Bowl Retirement
The Peach Bowl will be my official Bowl Retirement...It will be the last Bowl game I attend..Why? First a little context..Over the decades Ive been to them all..Multiple Rose Bowls, Sugar Bowl, Orange and Fiesta even the 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl In Houston along with the multiple Citrus, Outback and Gator Bowls and all the others. In fact Id hazard a guess that Ive attended more bowl games than probably anyone on this board.
I used to watch every single bowl but the last 10 yrs or so I only watched the major games because the rest were just crappy and meaningless
Back then Bowls MEANT something..Players didnt sit them out and nobody left early..A bowl game was SPECIAL there werent that many and the stadiums were packed.
I spent alot of money on tickets travel food etc etc etc but it was worth every penny..Not any more.The bowls have become completely meaningless played in 3/4 empty stadiums and nobody really cares anymore.
The Bowl games just dont justify the expenses anymore especially when the team on the field isnt the team on the field during the regular season..Oh yeah i know the argument about more practice time etc etc..Making a Bowl game used to be a accomplishment but not anymore so The Peach Bowl will be my last..Just not worth it anymore.
For those who think the CFP is a good thing, well it isnt..its still a Mythical title when the Conference Champions of one of the top 2 leagues in the country doesnt even qualify and not just once but 3 times..its a sham a scam and this system is desinged to favor the SEC...the SEC got 4 teams in the big Bowl games FOUR! This system just continues to perpetuate the SEC Myth and will continue to do so until a true playoff is instituted
So I will go to the Peach Bowl..but now Im not all that excited about as I once was . I will cheer for the Wolverines but win or lose its going to be ho hum one way or the other..The Bowl system is DEAD
December 27th, 2018 at 11:06 AM ^
Fuck! Shut down the program!
December 27th, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^
The worst part about this post is that every last word of it is true.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:15 AM ^
It's been true for years.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^
Yeah, for example, when was the last time making a bowl game was an accomplishment for Michigan?
December 27th, 2018 at 11:30 AM ^
The Gator Bowl in RR’s last year?
December 27th, 2018 at 1:34 PM ^
The Sugar Bowl in Brady Hoke's first year was both a really fulfilling accomplishment and an amazingly fun bowl game to attend.
Coming off the dark years of RichRod, to go to a BCS Bowl in Hoke's first year with the program seemingly "back", was great.
And then it doesn't get better than New Orleans for New Years and a bowl game. I've never had that much fun around a sporting event.
Before that, winning the conference in 2003 at home to go the Rose Bowl in 2004 was a great accomplishment.
Before that, 1997.
That's probably the exhaustive list of Michigan bowl appearances to be proud of in my adult lifetime.
And unfortunately, the common theme with these games is that Michigan actually won The Game to go into the bowl on a high note instead of coming off a loss in The Game and ending up in a disappointing bowl. Hard to get excited about a bowl under those circumstances. And that's probably the biggest reason we as Michigan fans cared more in the 80s and 90s.
December 27th, 2018 at 3:10 PM ^
Totally agree. That Sugar Bowl was a blast to attend.
December 27th, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
The bowls were cool when either
1. You were a conference champ against another conference champ, like the Rose Bowl always was
Or
2. You were playing someone for the first time so it was exciting. Think about how cool it was to play Texas for the first time in the Rose Bowl, Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl, even Florida in the Outback bowl in 2003. Now all these matchups have happened before, and they're stale. If we were playing LSU in the Fiesta Bowl instead we'd be geeked for bowl season.
December 27th, 2018 at 4:44 PM ^
We'd be marginally more excited to play LSU, but it's still a meaningless Peach Bowl game coming off a very disappointing loss when all hopes were on the playoff.
December 28th, 2018 at 8:43 AM ^
Spoken just like a millennial.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
That said, I may still go. Waiting until Friday to get cheap tickets for me and my kids. The game is just 25 miles from home. Don’t want to miss a chance to see my team play when they are this close.
I hope I don’t choose to leave the game early. Go Blue!
December 27th, 2018 at 12:35 PM ^
Some of the best Michigan games of all time have been in bowl games. What is happening now is related to the Playoff and oversaturation. Contrary to what a lot of people say, it hasn’t “always been like this.”
December 27th, 2018 at 11:43 AM ^
Even though this is largely correct it still feels very:
December 27th, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^
So what you're saying is we need a bowl snowflake thread?
December 27th, 2018 at 11:19 AM ^
Nope. Homey needs a bowl. It’ll be okay my sad dude. Offseason starts soon and you can go outside and enjoy nature.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^
Even though I agree with most of your sentiments.. I bet if we are in the CFP next year.. you'll be there. As will I.
