Category: History and More

And now, at last, things get serious.

New Year’s Day has arrived, which means college football fans get to find out which two teams will play for the national championship next week in Atlanta.

But before No. 2 Oklahoma faces No. 3 Georgia in the Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. and No. 1 Clemson tangles with No. 4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl around 9ish, there are three other bowl games to start your day.

Michigan and South Carolina kick things off in the Outback Bowl at noon; Auburn and Central Florida play 30 minutes later in the Peach Bowl; and the last game of the College Football Playoff undercard is Notre Dame vs. LSU in the Citrus Bowl at 1 p.m.

So, do I plan to park my carcass on the futon and watch football for 13 consecutive hours today?

Nope.

I’m a New York Rangers fan, and they play Buffalo in the NHL Winter Classic today at 1 p.m. I’ll be cheering on the Blueshirts for three hours before joining the ESPN crew in Pasadena because hockey is glorious and outdoor hockey is gloriouser.*

* Not a real word but I’m using it anyway.

Yet if you think – after that admission – that I’m here to bash the bowls, the number of bowls, or the bowl system itself, I’m really not.

Counting the College Football Playoff National Championship, which is set for Jan. 8 at Mercedez-Benz Stadium, there are a staggering 40 bowls involving Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

And every year, there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth from traditionalists who think there are too many of them.

A bunch of my friends have spent the last few days debating how bowl games have evolved, and it’s been interesting to hear the wildly varying viewpoints.

As for me, I get the nostalgia for years of NCAA football past. I grew up when college football was still a game – at least as far as we knew.

It was fun back in the day to watch Woody Hayes make an ass of himself when Ohio State played a John McKay-coached Southern Cal squad in the Rose Bowl. Seeing Paul Bryant lead Alabama into action in the Sugar Bowl and Bob Devaney (and then Tom Osborne) guide the fortunes of Nebraska in the Orange Bowl was also cool, and once in a while you might even accidentally get a game that would determine the mythical national championship.

There weren’t nearly as many bowls, so most of them seemed “special” – even though bowls such as the Gator and Liberty never were.

But those days are over and they ain’t coming back.

That being the case, these days I watch a few, miss a bunch, and sometimes I merely stumble upon a game that piques my interest.

Up until last Friday’s Belk Bowl (a wild 55-52 Wake Forest win over Texas A&M that was loads of fun), the only bowl game I had seen was the Bahamas Bowl – and I only watched three quarters of that.

Had my alma mater, UAB, not been playing I wouldn’t even have known or cared it was taking place.

But I’m sure Ohio fans enjoyed their team’s 41-6 beatdown of the Blazers, and regardless of the outcome the teams (and those who traveled to the game) got a trip to the Bahamas.

That doesn’t suck.

But much less exotic locales (I’m looking at you, Shreveport) still hold games involving schools that have fans, and fans of those schools shouldn’t be shamed for watching their team play an extra game during the holidays.

Look, I’ve already made pretty clear I’m more interested in expanded playoffs than bowls.

There are 10 FBS conferences so it seems that a 16-team playoff with 10 conference champions and six wildcard teams would be damn near perfect.

I’d even put an existing bowl in play as the site of the title tilt, joining the pair of semifinal bowls used in the current 4-team format.

Still, even with playoffs there will likely always still be bowls, and that’s absolutely fine.

Is it ridiculous for 6-6 teams (and sometimes 5-7 teams) to earn bowl bids?

Not if the team you pull for is 6-6 or 5-7. And if your favorite sons get invited to the Carl’s Catheters Yellow Snow Bowl in Anchorage, Alaska, you should watch with no apologies.

Hell, I wouldn’t even mind a postseason matchup featuring two 0-12 teams. You could call it the Redemption Bowl and the winner would end the season on a positive note.

Of course that means the losers would be subject to great ridicule, which would not be a positive part of the college experience.

It might be hard to get that particular bowl certified.

At any rate, I spent my last 10 years in the newspaper business covering Georgia and Clemson, so I have a particular interest in their games tonight. But even if I hadn’t, these are still the CFP semifinals, and I want to see what happens in both of them.

