The Bowl Games of Life

If you know me or have followed this blog for long (although if you don't know me, I don't know why you would be following this blog), you know that although I may not be athletically inclined, I do enjoy watching a good game. I'm not a huge baseball fan, which means summer is pretty lean on sporting events that I enjoy. But it also means that when college football starts in the late summer, it makes it even better. And luckily, for the past few years teams that I feel connected to (namely Boise State, Utah and BYU) have had great teams and great seasons. My biggest qualm as a fan of really good mid-major teams is the BCS. For the non-college-football watcher, years ago some high-and-mighties got together and decided which college conferences were "the best." They named these the "Bowl Conference Series," and they were the only teams that had a shot to get to any of the big bowls, including the bowl that names the "national title." It's kind of like all of the rich kids got together and made the rule that in order to run for any office or be elected "best of (fill in the blank)," you had to be one of them. A few years back, they tweaked the rules to make it easier for a non-BCS team to be invited to a BCS bowl, but it's still fishy because they only have to invite one. So the reasoning goes if one unpopular kid gets invited to the party, it's not an elitist event. The 2004 season Utah team was the first "BCS Buster" to be invited. Unfortunately, that same year Boise State had an amazing and also undefeated season. But because Utah was ranked higher, they got the spot and Boise State didn't. Still, Utah played and won a great although slightly disappointing game against Pittsburgh. Great because they soundly beat the BCS team and disappointing because the BCS team they played didn't have a very good year, record, or team that year. Two years later, Boise State finally broke through and played Oklahoma in the Tostitos Bowl in what I believe was the best football game ever to be played. Honestly, I've never seen anything like it. If you haven't seen it, I have the DVD and can hook you up. Last year, Hawaii went and although they had a great regular season lost pretty miserably. This year Utah and Boise State both had amazing teams and undefeated records, but because Utah again started the season ranked higher than Boise State, Utah ended the season ranked higher than Boise State and was therefore the one team invited to play in a BCS bowl. The headline in The Idaho Statesman sports page was "BCS: Bull Crap Series." Anyway, Utah played and soundly beat Alabama tonight in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama, who has an incredibly involved and storied football tradition. Alabama, who was ranked #1 for 5 weeks during the regular season. Alabama, whose coach said when they were among three undefeated teams this season (Boise State and Utah being the other two) said they were the only undefeated team in a conference that means anything. Alabama, whose fans respectfully but quite loudly said that they deserved to be in the National Title game and not stuck playing a ho-hum second-tier team like Utah. Yeah, THAT Alabama! Utah beat the pants off of them! The Utes jumped ahead 21-0 in the first quarter and never looked back. Alabama, while having a good second quarter and swinging the momentum in their direction a few times in the second half, never even took the lead! I sat down tonight to write about how amazing the game was and how it made me feel empowered over the situations I feel are trying to keep me down, and how even though I only see a few games throughout the season due to the tv deal they have (that is another rant entirely), I feel like I am a member of the team and not just a mere sometimes-spectator. Then all this BCS stuff poured out. Now, a majority of Americans feel that the BCS system is whacked and that it needs a complete revision. There is even a bill being proposed in Congress that would presumably force a playoff series. You can read about it here if you want. But the bottom line is that the only people who can change it are the college presidents of the schools in the conferences involved in the BCS. And they don't want to change it because they get millions of dollars each year for having their schools and other schools in their repective conferences play in the top bowls. So we are left with "life." It's not fair, the rules make no sense, and most times all your best efforts get overlooked in favor of somebody else's seemingly less remarkable results. But every once in a while, all your work and preparation get the spotlight and the nation pauses to acknowledge your greatness. For days I have been thinking of how to do a clever and cute Happy New Year post. But because I never came up with a good enough idea to make all the sweet little pictures of Miriam that I haven't posted yet tie all together, THIS is my Happy New Year post. If you have somehow made it through this entire post, this is my 2009 wish to you all. Keep doing your best. Continue working and slaving and focusing and making things work as well as you can. Most of the time nobody but you will notice. But every once in a while, you'll get a chance to not only show it all off but be recognized for it and reap all the kudos and accolades that you've ever wanted. May 2009 be that year for you. The Utah Utes, standing for all the little guys who never get noticed, have shown us that it can be done. GO UTES!