Am sitting here watching The Orange Bowl on December 30th. That is tough to do. This used to fight with The Sugar Bowl on January 1st. We had Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy calling the Orange Bowl on NBC after 8 PM EDT. And we had Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles calling the The Sugar Bowl the same night. If you remember it, you remember it fondly. I sure do.
I remember when the January 1st meant the Cotton Bowl, The Rose Bowl, and then the Orange and the Sugar late at night. Some time later the Fiesta Bowl came into play on J-1. And a few others joined the fray along the way and were played on J-1, The Outback Bowl and The Capitol One…named The Citrus Bowl again. Anyway, oh, I just watched the longest TD pass in Orange Bowl history. Florida State is making Michigan look silly. 17 to 3 in the first quarter. A 92 yard pass will do that to you. There is still time for Michigan to rally.
I have so many great memories of watching bowl games. One was lying on my Grandparents’ bed in Shreveport watching Notre Dame in 1978 Cotton Bowl. Granny had a small black and white TV next to her side of the bed. I tucked a pillow under my chin and watched Notre Dame and a guy named Joe Montana win a Nationals Championship. I attended Shreveport’s Independence Bowl in 1986 and saw Ole Miss defeat Texas Tech. Seven years later I was there watching Indiana get whipped by Virginia Tech.
Tomorrow my Dad is coming over to watch Alabama play Washington in The Peach Bowl. One of the National Championship semi-finals. I think Bama will beat them badly. I could be wrong…but I doubt it.
Dad is coming over to watch The Rose Bowl on Monday. That will be fun, since we were out there in November. USC is playing Penn State. We saw USC play UCLA there this year. My dear wife, Carrie, and I saw Penn State play Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship. Ironically enough, it will be the first time I get to watch a Rose Bowl featuring two teams I saw in person this season. The same year I got to see the place. I have seen some Big Ten participants in the past when they played Indiana in Bloomington.
The Greatest Bowl games I remember?
The last year we lived in Brownstown, Alabama beat Penn State 14 to 7 on Jan. 1, 1979. The name Barry Krauss are still three hallowed syllables to Tide Fans.
The 1983 Orange Bowl when Miami, coached by Howard Schnellenberger, beat Nebraska 31 to 30. Miami hit the big time that night. They have managed to stay significant.
Of the five Music City Bowls I have attended the 2004 game, when Minnesota beat Alabama, was a good one. The crowd was great. The Tide was not.
I wrote earlier this month about Indiana beating BYU in the 1979 Holiday Bowl. I think that may be the best memory I have of a bowl game.
To be sure, I must add the 1988 Liberty Bowl to this list. Indiana beat South Carolina to finish 8-3-1. It was a great season. Anthony Thompson was his usual brilliant. But, Dave Schnell had a great game throwing the ball. I think it was Rob Turner who caught 8 of his passes for nearly 190 yards, if memory serves. The Hoosiers won 34 to 10.
I remember when Pitt played Georgia in The Sugar Bowl. I want to say the 1982 season. Dan Marino playing QB for Pitt and Hershel Walker playing for Georgia.
I could go on.
We have some good games the next couple of days. I hope you can take a look, if you care to do so.
Speaking the Bowl Game rights…
Danny Johnson