Rose Bowl Game Isn’t Worth Much, but You Can’t Beat the Parade

The time has come for organizers of the Rose Bowl to stop talking about doing something and get off their duffs and do it .

The time has come to stop worrying so much about which pretty girl is going to be the Rose Queen, and to stop worrying about which pile of Kleenex is going to be judged Best Float, and to do something about the football game .

The time has come to dump the Big Ten.

We know that you have had a nice, long, warm relationship with that distinguished Midwestern conference.

We know that there was a time when the Big Ten team used to come out West and gobble up the Pac men easy as pie.

We know that no matter how lousy the Big Ten representative is, the Rose Bowl is going to a) get televised by NBC; b) get all sorts of cute buildup as “the granddaddy of them all;” c) earn a big pile of money for both competing schools; d) give some poor, uncultured Midwestern boys a chance to actually meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse and ride the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

But, the hard truth is, the Rose Bowl has become a second-rate college football game.

As postseason games go, it’s the Gator Bowl with a better parade.

What we’re looking at right now is a Rose Bowl between UCLA or USC, champion of the Pac-10 Conference, and Michigan State or Indiana.

Whoopee.

Cancel those New Year’s Day plans right now. You wouldn’t want to miss this showdown.

Not much.

Instead of being able to bid for Notre Dame, or Miami, or Florida State, or some darn fine football team, the Rose Bowl is going to get stuck with the most ordinary people since Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore and Timothy Hutton.

The Rose Bowl is going to be another snooze bowl.

UCLA, a team that got absolutely murdered at Nebraska--don’t let that final score fool you--is probably going to be in the Rose Bowl, and the blunt truth is, UCLA is probably the best of the four teams left in the running.

Still, USC stands a very good chance of winning the conference championship, because USC will get psyched up for its Nov. 21 game against UCLA. That’s nice. It’ll make for a good contest.

But USC already has been beaten, and beaten soundly, by Michigan State and Notre Dame. The thought of a Rose Bowl rematch between the Trojans and Spartans does not have America buzzing with excitement.

All right, so USC did not have tailback Steven Webster for the season opener. We’re not suggesting this is not a decent football team. We’re not suggesting it couldn’t win the Rose Bowl. Heck, as far as we’re concerned, if they want to keep the Pac-10 champion automatically in the Rose Bowl every year, that’s perfectly all right.

It’s just the standing invitation to two conference champions that is making it a second-hand Rose Bowl year after year.

Put the Big Ten champion on the open market. If, by chance, a Michigan or an Iowa comes up with a team ranked among the nation’s top three at season’s end, fine, invite it to the Rose Bowl. Make ‘em an offer. But why must the Rose Bowl get no say whatsoever in which teams get to play in the Granddaddy of Them All?

USC vs. Indiana? Wow. We tremble with anticipation.

But, if Indiana can handle Michigan State on the road this Saturday, the Hoosiers very likely will be Pasadena bound.

Oh, well. Maybe the Indiana coach will throw a chair at the referee. Uphold a Hoosier coaching tradition.

Michigan State? Michigan State is a pretty fair defensive football squad with an overrated Heisman Trophy candidate at running back. Michigan State has been popped by Notre Dame and Florida State, and has been tied by a nothing-special team from Illinois. Some Rose Bowl rep this is going to be.

After the Rose Bowl puts America to sleep, the Orange Bowl is going to flash onto the nation’s television screens in prime time, featuring Big Eight champion Nebraska or Oklahoma against some nifty little team like Miami. Or, the Fiesta Bowl is going to dig into its pockets again and come up with Miami vs. Notre Dame.

The Rose Bowl?

People will be talking about that one the next day, you can bet on that.

They’ll be talking about the Rose Bowl the way they always talk about the Rose Bowl the morning after.

They’ll be talking about what a swell parade it was.