A rose on my seat, and the end of a streak

The press box seat was vacant. Except for a lone flower, a rose, of course, placed there by a sympathetic and understanding official. Wednesday, for the first time in roughly three-quarters of a century they were playing a Rose Bowl game in Pasadena and I wasn’t there.

Oh, I watched the game on television at home as most others, but as you might imagine it wasn’t the same. 

Streaks of any sort become obsessive and rewarding, and mine probably was both. Starting as a program salesman in 1954, and continuing as a spectator and then a sports writer, I had been to 70 consecutive Rose Bowls. No, I didn’t go to the Covid game in 2021 that moved to Texas, but if it wasn’t held in the famed stadium was it a Rose Bowl?

A pro of nothing but perhaps pertinent to everything, Ben Hogan, the golf great kept reminding us not to get old. I seemed to have missed the advice. My vision had deteriorated to the point where I couldn’t maneuver around the stadium by myself. So for safety's sake, the decision was to step away this time at least. Unfortunately. 

True, Ohio State routed Oregon, 41-21—I’ll get into that later— but it didn’t seem like the most compelling event. It was a throwback to the 1940s and 50s when the Big Ten would roll over schools from the West, winning game after game.

Still, until you have been there, it is difficult to grasp why the Rose Bowl holds such a prominent place in college football. It was the first bowl game, as the slogan quote “Granddaddy of them All” keeps us aware. The setting is particularly special, in the Arroyo Seco, surrounded by trees and a rustic area of homes, all set against the backdrop of the Sierra Madre's towering peaks. It would be a great place, even without the football game. Sunset is the best time of day when the game is coming to an end and the peaks to the East turn purple. Maybe even the stunned Oregon fans could appreciate the beauty.

There is a saying about football, “you don’t know, you can’t know, you never will know.”  We certainly had no idea what would happen when an undefeated Oregon team, which had beaten Ohio State by a point in September, would again face off against the Buckeyes. But we found out all too quickly. The game was decided halfway through the first quarter, Ohio State simply was too strong. You almost thought about the Buckeye teams when grumpy Woody Hayes was the coach, with his “3 yards and a cloud of dust offense.” Maybe the game was an unsuspected mismatch, but as almost always, the weather was great, as it usually is. 

The last time there was appreciable rain for the Rose Bowl Game was 1955 and interestingly, Ohio State was one of the opponents. Yes, the Buckeyes won but Hayes memorably complained about the band of the other team, USC, marching on the soggy field at half-time. He always needed something about which to be unhappy. Until the final score.

That was my second Rose Bowl and I got drenched, but I went home, changed my wet clothes, and told myself, you have to come back again.

I did. Again and again and again. Until this year.