Leonard Fournette is skipping the Bee-Dub Bowl aka the Buffalo Wild Wings aka Citrus aka Tangerine Bowl. Why he'll miss out on a free trip to Disney World. But then to rehab for his upcoming NFL million $$ contract, does he care?
And now Christian McCaffrey is foregoing the Korean compact-car Bowl aka the Hyundai aka Sun Bowl in El Paso, the exotic resort suburb of Ciudad Juarez, the Mexican drug cartel capital of the Sonora desert. What is he thinking?
Why are these players dropping out and dumping their college teams before the bowls? Is it to avoid injury, like Jaylon Smith of Notre Dame suffered last year in the Fiesta Bowl? That could cost a player $$ millions.
ESPN Sports wrote an article analyzing what's happening behind the player dropouts.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/19/europe/berlin-christmas-market-truck/
And it's not just the players. The coaches have been abandoning their college teams for years. Just this month:
Herman dumped Houston for Texas before their wind-chill Vegas Bowl.
Brohm left Western Kentucky for Purdue before their "Rats Mouth" Bowl.
Rhule dumped Temple for Baylor before their Military Bowl in Maryland.
Taggart dropped So. Florida for Oregon before their Birmingham Bama Bowl.
Whoopee. Do you care about these obscure bowls anyway?
And what about the "major" New Year's bowls? The CFP playoffs have certainly put an end to the importance of the New Year's bowls. Perhaps the only way for bowls to continue is to expand the playoffs to eight teams, so that more than just the three CFP bowls are worth watching.
Are we witnessing the "twilight of the bowls"?
