This is the former Gator Bowl and will forever be known as the Gator Bowl to me. Mississippi State fans, as always, brought their cowbells to ring relentlessly through the game. <turns volume on TV down>.
The game overlapped with the next so I stick with this one until the start of the second quarter of the Liberty Bowl. Nice back and forth game between the Cardinals and Bulldogs, 21-17 at half. Didn't see any of the second half.
Louisville quarterback and 2016 Heisman trophy winner Lamar Jackson threw four interceptions giving Mississippi State the opportunity to grab the win. Two fourth quarter touchdowns put the SEC in the win column.
Mississippi State 31 Louisville 27
My Pick: Louisville. Record now 19-12.
What Did I Eat: A salad! Okay, it did have some fried chicken on it, but still, leafy greens.
Bowl Game Swag: Gift suite, Fossil watch, backpack, beanie. No free tax preparation?
Fun Fact: Why exactly do Mississippi State fans ring cowbells incessantly throughout every game? No one knows. According to the official Mississippi State alumni page, "The precise origin of the cowbell as a fixture of Mississippi State sports tradition remains unclear to this day. The best records have cowbells gradually introduced to the MSU sports scene in the late 1930s and early 1940s, coinciding with the 'golden age' of Mississippi State football success prior to World War II." The best traditions are the most pointless I guess.
Another team playing a home game although technically not at the Memphis Tigers home stadium. Why exactly does Memphis need two football stadiums? I guess that will go down with the Mississippi State cowbell ringing.
Only good for the second quarter. Good match up, with Iowa State's defense able to dampen the high octane Memphis offense. 14-10 Cyclones at half and I was out. Mrs. Keith and I had "date day,", more on that in a bit.
The Cyclones only let the Tigers in the end zone one more time and held on for the win and a pretty terrific season.
Iowa State 21 Memphis 20
My Pick: Memphis, I thought they would score a lot more than 20. My record slips to 19-13.
What Did I Eat: Nothing
Bowl Game Swag: Bass Pro Shops shopping trip, Bulova Caravelle watch, Nike athletic shoes, sports sandals, backpack, football. Nice to see a bowl committee be creative with the swag. Hello Bulova!
Did you know Bulova ran the first ad on TV?
Fun Fact: The Liberty Bowl win was Iowa State's first since 2009 and during the trophy presentation the stage collapsed. There were also reports that Iowa State fans drank all the Busch Light available at bars around Memphis.
Okay, here is a bit of BowlQuest controversy. I did not watch this game. My wife and I wanted to get out of the house for a trip to Jack casino and then some drinks and food in Over The Rhine. I had planned on staying at the casino longer than we did which would have given me ample time to watch the first quarter at their bar. Unfortunately my wife isn't much of a gambler and once she starts losing any amount of money she's had enough. She literally lost $10 and was done. I usually like to stay for at least a couple hours, play some different games, maybe some blackjack, have a drink, you know, go to the casino.
Also, I fully believe my wife Theresa could be employed by casinos as a cooler. If you don't know what a cooler is, it's someone a casino believes actually cools off the action at a table if a player is on a hot streak. There's an excellent movie called "The Cooler" starring William H. Macy, check it out. Anyhow, every time she came near a game I was playing, the winning ended. If it happened once or twice, coincidence. But it happens every single time. I believe she has some weird electromagnetic field around her. She also has a long standing ability to ruin electronic devices without doing anything but using them.
Long story longer, I gave up playing a game when she circled back to find me and the winning stopped, again. She wanted to get to Over the Rhine to eat. The problem was the Fiesta Bowl was just getting started. Okay, fine, I'll watch a quarter at one of the many bars in OTR. Here's the thing, the vibe in OTR is hipster cool, and a lot of places don't have TV's. It's all about drinks, small plates and conversation. Like every place we went. Japps, Salazar, The Anchor - all highly recommended unless you want to watch a game. By the way, we had a fun time, the drinks at Japps are great and the food was outstanding.
My wife Theresa at Japp's, one of the top bars in America. And yes, it was cold.
So, if you haven't stopped reading by now, I was not able to see a live quarter although I did see some plays through the bar window at Lachey's. (Yes, a bar partly owned by Nick Lachey and his brother Drew.)
And here comes BowlQuest rule No. 2. One of my two sons can watch a live quarter. I completely forgot to call either one of them and invoke rule No. 2. But we're not done yet. Boy No. 2 Bryant works at Jungle Jims in Fairfield in their beer and wine department and in that department they have a bar that has TV's on that show sports. It's a big bar inside a grocery store and you an walk around and drink while shopping. The Fiesta Bowl was on TV the entire game and Bryant was there, just as I am while at work when I have games on. It's flimsy but it's all I have so I leave it up to you - BowlQuest fail or not? It did meet the criteria I use while I'm at work and he did have some details on the play of Penn State's quarterback Trace McSorley. You decide. FYI, we did check with Boy No. 1 and he did not watch the game.
Penn State 35 Washington 28
My Pick: Penn State, record 20-13.
What Did I Eat: Some great food - crispy pig ears with dipping sauce and bone marrow butter on grilled bread at Salazar; fresh oysters and an amazing scallops dish at The Anchor. Good eats.
Bowl Game Swag: Playstation PS4 PRO Bundle, Fossil watch, Ogio backpack. This game gets it.
Fun Fact: If fans choose to stay in Phoenix to ring in 2018 they can do it at the Flannel Ball where there will be drinks flowing, lots of food and plenty of flannel. The new year comes in with the piñata drop.
We were home in time for me to watch most of this game, no issue. Too much writing already, Wisconsin overcame an early 14-0 deficit to get the win. Decent game, lousy finish to the season for Miami which lost its last three games after starting 10-0.
Wisconsin 34 Miami 24
My Pick: Wisconsin, record 21-13, the Big Ten 7-0. The conference can go 8-0 by Monday or South Carolina can win, which is fine with me.
What Did I Eat: Nothing
Bowl Game Swag: Gift suite, Tourneau watch, Lyfe Brand hat, Ice Shaker water bottle and shaker cup.
Fun Fact: The Orange Bowl trophy literally is a bowl of oranges and it takes a crew of four to load in the oranges.
Seems like overkill. Also, the trophy is huge, almost the size of the man back right.
No games on December 31st, I'll let you decide if I should continue Monday. It won't hurt my feelings if the consensus is "fail." Also, apologies for the font changes, no idea why and this is too long to clean up.
You can't quit now.
ReplyDeleteOne more day.