[ARETE] Sport and Society - The Bowl Virus and the Virus Bowl

[richard crepeau]

SPORT AND SOCIETY
DECEMBER 27, 2020

It seems like it was years ago that Covid-19 took over our lives. In reality it is less than a year. It is difficult to think of anything good that will come out of this disruption although I have been able to find one good thing. For the first time in recent memory the college football bowl games have been reduced in number.
Over the past five years college football has ended its season with anywhere from thirty-nine to forty-two bowl games. The post-season landscape seemed to have been hit by a rapid spreading “bowl virus.” New bowls have been arriving each year seeking NCAA sanctioning. If they are turned away, they comeback the following year. As soon as one bowl disappears two more seem to be ready to take their place.
One of the truly remarkable things about the “bowl virus” is that it causes university administrators and athletic directors to beg for invitations to bowl games, despite the fact that for the most part they will lose money and increase the athletic department’s debt. The great majority of bowl games cost teams more to participate in, than they get in payouts.
Now, at last, comes a cure for this illness. Covid-19 has reduced the number of bowl games and led teams to withdraw from the games or simply decline invitations to participate. “Do you believe in miracles?”
Currently there are twenty-seven games remaining on the schedule while seventeen games have been cancelled. One of the first cancellations was also the first game on the bowl schedule, the Tropical Smoothie Café Frisco Bowl (Frisco, Texas) set for December 19. Unfortunately, those anticipating the storied matchup between SMU and the University of Texas, San Antonio, will have to wait until another time.
Five more bowls scheduled between December 26 and the 30th have fallen by the wayside: The Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl in Shreveport; The Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix; the Military Bowl in Annapolis; the New Era Pinstripe Bowl in the Bronx; and the LA Bowl in Inglewood, California. The LA Bowl was scheduled for the new massive $2.6B obscene stadium and mini-city built on the former site of Hollywood Park racetrack to attract the St. Louis Rams, returning them to the twice abandoned Los Angeles megalopolis.
Also cancelled was the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl in that Alabama city. Then just a few days ago the December 26, Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa was cancelled when the University of South Carolina Gamecocks pulled out of the game because of Covid-19. Other virus casualties include the Bahamas, Celebration, Fenway, Hawaii, Holiday, Las Vegas, Quick Lane, Redbox, and Sun bowls. The Bowl Virus seems to be experiencing a second wave as the number of teams opting out of bowl games has risen to twenty-two.
Most of these virus victims are younger bowls although the Gasparilla Bowl began in 2008 and the Independence Bowl has a much longer and storied history beginning in 1976, the Bicentennial Year, thus the choice of the name. The Independence Bowl is best remembered as the first bowl game to have a commercial sponsor. The name itself, the Poulan Weed-Eater Independence Bowl, has etched itself in football annals, as one of the favorite bowl names of all-time. If there ever is a Bowl Name HOF, the Poulan Weed-Eater Independence Bowl would be the first inductee. There have been many other memorably named bowls but none can touch the Poulan Weed-Eater.
This year, Army was the first team to accept a bowl bid, agreeing to participate in the Independence Bowl. Army also was the last team to accept a bowl bid. After the Pac-12 opted out of the Independence Bowl and no other opponent could be found for Army, the game was cancelled. Then Covid-19 came to the rescue when Tennessee coaches and players were hit by the virus and were forced to opt out of the Liberty Bowl. Shortly thereafter the Liberty Bowl invited the West Point Cadets to face West Virginia in Memphis at the Liberty Bowl, a bowl whose origins trace back to Philadelphia.
And so it has gone in this year of the Opt-Out Bowl. Although Covid -19 has rescued us from over a dozen bowls, there are still plenty of strange named games with less than mediocre teams participating.
There was a time when teams without a winning record, or at least a .500 record, would not be invited to bowls. This year there are seven teams with sub-.500 records, and none of them are playing each other. Houston at 3-4 played in the New Mexico Bowl in Frisco, Texas. Yes, New Mexico in Bowl World is in Texas. North Texas at 4-5 played in the Myrtle Beach Bowl which is not played on the beach. Western Kentucky at 5-6 is contesting the Lending Tree Bowl which is not likely to be a money tree for the participants. Mississippi State at 3-7 are participating in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, known in some quarters as the Defense Contractors Schmooze Fest.  The 4-6 Kentucky Mildcats will be in Jacksonville for the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, which is named either for Tax write-off Gator hunting, or the ancient Roman practice of using Gators to torture tax collectors. And finally, on the list is Ole Miss at 4-5 who are playing in the Outback Bowl which is in Tampa and not the remote regions of Australia.
Another salute must be given here to Covid-19 as it prevented the embarrassment of a 2-8 team appearing in a Bowl. South Carolina, the 2-8 team in question, was hit by the covid virus and that led to the cancellation of the Gasparilla Bowl, another jewel in the crown of football bowl banality. One can only wonder at the chutzpah of South Carolina that given their record they thought it a good idea to accept a bowl bid.
In the end the Bowl Games continue to offer excellent name identification. For example, what mental picture is suggested by the “Valero Alamo Bowl” other than a gasoline station located near the Alamo? What on earth could the “Duke’s Mayo Bowl” be? It certainly could not involve Mayonnaise? Oh yes, it can. And yes, it does.
If you have heard of TransPerfect, then the existence of the TransPerfect Bowl might not seem odd. Although sounding like a New Age Movement of some sort, TransPerfect is a company that describes itself as a “family of companies providing language services and technology solutions for global business.” Obviously, this calls out “bowl game” to anyone acquainted with college football.
One final note concerns The Grand Daddy of all the Bowl Games, once known simply as the Rose Bowl. With one of the College Football Playoff semi-final games set for the Rose Bowl and with the naming rights going to Capital One, the game was being designated as “The College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One.” Then the 107th Rose Bowl was moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This is not a first. The 1942 Rose Bowl Game was played in Durham, North Carolina, at Duke Stadium, a move prompted by fears of a Japanese attack on the West Coast. With this development I suggest a new name for this year’s game: The Vaccine Rose Bowl at AT&T Stadium presented by Moderna, Pfizer, and Capital One.
On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau wishing you a Happy New Year no matter what bowl game you prefer, and reminding you that you don’t have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.

Copyright 2020 by Richard C. Crepeau




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