I miss bowl games (the old way)

The constant bitching still over this is wild

And ratings are still up

As a fan, I think it’s best if the game is either within close driving distance of your teams campus/alumni or if it’s just some random bowl in a nice warm place like South Florida or something.

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What game are fans supposed to go to now?

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They priced out average Joe’s long ago. This is just another FU to the middle class guy with a family of 4. You’re getting nickel and dimed for parking, lodging, and tickets. If your team is good and you like to go to all the games, you’ll get a conference title game, maybe a first round game, then possibly three more neutral site bowls/games?

That’s ridiculous. I’ve just accepted the fact that I’m not going to more than one or two games a year total.

I miss the bowl games of old before the BCS. With conferences committed to certain bowls, good/elite teams could not play each other. So you would pay attention to the bowls to see if the #1 team lost and if the #2 or #3 team throttled their opponent who would be the champion? It generated interest, controversy, and anxiety, which kept people glued to them.

Also maybe I saw life differently as a child, but it seemed to me the main draw of the bowls were matching up one conference against the other to see (brag) which is the better conference. In addition the bowl games (before playoffs and before BCS) was meant to be a reward for their efforts and accomplishments during the season. I looked at bowls as a celebration of the end of the season for the players and fans win or lose. They still put on a great experience for the players, but with the teams in the playoffs there has to be less fun and more business.

Over the past 15 years or more interest in bowls faded. I remember the Sugar Bowl being empty when Baylor played in it. At most they had 35K there. THE FRIGGIN SUGAR BOWL AND ALL ITS HISTORY was turned into a joke on some of the years thanks to the top 4 playoff. Same things happened with the other big bowls. Something needed to be done.

I always hoped there would be a playoff one day, and I am glad they have it now, but the bowl experience is now different. I just hope there is high interest in the quarterfinals and people don't sit it out because they would rather attend the semis and take that bet. We shall see.

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Some of you take life too serious. I just enjoyed the Pop Tart bowl.

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Pretty shameful that Miami's QB took himself out at halftime to avoid potentially getting hurt leading to his team losing.

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Do you resent LSU's top players for sitting out?

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Yes, very much so.