BOWL ME OVER

When I was a kid, I suspect I was the only girl in the block who got excited about bringing in the new year by watching the college football bowl games. There were five of them: the Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Gator Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Rose Bowl. The latter was always preceded by the Mother of all Parades--floats made of flowers galore rolling through the streets of Pasadena, Calilfornia. I could almost smell them through the television. Even in black and white, they were gorgeous.

Fast forward fifty years and, my god, there are now 35 major college bowl games!! That's not counting all the small college and junior college bowls. It used to be only the cream of the pigskin crop played in these bowls games, and now any old 6-6 team makes the grade. What's more, the games start in mid-December and go on and on and on until mid-January. What's the big deal anymore?

Adding to my frustration is that the bowls no longer have glamorous names like Rose and Orange. There's the Pinstripe Bowl, Meineke Bowl, Ticket City Bowl, BBVA Compass Bowl, and GoDaddy.com Bowl. What the hell are those all about? Besides someone's desire to make money?

A sports writer in today's Wichita newspaper claims that by the year 2050, "experts believe that three out of four Americans will play in a bowl game"--and I don't think he's too far off the mark.

The glut in college football bowl games is probably a financial payday for someone, but it's sure taken away all the fun and excitement of watching. A bowl game used to be something special. Now, it's just ho-hum, so what. I'd rather watch KU's basketball team play a game of H-O-R-S-E.