Bowls: There are a lot of them. Most of which seem to have been created solely to bilk taxpayer-funded universities for the sake of upselling a few hotel rooms. As a public service, we're cutting through the fat in search of a few good reasons ? or any reason ? for these spectacles to exist. Today: Scanning the post-Christmas fare in the Military and Holiday Bowls.
LOCALE: R-O-C-K in the RFK.
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium was more than a decade removed from its last football game when the fledgling EagleBank Bowl signed on in 2008, rescuing the once-proud home of the Washington Redskins from an ignominious existence as headquarters of the D.C. United and other assorted events that either don't want or can't afford to send patrons into the Maryland suburbs. For a college game, it has two advantages over most NFL venues: a) It's old, erected in 1961, and b) It's in the city, located just off the Potomac and within walking distance of the Capitol. So if you find yourself bored and disgusted by the game, just consider the alternative.
TRADITION: The Holiday Bowl: We're still here.
The bowl existed for 20 years (1978-97) as the destination of the WAC champion, which ? prior to the league's ill-fated expansion and fragmentation in the mid-nineties ? almost always meant BYU: LaVell Edwards' Cougars played in the first seven and eleven of the first sixteen Holiday bowls, winning five and securing an eventual national championship by beating Big Ten also-ran Michigan there in 1984.
There was also the Cougars' wild comeback over SMU in 1980, the second in a nine-year stretch in which the game was decided by four points or less seven times. But the Holiday really earned its high-scoring rep in the late eighties, when Oklahoma State, Penn State and Texas A&M scored 62, 50 and 65, respectively, in consecutive blowouts of Wyoming, BYU and BYU again from 1988-90. Cue Barry Sanders running wild in 1988.
SWAG: Ain't no swag like K Street swag.
The Military Bowl is sponsored by military-industrial giant Northrop Grumman, so you know you're going to get hooked up: Players from Air Force and Toledo will be leaving with an Amazon Kindle Fire, an Apple iPod nano, a watch, a Nike backpack and other assorted accoutrements they've got laying around the office. That may sound like a lot, but compared to what Northrop Grumman spends to stay in Congress' good graces, these college kids come incredibly cheap.
SPONSORS, PARADES AND OTHER AMBIANCE: Sgt. Stripes.
In lieu of a traditional mascot, the Military Bowl created its own "social media football character," Sgt. Stripes ? basically,�a customized football with a Facebook page, a Twitter feed and a a pair of cartoon eyes Photoshopped on for photos. Sgt. Stripes recently completed his "world-wind tour" in the cockpit of a combat mission from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, following a two-week stint with baseball Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr. in Japan.
But the Sargent's saved his finest work for this holiday collaboration with the head coaches in today's game, Air Force's Troy Calhoun and Toledo's Matt Campbell.
Bonus ambiance, retro edition: Sadly, longtime Holiday Bowl sponsor Pacific Life Insurance has yielded to a new corporate overlord, San Diego-based Bridgepoint Education ? a private, for-profit company offering post-secondary degrees through two subsidiaries, Ashford University and the University of the Rockies ?�robbing America of the most consistently snigger-worthy trophy in sports: The Pacific Life whale. Okay, seriously, it's not funny. It's really not. I mean, maybe sometimes. But otherwise, grow up, man.
THIS YEAR'S MATCHUP: Will the real Texas please stand up?
Longhorn fans may act like it's not a big deal, but after dropping three of their last four to close the regular season ? to Missouri, Kansas State and Baylor, no less ? a bowl win will go a long way toward defining this season as a significant step forward or another chapter in an ongoing decline. The outcome tonight will play into expectations for 2012, too, especially at quarterback, where the season-long pas de deux between sophomore Case "Yes That McCoy" and true freshman David Ash hasn't yielded any firm answer: Just when it looked like McCoy had taken a firm hold on the job following the last-second win at Texas A&M, he serves up four interceptions in a blowout loss in Waco. The outlook for next fall looks a lot brighter if the 'Horns leave San Diego thinking they've found an answer.
And if nothing else, frankly, an 8-5 record will look a whole lot better over the next eight months than 7-6.
STAR POWER: Keenan Allen's coming-out party.
The Cal offense isn't much to write home about on paper, but it does offer the must-see experience of watching sophomore Keenan Allen, a former five-star safety recruit who grew into the hype this year as an elite wide receiver. In a league loaded with first-rate receivers ? Robert Woods, Marqise Lee, Marquess Wilson, Gerell Robinson, Nelson Rosario ? Allen came in for a first-team All-Pac-12 nod after finishing second in receptions, with huge games against the best teams the Golden Bears faced: Washington (10 catches, 197 yards), Oregon (9 catches, 170 yards), USC (13 for 160) and Stanford (6 for 97). Personally, I strongly recommend Allen's highlight reel against Oregon in October.
The offense as a whole may not get any better, but by this time next year, we'll probably be sizing Allen up as a likely first-round pick.
- - -
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
No comments:
Post a Comment