And next Monday, I’ll be glued to screen as the last two teams standing go toe-to-toe in Atlanta.

The bottom line is there are those who are going to watch as many bowls as possible, some who will ignore them all and some – like me – who pick and choose.

So, just enjoy the games.

Or don’t.

The University of Alabama football team has won 10 national championships (as recognized by the Associated Press).

Auburn has been awarded two.

And what is the common denominator of all 12 of those crowns?

The team that wore them were also kings of the Iron Bowl.

And that makes complete sense.

Since that game is the traditional regular-season capper for both programs (at least since the series was renewed in 1948), it’s hard to imagine how an Iron Bowl loser can go on to seize the biggest prize in all of college football.

But there’s a chance fans won’t have to imagine it this season because it could actually happen.

Yep, the team that lost the Iron Bowl by two touchdowns is two wins away from a national championship.

On the other hand, the team that earned 365 days’ worth of braggin’ rights in what some consider the nation’s fiercest rivalry received a consolation prize in the form of a Peach Bowl invitation.

In the words of my late Uncle Emery, “That don’t hardly seem right.”

Alabama, of course, was a bit of a controversial College Football Playoff selection, sneaking past Ohio State for the fourth and final spot in the Football Bowl Subdivision’s little tournament.

Bama was 11-1 and runner-up in the SEC West, while the 11-2 Buckeyes were Big Ten champions but suffered a 31-point loss to Iowa earlier in the season. So regardless of who made the cut, there was going to be plenty of pissed-off fans.

This time, many of them live in the greater Columbus, Ohio, area.

Auburn played Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and – if the Tigers had won – they would’ve also been in the “Final Four.”

Conceivably, they could have met the Tide again for the national championship. That would’ve been, by far, the most significant sporting event in the state of Alabama’s history.

Instead, AU – which beat UGA in the regular season – lost the rematch by 21 points. And with three losses, Gus Malzahn’s charges must settle for a New Year’s 6 bowl.

So what’s the big deal about a one-loss Alabama team?

Ordinarily, there would be no big deal. Every team in the CFP has a loss.

No. 1 Clemson was defeated by Syracuse and No. 2 Oklahoma fell to Iowa State.

Those are seen as hiccups.

No. 3 Georgia, of course, was throttled by Auburn before beating the Tigers in the game that mattered most. So the first leg of “The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry” carries no weight.

And if the Tide’s lone blemish had come against LSU or Mississippi State or any college football team not located in Lee County, Alabama, it wouldn’t even be a story line among diehards or talking heads.

But Alabama lost to Auburn. And if you believe many fans, that game trumps all.

I’ll let you in on a secret, though … this year, it really doesn’t.

And just moments after Auburn put the finishing touches on a 26-14 win over then No. 1 Alabama, Tide boss Nick Saban was already politicking for a playoff spot.

“I think this team deserves the opportunity to get into the playoff by what they have been able to accomplish and what they have been able to do,” Saban said. “Certainly not in this game, but I think the team we played tonight is a very good football team, probably one of the best teams in the country. I don’t think one game defines who you are. It certainly doesn’t define this team for who they are, and again I am very proud of what they were able to accomplish.”

Even Malzahn was ready to move on shortly after the final whistle blew.

Yeah, his team won the Iron Bowl, but that was hardly the biggest game of the year for him or his players.

“This time of year, very few teams are playing their best football and we’re doing that,” Malzahn said. “We must continue doing that moving forward. Playing Georgia, we know they’re going to have a chip on their shoulder.”

I’m not saying Tide players weren’t hurting when they got on the bus to leave Jordan-Hare Stadium. They were.

And the locker room was a joyous place for the hosts, who snapped a three-game losing skid against the squad from Tuscaloosa.

Yet while Alabama fans might be dealing with some existential angst in the postseason, the only Tigers its players will be concerned with are the defending national champions from Clemson.

