Columnist Dean Juipe: Despite try, bowl fatigue sets in again

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4084.

Sometimes you have to rethink your position.

Case in point: After a lifetime of ambivalence toward college bowl games, this looked like the season to trade in the indifference for some supposed fun.

And look at all the games to choose from -- 24 to be exact, including tonight's BCS-approved Tennessee vs. Florida State finale.

There were bowl games on odd nights and even some afternoons. There were bowl games stacked one against the other, vying for attention and competing for TV viewers.

There were bowl games with a tinge of familiarity to them, like the Aloha, the Gator and the Sun, to say nothing of staid, traditional showcases like the Rose, the Orange, the Cotton and the Sugar.

There was a bowl game played in Las Vegas and another played on a blue field in Boise.

There was a bowl game for every occasion.

Some had tongue-twisting titles, like the AXA/Equitable Liberty Bowl or the American General Music City Bowl or even tonight's Tostitos Fiesta Bowl -- which gets a little tougher after a couple margaritas and a few hot chips.

Corporate sponsors were everywhere. Giants like FedEx and AT&T sunk millions of advertising dollars into a pair of games, just to add to their identity or demonstrate their philanthropy. And smaller firms like Culligan, Builder's Square and Chick-fil-A were betting the coop it was worth their while to be linked to Holiday, Alamo and Peach bowl games.

Driven by prosperity, the bowls have proliferated to where they're an inescapable presence as the year-end holidays approach and later retreat. For a sports fan, there's no avoiding them.

And many fans greet the bowl season with a euphoric shout and close it with an exclamation point of fond remembrances. They're excited by the pageantry and led to believe that one team will stand above the others when all is said and done.

It's pure bliss.

Yeah, right. Actually, it's pure torture even after wiping the slate clean for a clearer look.

It's like the hair-ball remover cats ask for by name: Yech.

OK, it was cool that Purdue upset Kansas State and that unsung Tulane went 12-0. It was also nice to see Notre Dame get beat, and UCLA too.

And the blue-field game is always a laugh riot.

But, 23 games into the process, enough is enough. As Florida and Syracuse proved in the penultimate bowl Saturday night, there's nothing so drab as watching a one-sided game between teams you don't like and never will.

Fifty thousand Jeep/Eagle, CompUSA and Chick-fil-A commercials later, this much is apparent: Every team with a winning record doesn't deserve to play in a bowl game.

But that's where this is headed. Finish 6-5, unless the wins were against Appalachian State and William & Mary, and you're not only eligible, you're in!

Granted, the bowls aren't going to go away. But can't they have some real meaning and reason for existence beyond selling laser printers and automobiles? Can't they actually be used toward determining a true national champion?

Here's a proposal: The people who call the bowl shots ought to rethink their position.

If nothing else, it's their turn.

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