December 27th, 2018 at 12:07 PM ^
One of the three meaningful bowl games? I agree with his post with two exceptions, no amount of a "true" playoff will return meaning to the several bowl games that are not part of the playoff system. The other exception is attendance. It didn't take crystal ball gazing to see that increased TV exposure with ever better TV production would lead to a decrease in physical attendance.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^
I’ve been to many bowl games too, but I disagree with your sentiment that the CFP is bad because it’s killing the importance of bowl games.
Bowl games as they used to be are outdated now. In a world where information and programs are globally accessible, a series of disconnected bowl games doesn’t make sense. The change was inevitable as the world got smaller.
I’d much rather participate in a conference title game and playoff system then go to a random bowl that is set up because schools from those conferences have always played each other there.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:24 AM ^
Hey hey hey, there are windmills and they must be tilted at dammit!
December 27th, 2018 at 12:31 PM ^
Information is globally accessible? How does that have anything to do with bowl games? The hype around bowls has taken a huge hit in just the last couple years. Saying they're outdated is ridiculous. Tradition is why they were popular. The BCS and playoff destroyed the radition so now a lot interest has been lost.
December 27th, 2018 at 2:33 PM ^
Amen! It was cool to see the Big Ten-Pac10 Rose Bowl matchup every year. And the SWC in the Cotton Bowl, SEC in the Sugar and Big 8 in the Orange. There were usually good matchups in those other games too with a ND or FSU or Miami from another conference. Then people could argue about who was no. 1. And all those games seemed to matter. Times change, but not always for the better.
December 28th, 2018 at 2:05 AM ^
This is what I believe, too. They finally allowed the complaints of sports writers and t.v. talking heads to influence the system toward naming an "real champion" vs. a "mythical champion" and destroyed the traditions that made football fun: geographical conferences that were actually geographical, traditional rivalries (remember Nebraska v. Oklahoma?), and bowl games that had pageantry and mystique. The BCS and play off systems still ended up rendering mythical champions. How about we focus on bringing integrity back to the whole system first and worry less about perfecting the way we name a champion?
December 27th, 2018 at 5:06 PM ^
So, the new broken system is better than the old broken system? In some ways, yes, but the NCAA might as well just expand the playoff because the bowls have become near meaningless as a result of the current playoff. Bowl games are outdated because they've added more and cheapened the experience. I'm not sure it's sustainable judging from all the empty seats this bowl season.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^
I'd be down to see an 8 team playoff with no other bowl games. Play the games at the respective schools. Besides, I'm awful at bowl pick 'em. One less thing to suck at for timtebro.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
If we do that, how will all of the old men wearing tacky yellow jackets make money?
December 27th, 2018 at 11:56 AM ^
Good luck in your quest to ask people and companies to give up millions of dollars in revenue and salaries...
December 27th, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^
I don't disagree with you, except that I'm afraid the SEC myth would still exist if we relied solely on the polls.
December 27th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
The stupid SEC keeps their myth going by not playing anyone in the non-con, only playing 8 conference games, saving a bodybag for November, and then they all just crow like they have a hand in Alabama's greatness. They've been a paper tiger (minus Alabama) for years. I'm tired of all the credit they get for doing nothing outside of their own league
December 27th, 2018 at 11:17 AM ^
expansion of the system, even though it makes sense, will just make the other bowls even less meaningful won't they?
I don't have a problem with the expansion of the system, i think having an 8 team playoff, with each of the conference champs locked in, a spot for the best Group of 5 team and two at large bids is a great idea...it ensures that all conference championships are meaningful and takes out the human factor for 6 of the 8 spots (assuming the group of 5 team is clearly better, which is usually the case)
but if bowls are meaningless with a 4 team CFB playoff, they will even more meaningless with an 8 team playoff won't they?
should all bowls be scrapped and there is two parallel 8 team playoffs? like the NCAA tournament and the NIT? so you'd have 16 teams, but they'd follow a similar format to ensure all the bowls have some kind of meaning maybe?
December 27th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^
They need to both expand the playoffs AND shit can a bunch of the lesser bowls. No 6-6 team deserves to be in a bowl. Make them only for teams with both a winning conference record and no more than 4 or 5 loses. That would make the games much more interesting.
December 27th, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^
I agree, but there's too much money in bowl games and the guys controlling all of this love money. I think the importance of bowl games has been diluted just as much by the sheer number of pointless ones between mediocre opponents. A bowl game between 6-6 Georgia Tech and 7-5 Minnesota is a prime example.
If we want to have the CFP and make bowl games important, then you should have to win 9 games to make a bowl. Never going to happen though
December 27th, 2018 at 1:06 PM ^
I agree with you, so in some sense the OP is fighting the good fight. Stop going. Stop watching. Eventually they will stop making money and the bowls can go away.
