The BCS Conversation Part III- Too Many Bowl Games?

I said that I would get back to this in Part I so this is as good of a place as any in this conversation to address it. Although it isn’t directly related to the BCS it is related to why all these bowl games exist in the first place. To reiterate what I said in Part I they are exhibition games put on to make money! As long as they succeed in that endeavor they aren't going anywhere. But 34 Bowl Games is a little excessive. I’m not really a fan of 6-6 teams being rewarded with a post season matchup. I also don’t really like that 68 of 120 teams go bowling. That kind of takes the "special" out of it. But I am a pretty over the top college football fan. I like watching college football. I like watching it a lot. And if there is a bowl game on, no matter how "bad" I’m probably going to watch it. Hell I even go to some of them. I enjoy the bowl season. You get about a two and a half week stretch where there is a game on almost every day.

I have been to several bowl games to include the Fiesta, Sun, Holiday and even the Poinsettia despite not having any real vested interest in either team playing. Why not? I have yet to have a bad time at any of them. They were all live college football games with a good tailgate atmosphere. I also happen to enjoy talking to the fans of other programs. I was at the inaugural Poinsettia Bowl surrounded by Navy fans and had a great time. As far as I could tell the Navy fans had a great time too. I’m 99% sure those Navy fans would have rather been there than not bowling at all. I decided that night that I would never root against Navy again with the only exception being the annual Notre Dame contest. So who lost that night? The fans enjoyed it, the kids got to play another game, the coaches got some extra practice time in and ESPN had something to air besides whatever the hell else would have been airing on a week night in mid December.

Let me take this a step or two further. Last Christmas I traveled back to the East Coast with my wife and children to spend the holidays with the In-Laws. Aside from the obvious things like watching my kids on Christmas morning and playing "Uncle Whiskey" vs. all the kids in backyard football, the highlight of the trip for me was watching all the December bowl games with my Brother-in-law who also happens to be a rabid college football fan. Watching bowl games with another knowledgeable fan that also happens to like pounding beers and talking about college football in general is tough to beat. It is definitely better than having no games on at all and getting stuck talking to your father in law about whatever he feels like rambling about!

I ended up coming home a few days before the rest of Team Whiskey to take care of some work stuff. The end result was that I was home alone on New Year’s Eve, New Years’ Day and January 1st. To some people that might sound depressing. To me it was one of the greatest things ever. Thirteen bowl games were played in those three days and I watched every damn one of them. I bought a couple of cases, littered my patio table with assorted tobacco products, whipped up a 3 day supply of the best burritos on the planet, fired up two TV’s and settled into my favorite chair for 72 pretty fantastic hours of watching college football without anyone bothering me. I even capped off the first couple of nights by re-watching Notre Dame look great for once in the Hawaii bowl which I had DVR'd. It was awesome! So yes, by my own admission I’m part of the problem. I tune in to just about every one of the 34 bowl games. Despite the fact that I realize 34 is too many I'm not going to boycott the R&L; Carriers New Orleans Bowl to watch whatever reality trash my wife wants to watch that night! That's Kryptonite to me. So what is the answer? I think the right number is probably more like the 25 we had in the early 2000’s. That would eliminate the 6-6 issue and get us back under 50% of all FBS teams going bowling. Despite that opinion it is highly unlikely that it will happen. As long as these games make someone money, they will be played. I’ll get back to the BCS "controversy" and wrap this mad ramble up in Part IV.