As D was reading the boys and I the list of college football bowl game match-ups it made me start to wonder where all these new bowl games came from. A long time ago in a galaxy far away there were about 7 bowl games that the best college football teams went to and played for the top spot in the nation. Your team had to have a terrific record to go to a bowl game. It was an honor to go to a bowl game.
Now there a plethora of football bowl games with just as many ridiculous names. The Potato Bowl. The Pinstripe Bowl. The "insert your company name here" Bowl. The teams that go to bowl games these days don't even have to be good; a lot are break even between wins and loses and one is even underwater with 6 wins and 7 loses (yes, UCLA, I am looking at you). We discussed where these games are coming from. Why is it necessary for every team to go to a bowl game? Could be the revenue cities think they will gain by hosting a "big game" (except if yours isn't a real game, it's just a fake game). I am really wondering if the generation of kids who grew up with helicopter parents has now reached college (and beyond) and the parents are so concerned about their players self esteem that they want everyone to get the opportunity to play in a bowl game. You can hear Helicopter Mom say it "Little Johnny, don't worry. Your team was 8 and 2 but you will play in the 'big game championship'". If I was on a team that was undefeated or nearly so I would be insulted by the fact that everybody and their brother gets to play in a bowl game. It dilutes the meaning and honor of playing for the big prize. I believe not everyone should play in the big game. The ones who earned it deserve it and the ones who didn't don't. I just wonder what the motivation for this is: Is this an commercial/economic thing or one more sign of where self-esteem based parenting is taking us? OK, I am stepping down from my soapbox.
love and hugs and I am not even a sports fan really. I just noticed this connection and had to throw it out into the universe. B
PS. Tune in on Jan. 2 to see the Wisconsin Badgers take on the Oregon Ducks. . Go Badgers!
2 comments:
I do think it's economic. Jumping on the bandwagon is a pretty common thing to do in this country, especially for a buck.
It's all about the money - for the schools, for the bowl committee, for the NCAA, for the host city and their citizens with jobs in related industries...and TV ad dollars...lots and lots of related TV ad dollars. Realistically, it's been that way for a long, long time, and it's going to get worse.
While I agree with the "your company name here" bowls (yes, they SHOULD have to think of an actual name) comment, they've had more than just the top tier bowls since the advent of cable.
To me, it's nice that it's not just 14 teams of 120 that go bowling, but yeah...there are a few I still I wonder about.
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