Poor Jack

Today I watched the Capital One Bowl because I wanted to see how LSU fared against Penn State. Because my friend Jack, an LSU alum and football enthusiast, has helped me understand the game, I thought it would be nice if I could discuss today's game with him when we return to campus after the holidays. I'm sure Jack's not happy about today's outcome. When I see him again, this is what we can talk about:

1.  LSU got hosed right at the end of the game (actually, those are my husband's words, not mine, but I thought they were apt). According to the game announcers, that penalty at the end wasn't exactly fair. LSU's player was simply trying to get players up so they could line up for the next play. Hmm. When did I see something similar happen? Oh, yes. It was at the UGA/LSU game when the officials made a bogus call against A. J. Green, thereby costing Georgia a touchdown and leading to LSU's victory. I guess what comes around goes around. I think I remember, though, that those same officials made a bogus call against LSU later on this season. If there's anything SEC players should have learned this year, it's that they should not take any chances because there's no telling what will get penalized.

2.  Don't you think LSU should reconsider the bright yellow mouth guards next year? Especially the ones that don't fit all the way in the players' mouths? Those boys looked like they were walking around sucking on giant yellow pacifiers all through the game.Every single time the camera caught a closeup of an LSU player, he was spitting a bright yellow mouth guard out of his teeth. I'm sure the Penn State players did too, but dark blue mouth guards aren't as visible as bright yellow ones. Just saying.

Even though I'm not an LSU fan, I would have liked to see the Tigers score a bowl win for the SEC. Better luck next year, LSU. Even though I'm cheering for the SEC during most games, I'll watch the Sugar Bowl tonight, but I won't be cheering for Florida. I just can't bring myself to do it.

While Reading Today's Sports Page

These days I have to read the sports page first thing in the morning because with this week's cold weather, my fifteen year-old likes to snatch up the newspaper to start the fireplace. Over today's cup of coffee, I looked mainly for information regarding any bowl games I might be interested in, and I also took in Marc Weiszer's piece on what Georgia's team has in store for next year. Little of that story was enlightening:  the team needs a defensive coordinator, and the starting quarterback remains to be seen. Also, Rennie Curran and Reshad Jones may or may not go pro. What I most appreciated about that article was the sidebar detailing the 2010 schedule. Georgia's playing Colorado next year in Boulder. That will be a fun game for my niece, a Georgia girl who will then be a junior at the University of Colorado. Who will she cheer for? Hmm.

Other stories, however, grabbed my attention even more:

Mike Leach:  I heard the announcement of Leach's suspension during the Indpendence Bowl broadcast, but more information appeared in today's article by Betsy Blaney, who cites an unidentified source as reporting that Leach isolated Adam James in guarded dark rooms with orders that he not be allowed to sit down or lean on walls--in spite of team physicians' diagnosis of a concussion incurred on December 16th. James was twice placed in solitary confinement, once on December 17th, and again on December 19th.

Now, as a child of a journalist, I know reporters cannot reveal their sources if those sources want anonymity. So kudos to Blaney for that. At the same time, when a source keeps confidentiality, I can't help wondering how reliable that source is. Still, Leach has a lot of explaining to do, especially considering that he's being pretty incooperative for someone complaining that he has "been forced into this situation without being afforded any process." If he's genuinely innocent, he could clear up this whole mess by simply explaining why he would confine a player to stand for hours in a shed or closet when the player has a head injury. No reports have explained why James would warrant such a punishment. If he did, Leach should simply provide that evidence. However, by postponing meetings and refusing to sign letters stating that "no one injured would return to work out without doctors' permission," Leach is just making himself look worse and worse. His lack of cooperation as well as his request for a court order allowing him to coach in the Alamo Bowl points to one thing: He wants his $800,000 bonus for coaching in the game.

One more example of how football is all about the money.

