Don Alexander
Happy New Year everyone! This is kind of a strange column for me because I left for vacation last Friday and sent my column in on that day instead of a lot later the week following.
That means it’s really not New Year’s yet and I have to guess what happened in sports. This is dangerous because a lot of upsets are made this time of year so I’ll have to give you both takes.
I do know that the end of the world didn’t happen. I waited for that because no use sending in my column if there was no one left to read it. Some people spent up their credit cards thinking they would never have to repay them. Or maybe they were just Christmas shopping.
I also know that UCLA didn’t look good at all against Baylor, losing 49 to 26. Baylor’s defense was maligned for a month but they looked darn good. The stadium started out to be 90 percent filled but about 20 percent of the fans, mostly San Diego residents with free tickets, were still there by the middle of the third quarter, according to my spy in the stands, brother Jim.
So the Bruins end the season losing three in a row and have something to build on next year.
Now we’ll go to the games that hadn’t been played yet on self-imposed deadline. But when you read this they will have been played, or will be. I’ll go with two versions so I can be almost accurate half the time.
USC Beats Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl! Yes, the Trojans maintained their 10-point favorite spread all month and defeated GT by 10 points. The Trojans looked good for the many fans that made the trip to El Paso, Texas. Robert Woods said he will stay another year at USC.
Matt Barkley came in for one play in his sweat pants. But it was a nice gesture on USC’s part. It was Monte Kiffen’s last game as defensive coordinator. Good.
USC Loses to Georgia Tech in Sun Bowl! The Trojans were favored by 10 but lost by 10 to a Georgia Tech team in the Sun Bowl in El Paso Texas. Most fans in Texas didn’t care about the two teams from California and Georgia. Couldn’t they have found any teams closer to Texas to play in this?
Matt Barkley came in to play one down for USC.
Robert Woods announced he would turn pro instead of completing his senior year at USC. Who can blame him? Look what happened to Matt Barley.
Barkley sprained his shoulder in the UCLA loss and couldn’t start in the Sun Bowl. It was Monte Kiffen’s last game as defensive coordinator. Good.
Arizona State Beats Navy in Hunger Bowl. Arizona State can’t lose. They have a great team and will be successful next year.
Arizona State Loses to Navy. The Naval Academy shocked everyone with their upset of ASU. Looks like ASU isn’t so great after all. Why Kraft names this the Hunger Bowl I’ll never know!
TCU Beats Michigan State. I don’t know much about these two teams but I love the name of the bowl: Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
Michigan State Beats TCU in Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. Never happen but we’ll all eat well!
Stanford Demolishes Wisconsin in Rose Bowl. I should have bet my house on this one. The Cardinal was favored by only 6 and won by 30, and the game wasn’t even that close! Stanford beat Oregon, USC and UCLA twice this year. The Badgers didn’t have a chance.
Stanford loses to Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. An earthquake erupted every time Stanford got the ball and Wisconsin accidentally rolled into the end zone and scored touchdowns.
BCS Championship Game. Sorry, Notre Dame fans but your luck ran out and the better team won the game. Alabama proved they are the best team in the land. Notre Dame wouldn’t even beat Oregon and other Pac-12 teams. I know, because they only squeaked by Stanford. They were very lucky to win that one.
BCS Championship Game. Sorry Notre Dame fans but I can’t even pretend that the Fighting Irish won this game. My bad.
Contact Don Alexander at Journaldon@aol.com.
