And with the arctic blast keeping many of us indoors, there are fewer options for entertainment. Stranded at home with nothing to do except watch bowl games. Thank goodness for college football. Too many bowl games? Nonsense.
It's Christmas Eve and all through the house, few creatures were stirring except nostalgic Notre Dame fans longing for better days. Once upon a time, Notre Dame had players such as Joe Theisman and Tim Brown, and were part of the national championship picture virtually every season.
How far have the Fighting Irish fallen? They're playing tonight in the Hawaii Bowl needing a victory against Hawaii to secure a winning season. Notre Dame hasn't won a bowl game since the 1994 Cotton Bowl.
Coach Charlie Weis is a better fit to play Santa Claus than return Notre Dame to its glory days.
Here's a few thoughts as bowl mania takes center stage:
No bathroom breaks: In the Holiday Bowl between Oregon and Oklahoma State, scoring will be at a premium. Miss a moment of the game and you risk missing a play that will appear on SportsCenter.
Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant figures to add to his 18 touchdown catches. Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli looked like the second coming of Dennis Dixon in the Civil War.
Beaver blues: Oregon State minus the Rodgers brothers is like sheriff Andy Taylor without Deputy Barney Fife, Mr. Ed without Wilbur, the Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. You get the picture.
Flanker James Rodgers (broken collarbone) won't play in the Sun Bowl against Pittsburgh, and tailback Jacquizz Rodgers (shoulder sprain) is doubtful. Without the Rodgers brothers, OSU has little resemblance to the team that upset then-No. 1 USC and took Beaver Nation on a glorious ride that crashed in the Civil War.
Happy birthday, JoePa: Forever young Penn State coach Joe Paterno turned 82 Sunday. Now in his 42nd season as head coach in Happy Valley, Paterno received a three-year contract extension last week. Why not make it a lifetime deal?
Paterno isn't about to name a successor — he's not into that coach-in-waiting deal — nor does he have plans to walk away. He's earned the right to depart at the time of his own choosing, which will probably be in a decade or so.
Major college football's all-time winningest coach still is feisty and getting it done. Let's not forget, if not for a one-point loss at Iowa late in the season, the Nittany Lions would be unbeaten and playing in the BCS national championship game.
I love the Rose Bowl matchup between Penn State and USC. Conventional wisdom suggests that USC's team speed and stout defense will be too much for the Nittany Lions. But Penn State can match USC's defensive strength, and being a nine-point underdog should provide plenty of incentive.
Factor in Paterno's 23-10-1 bowl record and the second-best uniforms in college football, and I like Penn State in an upset.
Texas-sized statement: Not only did Texas get squeezed out of the BCS national championship game despite beating Oklahoma by 10 points on a neutral field, but Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford edged Texas signal caller Colt McCoy for the Heisman Trophy.
You think Texas will have a chip on its shoulder against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl? The Buckeyes have the best uniforms in the land, but that won't help them avoid another BCS game defeat.
Saving the best for last: Without a playoff, we'll never know whether Oklahoma and Florida are truly the best teams in college football. But the Sooners and Gators are championship game worthy.
Can Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, once known as "Big Game Bob," restore his big-game image after losing four consecutive BCS games? Will Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, outshine Bradford and win his second national championship before exiting stage left for the NFL?
The Sooners won't be Gator bait, but look for Florida to claim its second national title in the past three years.
ghorowitz@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6726
No comments:
Post a Comment