.11 @ 9:29AM

Why is everybody here forgetting the influence of the sports gambling industry?

The untaxed, ignored, huge business without which there would not be all these bowl games!

I sat in a popular, very upscale bar yesterday, full of very well to do pensioners watching the PSU/FSU Outback Bowl game. All they were interested in was the "line." I was sitting next to a retired banker (not a bettor-like me) and I asked him how much money he thought was being bet on this football holiday weekend. His estimate was hundreds of millions. I asked him how much he thought was taxed--He said "none."

I wonder how many people here had any "action" on this games?

Remember Grantland Rice:

"When that Great Scorer comes and asks you how you did!
He'll ask not if you won or lost; but if you beat the spread!"

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 9:45AM

The NCAA is an entire non-taxed, non-profit organization.

Quite the scam they've got going there.

bob K.| 1.3.11 @ 10:06AM

Mr. Grant,
That is a great point and an even better analogy!

mbd| 1.3.11 @ 10:59AM

Penn State did not play FSU in the Outback Bowl. It appears that you must have been doing something in the "popular, very upscale bar" besides conversing with the retired banker if you were unable to distinguish between the Florida Gators - or 'Gater' as Reid Collins seems to prefer as the spelling - and the FSU Seminoles

Bob K.| 1.3.11 @ 1:24PM

mbd,
In the great scheme of things WHO CARES except you people who bet on and root for the intellectual giants who are recruited to remind the rest of the USA that Florida has Educational Institutions that go beyond high school!

Urban Meyer was the winning coach of this particular Florida team which got into a bowl game again. He announced recently that he was no longer interested in the intellectual challenges that coaching a Florida football team required. He was being polite I'm sure. He was probably tired of being mistaken for the head coach a other Florida football teams

The PSU QB threw 5 intercceptions. If he had thrown only 3 PSU would have won.

By the way, how did your bets go?

Michael L. Hauschild| 1.3.11 @ 10:31AM

It’s true that the tradition and significance of post season football has been diluted. The round viewing screen of my youth was the focus of the Big Six, later Eight, family events. Part of the lore was my father explaining the geography and history of the teams participating in the “bowls.” Few to this day actually are aware that the Longhorns teams were originally formed from escaped convicts thrown out of Australia for continued acts of bestiality.

TURK| 1.3.11 @ 10:43AM

I quit watching the NFL a few years ago. Now, college ball is fading fast as it pushes the $$$$ the$$$$! As a 56 grad at OSU I join my fellows in a stadium that sells out 100,000 + and this guy runs on the field and stares at the officials to prevent their interruption of TV $$ ching ching $$ commercials while we zombies sit yawning waiting for the NFL's future stars to resume their ballet. The ol grey and scarlet aint what it used to be!

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 10:50AM

You can find no better example of a corruptor of college athletics than Stillwater's sugar daddy - T. Boone Pickens.

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 10:58AM

Ooops. It just occurred to me by OSU you were probably referring to Ohio State University and not Oklahoma State University...

...eh. same principle applies. There's probably a corruptor at that school as well.

Fallgold| 1.3.11 @ 10:54AM

Yes, I miss the day of the big bowl games, especially the Rose Bowl.
You say that they would invite a team from the midwest or east. I recall that it was the Pac 10 winner against the winner of the Big 10. There was never the option of inviting an eastern team.

The idea of having 25 to 30 bowls is all about money.

Sean| 1.3.11 @ 12:59PM

Recently it was PAC10 vs. Big10, but that was not the case early on.

Howard| 1.3.11 @ 11:07AM

Mr. Collins is off a bit on the Bowl history. There were other pre-January 1 Bowls. These included the Sun Bowl, Tangerine Bowl, etc. They were usually played around Dec. 30 or earlier.

January 1 had four Bowls:
Cotton
Sugar
Rose
Orange
The time they were played has changed through the years (except for the Rose Bowl). But starting in the mid 1980's through the present fiasco, the Fiesta Bowl stated to draw the biggest games (most money paid out). This messed up the historic balance and harmony. Now the BCS "title" is 1/10/2011, a true abomination in timing.
Don't get me started about pro football.

