ROSE BOWL / DAILY REPORT : UCLA : Cook Sitting Out Practices With Flu

Quarterback Wayne Cook was a notable absentee when UCLA gathered for a Sunday night practice. Cook, suffering from flu, was resting at his parents’ home in Newbury Park.

“His father called me and said he had caught the flu Christmas day and was running a 102 temperature and had chills and other flu symptoms,” Coach Terry Donahue said. “I told him to stay home today and Monday, because we have an early practice, and we’ll see what happens on Tuesday. It all depends on what strain of flu he has.”

The Bruins’ practice today starts at 7 a.m.

Defensive tackles Gary Walton and Sale Isaia also missed Sunday’s practice because of car trouble while returning from home after Christmas break.

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Disparagement of the Rose Bowl has become an annual thing, generally coming from places other than the Midwest and West Coast. That would be because, of the big four postseason games, it features the lowest-ranked teams.

The Orange Bowl has a national championship game: No. 1 Florida State against No. 2 Nebraska. The Sugar has No. 3 West Virginia hoping against hope that Florida State and Nebraska tie while the Mountaineers hammer No. 8 Florida. The Cotton has No. 4 Notre Dame, hoping that Florida State, Nebraska and West Virginia fall while the Irish are thumping No. 7 Texas A&M.;

And the Rose, with the biggest stadium, among the biggest television ratings and a payout for each team that is as much as the Orange, Sugar and Cotton bowls combined, features No. 9 Wisconsin against No. 14 UCLA, neither of which may be in the top 10 on Jan. 2.

Why?

Why not?

To those who suggest that the Rose Bowl open itself to the best teams in college football and renounce its contracts with the Big Ten and Pacific 10, Donahue says:

“If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. The tradition, the heritage of the game, the title ‘Grandaddy of them all’ excites people . . . The fact that the game is tied in with the Big Ten and Pac-10, for whatever reason, it’s far and away the most lucrative of the bowl games. If you had it open to other teams, perhaps that same award to other conferences might not be available.”

Donahue has been against playoffs for years, though he is softening because of the financial realities of collegiate athletics.

“In a playoff system, only one team leaves the season with players, coaches, alumni and fans completely happy with the result,” he said. “With the current bowl structure, quite a few teams leave with everyone happy and I think that’s healthy. I’m not sure the other one’s healthy.

“But, having said that, I think there’s a real issue that everyone has to look at, and that’s the monetary issue. If a playoff system in football could generate as much income as a playoff system in basketball does, I’d say it’s right around the corner.”