Re Jack Neworth's Snide World of Sports "College Football Playoffs are Bowling in Dough"
Dear Editor:
More than once, I've written to my alma mater, U. of Illinois, and to several Illinois newspapers, about my school accepting money to play in a joke bowl while avoiding the opportunity to teach a valuable life lesson to the young men on the Fighting Illini football team.
You may recall (or not), that Illinois beat UCLA in something called the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in 2011. I called it the "From Hunger" Bowl.Both teams went in at 6-6, the same sterling record the Illini are taking into another vaudeville act this year called the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl. Zaxby's, like the Foster Farms Bowl (the new name of the Fight Hunger Bowl), specializes in chicken. Ironically, Zaxby's has no restaurants in Illinois, but they obviously hope to change that.
As Mr. Neworth so aptly wrote, it's all about money. What should happen is this: the coaches and AD's at schools invited to such bowls should call a team meeting, thank the young men for giving their best, and tell them this: "Pride and self-respect dictate that the school won't accept any bowl bid because we did not have a winning season. Disappointment is part of life."
No one gets a trophy just for showing up nor does anyone need the humiliation of losing a "toilet bowl" game.
Brian Bland
Santa Monica