And if you don’t think Auburn’s athletes would trade an Iron Bowl win for a CFP berth, you’re kidding yourself.

Granted, this is a moot point if Clemson beats Alabama in the Sugar Bowl semifinal on New Year’s Day. (For the record, I think the Tigers will win the rubber game of their three-game match with Bama and face Georgia in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 8).

But if the Crimson Tide advances and goes on to win its 11^th national championship, I do have a suggestion for those of you who bleed Blue and Orange.

Make up bumper stickers that read, “Auburn 26, National Champions 14.”

 

Every now and then, someone has the bright idea to “revive” a defunct sports league.

The American Basketball Association was a high-flying, high-scoring, wide-open competitor to the National Basketball Association, good enough to eventually force a mini-merger with the NBA.

There is also a modern ABA which, like its namesake, uses red, white and blue basketballs.

Unlike the original circuit, though, this ABA is semi-pro (at best).

The new North American Soccer League (which, unless a court ruling fails to go its way, will likely fold) sought to capitalize on the name and legend of the original NASL.

But while it features quality second division-level soccer, there are no Peles or George Bests to be found.

And now – maybe – the sports world is about to see another unlikely revival in the form of the XFL.

Journalist Brad Shepard (on Twitter @TheBradShepard) broke the story, and then other outlets picked up on the news that pro wrestling mogul Vince McMahon is ready to get back in the pro football business.

Apparently, the Bombastic Baron of Brawn (if Vince starts using this he owes me a dime every time someone says it) thinks the time is right to make another go at the gridiron game.

Let’s just hope he provides a better product than he did with the XFL, which played one season in the spring/summer of 2001 and was a spectacular failure. It even holds the dishonor of owning the lowest rating for a prime time telecast in the history of television.

For those who don’t remember (and really, why should you?), the XFL was billed as old school, blood and guts football accented by the sideshow of World Wrestling Entertainment.

It had NBC and cable network contracts, and with McMahon’s financial empire behind it, there was reason for optimism.

Yet while there were some solid innovations in terms of camera and microphone usage (the NFL uses some of them now), the telecasts were marred by lowbrow vulgarity.

Taking cameras inside cheerleaders’ locker rooms was about as objectifying as it gets … I refer to it as the Perv Cam initiative. And the announcers (some of whom also worked WWE shows) threw in as many double entendres as possible.

McMahon also brought out some of his biggest wrestling stars to pimp the league with promos and in-stadium appearances, but they couldn’t make up for one, overriding factor:

It was minor league football.

And considering the fact that rosters were thrown together so quickly and training camps so short before the season opened in February, it was very bad minor league football early on.

By the time the quality of play improved to the point of making it slightly palatable, no one was watching on TV anymore.

When NBC said “No mas” to a second season, McMahon pulled the plug and the XFL was soon forgotten.

So if McMahon forms another league (and according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, McMahon sold 3.34 million in WWE stock worth about $100 million), he’ll need to learn from the mistakes of his venture into non-scripted sports.

For starters, he is forming another company, Alpha Entertainment, which is completely separate from the WWE.

That likely means his new league won’t try any of that wrestling crossover nonsense.

He also needs to avoid pretending it’s a major league.

In order to prop up the XFL he created the narrative that it was somehow “tougher” that the NFL. In reality, the best XFL team (the Los Angeles Xtreme won the championship) would’ve lost to the worst NFL team in 2001 (that would be the 1-15 Carolina Panthers) by 50 points.

Now, if he wanted to go the USFL route and bring in billionaires to buy franchises and go after top NFL talent, well, that would be another story entirely. Ultimately it would be an unwinnable financial war, of course, but in the short term it could create plenty of buzz and maybe even some Triple-A level football.

My guess, though, is he would rather come up with some sort of developmental agreement with the NFL, billing it as a spring showcase for the stars of the future.

So, as someone who is always willing to give pro sports upstarts a look, I’ll wait and see what – if anything – comes of this.

And while Vince didn’t ask for my advice, hopefully this time he’ll focus more on football and less on the cheerleaders’ locker rooms.