Idiots Write About Sports

If the 2004 Holiday Bowl was from hell, this one was from heaven.

Cal looked like they did during the early part of their long winning streak this season, allowing a terrible first defensive series and then dominating the rest of the game. After about half a quarter of watching Texas A&M’s confusing option scheme, the defense figured it out and that was basically it.
Longshore and his talented collection of receivers (so this is what it’s like to have healthy receivers in a Holiday Bowl!) picked apart the porous A&M secondary, and the A&M line was manhandled, opening holes aplenty for Lynch and Forsett.

Getting to San Diego was as much of a nightmare as usual. Terrible traffic on Interstate 5 prevented a quick side trip to visit the old Alma Mater (yes, I went to UCSD). We got into the insanely mismanaged Qualcomm Stadium parking lot maybe an hour before kickoff.
Now a word about the halftime show. What does it take to competently produce a sporting event? I’d really like to know, because whatever it takes, it was not in evidence in San Diego on Thursday. The halftime show was like a parody of halftime shows from elsewhere: let’s throw every single thing we can think of into the stadium and see what sticks! Fireworks? Check. High school bands? Check. Smoke machine on the field? Check. Loud crappy music blaring from giant AM-radio-quality stadium speakers? Check. And hey, I know: let’s do ‘em all at once!
Yes, that’s right. While the skies are full of fireworks and the stadium sound system howls with crappy music, the Holiday Bowl geniuses decided to also have marching bands playing on the field, next to a giant smoke machine. Those poor kids. Nobody could hear them over the terrible music playing over the speakers. And nobody was watching them anyway, on account of the fireworks. As for the on-field smoke machine, well, that was apparently just there to make the playing field foggy for the first part of the third quarter. Job well done!
It makes me feel a bit better about the terrible PA system and stupid video board management at Memorial Stadium.
Finally a word about the Texas A&M marching band and the intricate chants of the Aggie faithful. I came in with an open mind, but I have to call it the way I see it: The band was colorless and unimaginative, and then when they’re done they run away like someone has warned them of incoming artillery from enemy forces. The fight song is the theme from “Yogi Bear.” The chants are weird. I can’t say I was impressed.