Playoffs? But here's one time when it's not. According to an article by the Associated Press, "a majority of college football fans want to scrap the current Bowl Championship Series and replace it with a playoff system." Well, that's not really news. Doesn't that conversation come up at the end of every December? This year, though, Quinnipiac University Polling Institute conducted a survey, which finds that 63% of those polled favor ditching the old system, while 26% want to keep it. Although the article offers no specific information about the survey methods, the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute reports that it surveyed 1849 adults nationwide, including 948 football fans. In short, the polling institute has found 1164 people who support a playoff system. Granted, that's a lot of people, but it's not even enough folks to fill a football stadium.Therefore, although I also support a playoff system, I find these results questionable.

But bigger questions arise from this bit:  "Earlier this month, a House subcommittee approved legislation aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine its national champion." Oh, heavens. I had heard about this bill a couple or three weeks ago, but I gave it little attention, thinking it would certainly die in committee. After all, college football is not a federal issue, and don't our congressmen have bigger fish to fry? Health care? The economy? A war? Now this morning, I'm dismayed to learn that they're not only taking on college football, but the committee approved the bill? I need to look up the bill on Thomas because if any of my congressmen approved it, I'm seriously reconsidering my vote in the next election.

The NCAA can handle this one, guys. Go do some work that makes a difference.

Who Had a Good Game Tonight?

Well, definitely Brandon Boykin, who earned the designation of Player of the Game for that 81 yard kick return for Georgia's first score.

And then there was Aron White, who scored a couple of times for the Dawgs in the second half. Caleb King also scored for the team. Thank goodness the second half saw more of the Dawgs' running game.

Waushaun Ealey had a good game too, gaining the Dawgs some yardage during the second half.

After a while, I started to feel a little bad for the Aggies, who did manage to score one last time in the last few minutes of the game. Still, during the end of the fourth quarter, they obviously had given up the fight, as they looked sloppier than Georgia looked during the Florida game.

Now, I'll admit that all season long I've been paying more attention to Georgia's offensive team than its defensive team (something I'll rectify next year), so I must recognize my limited knowledge here. But it seems to me that Georgia's defense did just fine without Willie Martinez tonight. In fact, when my husband and I saw the Dawgs on the sideline mixing up their coolers of Power Ade, we thought they were going to douse the two defensive line graduate assistants. I can't remember their names, but good job, guys! I wonder what Willie Martinez was doing tonight.

Tonight's game did raise one significant question for me. It has to do with complete and incomplete passes. With about 4 minutes left in the first quarter, we saw Joe Cox throw a pass to Aron White, who caught the ball at about the 40 yard line before he took a couple of steps and then fell. After several instant replays, I did eventually see White let go of the ball--after he was on the ground. The game announcers said repeatedly that "catching is a process" and that the receiver must "maintain possession of the ball." Still the question remained, "What constitutes maintaining possession?"  The game officials ruled that White had not maintained possession of the ball and so Cox's pass was incomplete. But I'm still wondering about that technicality. Does the reciever have to hold onto the ball even after he's on the ground? What does constitute full possession of the ball? Later in the game we saw A.J. Green catch the ball and fall, but his pass was complete. I guess that was because he never let go of it until he gave it to the official. Is my observation correct? Just wondering.

Well, the Bulldogs' season is now over. The team gets to go home with the Lee Michaels trophy (which is a pretty thing, but now I need to look up who Lee Michaels is or was). Even before the game was over, the announcers were musing over who would be Georgia's quarterback next year and what the next season holds for the Dawgs. Well, I guess we have nine months to mull all those questions over. Meanwhile, I'll be watching other bowl games. I want to see Alabama play in the championship game, and I want to see how Tech fares in the Orange Bowl. I might even watch LSU play Pitt (is that right?), out of respect for my friend Jack, in whatever bowl game they're playing in. So even though my next blogs won't be about the Dawgs, I might just learn a few more football details before this season is over.

Independence Bow: Halftime Report

Nobody expected the first quarter to end zip to zip, but the Georgia Bulldogs held their own against the Aggies. I was pleased to see the Dawgs suffer only one penalty. It's a refreshing change to see the opposing team draw most of the flags.

