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Is
it all necessary?
By George Starks
As I write
this, it is not yet 8 a.m.
on Thursday morning. Seldom do I ever try to do any kind of writing
before my
third cup of coffee on a three cup morning limit. My brain just doesn’t
function that way anymore.
Wednesday
night, after I got home from
the Greenville girls basketball game, I turned the television on to
watch the
Orange Bowl game between Clemson and WVA.
Thinking this
might be a good game; I
grabbed a diet coke and made some popcorn, got to my chair and got
ready to
watch a classic.
It was a
classic alright. Clemson had
its head handed to it on a platter losing 70-33. I watched this game
until
half-time then went to bed. I now see I didn’t miss much.
Anyway, this
is not what this column
is about.
After I saw
the final score, it got me
to thinking about the number of games being played that are called Bowl
games.
I went back to 1971 and looked. At that time, there were 11 New Years
games
being played, starting with one that no longer exists, The
Astro-Blubonnet
Bowl.
The biggest
were the obvious, The Rose
Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl and Gator Bowl. BTW... Ohio State lost to
Stanford in Pasadena that year, 27-17.
In 2011, there
will be 35 bowl games
played, unless I miscounted, but still, you get the picture.
Thirty-five!
WOW!
There are so
many games with sponsors
most of us have never heard of and Allstate has its name tacked onto
two of
those games, including the BCS title game with LSU and Alabama.
Insurance rates
a little on the high side?
Some of the
names of these bowl games
really get to me... The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl?
Our government
tells us we are in a
recession. I wonder why and we still have four games left to be played.
Maybe we
should get back to basics.
I don’t have a
problem with these kids
getting exposure but what ever happened to the North-South, Blue-Gray,
East-West games? You know the ones that showcased the seniors that
never made
it to a bowl game?
My point is
this. These corporate
sponsors that shell out all this money for these games is insane. I
have
nothing against higher education but where would this economy be if
that money
was put into the job market? If that money was being focused on the
economy, we
wouldn’t need the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.
Think about
it. Take a look at all
these games if you are so inclined.
I looked at
espn.go.com.
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