The Rose Bowl was played in N.C.
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Folks, I'm going to admit that at first I was angry again at the NCAA and the BCS Bowl computers and committee. I was mad for the fact they messed up the Rose Bowl, not the national title game.
The reason I had a short fuse was the simple reason this season's Rose Bowl doesn't involve both a Big Ten team and a Pac-10 team, when it could have easily switched two teams in the BCS games in Texas Christian and Stanford.
But I'm going to admit something, and it hurts … I was wrong for being angry.
Before I looked at the facts, I jumped the gun and was angered the BCS choice of games. I want to say I'm sorry to whoever runs the stupid system. (A playoff system would still be better.)
I decided to get out my NCAA College Football Encyclopedia made by ESPN, and on Page 1438, the facts were staring at me right in the face.
Before we go on, I know in recent memory the Rose Bowl didn't have a Big Ten or a Pac-10 team for national title reasons, but what I'm about to say makes me want to keep studying more college football history (more than I already do) … I didn't know certain tidbits about the Rose Bowl tradition, and possibly you didn't either. If you did know these following facts, then congratulations. (These are just some facts about the game.)
First, I didn't know most of the Rose Bowls before 1945 were not games between the Big Ten or the Pac 10.
I also didn't know in 1941 edition of the game, held on Jan. 1, 1942, was played at Duke Stadium in Durham, N.C., between No. 12 Oregon State and No. 2 Duke in front of 56,000 fans. OSU won, 20-16. I don't know what boggles the mind more, the fact the Rose Bowl was played in North Carolina (thanks to World War II and bombing concerns) or the fact Duke was once relevant in football.
Did you know the actual Tournament of Roses only invited a team from the West Coast to play, and then the team picked its opponent from the East? That stopped in 1935. That's when the Pacific Coast Conference chose one of their own teams to compete, and then they selected their opponent.
The "current" way of a Big Ten and Pac-10 playing each other started in 1947.
The game wasn’t played in its current Rose Bowl stadium until 1923.
What I find hard to believe is there was no Rose Bowl after the first one in 1902 (must have been a sad time to live in. I bet dark clouds were in the sky for 14 straight years) until it was brought back in 1916.
Guess what it was replaced by?
(I’ll give you a few seconds to think hard about this.)
The answer ... Roman-style chariot races, inspired by Ben-Hur. (I can’t make this stuff up. Go to the official Rose Bowl website if you don’t believe me.)
USC has the most appearances in the game with 33, winning 24 of them. (Their last win was a rout against my Penn State Nittany Lions. I’m still unhappy with how they out-played Joe Pa’s team that year.)
For Ohio State Buckeye fans, they are the defending champs of the Rose Bowl, beating Oregon (who is in the National Title game this year), and have won the game 7-of-14 times played. Michigan has won it eight times, but lost it 12.
Did you know Alabama has been Rose Bowl champion four times? I sure didn’t.
So either way, I'm mad at myself for not knowing this information.
Wasn't the best Rose Bowl game the 2006 Rose Bowl (Jan. 4, 2006) for the ‘05 national championship between the USC Trojans and Texas Longhorns? Remember when Vince Young pretty much single-handedly rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the "Men of Troy,” sending Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush to the NFL. (That's worked out well for all three.)
There are so many things I love about this game. Since it’s only been tradition for the Big Ten and Pac-10 to play in “The Granddaddy of Them All” for some of the games, why not just make it the annual national title game each year? I mean it is the “Granddaddy of Them All.”
Speaking about things that make the Rose Bowl so great, one thing has been missing from recent Rose Bowls and that is the voice of Keith Jackson. “Whoa, Nellie.”
Even though I think Stanford would have been a better choice to play Wisconsin this season, TCU will work. I mean, honestly, I would watch the Rose Bowl if Washington Sate and Brown played. Wait, they did – in 1916.
So, before we hear all the "traditionalists" get on their high horse and yell about the tradition of the Rose Bowl, and how the roses are wilting due to the fact this isn’t the traditional matchup of certain conferences, let's all look at the facts before we get mad.
It is time to take some old advice, set a spell, and enjoy one of the last great things about college football.
