The 2021-22 Owljock Bowl Board

 Welcome to yet another year of the Owljock Bowl Board, our yearly compilation of holiday college football games played in various settings and sponsored by companies willing to risk humiliation just to get their names before the public.  It also helps to determine a national champion, sort of.

There are, by our count, 44 scheduled bowl games this year.  Last year, if you recall, half of the games were canceled because of the COVID-19 virus.  The others were either relocated or played in stadiums with few or no fans.  New bowls will make their first appearances in Los Angeles and Boston.  One is named for a celebrity (which used to happen with golf tournaments), and the other is being played at Fenway Park.

The College Football Playoff's final four is Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and Cincinnati.  The Crimson Tide is considered the favorite, as they are most years.  Georgia was merely a placeholder at the top of the rankings for most of the season before Alabama beat the Bulldogs for the SEC championship.  Michigan is here instead of TOSU (The Ohio State University).  They're still considered the Big Two when anyone outside the Midwest thinks of Big Ten Plus football.  As for Cincinnati, all the Bearcats have proved is that a non-Power Five school can make it to the big time.  Let's see if they're more than a novelty act.

This is how the Bowl Board works. In addition to the name of the bowl, who's playing, where is it and who's televising (mostly ESPN), we give you a brief description of what the sponsoring company does for a living.  Barring COVID-related cancellations and players sitting out to make themselves look good for the NFL draft, these games should proceed on schedule.  So here goes.

December 17, 2021

Bahamas Bowl:  Middle Tennessee vs. Toledo (Nassau, Bahamas) ESPN

Tailgreeter Cure Bowl:  Northern Illinois vs. Coastal Carolina (Orlando, FL) ESPN2

Tailgating event planner meets breast cancer awareness.

December 18

RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl:  Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State (Boca Raton, FL) ESPN   

Roofing repairs.

Cricket Celebration Bowl:  South Carolina State vs. Jackson State (Atlanta, GA) ABC

AT&T-owned wireless provider.

PUBG Mobile New Mexico Bowl:  Texas-El Paso vs. Fresno State (Albuquerque, NM) ESPN

Mobile games

Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl:  Alabama-Birmingham vs. Brigham Young (Shreveport, LA) ABC

Intelligence and defense contractor.

Lending Tree Bowl:  Eastern Michigan vs. Liberty (Mobile, AL)  ESPN

Online mortgage lender.

Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl presented by Stifel:  Utah State vs. Oregon State (Los Angeles, CA)  ABC

Late night talk show host and brokerage-investment banking firm.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl:  Louisiana vs. Marshall (New Orleans, LA) ESPN

Freight shipping and logistics.

December 20

Myrtle Beach Bowl Presented by Tax Act:  Old Dominion vs. Tulsa (Conway, SC) ESPN

Online tax preparer.

December 21

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:  Kent State vs. Wyoming (Boise, ID) ESPN

Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl:  Texas-San Antonio vs. San Diego State (Frisco, TX) ESPN

Restaurant franchise.

December 22

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl:  Missouri vs. Army (Fort Worth, TX) ESPN

Defense contractor

December 23

Frisco Football Classic:  North Texas vs. Miami-Ohio (Frisco, TX) ESPN

United Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl:  Central Florida vs. Florida (Tampa, FL)  ESPN

Home mortgage lender.

December 24

EasyPost Hawaii Bowl:  Memphis vs. Hawaii (Honolulu, HW) ESPN

E-commerce online shipper

December 25

TaxAct Camellia Bowl:  Georgia State vs. Ball State (Montgomery, AL) ESPN

See Myrtle Beach Bowl.

December 27

Quick Lane Bowl:  Western Michigan vs. Nevada (Detroit, MI) ESPN

Auto service shops.

Military Bowl presented by Peraton:  Boston College vs. East Carolina (Annapolis, MD)  ESPN

Government security contractor.