NavyBrat | 1.3.11 @ 11:25AM

Let's face it, the BCS is a farce. Period, end of story. I'm a DIE HARD SEC/UT Vols fan. I also like the Georgia Bulldogs a little bit too. But let's face it, WHY IN THE HELL DID THEY GO TO A BOWL? They both SUCKED this year! All these pre-New Years bowls quailfy as "toilet bowls" in my book, & its all about the dough. The ADs of these universities, the presidents, the conferences, they ALL make money off of it. Flush these lesser toilet bowls, cowboy the hell up, extend the season for 2 or 3 more weeks & have a damned playoff! After all, what the hell do they (the schools) do during all that time between the end of their regular seasons & their bowl games? Study? BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Now, I realize that there are more pressing things for the new Congress to worry about, but jeez, if I had ONE thing on my wishlist for Congress this year, it would be to launch an anti trust investigation of the BCS.

PS. You SEC haters are really funny!

I'm glad TCU put the beatdown on Wisconsin as well.

Ryan| 1.3.11 @ 1:49PM

Through the life of the BCS, it has only messed up once (Auburn a few years ago). All other champions were more or less legit; if there was any debate, it was to who should have been the #2 team.

NavyBrat | 1.3.11 @ 2:37PM

My main gripe is the plethora of "toilet bowls," as Mr. Collins calls them. Like I said, I love my Vols, but, in the words of Keyshawn Johnson, "C'mon, man!" The BCS would have more validity in my eyes if everyone & their Mom didn't get to go to a bowl for a mediocre season just b/c of their conference affiliation.

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 4:09PM

You guys complain but continue to watch the "toilet bowls".

The NCAA, conferences, and networks know this and string the bowl season out as long as possible.

Drip. Drip. Drip. One/two games a night for 3 weeks.

Suggestion: Complain less/boycott networks more.

Occam's Tool| 1.3.11 @ 4:57PM

Hey, Navy, I knew there was a reason I liked you. Go Navy!

Santino| 1.3.11 @ 11:37AM

Texas Tech ?
"Gater" bowl? Did you mean "gaiter" or "gather" or maybe the bowl is sponsored by G. Gordon Liddy and other erstwhile Water-gaters?

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 11:52AM

With all due respect to the author, I'm sure Mr. Reid would have completely re-written this article if given the chance.

Being the first one out of the box for the new year, I'll give him a Mulligan :-)

dennis2j| 1.3.11 @ 12:02PM

The Testicle Festival is soon to be known as the Ball Bowl.

Richard Baker| 1.3.11 @ 12:10PM

Can anyone spell school?

SeniorD| 1.3.11 @ 12:20PM

Ah c'mon!

Everyone knows there is only one (1) football game that means anything! Every other 'game', including that over-hyped too expensive for real people extravaganza known as the 'Super-Bowl', don't mean squat!

Go Navy!
Beat Army!

Appleby| 1.4.11 @ 4:56PM

ROLL TIDE!

My other favourite game is the Blue-Gray game on the Friday when the wimminfolk are at Wal-Mart and those of us who wouldn't touch the place with a barge pole on Black Friday are at home eating turkey sandwiches and cheering for the Gray! [Save your Dixie Cups, boys, the South's gonna rise again.]

Marc C.| 1.3.11 @ 12:24PM

Unbelievable that Mr. Collins does not even bother to double check the correct Texas team that beat Wisconsin, TCU,, not Texas Tech. Also this article could have been about the little guy (TCU) coming from a Non AQ conference and beating a Big 10 team that most of the analyst said were going to stomp TCU. I do agree that there are too many bowl games but lets get the facts straight.

Cpm| 1.3.11 @ 12:46PM

Maybe it is a sad commentary on the state of the bowl system that no one seems to have located, much less watched, the queen of the bowl games enough to even know (or care) who the teams were.

RJ| 1.3.11 @ 12:51PM

Much has changed in college football and in my opinion, not for the best. Money and television have taken over. It used to be the season was 10 games and conference champions were the only teams that went to a handful of meaningful bowl games. Universities, while claiming to care about their student athletes, have expanded the season up to 13 games, most conferences require a one game play-off and teams with 6-6 records go to one of the 35 bowl games, most of which mean nothing.

