KCRag Forum

Highlander wrote:

kcmetro wrote:

AllThingsKC wrote:Just wondering what people are thinking of this year's Bowl games so far?! Kind of quite in this thread.

Anyone see the Baylor/Washington game (Alamo Bowl)? 123 points scored and 1,700+ yards. Wow.

Mizzou's mascot broke the Independence Bowl trophy. So, Mizzou now has a trophy and a half for winning their Bowl game.

Oklahoma/Iowa in the Insight Bowl: The skycam falls to the field, narrowly missing 2 players. Play was suspended while they cleaned up the wires. I've never seen anything like that happen before.

Any other thoughts from anything else???

The only bowl game I've watched is the Baylor/Washington game. Glad I did too. I can't get into watching most of these games though, as they don't mean anything.

Agreed. Only one game actually means anything in the BCS system. I actually prefer the pre-BCS way of deciding the national championship. In that system, there was a at least a reason to watch 2 or 3 bowl games. The BCS system removed none of the subjectivity and made the bowl season boring (and even more boring with two boring SEC teams in the NC game).

kcmetro wrote:I can't get into watching most of these games though, as they don't mean anything.

Highlander wrote: The BCS system removed none of the subjectivity and made the bowl season boring (and even more boring with two boring SEC teams in the NC game).

phxcat wrote:The BCS has stripped the bowl system of that charm, and of the tradition, and here we are on New Years Day and there are no bowl games at all.

AllThingsKC wrote:

kcmetro wrote:I can't get into watching most of these games though, as they don't mean anything.

It was my understanding that's because today is Sunday and college football either can't or doesn't want to compete with the NFL. But, I'm not sure how accurate that is.

The bloodbath began the moment the contract was signed. Minnesota was obligated to write a check for 10,000 tickets, which were supposed to be resold to fans. Never mind that even the best of teams struggle to unload such sums. For middling squads like the Gophers, it was nothing more than a way for the men in funny yellow blazers who ran the Insight to grab piles of money from a public university.

Minnesota managed to sell just 901 seats. After kicking another 900 to the band, administrators and cherished hangers-on, the school was forced to eat $476,000 worth of useless tickets.

The contract also required the team to show up a week early, if only to burn as much school money as possible at the restaurants and retailers of Greater Phoenix.

One would think school administrators would protest such gall. But one would be wrong. They were quick to see the advantages of a luxury vacation on the school's dime. So they happily signed off.

The school's traveling party was larded up with 722 people, including players, band members and faculty. Airfare alone ran $542,000. Toss in hotels and meals, and the school had blown $1.3 million before the opening kickoff.

The ballsiest part of all: None of it was necessary.

Minnesota and Iowa State sit less than 200 miles apart. Their teams were providing the game. Their bands supplied the halftime entertainment. In fact, the Insight offered nothing — save for warm weather — that the schools couldn't have done better themselves.

Had the game been played in Minneapolis, the teams could have sold more tickets and put on a profitable game, since Big 10 matches typically generate $1 to $2 million — not knee-bending losses.

Yet none of this was ever considered. Thanks to an alliance of unblushing incompetence and corruption, college football long ago decided to outsource its most valuable asset — its post-season earnings.

The scheme plays out each year on the ostensibly pristine fields of amateur athletics. Bowl executives grant themselves breathtaking salaries. The games, meanwhile, provide coaches, athletic directors and the suits who nominally supervise them with an unending stream of bonuses.

Everyone else picks up the tab.

kcmetro wrote:The cats fought back, but not enough to overcome the better team. Gotta remember that Arkansas is probably a legit top 5 team...their only losses coming to LSU and Alabama. It's now been 10 years since K-State has won a bowl game. Hmm.

In other news, Justin McCay (5 star WR out of Bishop Miege HS) from OU will be transferring to KU. Props to Weis for a great job recruiting so far.

KCMax wrote:Well you did get a good indication in that game in the difference between SEC defense and Big 12 defense.

kcmetro wrote:

KCMax wrote:Well you did get a good indication in that game in the difference between SEC defense and Big 12 defense.

That's what stood out to me as well. An SEC team isn't going to let a QB run for 10 or 15 yard gains all night, without him first proving that he can throw the ball, which Klein never proved.

AllThingsKC wrote:You don't have to look to the Cotton Bowl to see how great the SEC is. There's always the National Championship game for that.

phxcat wrote:Probably not, but it would be true, regardless.

KCMax wrote:Well you did get a good indication in that game in the difference between SEC defense and Big 12 defense.