It’s for the kids.
The college bowl season is upon us, and ESPN couldn’t be more excited.
They should be. There will be 32 bowl games played by Jan. 8 when Ohio State and Florida meet for the national championship, and ESPN and its many affiliated networks will carry 27 of them.
Are there too many? Not for former coach Lou Holtz, now an analyst with ESPN. “I’ve never been to a bad bowl,” the man who coached in 22 of them said in a teleconference call. “It’s a wonderful experience for the players.”
He does think it goes on too long. “I would like to see them go back to all bowls ending on Jan. 1 with a four-team playoff.”
Las Vegas Bowl – BYU-Oregon (6 p.m. today, ESPN).
New Orleans Bowl – Rice-Troy, 6 p.m. Friday, ESPN2).
Papajohns.com Bowl – East Carolina-South Florida (11 a.m. Saturday, ESPN2).
New Mexico Bowl – New Mexico-San Jose State (2:30 p.m. Saturday, ESPN).
Armed Forces Bowl – Tulsa-Utah (6 p.m. Saturday, ESPN).
Hawaii Bowl – Hawaii-Arizona State (6 p.m. Sunday, ESPN).
Kicks for Hnida
I’m surprised at the level of animosity toward one-time CU kicking hopeful Katie Hnida. The subject of an hour-long interview with Peter Boyles on KBDI-Channel 12 that ran Wednesday night stirs the blood.
“Would someone please wake me when Katie Hnida’s 15 minutes of fame is inexorably over?” e-mailed reader Chris LaDage, not waiting for an answer.
Ron Hughes is even more aflame. “Hnida was an embarrassment to CU and the team, a no-talent fool forcing her feminist agenda on an all-male institution.”
Wonder why she felt beseiged.
Around the dial
The NASCAR Busch series moving to ESPN2, just in time for Anheuser Busch to drop its sponsorship of the series after next season. Wal-Mart may pick it up … NFL Network offering a one-week “freeview” to Cablevision and Time Warner, starting Sunday. The network is trying to expand its cable reach with the two holdouts, who have refused to make NFL Network part of their basic packages. … That Nuggets-Knicks “fight” wouldn’t get roughing penalties in the NHL. See for yourself when the Avalanche play the Calgary Flames tonight and the Chicago Black Hawks Saturday (7 p.m., Altitude). … The 1996 Green Bay Packers are next up, number 16 in NFL Network’s list of Super Bowl winners for its “America’s Game: The Super Bowl Champions” (6:30 p.m. Friday). … Quotable: “If you’re mad at your kid, you can either raise him to be a nose tackle or send him out to play on the freeway. It’s about the same.” Bob Golic
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-954-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
