Something … Anti-Climatic … About New Year’s Day Bowl Games Taking Place January 2
So it’s been a few days since the January 1 bowl games/Winter Classic, and all I can say is … wow. What a great time to be a sports fan. Below are my thoughts on the day’s events:
– Houston started things out right by laying a beatdown to State Penn. I was tuning in and out of the game, so I’m not sure if the Lions ran a jailbreak screen play.
– Ohio State/Florida was the only game I didn’t bother watching at all. No way should two 6-6 teams be playing on New Year’s Day (or January 2). The contest took place in Florida, so I can understand why the organizers would want the Gators to play in this game. But Ohio State? Please. And teams like Boise State and TCU got passed over and had to play earlier in the Bowel Season. What a joke.
– In-between football games there was a little hockey event called the Winter Classic between the Rangers and Flyers. Due to weather issues, the 1 pm start time got moved to later in the afternoon (around 3 pm, I believe). You know, I’m actually a fan of the game starting a littler later in the afternoon. Sure it was put up against the Rose Bowl, but at least it wasn’t up against several other games at once.
Seeing how I don’t really care for either team, I wasn’t sure who I wanted to win. Then after the Flyers scored their first goal, I started pulling for the Rangers. My reason? Because I wanted to hear the Flyer fans start booing. I wasn’t disappointed. And LOL at Philadelphia for getting butthurt over at Mike Rupp’s “Jagr Salute.”
– I’m normally not a Big 10 fan. I think the conference is vastly overrated and prefer the SEC. However, I was pulling for Michigan State to beat Georgia. MSU has had some tough bowl games in the past, and while some may think Georgia gave that game away I think the Spartans earned that win.
– South Carolina reached 11 wins for the first time ever. Good for the Ol’ Ball Coach.
– I generally prefer watching the several games at once leading up to the Rose Bowl. However, this year’s contest was great. Although I will say it seems the difficulty sliders needed adjusting after the first half. I didn’t care who won this game.
– The final game of the night was the one I had some attachment toward. After Mike Gundy’s “I’m a man — I’m 40!” rant a few years ago, I’ve become endeared to the guy. (I love it when people lose their cool over a reporter and that reporter just sits there dumbfounded.) However, I didn’t think OSU was going to beat Stanford. I’m glad I was wrong, even though it took two missed kicks from a red-shirted freshman kicker to pull out the win.
All in all, an excellent day of entertainment. I’m especially glad I took the next day off of work to “recover” from staying up past midnight. One thing I do have to wonder about, though. If Oklahoma State would play Oregon, just how long would THAT game last?