December 28

TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl:  Houston vs. Auburn (Birmingham, AL) ESPN

Online ticket broker.

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl:  Air Force vs. Louisville (University Park, TX) ESPN

Disaster restoration services.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Mississippi State vs. Texas Tech (Memphis, TN) ESPN

Auto supply stores.

San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl:  UCLA vs. North Carolina State (San Diego, CA) Fox

Southern California financial services.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl:  West Virginia vs. Minnesota (Phoenix, AZ) ESPN

Home mortgage lender.

December 29

Wasabi Fenway Bowl:  Southern Methodist vs. Virginia (Boston, MA) ESPN

Cloud storage for business.  Played at Fenway Park.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl:  Maryland vs. Virginia Tech (Bronx, NY) ESPN

Sports apparel manufacturer.  Played at Yankee Stadium.

Cheez-It Bowl:  Clemson vs. Iowa State (Orlando, FL) ESPN

Cheese crackers.

Valero Alamo Bowl:  Oregon vs. Oklahoma (San Antonio, TX) ESPN

Energy company.

December 30

Duke's Mayo Bowl:  North Carolina vs. South Carolina (Charlotte, NC) ESPN

South Carolina-based condiment.

TransPerfect Music City Bowl:  Tennessee vs. Purdue (Nashville, TN) ESPN

Translation services.

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl:  Michigan State vs. Pittsburgh (Atlanta, GA)  ESPN

National chicken restaurant chain.

SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl:  Wisconsin vs. Arizona State (Las Vegas, NV) ESPN

Building products distributor.

December 31

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl:  Wake Forest vs. Texas A&M (Jacksonville, FL) ESPN

Online tax preparer.

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl:  Washington State vs. Miami (El Paso, TX)  CBS

Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.

Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl:  Central Michigan vs. Boise State (Tucson, AZ)  Barstool Sports.com

Sports website.

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, College Football Playoff Semifinal:  Cincinnati vs. Alabama (Arlington, TX)  ESPN

Tires and blimps.

Capital One Orange Bowl, College Football Playoff Semifinal:  Georgia vs. Michigan (Miami Gardens, FL) ESPN

Financial services.

January 1, 2022

Outback Bowl:  Penn State vs. Arkansas (Tampa, FL) ESPN2

Steak and seafood restaurant chain.

Vrbo Citrus Bowl:  Iowa vs. Kentucky (Orlando, FL) ABC

Vacation home rentals.

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl:  Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma State (Glendale, AZ) ESPN

Video game manufacturer.

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Capital One Venture X:  Ohio State vs. Utah (Pasadena, CA) ESPN

Financial services promoting new credit card.

Allstate Sugar Bowl:  Mississippi vs. Baylor (New Orleans, LA) ESPN

Insurance and financial services.

January 4

TaxAct Texas Bowl:  Louisiana State vs. Kansas State (Houston, TX) ESPN

Online tax preparer.

January 10

CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T:  Teams to be announced (Indianapolis, IN) ESPN

Communications giant. 

UPDATE (12/26/21):  The Military, Fenway and Hawaii Bowls have all been sacked due to COVID. Texas A&M was replaced by Rutgers to face Wake Forest in the Gator Bowl.  More to come?

UPDATE (12/30/21):  Wait, there's more.  The Arizona and Holiday Bowls have been canceled and Miami (FL) has begged off of the Sun Bowl.  But that game will continue because Central Michigan (who was supposed to play Boise State in Arizona) has become the last minute opponent for Washington State in El Paso.

World Series: Braves Ground Astros in Six

 The Braves franchise has played in three cities during its long history in Major League Baseball, winning one World Series in each one of them:  Boston in 1914, Milwaukee in 1957, and Atlanta in 1995.  Now, after moving to the Deep South in 1966 and in their third ballpark (Fulton County Stadium, Turner Field, Truist Park), they have added a fourth world championship and second in their current hometown.

