FIFA World Cup: Scars to the "Beautiful Game"

 Soccer (or football, as it's known in the rest of the world) has been called "the beautiful game" because of the way it's played, how goals are scored, and the unpredictability of it all.  Never was there a better demonstration of that than in Sunday's FIFA men's World Cup final in Qatar between Argentina and France.  For ninety minutes of regulation and thirty minutes of extra time, the two sides battled to a 3-3 draw, led by goal-scoring legends Lionel Messi of Argentina and Kylian Mbappe of France.  Then in the penalty shootout, Argentina outlasted France 4-2 to win its first Cup since 1986, setting off all sorts of celebrations in Buenos Aires and environs.  This is the best soccer has to offer, and most observers seemed to agree.

Croatia defeated Morocco to win third place, which is considered historic for the African country.  The little-regarded United States team got as far as the Round of 16 before Netherlands defeated them, which is quite a feat considering the Americans did not qualify for the 2018 Cup.

With apologies to Alessia Cara, the fact that this World Cup was held in Qatar exposed some scars to the "beautiful game" and who runs it.  This was a country that few know how to pronounce correctly, and is a little known Middle East fiefdom that saw no problem in limiting the rights of certain populations that resulted in bans on forms of clothing suggesting protest, or sacrificing the lives of migrant workers (allegedly against their will) to help build all those massive soccer stadiums in such a tiny country.  But they did show FIFA the money, and that's what counts.  Just like what it took for the Olympic Games to be held in Russia or China. Also, two journalists died while covering this World Cup:  Longtime American soccer correspondent Grant Wahl, and a photojournalist working for a Qatar TV channel.

Add to this the failure of a professional European soccer league, an American women's soccer league in crisis over allegations of various forms of harassment, and Major League Soccer's new TV deal with Apple TV + (home of "Ted Lasso") that lets Fox have some matches, but local telecasts go behind a paywall.

The next FIFA men's World Cup will be in North America in 2026, split between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.  Unlike Qatar, it will be played in the normal summer months of June and July, where you're not competing with the NFL and disrupting other European leagues.  Here's another opportunity for soccer to prove it can be beautiful without showing its scars.

The 2022-23 Owljock Bowl Board

 Another year, another Owljock Bowl Board.  We once again bring you the college bowl season schedule and the sponsors (plus one TV personality) willing to take the leap from obscurity to--maybe more obscurity?

This season there's 43 NCAA-sanctioned bowls that span from coast to coast (and sometimes beyond), with not only teams' reputations on the line but also a national championship.  As far as we know, games have yet to be canceled due to outbreaks of COVID and its other variants like they have been in the last couple of years.

But first . . .

• The College Football Playoff's final four this year is defending champion Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State and TCU (this year's Cincinnati).  What, no Alabama?  Something's not right here.  Well, after years of complaints that the same four schools get into the playoffs every year, the CFP has decided to extend its invitations to twelve teams beginning in 2024.  The number should really be eight, but ESPN would have two more years on its TV contract by then . . .
• The Big Ten has become a national conference to compete with the Southeastern Conference, adding Southern California and UCLA from the Pac-12 beginning in 2024.  And there may be more on the way if other conferences fail to keep its current members from leaving
• The TV landscape is also changing.  To match the SEC's move from CBS to ESPN, the Big Ten has partnered with Fox, CBS and NBC to televise games starting next season replacing the Worldwide Leader.

If you think the quality of the bowl games lack something, you may be right.  Not only are some players skipping games to save themselves for the NFL draft, but also for the transfer portal which allows them to change schools without penalty. 

So here it comes.  The bowl schedule includes who's playing, where's the game, where it's on TV (ESPN unless otherwise noted), along with a brief description of the game's main sponsor.  Know the drill?  Good.  Let's go.

FRIDAY, 12/16

Hometown Lenders Bahamas Bowl:  Miami-Ohio vs.  Alabama-Birmingham (Nassau, Bahamas) ESPN.

Hometown Lenders is a mortgage lending firm.

Duluth Trading Cure Bowl:  TX-San Antonio vs. Troy (Orlando, FL) ESPN

Duluth Trading sells work and outdoor apparel.  The "cure" is for breast cancer research.

SATURDAY, 12/17

Wasabi Fenway Bowl:  Cincinnati vs. Louisville (Boston, MA) ESPN

Wasabi is a cloud storage firm.  Game played at Fenway Park.

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

Cricket is a wireless provider.

New Mexico Bowl: Southern Methodist vs. Brigham Young (Albuquerque, NM) ABC

Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel: Washington State vs. Fresno State (Inglewood, CA) ABC

Jimmy Kimmel is a late night TV and awards show host.  Stifel is a brokerage investment bank.

Lending Tree Bowl: Rice vs. Southern Mississippi (Mobile, AL) ESPN

Lending Tree is an online mortgage broker.

SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl:  Florida vs. Oregon State (Las Vegas, NV) ESPN

SRS is a building products distributor.

Frisco Bowl:  North Texas vs. Boise State (Frisco, TX) ESPN

MONDAY, 12/19

Myrtle Beach Bowl:  Marshall vs. Connecticut (Conway, SC) ESPN

TUESDAY, 12/20

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:  Eastern Michigan vs. San Jose State (Boise, ID) ESPN

RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl:  Liberty vs. Toledo (Boca Raton, FL) ESPN

RoofClaim is in roofing repairs.

WEDNESDAY, 12/21

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl:  Western Kentucky vs. South Alabama (New Orleans, LA) ESPN

R+L Carriers is in the freight shipping and logistics business.

THURSDAY, 12/22

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl:  Baylor vs. Air Force (Fort Worth, TX) ESPN

Lockheed Martin is a defense contractor.

FRIDAY, 12/23

Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl:  Louisiana vs. Houston (Shreveport, LA) ESPN

Radiance Technologies is a defense contractor.

Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl:  Wake Forest vs. Missouri (Tampa, FL) ESPN

Union Home Mortgage is a mortgage lender.

SATURDAY. 12/24

EasyPost Hawaii Bowl:  Middle Tennessee State vs. San Diego State (Honolulu, HW) ESPN

EasyPost is an e-commerce online shipper.

MONDAY, 12/26

Quick Lane Bowl:  New Mexico State vs. Bowling Green (Detroit, MI) ESPN

Quick Lane is a chain of auto service shops.

TUESDAY, 12/27

Camellia Bowl:  Georgia Southern vs. Buffalo (Montgomery, AL) ESPN

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl:  Memphis vs. Utah State (Dallas, TX) ESPN

SERVPRO is in disaster reparation services.

TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl:  Coastal Carolina vs. East Carolina (Birmingham, AL) ESPN 

TicketSmarter is an online ticket broker.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl:  Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma State (Phoenix. AZ) ESPN

Guaranteed Rate is a home mortgage lender.  Game is at Chase Field.

WEDNESDAY, 12/28

Military Bowl Presented by Peraton:  Central Florida vs. Duke (Annapolis, MD) ESPN

Peraton is a government security contractor.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl:  Kansas vs. Arkansas (Memphis, TN) ESPN

AutoZone is a nationwide parts store chain.

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

SDCCU  is a Southern California-based financial services firm.  Game played at Petco Park.

TaxAct Texas Bowl:  Texas Tech vs. Mississippi (Houston, TX) ESPN

TaxAct is an online tax preparer.

THURSDAY, 12/29

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl:  Syracuse vs. Minnesota (New York) ESPN

Bad Boy sells lawn mowers.  Game played at Yankee Stadium.

Cheez-It Bowl:  Oklahoma vs. Florida State (Orlando, FL) ESPN

Cheez-It is a cheese snack.

Valero Alamo Bowl:  Texas vs. Washington (San Antonio, TX) ESPN

Valero is an energy company.

FRIDAY, 12/30

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

Duke's Mayo is mayonnaise sold in the southeast.

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl:  Pittsburgh vs. UCLA (El Paso, TX) CBS

Tony the Tiger represents Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl:  Notre Dame vs. South Carolina (Jacksonville, FL) ESPN

TaxSlayer is an online tax preparer.

Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl:  Ohio vs. Wyoming (Tucson, AZ) 

Barstool Sports is a sports website.

Capital One Orange Bowl:  Tennessee vs. Clemson (Miami Gardens, FL) ESPN

Capital One is in banking and financial services.

SATURDAY, 12/31

TransPerfect Music City Bowl:  Iowa vs. Kentucky (Nashville. TN) ABC

TransPerfect is in translation services.

Allstate Sugar Bowl:  Alabama vs. Kansas State (New Orleans, LA) ESPN

Allstate provides insurance and financial services.

Vrbo Fiesta Bowl:  Michigan vs. Texas Christian (Glendale, AZ) ESPN.

National championship semifinal.  Vrbo handles vacation home rentals.

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

National championship semifinal.  Chick-fil-A is a chain of chicken restaurants.

MONDAY, 1/2/2023

ReliaQuest Bowl:  Mississippi State vs. Illinois (Tampa, FL) ESPN2

ReliaQuest is in the cybersecurity business.

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl:  Louisiana State vs. Purdue (Orlando, FL) ABC

Cheez-It is a cheese snack.

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic:  Southern California vs. Tulane (Arlington, TX) ESPN

Goodyear makes tires and flies blimps.

Rose Bowl Game:  Utah vs. Penn State (Pasadena, CA) ESPN

MONDAY, 1/9/2023

CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T: Teams TBA (Inglewood, CA) ESPN

AT&T is a wireless provider and communications giant.

That is all.