DDT

Bowl season
Other than the big boy money games, the best bowl is the Hawaii Bowl. If I was a mid-major or mediocre major-major and didn’t have such a great season, I’d be lobbying for that one. It’s a great trip, a week-long working vacation, and a great recruiting tool for them that needs it.

This year’s Hawaii Bowl match-up is Fresno State and Rice. Fresno was 6—7, got blown out by three majors early in the year, lost the UNLV and Wyoming later, then got trounced by Boise in the MWest playoff. Rice was 7-5,  lost six in a row at one point and dropped their last regular season game 76-31 to LaTech. Their only win against a bowl team was against UTEP (7-5).

Mediocre mid-majors in paradise. C’mon down!

Then there’s North Carolina and Rutgers in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit. Boy! that’ll draw ‘em in, but the bowl committee guarantees a paycheck; otherwise, why would you want to go to Detroit and play in front of a half-empty stadium in the middle of winter?

And the tour guide will say: “Welcome Carolina Tarheels and Rutgers Scarlet Knights. On our hospitality tour, today, we’re going to show you some abandoned assembly plants where Ford used to make cars, the burned-out downtown area, and, if time permits, we’ll drive west an hour to Ann Arbor and let you pick up some souvenirs at the University of Michigan book store.”

‘Horns and Hogs will be a good one at the Texas Bowl. It ain’t Darrell and Frank, but it’ll sell. Iowa and Tennessee in the Taxslayer Bowl (Jacksonville) will be a party. Iowa fans travel and spend money, which is why they always get a bowl. Tennessee is nearby. KState and UCLA in the Alamo Bowl will be a good boogie. The River Walk lights up no matter who’s playing. DDT recommends going to the lobby of any major downtown Santone hotel, crashing the hospitality parties of either team, hanging out, talking a little football.

Walk in, find somebody—anybody—stick out your hand, act like you belong. “Hi, how you been? Good to see you again. Which way is the bar and the buffet?”

DDT has been known to do that. And as you walk out, you might overhear somebody say, “Who were those guys?

“Don’t know. I thought they were your friends.”