Don't be like me and grumble about a team from the Mountain West being in the game, let's all just be thankful it wasn't that one team from the WAC.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
The reason I had a short fuse was the simple reason this season's Rose Bowl doesn't involve both a Big Ten team and a Pac-10 team, when it could have easily switched two teams in the BCS games in Texas Christian and Stanford.
But I'm going to admit something, and it hurts … I was wrong for being angry.
Before I looked at the facts, I jumped the gun and was angered the BCS choice of games. I want to say I'm sorry to whoever runs the stupid system. (A playoff system would still be better.)
I decided to get out my NCAA College Football Encyclopedia made by ESPN, and on Page 1438, the facts were staring at me right in the face.
Before we go on, I know in recent memory the Rose Bowl didn't have a Big Ten or a Pac-10 team for national title reasons, but what I'm about to say makes me want to keep studying more college football history (more than I already do) … I didn't know certain tidbits about the Rose Bowl tradition, and possibly you didn't either. If you did know these following facts, then congratulations. (These are just some facts about the game.)
First, I didn't know most of the Rose Bowls before 1945 were not games between the Big Ten or the Pac 10.
I also didn't know in 1941 edition of the game, held on Jan. 1, 1942, was played at Duke Stadium in Durham, N.C., between No. 12 Oregon State and No. 2 Duke in front of 56,000 fans. OSU won, 20-16. I don't know what boggles the mind more, the fact the Rose Bowl was played in North Carolina (thanks to World War II and bombing concerns) or the fact Duke was once relevant in football.
Did you know the actual Tournament of Roses only invited a team from the West Coast to play, and then the team picked its opponent from the East? That stopped in 1935. That's when the Pacific Coast Conference chose one of their own teams to compete, and then they selected their opponent.
The "current" way of a Big Ten and Pac-10 playing each other started in 1947.
The game wasn’t played in its current Rose Bowl stadium until 1923.
What I find hard to believe is there was no Rose Bowl after the first one in 1902 (must have been a sad time to live in. I bet dark clouds were in the sky for 14 straight years) until it was brought back in 1916.
Guess what it was replaced by?
(I’ll give you a few seconds to think hard about this.)
The answer ... Roman-style chariot races, inspired by Ben-Hur. (I can’t make this stuff up. Go to the official Rose Bowl website if you don’t believe me.)
USC has the most appearances in the game with 33, winning 24 of them. (Their last win was a rout against my Penn State Nittany Lions. I’m still unhappy with how they out-played Joe Pa’s team that year.)
For Ohio State Buckeye fans, they are the defending champs of the Rose Bowl, beating Oregon (who is in the National Title game this year), and have won the game 7-of-14 times played. Michigan has won it eight times, but lost it 12.
Did you know Alabama has been Rose Bowl champion four times? I sure didn’t.
So either way, I'm mad at myself for not knowing this information.
Wasn't the best Rose Bowl game the 2006 Rose Bowl (Jan. 4, 2006) for the ‘05 national championship between the USC Trojans and Texas Longhorns? Remember when Vince Young pretty much single-handedly rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the "Men of Troy,” sending Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush to the NFL. (That's worked out well for all three.)
There are so many things I love about this game. Since it’s only been tradition for the Big Ten and Pac-10 to play in “The Granddaddy of Them All” for some of the games, why not just make it the annual national title game each year? I mean it is the “Granddaddy of Them All.”
Speaking about things that make the Rose Bowl so great, one thing has been missing from recent Rose Bowls and that is the voice of Keith Jackson. “Whoa, Nellie.”
Even though I think Stanford would have been a better choice to play Wisconsin this season, TCU will work. I mean, honestly, I would watch the Rose Bowl if Washington Sate and Brown played. Wait, they did – in 1916.
So, before we hear all the "traditionalists" get on their high horse and yell about the tradition of the Rose Bowl, and how the roses are wilting due to the fact this isn’t the traditional matchup of certain conferences, let's all look at the facts before we get mad.
It is time to take some old advice, set a spell, and enjoy one of the last great things about college football.
Don't be like me and grumble about a team from the Mountain West being in the game, let's all just be thankful it wasn't that one team from the WAC.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]