Atlanta shut down the favored Houston Astros' bats to take the Series in six games, taking the lead early in those games with their own offense piling up runs with contributions from Freddie Freeman, Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler.  Starting pitching from Max Fried, and a bullpen-by-committee featuring Will Smith (not that one) did the rest.  The final game was a 7-0 Atlanta shutout with Freeman and Soler hitting balls out of the park, and Fried with a stellar pitching performance.

Atlanta made it to the Fall Classic as one of the least regarded division winners in the National League, having gone through periods of injuries and illnesses to key players while breaking in some new players. They beat the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers in the league playoffs. 

The Astros, still trying to live down the signal-stealing scandal that overshadowed their 2017 championship, defeated the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox to be the American League's representatives again. 

Atlanta's baseball team has its own baggage, and it has to do with the nickname Braves and all it encompasses. This has been going on at least since the team dominated baseball in the 1990s, and their fans are still performing the Tomahawk Chop at home games.

Cleveland's MLB team has changed its name to the Guardians, and the NFL franchise in the Nation's Capital is (for now) known as the Washington Football Team.  Now that Atlanta's baseball team has won the World Series, they're not expected to change their name anytime soon. 

Winning the Series also means payback for MLB taking last summer's All Star Game out of Atlanta because of Georgia's controversial decision to restrict voting privileges, and moved to Denver. 

Atlanta paid tribute to the late Henry Aaron this season by putting his Number 44 in center field at Truist Park. The team also paid tribute to him by winning a World Series--something he did once in Milwaukee. 

Bucks Stop With NBA Title

It has been half a century since the Milwaukee Bucks last won an NBA championship, when two future Hall of Famers named Lew Alcindor and Oscar Robertson led the team to their first title.  You might know Alcindor better as a Los Angeles Laker who changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then won a few more titles.

In 2021, the Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns in six games for their second championship trophy, winning 105-98 in the clincher at Milwaukee. Giannis Antetokounmpo, the team's focal point, scored a career high 50 points to wrap up a season in which, thanks to COVID-19, was anything but typical. 

The NBA 2020-21 season started around Christmas, due to the previous season ending in October.  The shortened and compressed schedule resulted in injuries to key players, and to rescheduling games around postponements due to the virus.

Then the playoffs came in mid-May. The Bucks won the Eastern Conference by defeating the Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks. The Suns, led by Chris Paul, went through the Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers to win the West.

LeBron James didn't make it to the NBA Finals this year, but he did make headlines battling Bugs Bunny at the newly reopened multiplexes for the new "Space Jam" movie. 

Marv Albert has called his last basketball, hanging up his mic following TNT's coverage of the Eastern Conference finals. He had been broadcasting sports for decades in his signature style that others have imitated, but never duplicated. He leaves as one of the greats, whether you are a basketball fan or not.  Yes Marv, your career still counts. 

This was not a banner year for the NBA, or for anyone else. For the Milwaukee Bucks and their fans, the only banner they care about is the one that's going up the rafters of Fiserv Forum next fall.

Lightning Strikes Stanley Cup Again

The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens in five games Wednesday to win the NHL Stanley Cup, allowing it to establish a Florida residence for the second consecutive year. 

The Lightning won it before their home fans--something they couldn't do the previous season--when Ross Colton scored the only goal of the match. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskyiy, who shut down the Canadiens for much of the series, was named recipient of the Conn Smythe trophy as the outstanding player of the finals. 

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to shorten this past season to 56 games starting in January, with play restricted to teams playing each other within their own divisions and crowds gradually admitted inside arenas.  Still, that didn't stop some teams from shuffling their schedules due to players catching the virus.

The playoffs began in mid-May, a little later than usual.  The Lightning went through the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders to get to the finals.  The Canadiens got past the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights to attain their first final since 1993. They were also the last Canadian-based team to win the Cup that year. 

