[ARETE] Sport and Society - Bowls, Bowls, Bowls

[richard crepeau]

SPORT AND SOCIETY FOR ARETE

DECEMBER 16, 2022



When you come across the word “bowl,” what comes to mind?

Do you envision a colorful ceramic vessel possibly steaming with a delicious soup? One of those great exotic concoctions of meat, vegies, and spices? One of those steamy delights for a cold day? Or perhaps it is chicken soup to cure whatever seems to be ailing your soul.

On the other hand, maybe you think back to your childhood when a “bowl” was an essential utensil for a haircut. If that is what comes to mind clearly you are of an advanced age.

Or if you are on top of the current sports scene, especially college football, then what will come to mind is the 42 (or is it 43) Bowl Games that will clutter your television screens from now until mid-January.

Is this a tribute to the popularity of college football, the greed of the colleges, the ego of coaches, ESPN’s desperate need for programming, or the general boredom of American life? All of the above.

What has always fascinated me about the bowls is not only the growth in numbers, but also the growth in sponsorship. Does anyone remember the simplicity of The Rose Bowl, The Orange Bowl, or other similar singular names for these games? Or do you perhaps remember when all the Bowl games were played on New Year’s Day? Only the Rose Bowl has retained its non-sponsorship name.

The Orange Bowl is now the Capital One Orange Bowl played on December 30 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Also on the 30th are the Dukes Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina; the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas; the Taxslayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida; and the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl in Tucson. This cluster of names involving Tony the Tiger and Mayo on a Barstool is mind bending and make Taxslayer seem like a normal term.

On December 31 the Sugar Bowl is an insured success with Allstate, while the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl suggests a strange food combination. This also means that the game will not be on a Sunday. On the 31st is the Transperfect Music City Bowl, which sounds more like a verb form than a football game, and the VBRO Fiesta Bowl, which apparently will rent you a home while you are in Glendale, Arizona for the not so big game.

The New Year’s Bowl Games will be on January 2 and this is not connected in any way to Chick-fil-A. The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in Orlando seems to feature flavored cheez crackers. Down I-4 to Tampa is the Reliaquest Bowl, while in Dallas it will be another Goodyear for the Cotton Bowl.

I will not go through all 42 or 43 games but there are a few more great names to consider. The Taxact Texas Bowl in Houston on December 28 needs to merge with the Taxslayer Bowl. On the 29th is the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee Stadium where the first 10,000 fans will be inducted into the Bad Boy Mowers of America.

On December 26, the redundantly named Quick Lane Bowl will take place in Detroit. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t like to be rushed while at the lanes. On December 22, the lobbyists meet their clients in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. In the aftermath of the recent hurricanes, Boca Raton, Florida is the site of the Roofclaim.Com Boca Raton Bowl. Floridians will find little comfort in this reminder of recent troubles.

All the action begins tonight with the Hometown Lenders Bahamas Bowl, which is actually in the Bahamas, and the Duluth Trading Cure Bowl. Anyone who has been in Duluth in any month other than August will feel the chill from this one in Orlando. Tomorrow seven more games will clutter the television channels with such games as the Frisco Bowl, that is not in San Francisco; the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel in Inglewood, not Los Angeles; and the Wasabi Bowl in the heart of Sushi Country  at Fenway Park in Boston. In an unexplained moment of rationality, The New Mexico Bowl will be held in New Mexico.

Finally, this bit of information on the general state of The Bowls. Most of The Bowls do not offer payouts large enough for participants to make any money. They are in fact a consistent contributor to the deficits run by football programs across America.

In a recent development the arrival of the transfer portal in college sports combined with the NIL money now on the table, has resulted in many players on Bowl-bound teams entering the transfer portal before the Bowling season. The result is that many teams will be short-handed for their Bowl Games. The Florida Gators, for example, will be without 21 players for their game in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl this Saturday. If this trend continues it could eventually result in fewer and fewer Bowl Games.

Of course, I am only dreaming.

On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don’t have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.



Copyright 2022 by Richard C. Crepeau

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