By JOHN FINERAN
@genefin
Martin Brophy Would Agree We Don’t Need A Bigger Boat
We’re gonna need a bigger dishwasher – to deal with all the bowls we have this holiday season.
Not counting the three bowl games that will decide the eventual national champion, there are 38 other postseason games in the Football Bowls Subdivision (FBS for short). Double that and add the four teams playing in the College Football Playoff and that means 80 of the 128 FBS schools have been awarded for going 5-7 or better during the regular season.
That’s right, two schools with 5-7 records – North Texas of Conference USA and Mississippi State of the SEC – got the chance to go bowling because they did a better job graduating their student-athletes than other 5-7 teams.
Of course, isn’t that what college football coaches assure parents, that their young men will get a diploma when their college careers are over? Right?
Yep, 40 bowls (41 with the Jan. 9 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Tampa) … I’m bloated. You? In 1950, there were eight bowls. In 1970 there were 11. There were 15 in 1980 and 19 by 1990 and then things really took off. By 2000, the number was 25 and by 2010 it was 35.
Those in charge of certifying bowls wisely put a moratorium on them to assure there wasn’t oversaturation. Know this: there are nine bowls, in the United States (Austin, Texas; Los Angeles and Myrtle Beach, S.C.), across the border in Canada (Toronto) and overseas (Dubai, Ireland, Australia) waiting to get in on the fun. Sleigh bells are being replaced by the cha-ching of cash registers.
Did you know there once was a postseason game called the Aviation Bowl and it was played in Dayton, Ohio, the home of the Wright Brothers. It was played on Dec. 9, 1961 – about seven months after Alan Shepard became the first American in space – and matched New Mexico and Western Michigan after Rutgers and The Citadel declined invitations. The Lobos (6-4) prevailed 28-12 over the Broncos (5-3-1) before 3,500 fans at Welcome Stadium and the fly-by-night game was forever grounded. The Aviation Bowl is one of 36 bowls now defunct, thank goodness.
I believe that less matters and the fewer bowls the better. To be quite frank, most of the bowls are mere Tupperware.
The oldies – the Rose (the granddaddy of them all), Sugar, Orange, Sun and Cotton – are still the goodies. Beginning Friday, there are 14 games remaining.
Three jackasses (these two and this writer) made their picks, so bet at your own risk.
FRIDAY, DEC. 30
AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL
At Memphis, Tenn. (Liberty Bowl Stadium), 12 p.m. (ESPN)
Texas Christian 31, Georgia 24
HYUNDAI SUN BOWL
At El Paso, Texas (Sun Bowl), 2 p.m. (CBS)
No. 18 Stanford 31, North Carolina 30
FRANKLIN AMERICAN MORTGAGE MUSIC CITY BOWL
At Nashville, Tenn. (Nissan Stadium), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 21 Tennessee 28, Nebraska 14
NOVA HOME LOANS ARIZONA BOWL
At Tucson, Ariz. (Arizona Stadium), 5:30 p.m. (ASN/Campus Insiders)
Air Force 40, South Alabama 10
CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL
At Miami Gardens, Fla. (Hard Rock Stadium), 8 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 6 Michigan 21, No. 11 Florida State 20
SATURDAY, DEC. 31
BUFFALO WILD WINGS CITRUS BOWL
At Orlando, Fla. (Camping World Stadium), 11 a.m. (ABC)
No. 13 Louisville 21, No. 20 Louisiana State 17
TAXSLAYER BOWL
At Jacksonville, Fla. (EverBank Field), 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Kentucky 20, Georgia Tech 17
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINAL AT CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL
At Atlanta, Ga. (Georgia Dome), 3 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 1 Alabama 27, No. 4 Washington 24
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINAL AT THE PLAYSTATION FIESTA BOWL
At Glendale, Ariz. (University of Phoenix Stadium), 7 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 3 Ohio State 24, No. 2 Clemson 17
MONDAY, JAN. 2, 2017
OUTBACK BOWL
At Tampa, Fla. (Raymond James Stadium), 1 p.m. (ABC)
No. 17 Florida 10, Iowa 7
GOODYEAR COTTON BOWL CLASSIC
At Arlington, Texas (AT&T Stadium), 1 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 15 Western Michigan 21, No. 8 Wisconsin 20
ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL
At Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl), 5 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 9 Southern California 28, No. 5 Penn State 14
ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL
At New Orleans, La. (Mercedes-Benz Superdome), 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 7 Oklahoma 28, No. 14 Auburn 14
MONDAY, JAN. 9, 2017
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
At Tampa, Fla. (Raymond James Stadium), 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 3 Ohio State 17, No. 1 Alabama 14
IF I HAD A VOTE …
Fred “The Crime Dog” McGriff has the stats and deserves a plaque in Cooperstown.
