WARNING: this is a sports-related rant, but if you look hard enough, you may find (and hopefully think about and/or discuss) the underlying principle...
What's with playing the college football big bowl games over a five-day period? New Year's Day used to be a magical time, a day when all the games were on one day, and you went to or set up a huge party with friends, and it was all football, all day and all night long. I know, it's all about the money now, but they've ruined a good thing. Non-football junkies would hate this day because it went on forever, but at least it ended in a 24-hour period. Now the major bowl games are spread out so much, we lose interest and it's just not fun anymore. In the old days, January 1st started with the Rose Bowl Parade, which was a quiet start to your day, in case you were nursing a huge hangover from the night before. Then the games began: kickoff at the Cotton Bowl, then the Gator Bowl (or was it the other way around? who cares?) overlapped half-way thru, then the Outback Bowl, overlapped by the Fiesta Bowl, which overlapped into the start of the Rose Bowl, which overlapped into the Sugar Bowl, which spilled into the Orange Bowl, and it was all over. It was a day of recovery and gluttony, when you overindulged in chips/dips/finger foods all day, chased down by the appropriate beverage, depending on your current physical condition and mental state. I remember being at parties where the price of admission was, in addition to BYOB, you had to bring a television set, which you placed in whatever room needed it (including the bathroom). It was great, and it was all over in one day. Now, God forbid, even the Rose Bowl Parade was on Jan 2nd this year -- it was a bust today because it rained all day, in Southern California (serves them right). The karma gods aren't completely powerless...
