A little over a year ago -- on Dec, 18, 2008, to be exact -- I shared with you a list of the 34 bowl games played at the end of the 2008 college football season. I am
1. Dec. 19 - New Mexico Bowl (Wyoming vs. Fresno State), played at University Stadium in Albuquerque, NM
2. Dec. 19 - St. Petersburg Bowl (Rutgers vs. Central Florida), played at Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL
3. Dec. 20 - R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (Southern Mississippi vs. Middle Tennessee State), played at the Superdome in New Orleans, LA
4. Dec. 22 - MAACO Bowl (Brigham Young University vs. Oregon State), played at Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
5. Dec. 23 - San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl (Utah vs. California), played at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA
6. Dec. 24 - Sheraton Hawaii Bowl (Southern Methodist University vs. Nevada), played at Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI
7. Dec. 26 - Meineke Car Care Bowl (North Carolina vs. Pittsburgh), played at Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
8. Dec. 26 - Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (Ohio vs. Marshall), played at Ford Field, Detroit, MI
9. Dec. 26 - Emerald Bowl (Boston College vs. University of Southern California), played at AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA
10. Dec. 27 - Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (Clemson vs. Kentucky), played at LP Field, Nashville, TN
11. Dec. 28 - AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl (Texas A&M vs. Georgia), played at Independence Stadium, Shreveport, LA
12. Dec. 29 - EagleBank Bowl (Temple vs. UCLA), played at RFK Stadium, Washington, DC
13. Dec. 29 - Champs Sports Bowl (Miami vs. Wisconsin), played at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, Orlando, FL
14. Dec. 30 - Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl (Bowling Green vs. Idaho), played at Bronco Stadium, Boise, ID
15. Dec. 30 - Pacific Life Holiday Bowl (Nebraska vs. Arizona), played at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA
16. Dec. 31 - Texas Bowl (Missouri vs. Navy), played at Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX
17. Dec. 31 - Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Air Force vs. Houston), played at Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, TX
18. Dec. 31 - Brut Sun Bowl (Stanford vs. Oklahoma), played at Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, TX
19. Dec. 31 - Insight Bowl (Minnesota vs. Iowa State), played at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, AZ
20. Dec. 31 - Chick-fil-A Bowl (Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee), played at the Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
21. Jan. 1 - Outback Bowl (Auburn vs. Northwestern), played at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
22. Jan. 1 - Konica Minolta Gator Bowl (Florida State University vs. West Virginia), played at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, Jacksonville, FL
23. Jan. 1 - Capital One Bowl (Penn State vs. LSU), played at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, Orlando, FL
24. Jan. 1 - Rose Bowl (Ohio State vs. Oregon), played at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
25. Jan. 1 - Allstate Sugar Bowl (Florida vs. Cincinnati), played at the Superdome, New Orleans, LA
26. Jan. 2 - International Bowl (South Florida vs. Northern Illinois), played at Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada
27. Jan. 2 - PapaJohns.com Bowl (Connecticut vs. South Carolina), played at Legion Field, Birmingham, AL
28. Jan. 2 - AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic (Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss), played at Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX
29. Jan. 2 - AutoZone Liberty Bowl (East Carolina vs. Arkansas), played at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, TN
30. Jan. 2 - Valero Alamo Bowl (Michigan State vs. Texas Tech), played at the Alamodome, San Antonio, TX
31. Jan. 4 - Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Texas Christian University vs. Boise State), played at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
32. Jan. 5 - FedEx Orange Bowl (Georgia Tech vs. Iowa), played at Dolphin Stadium, Miami, FL
33. Jan. 6 - GMAC Bowl (Troy vs. Central Michigan), played at Ladd Peebles Stadium, Mobile, AL
34. Jan. 7 - BCS National Championship Game (Alabama vs. Texas), played at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
I feel a rant coming on.
If you want to know the scores, the winners, the losers, whether any of the coaches have been fired, whether any of the cheerleaders are available for dating, and other items of apparently vital importance to the viewing audience, you will have to look elsewhere. I have no intention of providing such information to you. The only reason I published the list again was so that you could be as boggled as I am at the thought of how college football has
When I was young (don’t you just hate it when old people start their sentences that way?) there were not many bowl games. Only the Rose Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, and the Cotton Bowl were televised. Later the Gator Bowl joined them, and the Fiesta Bowl, and the Sun Bowl. Newcomers like the Liberty Bowl, the Citrus Bowl, and the Peach Bowl came along. Somewhere along the way, things got out of hand and American college football went completely berserk. Now there are 34 bowls vying for your time, attention, viewing loyalty, and alumni dollars.
Where will it stop? No one can say.
I stopped caring a long time ago. Who participates in or wins the PapaJohn.com Bowl or the Meineke Car Care Bowl or the Chick-fil-A Bowl or the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl or even, God help us, the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl is of no consequence to me. None at all. They do not even register on my radar screen. But advertisers everywhere, take note: You need not care what I think. I am not part of the coveted demographic group of 18-to-49-year-olds, the designated target audience for your advertising budgets.
Speaking of Hubert Humphrey, he’s the one on the left in the photo below. Apparently having to spend a lot of time in the company of Lyndon Johnson could make even “The Happy Warrior” a bit glum.
Or perhaps there is another reason. Perhaps Hubert just learned that Slippery Rock lost to Fisk in the Mayo Clinic Blue Cross Blue Shield Bowl.Rant ended. Seacrest out.
