MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / December 8, 1999

Thoughts that passed through my mind while snoozing through the Saints- Falcons game…Question of the week – are there more bowl games or Pokemon characters? Count them, there are 24 bowl games, not counting the five all-star games (there are more Blue-Grey battles than there was during the Civil War).

The next question is why are there so many? That’s 48 teams that will have their seasons extended one more game, some of whom really don’t deserve the extra game. Syracuse, which is playing in the Music City Bowl,went 6-5 and lost to Temple which went 2-8. Arizona State (Aloha),Clemson (Peach), Wake Forest (Aloha) and Colorado (Insight.com), are alsogoing bowling with 6-5 records. Why reward mediocrity?On the other hand, had Marshall lost to Western Michigan Friday night in the MAC championship game, the Thudering Herd probably would have been left out of the bowl picture despite a 11-1 record, including a win over Clemson. Makes complete sense, doesn’t it?Think about this, there are actually two bowl games in Hawaii on Christmas Day. There are four games New Year’s Eve and six more NewYear’s Day. Better have the Y2K bug corrected by then.The NCAA basketball tournament only has 64 teams and it has three times as many teams to choose from. Every other division in college football isgetting along just fine with a playoff system right now. So why notDivision I? Is there a better tradition in college football than Army and Navy standing for each other’s alma maters at the end of their annual clash? So what if the game does not decide national or conference championships any more.

It’s still fun to watch and hopefully the teams continue to play for another 100 years.

Just give the Heisman Trophy to Michael Vick of Virginia Tech already.

Yes, the defense is a major reason why the Hokies will be spending the new year in New Orleans. But without Vick, Virginia Tech fans wouldprobably be spending it in Tucson. The award says it goes to the bestcollege football player in the country. It doesn’t say anything about whatgrade the player is in or what competition they have faced.

Do you think the Washington Redskins are cheering for the Saints to lose their final four games? If the Saints do just that, they will have the first overall pick which goes to the Redskins as part of the Ricky Williams’ trade. Williams may turn out to be a very good player but an entire draftand a first overall pick to get him? Washington officials will probably have the number of the Saints’ front office on speed dial in the future.

Hey Florida, 55 seconds does not a SEC champion make.

Congratulations to Columbine High School for winning the Colorado State Class 5A championship this weekend. Every team has to overcome someform of adversity to win a state title. Columbine had to overcome theultimate adversary – evil.

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