But then during the second half, the Dawgs started looking like the Dawgs I've been watching all season:  nothing to write home about. So I got up to start dinner. Who'd have thought Boykin would run the first touchdown with two minutes left in the half? And then the Dawgs scored another immediately thereafter when Baccari Rambo blocked the Aggies' kick, allowing Tavarres King to score from the 2 yard line (I wonder if King will keep those gloves too?).

I'm glad to see A.J. Green back in the game. Fat lot of good it's doing Georgia, though. The Aggies have been waiting for Green's return, and they're hovering over him like a crowd of helicopter parents.

I do wish I could see the Bulldogs I watched playing against Georgia Tech. Unfortunately, they've gone back to their passing game. Is it because A.J.'s back? If so, I hope the team reconsiders during halftime. Texas A&M isn't giving A.J. much room to perform. Maybe the Dawgs should try some more of that running game? We'll see.

Well, the fish is done. More after the game.

Bowled Over

I’ve been to a bowl game before. It was in Jacksonville. Is that the Gator Bowl? The year was 1988. Georgia played Michigan State (I think). My boyfriend (now my husband) got us tickets to the game and borrowed a custom van from a friend. We drove from Savannah to Jacksonville with his parents, their friend Ellen, our friend Aloysius, and his (then) girlfriend Mary Anne. On the way to Jacksonville, Ellen tried to teach me how to play bridge. It didn’t take. After the game we all piled back into the van and drove back to Savannah, arriving at about 3:00 am. We spent the night at my (now) in-laws’ house, but by the time we got home, we were beyond tired. I don’t think anybody got any sleep that night.

            I couldn’t tell you what happened on the field. I don’t even remember if Georgia won. I can almost promise you that I spent the game reading the latest issues of People magazine and Cosmopolitan. I’m sure I enjoyed the half time show.

            I’ve never really understood why championship games are called bowl games. I’ve always assumed that they're called such because stadiums look like giant bowls. My knowledge of bowl games, in fact, has always been severely limited, and even though I’ve done some studying up on the championship games, I still have much to learn.

What I “Knew” Before

Before this year, my knowledge of bowl games was grounded in assumption and listening in on conversations of others. Until this year (in fact, until as recently as last week) the following pseudo-concepts comprise what I knew about the Bowl Championship Series:

• There were five major bowl games: the Sugar Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Peach Bowl and the Rose Bowl.
• The Sugar Bowl was the best bowl because it was the only bowl game whose name had any logic to it. The names of the Orange Bowl and the Peach Bowl made a little more sense because often people do put fruit in bowls.
• The Rose Bowl always had a parade beforehand in Pasadena which sometimes featured the stars of Little House on the Prairie.
• Bowl games played on New Year’s Day.
• The Sugar Bowl was always in New Orleans at the Super Dome (that part never made sense to me).
• Whoever won the Sugar Bowl was the national champion.
• The Georgia Bulldogs played in the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame in the early ‘80’s when Herschel Walker was the star of the team. Georgia won and became national champion. (I think the Dawgs played in the Sugar Bowl in the past few years too. I’ll look that up.)
• Sometime in the 1990’s the bowl games took on corporate sponsors, and the names of the games became just plain ridiculous.
• Also in the 1990’s more bowl games sprouted up, such as the Weed Eater Bowl, the Blockbuster Bowl and the Tostitos Bowl.

What I’ve Learned From Homework

The Bowl Championship Series makes much more sense to me now. It’s amazing what one can learn from a little reading (right, Richard Samuel?). As I mentioned in my previous posting, I now know the national championship is actually its own game, and it has a logical title: the National Championship Game. It’s sponsored by Citi. Alabama and Texas will play in that game on January 7^th.

