Bowl Season 2013-14

The college bowl season kicks off today with four games.  Seems like a lot of games for the opening day of the bowl season.  But there seem to be a lot of games to be played.

I seem to remember just a modicum of bowl games growing up.  Some have lasted, some have disappeared.  I remember the first Independence Bowl in Shreveport, still around today.  I remember the Garden State Bowl, dumped because it was too cold in East Rutherford, New Jersey.  Funny how a Super Bowl is being played there this season.

I remember when the Holiday Bowl came into being and knowing San Diego would be a big hit.  Two bowl games now populate the San Diego holiday schedule, one sponsored by a local credit union.  The first incarnation of the Tangerine Bowl lasted for many years in Orlando, eventually dying out, replaced by a new version that now seems to be called the Russell Athletic Bowl.

I've seen some great football played in Bowl games.  First one that springs to mind is a shootout between Brigham Young and SMU in the Holiday Bowl.  BYU had Jim McMahon at quarterback, throwing for 446 yard and 4 touchdowns, and making plays all over the place.  Craig James, the less vaunted of the Pony Express backs, ran for 225 yards and two touchdowns, while the "other" back was some guy named Eric Dickerson.  BYU prevailed, 46-45, and the game gained a reputation for high scoring, entertaining football.

A couple of other games come to mind.  How about Boise State showing itself as a big time program against a strong Oklahoma team in the Fiesta Bowl, and a Statue of Liberty play for the ages?  Notre Dame fans will always remember the Chicken Soup game at the Cotton Bowl.  Miami Hurricanes stopping a two point conversion against Nebraska to win a National Championship in the Orange Bowl.  Old time fans will remember Dicky Maegel of TCU running wild in the Cotton Bowl, to be cut down by Tommy Lewis from Alabama: Tommy made a textbook tackle and he did it coming from the bench.  You think Mike Tomlin just thought of this thing?

It's probably as well that there is football today.  It is the Winter Solstice, the day with the least amount of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere.  Cozy up with the TV, put the recliner in L position, and let the slobberknocking begin.

I'll be at my in-laws, opening presents.

So...am I off base?