In addition to the expanded season, the demands during the "off-season" on today's college football players are much more than 20 to 30 years ago. For almost all of them, there is no significant NFL payday. For those who do make it, most only last for a year or two in the NFL. The college players see everyone around them making money, including universities selling jerseys with their names on them, but the players don't get a share. They get free tuition, room and board, but it at least some schools it isn't enough to get by. It seems unfair and that is the reason why money is being exchanged under the table.

A few decades ago, the Olympics finally faced up to the fact that they could not maintain its status as a non-professional event. Given the amount of money college football represents today, the NCAA needs to admit the same.

Sean| 1.3.11 @ 1:07PM

The NFL( with probable collusion with the NCAA) has barred underclassmen from going pro. This makes college football a convenient and free farm system for the NFL.

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 1:45PM

You got it. What better way to weed out football players at zero expense.

PAC-10 Dave| 1.3.11 @ 1:21PM

The Rose Bowl was not some west coast guys inviting a good team from the east to play in Pasadena. It was the first bowl game of all...ever. that is why they call it the "Granddaddy of them all". And was always a contest between the Big-10 and PAC-10 champions every year...until the BCS. This year, it should have been Wisconsin vs. Oregon, by tradition. I don't think our writer is a big football fan. He made too many errors in his article.

RJ| 1.3.11 @ 2:35PM

As a former resident of Pasadena, I was very surprised that CBS did not broadcast the Tournament of Roses and that the Rose Bowl game was limited to subscription TV (ESPN). How things have changed. With Oregon earning a spot at the Championship game, why couldn't Stanford represent the Pac 10 at the Rose Bowl and Texas Christian University go to the Orange Bowl? The establishment no longer cares about tradition.

Steve in Pittsburgh| 1.4.11 @ 2:09AM

Both Penn State and Harvard played in the Rose Bowl, in the 1920s.

james_walleye | 1.3.11 @ 1:48PM

Noticed that Brent Mosberger and Kirk .whatever ever once,once, called TCU Texas Christian University after the opening kickoff...always TCU..point, had it been Brigham Young, Wake Forest etc, their moniker wouldv'e been mentioned often in FULL...I've my opinion as in T "Christian" U...that 'word' ya know...

RJ| 1.3.11 @ 2:49PM

You may well be right. Another item to remember is that neither one of these guys are play-by-play announcers. They might not know better. ABC and ESPN gave up on play-by-play years ago. In recent years, they basically ignored the football game in the third quarter and turned the broadcast over to guests or unrelated spots such as 1) a former basketball coach commenting on the upcoming basketball season; 2) some woman taking about food in Arizona; 3) a video and discussion about a touch-football game they participated in earlier in the week; and 4) the ultimate was a side line interview with Charles Barkley, after which they commented that Barkley had received a call from Tiger Woods asking him to stop talking so we could see the game. Brett thought it was a joke. Bottom line: ABC/ESPN is worse than most low budget cable stations in broadcasting college football. They don't think the viewers care about the game. They are dreadful. It is always a downer when Brett "announces" a game that you care about. I used to listen to CBS Sunday Night NFL games just to listen to John Madden, a real football announcer.

Occam's Tool| 1.3.11 @ 4:56PM

Dear James,

As a proud Frog Alum (Chancellor Scholarship, Magna Cum Laude, Class of 1984), I must tell you that even on the hollowed campus of "Froggie High" the school is referred to as TCU.

Texas Tech my Harry Hebraic Hinder, Mr. Collins. (The scholarship I won, and would still win today, is worth $112,000.)

poooor aggy| 1.3.11 @ 5:26PM

dear tool,

Tech, TCockroachU, who cares, both second rate lower tier schools. a fluke year and what's the reward, a penal sentence in the big least, whoop!

SEC Reigns| 1.3.11 @ 1:49PM

Once upon a time, not long ago, journalists used to get their facts straight before they wrote the story.

Who Knows?| 1.3.11 @ 2:58PM

Actually, there is already one game with the moniker, “The Toilet Bowl”.

Back in the 80’s, I think, when Oregon and Oregon State really sucked, they played in their rival game, called the Civil War, to a zero to zero tie.

