A Grip on Sports: As college football playoffs soldier forward, some traditions will just fade away
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Today is the day. Rose Bowl day. Rose Bowl parade day. It’s Jan. 2, but the tradition still lives. For one final year.
•••••••
• Speaking of tradition, Fox seems to have one for its Seattle Seahawks’ broadcasts. The fish-throwing B-roll from Pike Place Market. Yes, we know, every sporting event broadcast nationally from Seattle has that. But Fox has made use of the same video for a long time.
How long?
Since before the pandemic. Yep, when Fox used the Pike Place video on the way to a commercial yesterday during the Seahawks’ 23-6 victory over the Jets, it was from at least 2019. How do we know? In the lower right-hand corner of the screen was a sign sitting in the ice. It read “We will be closed Thursday Nov. 28th for Thanksgiving.”
The last time Thanksgiving was on Nov. 28? Yep, 2019.
Now that’s some old fish.
• Not as old as old as the Rose Bowl, though.
As long as we can remember we’ve been treated with the Granddaddy of Them All – thanks Keith Jackson – greeting us with a matchup of the best the Big Ten and Pac-whatever has to offer New Year’s afternoon. Or, if Jan. 1 falls on a Sunday, Jan. 2.
Clockwork. Heck, the first Rose Bowl game, in 1902, pitted Michigan and Stanford. The two conferences, which met almost every year after World War II, officially joined at the hip in 1963 and have been co-mingling in Pasadena pretty much ever since. Well, until the playoffs began. Then the Rose Bowl became part of the rotation. And/or lost a conference champion to the national title race.
But the essence of the bowl was still floating over Pasadena. The game always had the prime spot – a 2 p.m. PST kick on New Year’s – and the prime ratings. That all ends after this year’s version.
Next year, the final one of the four-team CFP, will feature the Rose Bowl as a semifinal. And then the playoffs expand to 12 teams. That’s a good thing. But part of the collateral damage is the Rose’s guaranteed spot on the schedule.
It will carry its vaunted name. Its nickname. The parade will still go on Jan. 1 (or, like this morning, the Monday after). But the game itself will not be the Rose Bowl. It won’t. It will be a playoff game, like nine other games that year.
A playoff was needed. The old system didn’t work in modern times. But with everything gained something is lost.
Something special. Something revered. Something beautiful.
Enjoy it one last time today. Make sure to watch the sun set bathe the mountains behind the stadium. Look forward to the future. Look back to what has come before. And root for the day to never end.
• The Cougars wanted their basketball game against USC to end Sunday. But it seemed to drag on and on. Washington State took control of the game in the first half. Had control through all of the second. But as the clock wound down, one had to wonder if the Cougs could get to the finish line first, unlike Friday against 11th-ranked UCLA.
They could. And did. Every time the 11-3 Trojans got the lead under 10, 5-9 WSU responded.
The clock ticked. Finally, as minutes became seconds, it became clear this group of Cougars had learned how to finish. For one game at least.
•••
WSU: Yep, Washington State picked up an 81-71 victory over the visiting Trojans. Colton Clark was in Beasley and has this game story. … Geoff Crimmins has a photo gallery as well. … The women, playing once again without leading scorer Charlisse Leger-Walker, lost to Colorado. … Gardner Minshew, making his second consecutive start for the Eagles, couldn’t lead a comeback victory. That news leads off the S-R’s NFL local watch. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college football, Oregon State was hoping to entice a defensive back to return for another year but Alex Austin decided four was enough. … Utah hopes to make sure this year’s Rose Bowl ends differently than last year’s. The Utes meet Penn State this afternoon. … USC and Caleb Williams are in Dallas for the Cotton Bowl, another New Year’s Six bowl whose role will change in the expanded playoffs. Tulane will be testing the Trojans’ defense this morning. … In basketball news, 11th-ranked UCLA ran Washington off the floor in Seattle. … Losing at California has led to Colorado doing some soul-searching. … How long can Utah stay atop the conference standings? … Arizona seems to have Arizona State’s number these days.
Gonzaga: The Zags are running better recently. At least offensively. But, as Jim Meehan’s game rewind shows, their defense in the win against Pepperdine still left something to be desired. … Elsewhere in the WCC, BYU is 2-0 to start the conference season. That hasn’t happened often since it joined the WCC.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Northern Colorado put the finishing touches on its new football staff.
Seahawks: The Hawks’ defense seemed a little like 2019’s, keeping New York out of the end zone. But at the end of the day, all the win did was make next Sunday matter. Green Bay won, meaning the Hawks have to win and hope Detroit can beat the Packers in Green Bay – good luck with that – to make the playoffs. … Dave Boling thinks the success this year can be attributed to the guy who always shoulders the blame, Pete Carroll. Dave is right. … There are always grades. … The Hawks’ confidence is soaring. … Jordyn Brooks probably won’t play again until next season. … A first career touchdown is something to celebrate.
Kraken: The new year meant an old losing streak is over. Seattle picked up a much-needed win, snapping a three-game slide.
•••
• We always look for the Sierra Madre float in the Rose Parade. It is the last one made solely by volunteers, just as it was when we were young. Our mother used to paste on flowers every once in a while under the big tent in the park. And never once spilled what the float looked like, not even to her kids. … By the way, thanks to everyone who shared their New Year’s Eve fireworks stories. There must have been quite a few scared dogs out there. Please take that into account when you think about setting off loud bangs. Until later …