EL BARIO, BRONX – Happy New Year – to one and all. By the grace of…whoever you worship… We have seen another year. As this new year begins Deacon Blaber, yours truly, wishes a Happy and Healthy 2015 to his fellow staff members. With that, there are issues we need to discuss which feel as universal as New Year’s Eve celebrations; the non-sports issue to make New Years’s Eve the biggest party of the year, the inescapable evil that is College Football, its bowl season, plus playoffs and finally, another look at the NHL and its love affair with outdoor games.
New Years Eve Party: The older I get, the less I care about New Year’s Eve parties. In our youth, we all remember the insane pressure to bring in the new year with a splash. The biggest party of the year was the goal. Only to end up with a massive hangover to start the new year. As we get older all that hoopla subsides, You can’t afford to be sidelined by a hangover all day. Though judging by how quiet the city was on New Year’s Day this year, everyone was hungover. We have lives to live and things to do. Dinner with friends and bringing in the new year at home or a neighbors place will suffice. If you disagree, talk me in 10 years, then you will see.
College Football: One former staple of my New Year’s Day festivities was laying on the couch, nursing a hangover and watching college football. As it has become clear that this sport is all about exploiting the kids and a new form of plantation system, the sport has become less fun. ? The kids are there for a chance to go pro and the college system is the only minor league system for American football so the kids have to go to college. Don’t believe me? Ask Ohio State University QB Cardale “12 Gauge” Jones. He released this tweet back in October before deleting it:
Anyway, there are so many sponsors for so many bowl games that it is hard to keep up. It used to be about 9 bowl games on New Year’s Day, on the 3 basic networks. Now there is like 40 games over countless channels to the point that they start before Christmas and end 2 weeks into the new year. Why does a 6-5 team deserve a bowl game?!
Finally, as much as I hate college football, I hate the SEC more. Hearing it went 2-5 this year in bowl games and seeing its epitome of greed and evil – Nick Satan – er… Saban… & Alabama lose, was fantastic.
The NHL Outdoors: The latest New Year’s Day tradition is the NHL Winter Classic. This year saw Washington best Chicago 3-2, scoring with but ticks on the clock at Washington Nationals Park. The Winter Classic has only been around since 2008 but, the NHL loves it. It is rare mix of hockey showcase, marketing and big financial gain. A hockey game played outdoors becomes an event that people want to be part of. It promotes the game, its history (though no current player ever played outdoors, really) and these stadiums often seat 2-5 times as many as a normal NHL stadium – so that is huge revenue. Last year’s stadium series of 8 outdoor games is only the tip of the iceberg. The NHL may do about 10 of these a year until it loses its appeal. For the next 10 possible locations, check out the USA Today piece on it by clicking Here.
That’s it for now. Comeback tomorrow for Cheesy Bruin.
