A New Years Grouch?

I’m not a New Years’ grouch, but it’s not as fun anymore. Memories of New Years’ Day are supposed to have coffee cake with the Rose Parade on TV, the Polar Bear Dip in Cayucos, CA, and all the best college football teams playing against each other.

Earlier this week, I saw a bowl game on television. I was flipping through and saw it for a minute on ESPN. I think it was the Compass Bowl. It wasn’t a BCS bowl game and it was after the first of the year, so I figured it was ESPN re-playing an old bowl game from sometime in December. Sitting here on January 7th, a week into the new year, I realize that I was the fool. I always thought the majority of bowl games were supposed to be played on New Years’ Day. This year there were six.

The “big” games were supposed to happen after the first day of the year. This year, the Fight Hunger Bowl, the Godaddy.com Bowl, and the BBVA Compass Bowl were all played during the week after New Years Day. The National Championship Game will be played on the 10th of January. And the schools will make significantly more money than if they’d competed against each other on New Years Day.

To spread out all these bowl games over the course of six weeks from the beginning of December through January 10 is bad for the game and bad for fans who would love to watch some of these great matchups.

As a sports fan, I was at-first embarrassed that I haven’t watched even half of any bowl game this year. In my teens, I would wake up on New Years Day and park in front of the TV. Even if the hustle and bustle of the holidays didn’t allow me to watch pre-New Years bowls, I was able to sit and take in a solid three to four very good college football games. It was my time to watch good football and afterward I could go on with my life.

With only six bowls on New Years Day this year, there is no longer any reason to get excited for the bevvy of games that used to be there. Flipping channels while on the couch is no longer an option. There is just one game at a time and if it isn’t a great one, the viewer is left with the choice to watch a bad game or find something better to do. So far this year, I’ve found better things to do.

Instead of competing which other games on other stations- a competition they could win, bowl games have begun to try to compete with the rest of my life.

My point is this- When the final tally is made, I might watch the BCS Championship game this Monday. If there is nothing better to do and if the game stays competitive, I’ll probably try to watch it. But for me, who is a married 29-year old with a job and a disposable income (are you listening bowl sponsors?), the movement toward having one bowl game each night for the better part of a month and a half causes me to *gasp* not watch any football at all. In the end, the games competing with the rest of my life might conclude with my life winning and a sports fan like me not watching any of the bowl games. And the amazing thing is, I’m not as disappointed about it as I thought I might be.       –Owen Main