There were many fumbles and missed field goals, etc---the game was the last one that ended in a nothing to nothing tie, by the way, since soon after over time was added, to eliminate ties.

As an Oregon grad (1964 BA, 1966 MA), who admittedly became addicted to sports around the age of 15, when Oregon lost to Ohio State 10-7, when OSU was number one, in the 1958 Rose Bowl (remember Woodie Hayes?), I’ve ever since paid too much attention to all things relating to the Ducks, and all college sports.

Why, in my old age “free time” dotage, would you believe it, I even recently pulled an old Sports Illustrated magazine that wrote about that game! It easily could have been a tie, since Oregon missed, barely, a field goal---in any case, it was a supreme upset, since OSU was supposed to clobber Oregon.

From a larger perspective, actually, Oregon seems to epitomize the whole transmogrification of American sports, under the capitalist system.

So, it’s funny to read all the previous posters at this putatively free market site bemoaning what’s happened.

What do they have against people COMPETING to make as much money as they can, within the rules?

I was at Oregon in 1964, when they won the NCAA track championship, on their home field. It remains the highlight of my own life’s “being there” enjoyment, at a live sport’s event! Bill Bowerman, the coach, who had Phil Knight as a mediocre member of this team (I think), was THE man who used waffle irons to try to make a better track shoe---and, along came Nike.

Also, Mr. Bowerman was a member of the 10th Mountain Brigade (or something like that name) who stretched human endurance fighting the Nazi’s in Italy, I believe. Not JUST a regular money grubbing man!

The reason anyone enjoys sports, even the much maligned pro versions (rightly), is because they are COMPETITION in action, and as free from being rigged as can be. Americans love a fair fight, and as Patton noted, they hate a loser.

However, perhaps the bottom line dominating aspect of what sports has devolved into relates to the insight that black tennis star from UCLA (I think—I forget his name, although I can see his face: ah, old age is a bitch!) had---it is a deadly deal for blacks!

African Americans value excellence in physical terms, and denigrate mental agility, and we can see the dire results, to this day. We all know how blacks, THEMSELVES, make fun of any uppity “oreos” who deign to try to use their brains!

Today’s most prominent example is Cameron Newton, the gifted athlete leading Auburn in its quest to be number one. Indeed, name ANY successful college at football, and especially basketball, and you can be sure that there’s one or more top “guns” who are black, and most likely came from a “deprived” personal situation.

Of course, there are the “white” exceptions, like a Duke for men’s basketball, and Stanford for women’s, but even they have some vital black components, without whom they’d be more average.

“Just win, Baby”, and “A Commitment to Excellence” aren’t mottoes for the Raiders for NO REASONS!

This year, I’m capping off an over fifty year “career” of following college football closely, which has long been my favorite sport to enjoy. So, I’ve been watching most of all the games called “bowl” games, and even, for a change, listening to a little of what the commentators have to say, and---

Since all the players, and even a lot of the coaches, could be grandsons of mine, and any player at one school could have gone to “my” school, at this time I see it all as a simple stage, a la Shakespeare---players acting out their physical AND mental roles, to the best of their ability, and guided by coaches who are more experienced and/or wise, may the best TEAM win.

Which doesn’t always “happen”, of course!

Finally, don’t forget the NFL---the National Felons League!

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 4:33PM

To mention competition and the NCAA in the same sentence is quite laughable.

From their tax-exempt status, ranking system, to how they organize the conferences and divisions (1a, 2a, 3a, etc.), favoring large schools and their respective conferences over smaller, up-and-coming schools, is far from competitive.

Who Knows?| 1.3.11 @ 5:30PM

Bob Grant---

I didn't say there was PERFECT competition.
Yes, what you write is true, but it seems to me to be far from NO competition.

Also, where it counts, on the field of play, a la what Teddy Roosevelt had to say about those in the "arena", there's no doubt in my view that the PLAYERS are always competing.

It's the GAME, stupid! To paraphrase Carville.

Alborn| 1.3.11 @ 4:45PM

For your info Cam Newton comes from a very good stable supportive family with a mother and father who love and support their children. I too love college football and am old enough to be these kids grandmother. Nothing deprived about his situation. Stereo typing is wrong in all forms.

