Now There Are 41 College Bowl Games: You’ve Got to Be Kidding!
You know by now that this Baby Boomer is very “old-fashioned” and he’s having a really hard time grasping why there are 41 college bowl games this season beginning 12/16 and going on until the National Championship Game on 1/8. Folks, that involves 80 college football teams! “Back in the day”, in the 1960’s, there were only 10 bowl games and that was a very good number as it only invited the best of the best ranked teams to compete against one another and when football was football!
Those 10 bowl games are classics and included the Cotton Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Sun Bowl, the Gator Bowl, the Tangerine Bowl, the Bluebonnet Bowl, the Liberty Bowl, and the Peach Bowl. Today, the 41 bowl games are now named for sponsors and some of the quirky names are the Myrtle Beach Bowl, the LA Bowl sponsored by Gronk, the Cure Bowl, the Famous Toastery Bowl, the Casparilla Bowl, the Pop Tarts Bowl, the Pinstripe Bowl, the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl–who are you kidding!!
Hey, I don’t know about you, but I want to see 2 top-ranked teams pitted against each other and it be an extremely hard-fought competitive game going down to the wire and even including an OT or two. All year long we follow the Top 25 Rankings and unless #26-#82 is your alma mater, who really gives a damn–I know I don’t! In fact, when I saw the match-ups in this year’s schedule I narrowed the games I wanted to see down to 9 with 4 others generating some mild interest.
Sorry, but who really wants to see Georgia Southern, Howard, North Dakota State, UTSA, Northern Illinois, South Alabama, Rice, Georgia State, Utah State, San Jose State, or Eastern Michigan play football in general yet even in a bowl game. Of the 80 teams, 7 had losing records this season, 10 had 7 wins, 19 had 6 wins, and even 1 team had only 5 wins when I thought you had to have a paltry 6 wins to be bowl eligible. Remember JMU got into a bowl game (and lost to Air Force) because there weren’t enough bowl eligible teams available to fill all of the slots.
As our children were growing up, I was referred to as the “Great Santini” believing only when expectations were consistently exceeded should you be recognized, appreciated, and perhaps rewarded. Today, people are rewarded for average behavior and accomplishments. I mean why should you be rewarded for doing what you’re supposed to be doing? Jeez, people get recognition for just participating even if they finish last–completely absurd–no wonder our society has gone to hell! Our children participated in amateur swimming for a number of years while we were living in SC and they did very well. There were ten swimming lanes in the pool and it didn’t matter if you came in first place or tenth place, you got a ribbon. Well, this was definitely not the case at the home of the “Great Santini” for if you received a ribbon finishing first, second, or third you could keep your ribbon, but had to trash all other ribbons which were being rewarded for average, mediocre, of poor performance. Truly, I felt that was more than fair as my father pounded into my head there were only two places in life and those were first and last!! Remember, no one can ever come up with who finished second.
You and I both know the reason there are so many bowl games–that’s right–money! College football is big business and almost like anything else, the bottom line is MONEY! This year, more than $375 million will be awarded to the conferences in the NCAA for distribution to every school in each conference for those schools participating in a bowl game. Bowl games distribution amounts will range from $250K-$8 million depending on the bowl game you’re participating in with the payouts for both the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl at $40 million each. So, the schools with the most successful football programs, who are always in the Top 10, and competing for a national championship will receive the greatest amount of money which means they’ll always be in the Top 10 showing just why college football is big business!
Some years ago, the president of the University of Alabama, Dr. Robert E. Witt, was asked on “60 Minutes” what he was most proud of and what he hoped his legacy would be? He answered having brought to Alambama and hired Nick Saban. Really? I mean isn’t what you’d be proud of and hoping your legacy would be as a college president attached to education is some manner–definitely not the hiring of a football coach! Again, college football is big business! In fact, I betcha the highest paid state employee is your state school’s head football coach–utterly ridiculous! I repeat college football is big business!
“Back in the day”, you were a student/athlete meaning you were a student first and an athlete second. I mean didn’t you go to college to get an education. Well, that’s not the case today as being an athlete in a major college program leads one to becoming a professional athlete with college football acting as the primary conduit to play in the NFL. That’s why so many players eligible to be drafted into the NFL are opting out from participating in this year’s bowl games fearing injury. Huh? Additionally, more than 1500 football players have joined the transfer portal hoping to attend another school giving them the opportunity to be a starter for a more successful program and get more TV time as a way to the NFL–it’s certainly not about getting a great education. Again, college football is big business!
Finally, having great success in their athletic programs is one of the major lures to get high school seniors to become applicants to their college, thus, maintaining their needed enrollment. This Baby Boomer is having some real trouble coming to terms with this reason for choosing a college. I digress, but when I went to Vanderbilt over 50 years ago, I went to get a great education first, and it was hard work as I felt I truly earned my diploma after four arduous years of study. Today, it seems to take five years to finish college and I don’t think a college degree today is much more than an extension of a high school education as it’s so much easier by comparison. But to my point, college football is big business?
Our society today is so selfish, so greedy and it sickens me as I hope it sickens you as everything is about the money! Well, as I’ve said before and I’ll say again, this Baby Boomer, from his perspective and upon reflection, thinks everything was better “back in the day”!