The Trophy Generation

There are currently 35, yes, 35 bowl games being played post-season which began on December 21^st and culminates in the BCS National Championship game on January 6, 2014 featuring Florida State versus Auburn.

There must be at least 27 bowls games in which both teams are embarrassed to be seen there.  Nothing says honor like playing in a bowl game sponsored by mini corndogs and beer battered onion rings.  I refer, of course, to the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl.

Two minutes after the game is over you can’t remember which team won.  You might as well name these contests between mediocre athletes/teams “The We Scraped Together (Pick A Number) Wins By Scheduling Cupcakes In Our Non-Conference Schedule Bowl.”  It’s got a nice ring to it and it rolls trippingly off the tongue to boot.

If you, like I, think that 35 bowl games is just a tad too many you would be wrong.  The BCS commissioners and ESPN/Disney (show me the money) decided to add three more bowl games in 2014:   The Camellia Bowl, The Miami Bowl and The Boca Raton Bowl.

Oh joy, the mediocrity is just too underwhelming.  I like football as much as the next person but, crikey, this is overkill.  I know the students, the players and their parents care about these lackluster contests, but the rest of us just care about the Top Ten teams.

Why can’t we just make it about recognizing the true champions instead of giving everybody who ever played on a field anywhere in America a cupcake trophy just for participating?

Absurd.