Who Knows?| 1.3.11 @ 5:42PM

I never type in "stereo". But, sometimes stereotyping is pertinent.

His father surely "supported" Cam, when he attempted to get pay for his play at Mississippi State!

A large proportion of African-Americans who make it on college sports teams, especially football and basketball, certainly come from "deprived" situations.

What is the unwed mother rate for their race?

How come so many "stars" have TWO last names on their jerseys, these days?

Arthur Ashe was the tennis star who nailed the whole scam blacks continue to fall for---eschewing developing their intellect with scorn, and instead going for prowess in sports.

This cultural proclivity dooms them to what we have seen for decades, and I sure don't see how it's going to change much going forward.

Of course, with the continuing increase in economic productivity, even the poorest blacks in ghettoes, these days, have a much better life style than most people across the world.

So, maybe slowly, over time, this benighted subculture will become more like the rest of America, but I doubt it will happen in my lifetime.

Look at Obama! Our basketball playing president!

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 6:26PM

I agree with much of what you have to say about the benighted subculture (protected class) but you must at least feel empathy for them when the NCAA, coaches (middle school, high school, and college), universities, and even many parents use these kids until their usefulness ceases to exist.

With the draconian and arbitrary eligibility requirements, like a minefield, one slip up and your scholarship finito.

Accept a seemingly benign gift from a would be booster...your done.

Struggling with your grade point average...see ya, back on the streets.

Tear a knee ligament, your grade point average not up to snuff, running out of eligibility?...hello burger king.

All under the guise of "student athletes" so the NCAA can protect their tax-exempt status.

Just pay these kids and be done with it!

Petronius| 1.3.11 @ 6:39PM

Mediocracy has been thrust upon all and singular. Collegiate and prep school sports were all but uprooted by Title IX which eliminated a lot of sports for men to insure parity for the women. So by expansion and inflation of team sports at most schools which fostered these also-ran bowls these other sports which don't pack 'em in every week could survive. It will explode in a lot of faces sooner rather than later.
Today, Missouri Tiger quarterback Blaine Gabbert announced his intention to enter this springs NFL draft. As the Federal Government is destroying all it can of our private economy, I don't blame him one bit for opting for that Propaycheck while a team can still afford to pay him a signing bonus. Besides; jocks don't need degrees to make it. That requirement is only levied against non athletes who don't have any connections. These days they are fortunate to get hired by the Kronkes at Wallyworld who own the teams who's ticket prices, concession, and parking fees are beyond their earning capacity. One word comes to mind concerning the entire situation: racket. Every institution we are subject to is just that.

Bob Grant| 1.3.11 @ 6:48PM

Talk about the law of unintended consequences:

Title IX actually made the men's football and basketball programs stronger, at least in the eyes of the government. It provided them the ultimate cover:

"Hey, OUR lucrative programs are supporting these non-revenue producing woman's programs."

It made the beast even stronger.

TArbiter| 1.3.11 @ 7:03PM

The Cotton Bowl, which celebrated its 75th anniversary this year, was once one of the premier bowl games, right up there with the Rose, Sugar, and Orange Bowls. It lost its luster when it was left out of the BCS machinations. As I recall, the old Southwest Conference champion faced an at-large team. The 1970 Cotton Bowl featured Notre Dame, appearing in its first bowl game since the 1925 Rose Bowl, losing to Texas, 21-17.

MrDan| 1.3.11 @ 7:12PM

The real winner this year was "The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl". For naming of a sporting event, that ranks right up there with an old Nascar Busch race called "Pork-the other white meat 400".

richard Irby| 1.4.11 @ 2:28PM

35 bowl games. 119 division 1-A schools. 58% make it to the "post-season". No true playoff is a travesty and a missed opportunity for all involved. Cinderella story-lines would be abundant and viewership would go up.

chuck jim fox| 1.4.11 @ 11:26PM

I have a memory that several years ago there was a Weed Eater Bowl.

Christian Louboutin | 6.23.11 @ 5:48AM

Once upon a time, not long ago, there were three bowl games known to the United States for college football teams. Chief of them was the Rose Bowl of Pasadena

Adidas | 8.11.11 @ 6:09AM

is good

العاب بنات | 4.10.12 @ 12:37PM

Anyway, who cares?

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