Let's go Bowling!

 There's a dusting of white on the lawn and the calendar says December 17, and you know what that means, Blobophiles. It's bowl season!

Yesterday we had the action-packed Hometown Lenders Bahamas Bowl and the packed-with-action Duluth Trading Cure Bowl, and if you didn't watch, well, it's YOUR LOSS, BUSTER. Nothing says the holidays like watching UAB stave off Miami (O.) in the former, or asking of the latter, "What does UTSA stand for?"

The Blob actually asked this, while watching UTSA and Troy in the Duluth Trading Cure Bowl. The correct answer: It stands for "University of Texas at San Antonio."

And you know what?

The Roadrunners (that's their nickname) were leading 12-7 late in the third quarter when their quarterback threw an interception that was returned roughly a third of a mile. That set up Troy's go-ahead touchdown, and the Troys added a field goal to win 18-12.

Excuse me?

No, I don't know what the trophy for a Duluth Trading Cure Bowl looks like. But since Duluth Trading specializes in workwear and comfortable undergarments, I'm thinking a pair of crystal boxer briefs that won't ride up on you might be appropriate.

Anyway ...

The bowl season is off and running, and the Blob loves this because there are so many of them now, and some of them involve 6-6 teams with losing records in their respective conferences. This doesn't matter, of course, because they're all just exhibition games anyway. It's why so many players with NFL aspirations opt out of their schools bowl games to "prepare for the draft" -- which is another way of saying "I don't want to get hurt playing in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented By Stifel."

This is an actual bowl, by the way. It pits Washington State against Fresno State. You can watch it today at 3:30 on ABC if you like.

(And, no, before you ask, I don't know what "Stifel" is)

(OK, I just looked it up, and it's some sort of wealth tracker app. So there you go.)

Point is, tons of prospective NFL players won't stick around for the bowl games, because, let's face it, neither do their coaches in a lot of cases. They take jobs somewhere else nanoseconds after their teams' last game, and, as with the players, it's usually a financial consideration. Everyone's out to get his, and ain't that America?

And so the Purdue Boilermakers, whose coach Jeff Brohm  headed for Louisville shortly after the Bucket game, will play LSU in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl without most of the offense that helped them go 8-4 and reach the Big Ten championship game. Quarterback Aidan O'Connell is opting out, and so are wide receiver Charlie Jones and tight end Payne Durham.

O'Connell accounted for 3,490 yards and 22 touchdowns this season. Jones caught 110 passes for 1,361 yards and 12 TDs. And Durham caught 56 balls for 560 yards and eight more scores.

That's basically Purdue's entire passing offense for 2022. 

Perhaps the Citrus Bowl should have kicked in a few more Cheez-Its.

Seriously, though, you can't really blame the players who are opting out. It's the latest manifestation of what's become known as the Jaylon Smith Effect -- named for the former Bishop Luers and Notre Dame standout who decided to play in the Fiesta Bowl his senior year, and wrecked his knee so badly he missed his entire rookie season.

That decision cost him millions.

And so,  onward we go. There are six other bowl games today besides the aforementioned Jimmy Kimmel Bowl, and you won't want to miss  second of the action in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl, the Lending Tree Bowl and the Wasabi Fenway Bowl -- which pits rivals Louisville and Cincinnati, and has the distinction of being played in Fenway Park in Boston.

I'm sorry, what?

No, I don't know why they're playing in Fenway Park. Although after the season the Red Sox had there, maybe the organizers just wanted the place to see some hits for once.

Enjoy!