Invited to the Dance vs We Request the Honour of your presence at The Ball

How exciting if you were one who got to see your team play at the Dance! Wasn’t it great getting to be part of it all, watching your team tee-up with bowl bids and invitations? Now that most Bowl games have been played, maybe you were one whose team didn’t make it to the Dance and that’s on the 2013 plan. Either way, there is always next year. Little consolation, however true.

One little game coming up, oh excuse me—that’s that high flutin’ Big Society Ball-Bowl and not every sorority member  is on the invite list! No, that ball is quite special for the chosen few. Even so, it’s about to determine which powerhouse is back and which one had the Cinderella season. Now, that there ball-bowl will have college sports football fans talking for a while. Why, I’m sure of it! The favor of your replay is requested Monday evening January 7, 2013.

 

Make no mistake; Notre Dame will give Alabama a fight to the finish and vice versa. And, it will be one exciting game to watch. But, I can’t help but think of the storied traditions of both teams. One team has Bear blood running through their veins since the 1960’s. The other, Fighting Irish football dating back to the historical mid 1930’s & 40’s and one of footballs’ few, original D-IA college teams before D-I ever came to be. They are still not part of any conference, but boy howdy, those players must hear the ghosts of the four horsemen every time they enter their locker room!

Nonetheless, it wasn’t too long ago in the short distant past, that neither one of these teams was that good any more. Once known as champions every year, then a lull on the scoreboard, a dip in the rankings and everybody’s scratching heads, wondering what happened to their perspective traditional decades of winning streaks. Head coaching changes were ubiquitous. If one didn’t get the job done, the powers that be had their sights on another coach until the job did get done. And of course, let’s not forget the money. Winning programs make money and losing programs, well—lose money.

Then I think of all the fans, the families of those suiting-up, and the university alums. All those who are willing to pay big bucks and load-up in some form of transportation bound for Miami to embark on an adventure of a lifetime. This is it, folks! The Big Ball only comes around usually once in a lifetime, and at the end of the hundred yards there will be one standing Champion. And if your team happens to be THE TEAM then by all means celebrate with all your lil’ ol pea pickin’ heart! Word of advice, celebratin’ is a lot more fun when you can remember how and who you celebrated with!! Go easy on the alcohol.

Now, for those of you who went to the Dance it was all still good, right!? You had fun and celebrated and more importantly, you got to see your team fight to the finish. Some of the bowl games this year were purdy darn exciting. They had me out of my chair several times! Love a good game regardless of who is playing. Loved seeing those kids/players who come to play ball and leave celebrating for later after the game.

But going to the big Ball is unique in its own right. It’s the crème dela crème. The top dog. The premier of all of college football. And, it’s not given. It’s earned. So how does a head coach keep all this razz-a-ma-tazz in perspective for his players? Well, quite frankly some don’t. These two coaches Monday night, will.

You’ll see it on the field. Watch for attitude. Watch to see how the players come through the tunnel. I can usually nab-it fairly early on in a game as to who is prepared and who isn’t. Who is there for the fun of it all and who’s there for business with their heads in the game. Rest assured, these two head coaches, Saban and Kelly will have their players grounded and prepared with as much down-to-earth gravity and game-on brain power as possible. Still, these are kids and they do have a mind of their own. It’ll be interesting to watch the players and how they respond to their coaches when the fires blow to a blaze.

Now, I’m not really a kill joy, of course it’s all fun and hey, what a great experience for the players and their families. I’m just saying that if you look close, you can usually see the winner before the first kick-off.

Gone to the Dance or the Requested Honour of your presence at the Ball? It may be a big difference to many folks, but from one who’s been there and done that, any bowl invite is a privileged honor. Football reflects so much more than many scoreboards show. Each team has their own set of accomplishments from pee-wee on up through the ranks. Hope y’all had a GREAT football season, regardless! Here’s to next year.