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While sitting in the press box last Thursday night at Qualcomm Stadium watching the Holiday Bowl, a version of the old Dire Straits song kept popping into my head. \u201cYou get your football for nothing, you get your grubb for free. No that ain\u2019t working.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t work, that\u2019s for sure. Although technically I was there to cover the game it seemed like anything but work. It makes sitting at Little League games, girls\u2019 softball and yes sometimes even boys\u2019 basketball games all these years make it all worth while.<\/p>\n
They do a great job at the Holiday Bowl. They serve the press a hot meal and supply you with all the pepsi you can drink. A guy drops a sheet of stats in your lap after every quarter. A television right above your head gives you all the replays from every angle of the play you just watched on the field. It\u2019s a wonderful experience.<\/p>\n
But given the choice between sitting in the press box watching Washington and Nebraska or walking the sidelines on a Friday night covering say Rosemead at Arroyo I\u2019d be at Bergstrom any day. It\u2019s nice to get a taste of where you might be going but I\u2019ll never forget where I\u2019ve been. On the sidelines, on top of the action, there\u2019s nothing like it.<\/p>\n
You thought I had it good in San Diego did you catch Robledo\u00a0and Melendez of the Trib\/Star at the Rose Bowl? Yeah there they were right next to Erin Andrews interviewing TCU quarterback Andy Dalton on the field after the game. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Geez that Robledo knows everybody! Somebody said Stevie R was there too. \u00a0<\/p>\n
As bad as the Big 10 was on New Year\u2019s Day, the Pac 10 is looking pretty good this Bowl season. Washington knocked off Nebraska in San Diego and as I\u2019m writing this Andrew Luck and Stanford are destroying Virginia Tech. Undefeated League champ Oregon, who beat Stanford by three touchdowns earlier this year, gets its shot at undefeated Auburn next week. However Arizona did get smoked by Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl. \u00a0<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t just that they lost but the Big 10 representatives were embarrassed. Mississippi State hammered Michigan 52-14 while Alabama pasted Michigan State 49-7. Florida made Penn State Coach Joe Paterno feel older (is that possible?) with a 37-24 win over the Nittany Lions in the Outback Bowl. Northwestern racked up 38 points in something called the TicketCity Bowl but the problem was Texas Tech scored 45.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin gave TCU all it wanted in Pasadena but the Badgers\u2019 loss left the Big Ten at 0-5 while ringing in the New Year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Is there any question now whether or not Andrew Luck is the number one pick in the NFL draft? Of course he has to declare first. To go or not to go is the big question. Washington\u2019s Jake Locker wishes he would have left school after last season while his stock was high. Now he isn\u2019t even the best quarterback in his league. Luck, son of former NFL quarterback Oliver Luck, will no doubt take Locker\u2019s case into consideration.<\/p>\n
Nature of the beast: One day after his team was playing in the Fiesta Bowl, Connecticut Coach Randy Edsall bolted for Maryland. Edsall, who has been at U Conn for 12 years, had the Huskies on the national stage but when somebody else flashed some more cash he was gone.<\/p>\n
Michigan\u2019s Rich Rodriguez might be gone as well after that Gator Bowl disaster which has led to speculation that Stanford\u2019s Jim Harbaugh, a Michigan alum, will replace him. Of course there will be four or five NFL teams after Harbaugh by next week.<\/p>\n
Remember when New Year\u2019s Day marked the end of the bowl season? Well now there are seven bowl games still to be played. There\u2019s only one though that every fan has his eye on \u2013 the one that is a can\u2019t miss; the one that leaves the world hanging in the balance. Of course I\u2019m talking about the GoDaddy.com Bowl featuring Miami (Ohio) vs. Middle Tennessee on January 6.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s my principle.<\/p>\n