USC versus Michigan in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. Two historic programs playing in the granddaddy of ’em all to start a new calendar year and end an athletic year.
Can it get any better than that?
Yes, it can.
Ever since the big, big, big money entered college football, along with the BCS system, the beauty of bowl games on New Year’s Day has slowly lost its looks with each passing year.
Long ago, New Year’s Day was the fourth best sports day of the year. The Cotton Bowl. The Rose Bowl. The Orange Bowl. The Fiesta Bowl. The Sugar Bowl. The Gator Bowl. They were all on television the same day, with the national champion being crowned that evening.
Now, we’re left with honorable mention honors on the Best Sports Days of the Year list.
(For those new to this list, to qualify for “Best Sports Day,” the day must occur every year, not be a fluke in scheduling – i.e., a rainout rescheduled or playoff series Game 7 – and is not dependent on the teams playing.)
This year, we saw the Rose and the Cotton, the Fiesta and the Gator, the Capital One and the Outback. But no national champion. We have to wait until Jan. 8 for that game, the blandly titled BCS National Championship Game.
That’ll be a fun few hours, perhaps, as No. 1 Ohio State plays No. 2 Florida in Glendale, Ariz.
However, the cachet of New Year’s Day is gone. There was something special about watching a half-dozen football games knowing that was the last day you could watch college football until the end of August.
There were some fantastic moments from the Jan. 1, 2007, highlighted by the insane final moments of the Fiesta between Boise State and Oklahoma. USC’s Dwayne Jarrett had some fun in the Rose. West Virginia came back to beat Georgia Tech in the Gator.
But if you missed these games live, it’s not as upsetting as it used to be. That’s got nothing to do with the advent of TiVo and DVRs and everything to do with money infecting the NCAA. Too many bowl games before New Year’s Day. Too many games before Christmas Day.
We’ll never get back the true joy of New Year’s Day bowl games. We’ve got the games, but not the aura. No botox or Dr. 90210 can restore this former beauty queen.
Not when a tortilla chip and a credit card
If and when the NCAA goes to a plus-one format to decide its national champion, or at least reconfigures its current system, New Year’s Day bowl games will become even less significant.
What’s in your wallet, NCAA?
The Best Sports Days of the Year
1. Opening Day for baseball
2. The start of March Madness
3. Pitchers and catchers report
4. NFL Sunday Week 1
5. Selection Sunday
6. NFL Conference Championship Sunday
7. NFL Draft
8. Super Bowl Sunday
9. Sunday at The Masters
10. Kentucky Derby*
Honorable Mention
• FIrst televised baseball game for your team
• Bowl games on New Year's Day
Comments (3)
How is the Super Bowl not on this list? I think one of those TBA needs to turn into that.
Anthony,
This list was conceived on Feb. 15, 2006. The idea is to write about each of the top 10 days (and the honorable mentions) as they occur. Just revealing the top 10 at one shot is a little too ESPN for me.
Doing it this way allows for more dialogue among readers.
We've got about a month left before the sports year in relation to this list is up. I'm guessing the Super Bowl will wind up somewhere on this list, but hey, you never know.
Anthony,
This list was conceived on Feb. 15, 2006. The idea is to write about each of the top 10 days (and the honorable mentions) as they occur. Just revealing the top 10 at one shot is a little too ESPN for me.
Doing it this way allows for more dialogue among readers.
We've got about a month left before the sports year in relation to this list is up. I'm guessing the Super Bowl will wind up somewhere on this list, but hey, you never know.