12 bowl games would be great. Take the top 8 teams and put them in a play off. Then pair up teams 9-24 in some fun and interesting way. Use those fun games as an appetizer for the CFP games.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:36 AM ^
Expanding to 8 teams will only work if the conferences are realigned somewhat such that only conference champions get in. The selection by committee and/or pollsters has to be eliminated.
December 27th, 2018 at 1:51 PM ^
I agree with that notion, but I think conference champs with more than 3 or more losses should be excluded. Say Northwestern had got a couple lucky bounces and won the Big 10-would they be worthy of being in the playoff? Just want to avoid the sham that the NFL had of having an 8-8 team in the Super Bowl. Nothing made the regular season seem meaningless than that. If a conference champion had 3 or more losses, that should open things up for an at large team.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^
I hate to break it to you but the bowl games have always been meaningless.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^
BCS Championship bowls were not meaningless. Prior to the BCS, teams won and lost National Championships in bowls, even if the game was not against the team they were “competing” against for the National Championship.
Did you start watching football 3 years ago?
December 27th, 2018 at 12:11 PM ^
You go backs as long as you want. It still does not change the fact that only 2 to 3 bowl games mattered each year for the mythical national championship. Just like it is today. The only difference is that you know which bowls are going to matter before the season.
December 27th, 2018 at 12:32 PM ^
Winning a Bowl game meant something. You were essentially playing for your final ranking against a good team. I'd say the top 5-8 bowls were worth something. The cherry bowl and blue bonnet bowl were garbage, so of like the "Cheez-it" Bowl last night.
December 27th, 2018 at 12:13 PM ^
Teams still win and lose National Championships in bowls .. they're just "CFP" now.
The point was that outside of a few games, the bowls are "meaningless" in that they don't carry heavy incentives to win/lose. It's been true for a while and it's still true now (with some caveats): The games with those in the running "matter" those without them "don't matter."
I do think the bowls have an impact on overall perception of a program for recruiting, media scrutiny, image, etc. So I don't think they're completely meaningless, but within reason, I get what he's saying.
That being said... oh well. Not expecting it to change.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^
Others may poo-poo your mentality about bowls but I'm not one of them. I've been to 3 bowl games, and only one had a packed house and great atmosphere: 2011 Sugar Bowl vs. VaTech. The other bowls in Tampa and Jacksonville were boring (venues included), sadly attended, and felt empty and soulless. I think you're making a decision many are making, and will continue to make, if the issues you outlined above persist over time.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:41 AM ^
+1. Attended the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. This atmosphere was awesome and an incredible 4 days in NO. Watching Shoelace in person helped.
December 27th, 2018 at 4:44 PM ^
The only bowl game I've gone to is that Sugar Bowl. And I agree it was fantastic, despite the fact that we pretty much got dominated outside of a couple lucky 50/50 jump balls to Hemingway. Still can't figure out how we won that game...
December 27th, 2018 at 11:20 AM ^
I also want those neighborhood kids off my lawn!
The CFP is a good thing, the ServPro bowls of the world are not.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:21 AM ^
Bowl games in general have never meant anything, outside of 2 or 3, the rest were just a congrats on a decent season, and a money grab for the conference.
December 27th, 2018 at 11:23 AM ^
Can someone explain to me why players didn’t sit out in the old BCS system? After the top 2 teams, the rest of the games were meaningless in the same way non-CFP games are. I think the timing is more coincidental with players sitting as the CFP began, because all non-championship bcs games were as meaningless.
December 27th, 2018 at 12:00 PM ^
It seems to be a broader trend across all major sports, but especially college football, where athletes are taking back some of their control when it comes to their lives, livelihoods, etc... 20-30 years ago, we weren't having a discussion on paying players, seeing the kind of revenue growth the college football has, and seeing players make choices that were in their best interest at nearly the rates we are today. Once one player sat out a bowl game, it opened the door to the idea. Once one player dropped out of the first round and lost out on millions because of a bowl game injury, it gave players everywhere pause. Look to the O'Bannon case as well for other non-game examples. Practically everywhere you turn these days players are questioning the assumption that a 3-4 year college scholarship is enough compensation when the top 5 college football programs are collectively worth about $5 Billion. Our team was listed in that WSJ as worth nearly $900 Million. When those types of numbers are kicking around, players will think twice about what they may be sacrificing before playing in a post-season game that can't benefit them in any tangible way. Not weighing in on the argument here either way, but explosive revenue growth + greater player agency = tumult and will continue to do so.
December 27th, 2018 at 12:08 PM ^
I think you are dead on with this. Coaches have always missed bowl games when it could benefit their career. If there are literally millions of dollars on the line for a player based on a bowl game and next to nothing on the line financially for the school, it isn't that surprising to see some of the athletes doing that math and doing what's in their best interest. I would say a better question than why is it happening now is why didn't it happen before?