This would be my 10-player ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2017: Fred McGriff, Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, Trevor Hoffman, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Larry Walker, Lee Smith, Curt Schilling and Vladimir Guerrero.
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America decides which players are inducted each July at Cooperstown, N.Y. To be elected, a player must appear on 75 percent or more of the ballots cast by the BBWAA membership. This year’s class will be announced Wednesday, Jan. 18 on the MLB Network.
Usually there are two or three players who are elected by the BBWAA and the odds seem to favor Bagwell, Raines and Hoffman, who were close last year. Whoever gets in will join former Royals and Braves executive John Schuerholz and retired commissioner Bud Selig, who were selected in December by a 16-member special committee of owners, executives, media and Hall of Famers.
You will note that I didn’t use any of my 10 spots for any of the players who are eligible but are suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs that inflated their statistics. You and they know who they are, and so do the owners, front-office executives and Selig who allowed them to play during a time that baseball had an explosive economic growth.
Selig, who spent 23 years as the commissioner, also was the man in charge when there was a work stoppage in 1994 that interrupted a season and prevented the World Series from being played.
I suspect that the steroid-era players will eventually make it to Cooperstown. When they do, that’s when Selig should join them. I suspect, too, they all will be joined some day by all-time hits king Pete Rose, who admitted betting on games and whose suspension by the late Bart Giamatti in 1989 was upheld last year by current commissioner Rob Manfred.
I have no problem with any of them being in the Hall of Fame building at Cooperstown. I have the perfect place for their plaques. It’s behind the door that has “MEN” written on it.
THE TOP 10 SPORTS MOMENTS OF 2016
With thanks to David Letterman (we miss you, Dave): From the home office at the intersection of Clark and Addison …
J.J. TIES DALE AND RICHARD WITH SEVENTH NASCAR TITLE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_ceSvbI5nQ
ROOKIE WINS ON FUMES AT 100TH INDIANAPOLIS 500
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHFhopunlCw
KAEPERNICK TAKES A STAND BY REFUSING TO STAND
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1ZTCaYgrQg
PEYTON GOES OUT A WINNER AT SUPER BOWL 50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYgRx_iB2nc
THE GIRLS (AND BOYS, TOO) FROM IPANEMA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f310zPAyJkU
U-S-A, U-S-A CARRIES THE DAY AT RYDER CUP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NSzAlV8paw
A FOURTH STRAIGHT FOR GENO, BREANNA AND UCONN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FtUiV0mc14
VILLANOVA’S CATS GO WILD OVER BUZZER-BEATER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7FFJUz0tdo
LEBRON KEEPS HIS PROMISE TO CLEVELAND
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YjB4qYg5jo
WHERE WERE YOU ON NOV. 2 AT 11:46 P.M. CST?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqsTb5eWSQA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2VEg9iaYGs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSWZKLDQ41c
AND FINALLY … IS BARTOLO COLON STILL RUNNING THE BASES?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVFsq9FQBlc
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John Fineran, of uncertain age and from parts unknown, has been a renowned journalist, writer, columnist, editor, tag team champion and man about the world for much of his life, and is a special contributor to woodypaige.com and The Hong Kong Weekly Standard and The King Kong Bundy Monthly Newsletter.