Bowl Season

As I write this I’m watching the World Cup final … and enjoying it!?!

For those who know me, even a little bit, you’ll realize how utterly absurd that statement would have sounded even four or five years ago. I thank (or blame) the Apple TV+ show “Ted Lasso” for this newfound later-in-life interest in what’s known as the beautiful game. I’ve written about my interest in Lasso extensively on my other blog here.

That aside, I’m sure longtime Troy Athens High School soccer coach, Tim Storch, is grinning somewhere today as I made this event required viewing.

If I’m being honest, the reasons are more varied than some streaming television dramedy.

Part of it was no-doubt that Saudi Arabia-Argentina match that aired at 5 a.m. here at home the first full day of Group Stage action. Getting ready for the day being able to watch an intense match that wound up in favor of the underdogs, 2-1 Saudi Arabia, no doubt helped stoke my interest.

Additionally, the fact the United States Men’s National Team qualified for the fist time since 2014 and was thought to be, at worst competitive, and at best a darkhorse to make some noise, no doubt helped generate some of my interest.

Finally, I feel a certain obligation to get specced up on the game, the various national teams, and the stars of the sport because the tournament comes to North America in 2026. The last time the World Cup came to our shores (1994) I was working in Fairbanks, AK, and had no chance to see action in person; even though the Pontiac Silverdome hosted four Group Stage matches. As I look over the 16 locations that will host matches four years from now, I feel drawn toward the three Mexican locations (Guadalajara, Monterrey, or Mexico City) because I feel a worldwide event like this should be experienced in, ya know, a foreign land. Having said that, I understand Toronto makes sense for me because of it’s proximity (and the fact I have family friends in Toronto that might be able to provide lodging:-). In terms of multiple options to see action, the trio of Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City (with friends in all three locations as well) could be a good play.

Bowl Bonanza Update

As I wrote Friday, my longtime friend Jud and I annually draft all of the bowls and the winner picks the dining spot and loser the tab. After the weekend, I lead the overall match, 5-4. Frequent readers might recall I unwittingly wound up going all in on Texas colleges and ended up with all nine of them. So far, that’s not worked out too well. All four of my losses have come by Texas schools. My next Texas hope is Baylor on Thursday.

This morning at 11:30 EST the 2022-23 college football bowl season begins in, of all places, the Bahamas with the Bahamas Bowl. It will continue later this afternoon in a more traditional bowl location … Orlando … where there will no doubt be obligatory outings for the marching bands and cheer squads (and maybe even the players) to the various tourist attactios in central Florida. The Cure Bowl is the first of three in Orlando this season, the Cheez-It Bowl is December 29th and the Citrus Bowl is January 2nd.

The real bowl bonanza is Saturday when there will be seven total, running from 11 a.m. until after midnight EST.

There are 42 bowl games this year, plus the College Football Playoff Championship game.

To be clear, I don’t pay much attention the majority. It’s a giant programming grab and promotional tool for the network that airs most of the games. Universities are required to purchase a minimum number of tickets and, while there are guarantees for attending, the vast majority of these games are not revenue enhancers for the participants.

This year, I’ll likely tune in to my alma mater’s (Eastern Michigan) rematch 35 years in the making with San Jose State in Tuesday’s Idaho Potato Bowl. The Rose Bowl is also must-see TV for me (no matter who’s playing!) and I’m sure I’ll at least tune into the Alamo Bowl to see if the scoreboard actually breaks down one of these years due to the lack of defense exhibited in this game, annually. And, yes, I’ll feel obligated to check out the Peach and Fiesta Bowls to see what’s happening in the CFP Semifinals.

So what does one do to create interest in this over-saturation of bowl games? Gamble of course:-) Actually, it’s less gambling than it is an excuse to get together with an old friend every year for a good meal and reminiscence.

Jud – a newspaper colleague from my days at the Ann Arbor News – and I have, for many years, divvied up the teams in the bowls each year. Whomever finishes with the most total wins picks the restaurant (typically in Detroit) and the loser picks up the tab. Along the way we’ve been to Slows Bar B-Q, Rose’s Fine Food, Mudgies, Kuzzo’s Chicken and Waffles, and El Asador. Last year, because of prior COVID restrictions and two straight victories by me, we met in Ypsilanti at Antonio’s Coney Island (known for its Honduran cuisine, delish!) and took in an EMU basketball game afterward.

As Jud was on the losing end a year ago, he had first pick and took the Oregon Ducks in the Holiday Bowl (December 28th) which left me with their opponent, North Carolina. And away we went. About midway through our draft, I realized that whether I was picking them or getting them by default, I was accumulating all the Texas schools. Not one to let a sign go unrecognized, I leaned into and did, in fact, secure all nine Texas schools going bowling and, just for the fun of it, took the Wyoming Cowboys (get it, Cowboys!?!). I’m not ordinarily pro-Texas, but for at least the next three weeks I’m hoping all the scores are bigger for the Texas teams.

In the event you want to follow along with how Jud and I are doing, here’s who I have in each of the 42 games (the National Championship is not in the mix at the moment).