It used to be the best bowl games were on New Year's Day. Now they are not. New Year's Day was a good day to play golf.

LastRites, thanks for making sure that more Doritos were left for the rest of us. Many of this year's bowl games were packed with excitement, with friends, family and alumni from all the schools participating having some reasons to cheer. I would have thought you would be all over the pride of Muncie, IN story, which has the Ball State Cardinals meeting the always tough Tulsa Golden Hurricane in four days time. Ball State has a small half-back, MiQuale Lewis, who at 5' 6" and 185 lbs is one of the most exciting runners in college ball. He could be another Maurice Jones-Drew on Sundays if given a chance. Granted, Ball State, like most MAC conference teams, is not noted for big-time college  football prowess, but this is a big reason why college football now stands head and shoulders over pro-football in terms of compelling reasons to watch the games.

I have two dear friends who are rabid Sooner and Husker fans, and are the best of friends 51 weeks out of the year. Their are real rivalries in college football, and these guys live and breathe this rivalry year in and year out in their rooting section finest. These rooting section clothes cost a bundle, which these two proudly wear for big games each season. These are not some look-alike jerseys of some players from NFL marketing, or cheap caps with a team logo you see as staples at every sports bar and coffee shop.  These are real fanatic's clothes donned each year with a purpose. You could never mistake this college garb for some rapper or hip-hop costume like NFL merchandise has become. There are no real rivalries in the NFL. The NFL is a traveling circus with weekly pit stops on the road to the Super Bowl. There is one winner and 31 losers every year in the NFL.

I know you have mentioned in the past your devotion to the Baltimore (er... Indianapolis) Colts. This is an organization with roots in Texas, which saw the team resurrected in Baltimore by the Rosenbloom family. In the early 1970s Carroll Rosenbloom and Robert Irsay made a franchise trade swapping the Colts for the Los Angeles Rams. In the 1980s Robert Irsay moved the Colts out of Baltimore in the middle of the night to Indianapolis. The Rams are now in St. Louis with a Rosenbloom still in charge.  

Colleges don't up and walk away for a better stadium deal. Here's to a great game this coming Tuesday night in Mobile, Alabama at the GMAC Bowl. You might be able to share a story or two about your days at Ball State with your kids while doing a little rooting for your alma mater.