The next tier of bowl games consists of the four major bowls, listed in my sidebar to the right. I got my information from the Bowl Championship Series website, so I don’t know if the list below is also a hierarchy, but here it is:

• The Allstate Sugar Bowl, played in New Orleans, will match up Florida and Cincinnati. An SEC team always hosts the Sugar Bowl.
• The Rose Bowl Sponsored by Citi (Citi must love football because the bank sponsors two major games), is always hosted by the Big Ten and the Pac Ten, according to the BCS website. This year, Oregon and Ohio State play on January 1^st.
• The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a surprise to me. I had no idea it was a big bowl, but my husband tells me that when Tostitos came on board, they increased the payoff to the winning team, which shoved the Cotton Bowl out of this second tier and into the ranks of the smaller bowl games. In the Fiesta Bowl a Big 12 team hosts the game, and this year TCU will play Boise State on January 4^th.
• The Fed Ex Orange Bowl, generally hosted by an ACC team, will this year match Georgia Tech against Iowa on January 5^th.

Below this tier of games are all those other bowl games, which are listed in the sidebar to the right. So in total, we have almost thirty bowl games, which will play between Christmas all the way past New Year’s. The holiday season is a veritable football extravaganza.

Of Course, Nobody Asked Me

After doing my homework, and finally learning that these bowl games are more about money than anything, the BCS makes much more sense. Even the names. Nevertheless, I think the organizers of those games could have done a bit more thinking and come up with some more apt titles.

As I mentioned before, the Sugar Bowl is the only bowl game with a name that makes perfect sense. The Cotton Bowl’s name would make perfect sense if the organizers would just change the spelling to the Cotton Boll. The Orange Bowl and the Peach Bowl have almost logical sounding names, but maybe to make things more efficient and to generate more interest in them, those two sports associations could pool their resources and call their game the Fruit Bowl.

Or maybe the organizing sports associations should seek different sponsorship. For instance, I’ve never understood why Dixie Crystals or Domino doesn’t sponsor the Sugar Bowl. I don’t see Dole or Del Monte sponsoring any championship games. If they did, that game could be called the Salad Bowl.  Campbell’s or Progresso could sponsor a game called the Soup Bowl. I wonder if any sports associations have approached Kool-Aid, Hi-C or even Captain Morgan’s rum for sponsorship, because they’d be the perfect companies to sponsor the Punch Bowl.

And of course, I’m always one to root for underdogs (as well as underDawgs), so I wouldn’t want to leave out the lowest-ranked teams. They deserve a game as well. Perhaps that game could be sponsored by Mohen or Kohler. It could be called the Toilet Bowl.

Bowling for Dollars

So Georgia’s going to the Independence Bowl this year. The game takes place in Shreveport, Louisiana on December 28th at 4:00 pm. It’ll air on one of the many ESPN channels. I forget which one.

Until now, I paid so little attention to the Independence Bowl that I don’t remember any past awareness of its existence. Since Georgia’s victory over Tech, I’ve taken some time to research the Independence Bowl—as well as the Bowl Championship Series in general (see below)—and I realize now (How did I not realize it before?) that bowl games are all about the money.

First, for my readers who are learning football along with me, let me explain a little bit about the game the Dawgs will be playing. The Independence Bowl is a match-up between the SEC and the Big 12. This year, the game will pit the University of Georgia against Texas A&M. The last time Georgia played this team was in 1980 when Georgia beat the Aggies 42-0.

By the way, I’m getting all of my historical information from the Independence Bowl website.

The Independence Bowl began in 1975, the brain child of the Shreveport-Bossier City Sports Foundation, which decided to bring a post-season championship game to the northern Louisiana area. After certification from the NCAA, the first Independence Bowl game took place in 1976. Because the game took place during America’s bicentennial, the sports foundation titled the game to honor those Americans who died for the country’s independence. What a nice gesture.

In its thirty-three year history, the Independence Bowl has signed on a number of sponsors. It’s first sponsor was Poulan/Weed Eater, which sponsored the game for seven years in the 1990’s. Although I don’t remember ever being aware of the Independence Bowl, I do remember hearing the term Weed Eater Bowl and thinking that name was ridiculous. More about that in another posting.

After Poulan/Weed Eater pulled out, Sanford signed on as the title sponsor. I don’t even know what that company does. A few years later, MainStay, a subsidiary of New York Life, signed on as the title sponsor. Today, the Independence Bowl proudly sports its official name: The AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl.

Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?

So I wondered, what is AdvoCare anyway? I’d never heard of the company. The word care made me think of some kind of home health care business or a medical supply company. I wasn’t far off the mark. AdvoCare makes health and nutritional products, and the one highlighted during the December 28th game is V100. Now, I browsed the AdvoCare website for as long as I could stand it. I couldn’t find out what V100 is. But I did find out that the AdvoCare bus has been touring the country this year in anticipation of the great match-up between the SEC and the Big 12. The bus started in Seattle Labor Day weekend. Right now, it’s somewhere around Los Angeles or San Diego. It’ll arrive in Shreveport on December 28th just in time for the game.

I wonder how many vitamins this game is going to sell?

And that brings me to the eye-opening moment I had this week about bowl games. They’re not about national champions. They’re not about who’s the best football team in a conference or in the nation. All these years, I thought the bowl games were some kind of convoluted, non-playoff version of determining who’s the best. They’re not. They never were.

Bowl games are college ball’s way of going green.

Typically what happens is this: The organizations conceiving of these bowl games (and there are almost thirty of them) wanted to stimulate local economies by bringing championship games into their areas. Often, though, the games weren’t enough of a draw to pay for themselves, so the organizations sought corporate sponsorship. The corporations, I suppose, saw such sponsorship as a way to sell their products, and the football teams see these games as a way to get money (and lots of stuff for the players). You see, what I’ve learned from my studies this week is that the better the payoff, the better the bowl.

While I can’t find an exact number, my friends who know more than I about sports tell me that teams who win bowl games get paid loads of cash. Actually, I think that cash goes to the winning conference, not the winning team. Hence, a conference wants its teams in lots of bowls so it can make lots of money.

But wait! There’s more! Every team member gets a ton of prizes just for playing the game. For instance, my personal football coach (and national champion quarterback) Mike Gasque tells me that when he played in the Peach Bowl (back when it was really called the Peach Bowl), he got new shoes, new sweat suits, new sports gear—all kinds of stuff. And then Clemson won the Peach Bowl that year, so he also got a Peach Bowl ring.

That was back in the ‘80’s. These days, playing in a bowl game is tantamount to being a presenter at the Oscars. According to Heather Dinich’s 2007 article for ESPN.com, prizes for playing in bowl games include the latest Wii games, shopping sprees at Best Buy, Garmin navigation systems, Nocona boots, and XM satellite radios. That’s pretty good loot—almost worth a concussion or a broken jaw, right? Hmm.

Tech and the Tide: It Was a Good Weekend

Yesterday, I did something I didn't think I'd ever do. I sent a friend a text message that said, "Roll Tide!"

I suppose I should have qualified my cheer. It should have said "Roll Tide! Except when you guys play Georgia!" Saturday afternoon, though, all my money was on Alabama, in spite of my lack of affinity for Nick Saban. That's how much I dislike Florida, especially Urban Myer and that Spikes fellow who tried to poke out Waushaun Ealey's eyes (Who cares of Waushan's over it? I'm not).

And then last night, I yelled, "Go, Tech!" And I should have qualified that cheer as well. I didn't really have my heart set on Tech to win against Clemson. Although I have a cousin on the Yellow Jackets, my most experienced armchair football coach, Mike Gasque, is a former Clemson QB. So I would have been pleased with either outcome.

But then the game ended, and I saw all those players in white and gold jumping in celebration. And then the camera zeroed in on an orange someone had thrown on the field, and I thought, this means my cousin is going to get an ACC Championship ring. That's pretty cool. And then it occurred to me that when Tech goes to the Orange Bowl, if they win that game, my cousin will get an ACC Championship ring AND an Orange Bowl ring. All without having to play one minute of football. Cool! Two championship rings and NO HEAD INJURIES!

All of a sudden, I began to like Paul Johnson a whole lot more.

Tonight at 8:00, I'll be tuned in to the BCS selection show, and then I'll be back online to discuss the upcoming bowl season.

Go, Tech! Roll Tide!

What have I turned into?