This was also the final year for NBC to televise NHL games, dating back to the post-lockout year of 2005, which happens to be the longest relationship the league has ever had with an American TV network.  ESPN, ABC and Turner Sports will take over coverage next season. 

To close, two things.  First, Tom Brady of the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers should not be allowed anywhere near the Stanley Cup. He's already notorious for tossing the Lombardi trophy to a teammate during the victory parade.

Second, and most important:  May we never see hockey in July ever again. 

Baylor and Stanford Win NCAA Basketball Titles, Despite Everything.

 After what could be called a one-year break, the NCAA crowned its champions in men's and women's basketball in spite of a pandemic and themselves.  Both tournaments were held in the vicinity of where the Final Fours were played (Indianapolis for the men, San Antonio for the women).  Both featured empty arenas with limited numbers of spectators, lack of bands and cheerleaders, and NCAA-mandated generic basketball courts.  But only one team on the men's side had to go home for violating COVID-19 protocols, defying predictions of massive forfeits on the way to that One Shining Moment.

Also defying predictions were the teams who won the tournaments.  Baylor blew out top-ranked Gonzaga 86-70 to win their first men's title.  Stanford edged out Arizona 54-53 to claim their third women's title under longtime coach Tara Vanderveer, their first since 1992.

Connecticut, which most of us have heard of because they seem to win championship after championship under coach Geno Auriemma, has actually not won a national title since 2016.  They claim the most-honored player in the land in Paige Bueckers, a freshman.  Yet they lost to a more determined Arizona squad in the Women's Final Four.

Gonzaga has its own freshman phenom in Jalen Suggs, who will forever be remembered for that Buzzer Beater for the Ages against UCLA in the Men's Final Four.  But they stumbled early against Baylor in the championship game and never recovered.  Yes, playing in a weak conference like the West Coast Conference doesn't prepare you much for the rigors of getting past opponents from bigger conferences such as Baylor.

Bueckers and Suggs played their high school ball in Minnesota and became big successes by bypassing the University of Minnesota to play out of state, following the example of other local heroes in recent years.  It's part of the reason why Ben Johnson is the Gophers' men's basketball coach instead of Richard Pitino after eight seasons, though he has landed on his feet at the University of New Mexico.

In addition to all the Covid shenanigans in Indianapolis, the NCAA got called out for short-changing the women at their tournament, from the lack of training facilities to cheap accommodations to courts that read "NCAA Women's Basketball" instead of "March Madness".  The NCAA's current TV contract with ESPN lumps the women's tournament in with non-revenue sports like ice hockey, lacrosse and gymnastics.  Yet the women's championship game got a better TV rating than the men's final on CBS this year.  It also helps if the game was a lot closer.

In spite of everything, the NCAA made it through a season pockmarked by games postponed or canceled due to players and coaches coming down with coronavirus, whether it was necessary or not.  Maybe next season there will be a vaccine, but not for arrogance and stupidity.

(Tampa) Bay of Champions

 Tampa Bay added to its collection of professional sports championships in the past year with the NFL Buccaneers winning Super Bowl 55 on its own turf Sunday--the first team to do that.  They join the NHL Lightning (who won the Stanley Cup) and Major League Baseball's Rays for winning the American League pennant, but lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The National Football League made it through a coronavirus-plagued season without having to cancel a game, in a season no one thought should have happened.  But they did end up rescheduling games during the week, which meant that for the first time ever, we had Tuesday Night and Wednesday Afternoon Football plus Monday double headers.

THE GAME

Quarterback Tom Brady passed for three touchdowns to lead the Bucs to a 31-9 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium.  It wasn't really close.  Patrick Mahomes, KC's wunderkind quarterback, failed to get his team in the end zone, thanks to the efforts of the Bucs' stifling defense and the Chiefs' tendency to draw flags at inopportune moments.

