Grid bowls dominate air waves and…. what’s in those swag bags?
If you’re a huge college football fan, these last few weeks of December and into the New Year are, simply put, the Yuletide and your birthday all rolled into one.
It started nearly two weeks ago with the first of the bowl games. By the time early January rolls around, the air waves will have been inundated with 30-plus post-season contests, televised on just about every network that delves into the world of sports.
I enjoy college football, but there is no way I can watch that many games.
For one thing, my work schedule generally won’t allow me to do it.
Although I’m not quite as old as some of the younger kids may think, I can remember the days when bowl games were more or less limited to the major ones such as the Orange, Cotton, Sugar and the granddaddy of them all, the Rose.
It seemed as if every year when I was a kid, Ohio State would play in Pasadena on New Year’s Day.
There were no bowl games in the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year’s.
About the only bowl game on New Year’s Eve that I can remember from all those years ago is the long-defunct Astro-Blue Bonnett Bowl.
It was naturally played in the Astrodome and the University of Houston served as host.
Now, we have so many bowl games that it’s difficult to keep track of them all.
They start nine days ahead of Christmas and the holiday period is basically one big glut of college football.
I’m sure there are fans who will watch as many of them as humanly possible by the time it’s all over. If so, keep the Visine at hand.
On the rare occasions I have a chance to sit down and watch some games, I generally can’t remember which team I selected in our Pigskin Pickers bowl roundup.
Now, it’s no secret that college sports teams are a part of big business.
Just about every bowl game is corporate-sponsored from the Dollar General Bowl to the Quick Lane Bowl and from the Foster Farms Bowl to the Belk Bowl.
We were pondering in the newsroom a week or so ago about what would be in the “swag bags” the players receive from their bowl experience.
Take for instance, the Gasparilla Bowl that was played last week.
That game was sponsored by Bad Boy Mowers. Does that mean each player from Temple and Florida International received zero-turns?
Good luck carrying those on the plane back home.
What do the guys who will play in the Military and Armed Forces Bowls get… a new tank? No driveway should be without one.
Are recording contracts on the horizon for those in the Music City Bowl?
How about getting a break from Uncle Sam for playing in the Taxslayer?
The Taxslayer was formerly known as the Gator Bowl. Imagine what that gift would have been.
Ohio State is preparing to play USC in the Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday.
I’m sure the Buckeyes and Trojans are hoping they receive something more than a box of Q-tips.