Rose Bowl: Grandaddy has it tough

PASADENA—So the home of old grand daddy made it to the century mark on Monday. That’s the Rose Bowl, the stadium, which opened in 1923, 21 years after they played the first Rose Bowl game.

For me it was was the 69th in a row. No I didn’t go to Texas for the 2021 game, moved there because of Covid restrictions in California, but otherwise as program salesman (then in high school) or sports writer, all the others.

And of course I saw the Bowl played in a rainstorm, 1955, when people dumped tickets for $1.50 and the irascible Ohio State coach Woody Hayes complained because the USC band marched on a soggy field at halftime—as if the athletes hadn’t already torn it up. The Buckeyes still won.

It kept threatening to rain this Rose Bowl when Penn State, breaking a halftime tie by breaking loose on an 87 yard run, by Nicholas Singleton, beat Utah 35-21.

It finally did rain near the end of the game, but it was gloomy, cool (54 degrees) and generally as depressing as the Utes’ defense.

Not that the offense was much better until the very end, after in fact the game already was decided.

The sort of day that would have had Jim Murray, the late L.A Times sports columnist gleeful, if in private. When a Rose Bowl was played in sunshine, as usually was the situation, Murray, would give us one of the “and there goes the neighborhood” pieces.

Everyone residing in Ohio or Michigan, trapped indoors, would be coming out to Southern California, creating even more traffic.

What Penn State created in this Rose Bowl was really a re-creation.

The first a year ago to Ohio State was memorable. Not this one, however.

The Rose Bowl used to have a place of its own, a holiday tradition. Newspapers treated it reverently if perhaps for no other reason than the attention it brought to a region that had a lot of land and not a large population.

Alas everything changes, in sports, in society. There were so many football games on television, college and pro, the past few days, you sometimes didn’t know who was playing who. 

The Rose Bowl announced its usual sellout of more than 90,000, although there seemed to be numerous empty seats. Maybe we’ll get some idea when the television ratings are announced.

The Rose Bowl long has had its own time slot (2pm Pacific, 5pm Eastern). It no longer has exclusivity or maybe priority. Depending on your rooting interest or alma mater, will it be on your schedule?

Granddaddy--I only hope it is.