Behind the Scoreboard - Claude Vinson


Thursday, January 11, 2007
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Behind The Scoreboard

By Claude Vinson
Amazing win for Boise St.

Early during this collegiate bowl season, one commentator remarked that “it gave him great pleasure to announce that Rutgers had won a bowl game.”

And that statement just about sums up one of the most enjoyable “after seasons” on record.

Rutgers was not supposed to reach the Texas Bowl, Wake Forest was not supposed to be in the Orange Bowl, let alone win it. And Boise State was not suppose to shellack Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

We are not surprised to hear that USC had won a Rose Bowl; heck, that happens all the time. Or that Nebraska had won any bowl; that is also a usual occurrence. But to hear that Wake Forest was in a game with a $17 million payout is news. I am sure that the Demon Deacons would have just loved to have been dubbed “winner,” but when one earns $17 million for an afternoon’s work, well, that hardly qualifies one as a loser!

True, a lot of our SEC teams failed to come out winners in the games, but they still put on some great shows. Auburn, South Carolina, Kentucky and LSU took home the bacon with LSU and Auburn laying waste to two perennial powerhouses that live for this time of year.

The game which provided the greatest satisfaction for all bowl watchers was the one between Boise State and Oklahoma. Arguably the best game in a bowl series in the last 50 years, the Broncos kept their unbeaten season blemish free and made a statement which the NCAA (and those BCS computers) should take heed to.

The manner in which Boise State operated that win would make the Broncos a contender against any team in any arena. I am not going to recap that entire game, but it was obvious that the Broncos had practiced to win.

The play which forced the overtime had a Bronco streaking down the sideline with the safety, cornerbacks, linebackers (heck, I am not sure that the waterboy wasn’t chasing him) all trying to stop him. That was the first trick play. The second, and the real bone crusher, was the old “statue of liberty play,” executed to unmatchable perfection.

NCAA bosses, wake up! It is way past time for a collegiate playoff.

Although the Crimson Tide didn’t win its bowl game, the geniuses who decide such things seem to have solved their coaching woes. Dear sirs, did you fail to notice that the mentor you hired was a loser in his last job?

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