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Friday, December 27, 2002
On the other hand, one of the fun parts of ESPN's Bowl Week is seeing which broadcast team gets assigned which game. The high-profile teams (Ron Franklin-Mike Gottfried; Dave Barnett-Bill Curry-Mike Golic; Mike Tirico-Kirk Herbstreit-Lee Corso) all got decent bowls. The other bowls were scattered among their other teams that all seem to run together. But I guess ESPN considers the Continental Tire Bowl (actually a decent matchup between Virginia and West Virginia) the least of the bunch since it's sending Wayne Larrivee out there. Wayne always does the last-choice Big Ten game on ESPN Plus, which is seen only on GamePlan or on local affiliates if you're lucky (which I'm not down here in the South). He's a solid announcer, but it's funny to see him stuck with the fourth or fifth Big Ten game each week. At least that got Mike Gleason out of the GamePlan studio to actually work a game (he'll be joining Wayne in Charlotte).
posted at 10:28 PM
Take the gamblers bowling
The college football bowl season is one of the strangest animals out there in all of sports. While there is plenty of clamoring for a national championship playoff, the bowl system will never go away. In fact, I sometimes wonder why the NCAA even legislates Division I-A college football. The organization awards that same plank-like plaque to the champion of every sport -- except major college football. It just doesn't seem right.
Anyway, the reason the bowls were originally created (and some of this holds true today) is to draw tourists into a city to spend money at hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc., and oh by the way, there's a football game in town. It works well when the bowl is in a warm-weather city, but then again, in December and January, places like Nashville, Atlanta, Mobile and Charlotte aren't always the most comfortable. And what in the world would compel people to go to Shreveport? (Their Chamber of Commerce "come visit our city" ad during today's Independence Bowl had me rolling.)
The way the money is thrown around during bowl season (fans spend, spend, spend; and teams/conferences take the payout), it ain't going away. Even if a company were to front millions and millions of dollars for a tournament, it would be concentrated on just a few cities and teams, and it wouldn't help that many people out. Cities want the cash, fans want games to go to, sponsors want their name out there, teams want a reward for a good season plus practice time to prepare for the next season. Forget the perfect world of a playoff -- here's your reality check.
One comment that really threw me during one of the lesser bowls was that all of these games were like the first couple of days of the NCAA basketball tournament. It seems that way by sheer numbers, but it's so wrong as well. We know most of these games mean little, especially if you're not a fan of the team. Whereas there is a do-or-die feeling in all of the tournament games, and there's a feeling that the team you're watching could win it all. Then again, I guess both the flood of crappy bowls and crush of 32 games in two days are compelling if you're betting on games or in some type of pool. (Isn't that what's making football the most watched sport in the first place? Betting and fantasy leagues?)
The one thing that is very similar though is that the overload makes the national championship game almost anticlimactic. The ESPN commentators are already beating the Fiesta Bowl matchup to death, and there's a week to go. In the NCAA tournament, it all leads up to the Final Four -- that national championship game itself often seems like an afterthought.
posted at 10:02 PM
At the movies ...
I had a post about a couple of my trips to le cinema last week, but something ate it up. Oh well. Anyway, I lucked into a free ticket The Two Towers last Wednesday, and despite missing about 25 minutes of the movie trying to find the theater (my thought -- it's a 3-hour movie, what am I really going to miss?), I really enjoyed myself, even though I'm not a Tolkien fan. It definitely was a dark film, although the battle sequences at Helms Deep were magnificent. It's a good way to keep things moving, even though it's hard to do, given it's the middle of a trilogy. The ents were cool but they often seemed superfluous (hey, we haven't seen those other hobbits in a while, let's check up on them) until that closing scene, including the quick part where the one who was on fire dunked his head into the rushing waters -- a nice touch.
Also lucked into a screening of Chicago and had a great time. It was a lot of fun and definitely over the top, although not as much as Moulin Rouge. I enjoyed the way the story proceeded as is, then put the musical numbers in a faux-vaudeville show to accentuate the action. Catherine Zeta-Jones finally was able to use her past singing and dancing skills, although the way she tries to cover up her distinctive accent can be off-putting at times. Renee Zellweger (by the way, did they cast this by reading the SAG directory backwards???) did the cutie-pie thing well and was serviceable in her singing and dancing -- she didn't embarrass herself. Richard Gere was very over the top, which worked in his favor since it really took jabs at his own celebrity. The real surprise was Queen Latifah, who showed plenty of vocal range and decent acting ability.
Tangentially related to this, it was the first time in ages I actually saw a movie with Alyson despite the fact we both watch a lot of movies. I guess schedule and geography both have a lot to do with it (there are plenty of googolplexes in the Atlanta area), plus the fact that we both like a lot of control in what we do.
posted at 9:38 PM
Belated Christmas blogging
Finally back on this thing after a long hiatus thanks to being alternately lazy and busy. Yup, all the requisite Christmas stuff was done -- cards, presents, even getting a tree (albeit an $8 thing from CVS with its own set of ornaments). However, this Christmas was a bit strange on a number of levels:
-- For one, most of the "real" celebration won't be done until Sunday when I head up to New Jersey to visit the family. (The gifts will be waiting for me, which is fine by me.)
-- Second, other than a great dinner at Casa Groce on Christmas Eve, it very much seemed like any other week at work -- except it was extraordinarily busy because just about everybody else in the office was off, leaving just a few of us to handle a lot of stuff that didn't seem to let up even though it was Christmas. And the work isn't going to let up until I'm on that plane to Newark on Sunday afternoon.
-- Finally, despite all the different Christmas media out there, I don't think I was immersed in it as much I used to be. The fact that one of the stations down here started playing Christmas music in mid-November turned me off to most of that, even when it seemed appropriate. Plus, I think I'm struggling to find choices for a second Christmas mix CD, so I guess I've given up trying to listen to the stuff more than I have to. Also, other than the great Charlie Brown Christmas, I missed most of the TV specials, although I'm mad I didn't stay the whole way through for a couple of the Rankin-Bass specials. But so it goes.
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