With this win, Brady now has won seven of the 10 Super Bowl games he's played in, mostly with the New England Patriots.  At 43, and in his third decade in the NFL, Brady has said he'd like to keep playing until he's at least 45.  He may be the greatest quarterback of this century, and of the Super Bowl era.  But of all time?  Considering the fact that the NFL has been in business for more than 100 years, the ghosts of Bart Starr, Johnny Unitas, Sid Luckman and others might have something to say about that.

The Bucs, an NFC Wild Card team, beat the Washington Football Team, New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers on the road to win the conference title.

The Chiefs only had to beat the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills at home to defend their AFC championship.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• Raymond James Stadium sure looked full Sunday.  A closer look reveals that of those 50,000 filled seats, 25,000 of those were live human beings (7,000 of those were "healthcare heroes" that got in free, as long as they were vaccinated), and 30,000 were cardboard cutouts for social distancing purposes.  After the game, despite predictions from the likes of Dr. Anthony Fauci that this Super Bowl was going to be a Super Spreader event, not many folks were wearing masks, were they?  Of course, this is Florida, a state not exactly known for its restraint.
• Instead of a Boomer favorite to play its halftime show, the NFL chose a current popular act named The Weeknd.  The show wasn't great by any means, but it will boost The Weeknd's profile among those who had never heard him before (which is most of America) or are baffled as to how he spells his name.
• The commercials for the CBS telecast were more notable for who wasn't there than who was.  Owing to the pandemic and the general tone of 2020, Budweiser decided to leave its Clydesdales at home this year.  But fellow Anheuser-Busch brands such as Bud Light more than picked up the slack.  The ads in general weren't great.  They were mostly bland and tried to be funny.  And all those ads for Paramount+, CBS' rebranded streaming service, was a Rocky Mountain Low.
• History was made when a female official refereed the Big Game. two female coaches were on the sidelines, and the poet who made a name for herself at President Biden's Inauguration contributed a piece on frontline workers.  But the NFL's TV commercial promoting racial tolerance somehow neglected to mention Colin Kaepernick. 
  

Crimson Tide In, Buckeyes Out

 Despite a deadly pandemic that's been ravaging America for almost a year, the 2020 college football season somehow managed to make it past all the outbreaks, postponements and cancellations of games played by athletes who risked their lives and scholarships in empty stadiums for the benefit of you watching from home.

Nearly 15,000 masked and socially distanced patrons made their way into Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Monday night to watch the Alabama Crimson Tide win the College Football Playoff championship, pummeling Ohio State's Buckeyes 52-24.  Heisman Trophy winner DeVanta Smith had a night for the Tide, scoring three touchdowns and running for 215 yards in the first half alone.  Quarterback Mac James threw for five touchdown passes.  Najee Harris scored three of his own.

This was Alabama's sixth national championship in over a decade, having completed an undefeated (13-0) season playing mostly SEC conference opponents due to the pandemic. Coach Nick Saban made a little history too, with his seventh national title (the first was at LSU) surpassing another Tide legend, Paul William "Bear" Bryant.

Before getting run off the field by Alabama, there was some question as to whether Ohio State should have been in the CFP in the first place.  Because of game cancellations during the season due to COVID-19 (including one with hated rival Michigan), the Buckeyes found themselves two games short of bowl eligibility.  But because they are The Ohio State University, the Big Ten found a way for them to play in the conference's championship game at Indianapolis against Northwestern.  The Buckeyes won the game, and the chance to be the conference's representative in the CFP.  They surprised a few folks by defeating defending champion Clemson at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, while Alabama took down Notre Dame at the Rose Bowl (at Arlington, TX.  Don't ask.).

So Alabama wins another football title.  This has been going on for so many years that critics have advocated expanding the College Football Playoff to at least eight teams, for variety's sake.  It won't happen for another five years, because that's how long ESPN's TV contract has to run.  Sure, what's another five years of Clemson vs. Alabama for the national championship?  Players come and go, but coaches always get their money. Pandemic or no pandemic.