Vacations, the Holidays, and generally having some semblance of a life has kept me from enjoying bowl season. That is not a complaint. In fact, it’s something I’m happy about. I don’t usually find myself watching a lot of bowl games because, well, they’re not all that relevant. Don’t take this as a complaint about too many bowls. I don’t think there are enough. I love that sponsors are so willing to provide colleges with money for playing in an exhibition game. I also love that the law of our nation does not require me, as a vocal fan of college football, to watch whatever the Belk Bowl is.
As I write this brief entry, I have the Rose Bowl Game on. On a 1-10 scale of excitement for this game, I’m about a 3.2. That is the highest my excitement rating has been this bowl season. And to be honest, I’m really only watching because I haven’t seen a Rose Bowl Game in at least five years and thought I was due.
Tonight though will be a little different. Tonight is the Fiesta Bowl. Oklahoma State and Stanford play each other. For Oklahoma State, this is an important game because they were kept out of the BCS National Championship Game. They have something to prove. But I’m a little less concerned with the Pokes. I think they’re going to get destroyed.
My excitement for the Fiesta Bowl (about a 7.1) has only to do with it being Andrew Luck’s last college game. I implore you, NFL fans, to watch tonight’s game if only to get a head start on falling in love with the perfect QB. Don’t wait until next year when he’s starting for the Colts on Day 1, as he should be. No QB as good as Luck should have to sit for “2-3 years” behind any other QB. The Packers wasted years with Aaron Rodgers playing behind Brett Favre. The Colts would be wise to trade Peyton Manning, and give Andrew Luck the car keys on Day 1.
Watch tonight as Andrew Luck carves up the Oklahoma State defense (one of the worst in the country) like a classically trained butcher. Don’t worry about the fact that he’s not facing a challenge. He’s faced plenty of challenges in his career and succeeded. Watch tonight to enjoy and appreciate.
And one more thing: I cannot listen to another person talk about Robert Griffin III in the same breaths as Andrew Luck. They talk about how Griffin III is a wonderful kid, very smart, and very accomplished on the football field as evidence of how he should be the top overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Andrew Luck is all of those things as well. The biggest difference between the two though is that Luck has been running a pro style offense, with a massive playbook, and audible liberties, for years. Griffin III plays in a spread system, in a conference not exactly overflowing with quality pass defenses. Griffin III will be a serviceable enough NFL QB. His ceiling is Donovan McNabb. Andrew Luck is his own ceiling. The sky is truly the limit. Prognosticators tend to get bored with players who are always great in everything that they do, like Luck and become enamored with the new guy, in this case Griffin III. For the Colts sake, I hope that they don’t fall into that trap.
Mid-Atlantic Bias 