Every-Thing Sports
NCAA bowl season: The games we REALLY need to see
Dec 4, 2018, 7:10 am
It's bowl season. ESPN
It’s December, and you know what that means? IT’S BOWL SEASON! College football will have 478 bowls this year starting Dec. 15 through the title game on Jan. 7. OK, maybe I exaggerated a teeny bit. But you get the picture.
Bowl season has gotten out of hand. The only thing more ridiculous is the names. With sponsors now making their name a part of the bowl name, we’re subjected to things like a Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl, a Dollar General Bowl, and a Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. I believe The Usual Suspects said it best on their show: What the hell is a Gasparilla?!?
That being said, I’m going to be tuned in and try to watch every last one of them. I was going over all the bowls and planning my watch schedule when I had an idea: what if we could come up with new bowls and names? What would they be? Who or what could they be named after? Well, here’s my remix on bowl season:
The Taco Bowl
The Taco Bowl will be sponsored by all the hole-in-the-wall taqueria’s and taco trucks. Teams must have at least 10 wins to qualify because even if they lose, they must have a winning record since tacos are one of the rare foods that rarely takes a loss. It will be held in small, out-dated stadiums at random times because the best tacos come from random places and are eaten at any given time of the day.
The Millenial Bowl
This bowl will revolutionize college football by being played in the virtual reality realm. Players will all have VR suits so they won’t have to take physical contact. The crowd will be neutral and unbiased, preventing the players from hearing any disparaging remarks. There will be no score kept. Teams will be chosen at random, but every team in college football will get a chance to play in this bowl, regardless of their record.
The Trump Bowl
The Trump Bowl will be the biggest bowl ever! It’s going to be huge! It’ll be the best bowl with the best teams! This bowl will make bowl season great again! It’ll take place at The Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach because we want only the best people to attend! It’s gonna be great! No bad hombres allowed!
The Political Divide Bowl
There are only two types of schools that can qualify for this bowl: liberal arts or private Christian conservative schools. If you’re a progressive school or have multiple different degree programs, you are not eligible. Only far left or far right schools are allowed. The rest of you can suck it!
The Gimmick Gameplan Bowl
Only way to qualify for this bowl is to have a gimmick offense and/or defense. By gimmick, I mean something off the wall. For example: teams that still run the triple option or pass 70 times a game or play a three man front on defense with a 275 pound nose tackle can qualify. Special teams are nearly null and void because punts, field goals, and extra points are outlawed.
The Napoleon Bowl
Napoleon Complex, commonly referred to as “short man complex”, occurs in people of small stature. Therefore, the only teams that qualify for this bowl are Group of Five schools. The two best Group of Five schools will be matched up in a game that will be played in direct competition of the national title game. The game will be held on Boise State’s blue turf field and will air on Spike TV.
If you have anything to add, please let me know. There may be another list like this, or not. That’s totally up to you guys and whether or not Fred kills me between now and next Tuesday.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.