Leaving Christmas Morning For Independence Bowl, or Maybe Not
Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 7:36 am
Unfortunately, these great plans have hit a major snag. Daughter-in-law had to get wisdom teeth extracted. Ouch!
The wife, my younger son and I are leaving east central Florida in the wee hours of Christmas morning to drive to Shreveport where we'll meet the oldest son and daughter-in-law who are driving up from Austin, Texas. After many bigger Virginia Tech bowl games, we decided we HAD to go to Frank Beamer's last game. As most people know, this makes 23 bowls in-a-row. The Independence Bowl started it all in 1993. I and my wife were there. It was a Christmas/Anniversary present from my wife. At the time, my oldest was 7 and it would be 2-1/2 more years before the youngest was even on this Earth. Now, the oldest is married, the youngest is in year 3 of college and I'm excited as heck that all 5 of us will be together at this game.
By the way, in 1993:
There were 19 bowl games vs. 40 now (41, counting national championship).
The Alamo Bowl was played for the first time.
There were 106 FBS teams vs. 128 now.
The Big 8, Southwest, WAC and Big West conferences were among the 10 conferences. Those 4 no longer exist.
16 teams were involved in at least 1 tie game. SMU and BGSU each had 2 ties.
The Bowl Coalition created a 1 vs. 2 matchup of Florida State vs. Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. FSU won 18-16.
FSU quarterback Charlie Ward was the Heisman winner.
The BCS was still 5 years away.
Bill Clinton was in his first term as president.
"Whoomp! There It Is" was the No. 2 song of the year and a new sports anthem.
ESPN-2 debuted as a network in October, calling itself "The Deuce".
Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera joined the cast of The New Mickey Mouse Club.
TV ratings were dominated by comedies with 7 in the top 9- Home Improvement, Seinfeld, Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, Coach, Frasier and Murphy Brown.
Will Smith was The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air.
The wife, my younger son and I are leaving east central Florida in the wee hours of Christmas morning to drive to Shreveport where we'll meet the oldest son and daughter-in-law who are driving up from Austin, Texas. After many bigger Virginia Tech bowl games, we decided we HAD to go to Frank Beamer's last game. As most people know, this makes 23 bowls in-a-row. The Independence Bowl started it all in 1993. I and my wife were there. It was a Christmas/Anniversary present from my wife. At the time, my oldest was 7 and it would be 2-1/2 more years before the youngest was even on this Earth. Now, the oldest is married, the youngest is in year 3 of college and I'm excited as heck that all 5 of us will be together at this game.
By the way, in 1993:
There were 19 bowl games vs. 40 now (41, counting national championship).
The Alamo Bowl was played for the first time.
There were 106 FBS teams vs. 128 now.
The Big 8, Southwest, WAC and Big West conferences were among the 10 conferences. Those 4 no longer exist.
16 teams were involved in at least 1 tie game. SMU and BGSU each had 2 ties.
The Bowl Coalition created a 1 vs. 2 matchup of Florida State vs. Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. FSU won 18-16.
FSU quarterback Charlie Ward was the Heisman winner.
The BCS was still 5 years away.
Bill Clinton was in his first term as president.
"Whoomp! There It Is" was the No. 2 song of the year and a new sports anthem.
ESPN-2 debuted as a network in October, calling itself "The Deuce".
Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera joined the cast of The New Mickey Mouse Club.
TV ratings were dominated by comedies with 7 in the top 9- Home Improvement, Seinfeld, Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, Coach, Frasier and Murphy Brown.
Will Smith was The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air.
