Bowls Of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing

I've written elsewhere about the fact that the NCAA does not officially recognize the FBS (I-A) "champion." Those three trophies you see in the picture represent the three consecutive FCS (I-AA) championships won by the Appalachian State Mountaineers from the 2005 to 2007 seasons. Perhaps you've heard of Appalachian State?

This year, the Mountaineers (of the Southern Conference) got knocked out of the playoffs in the quarterfinal round by the Richmond Spiders (of the Colonial Athletic Association). The upset was all the more impressive since it was at the Mountaineers' home field. Richmond then upset the Northern Iowa Panthers in the semifinal round last weekend at the Panthers' home field.

The Spiders face the Montana Grizzlies (of the Big Sky Conference) in the FCS championship game Friday at 8pm ET (5pm PT) on ESPN2. The game will be at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, TN (home of UT-Chattanooga), where it's been held every year since 1997.

Would FBS (I-A) ever countenance a fixed site for its title game (as I addressed in my previous article)? Will FBS (and the BCS) ever have the cojones—the testicular fortitude—to step up and serve the college football fans some actual haute cuisine or at least some reasonably worthy victuals, instead of the empty-calorie-filled bowls of junk we are force-fed year after year?

I don't know about you, but I'm not tuning into the EagleBank Bowl or the magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl to find out. If I watch any football Saturday, it will be the Div. III championship game (the "Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl") between Wisconsin-Whitewater and Mt. Union College, also on ESPN2. Or perhaps some NFL. But no greasy bowls, thank you, I'm on a diet to lower my FBS levels.

Instead, I'll be watching a football team lift an NCAA Div. I championship trophy Friday evening. It may not be as heavily marketed or as flashy and shiny as the junk food foisted upon us during "Bowl Week" (it's more like a fortnight), but it's much more meaningful.

So, try eating your veggies tomorrow...you might just like them.

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