Old Timer Bowl Ends In Triple Overtime

As much as I generally dislike the endless series of meaningless and uninteresting college football bowl games that liter the New Year's season, last night's Orange Bowl game between Joe Paterno's Penn State and Bobby Bowden's Florida State had seemed one of the real ones. As it turned out, it was a pip. The game ended at 1:00 AM Eastern time on a field goal by Penn State kicker, Kevin Kelly, in the third overtime period. As ESPN says, it was one for the ages, and I missed it. I fell asleep at 11:45.

Two of the oldest coaches in the college game battled it out for more than four hours. It is almost enough to make me rethink my hatred of the current BCS world of scores of bowl games that mean nothing to anyone but the schools involved and the few who make a buck from each annual event. Almost but not quite. If there were a real NCAA Division I Football Championship I believe games like last night's would occur more frequently in the rounds leading up to the final game. Just like in basketball, the tournament would be full of exciting games, each one a do or die event for the teams involved. Instead we have coaches fitfully trying to hype their kids up for any post season bowl appearance that no one else cares about.