Rose Bowl

It’s raining on my parade. You can take this phrase literally here in LA. The Rose Parade is taking place in the pouring rain as I write this. Everything is kind of mixed up anyway with New Years on a Sunday, the parade on January 2nd, and the Rose Bowl is a BCS Bowl on January 4th.

A little history.

The first Tournament of Roses was in 1890, with local citizens who had come from back East wanting to showcase how beautiful their new home was. There were parades and games added, with events like ostrich races and bronco busting. The first football game was 1902 with Michigan burying Stanford 49-0, all in three quarters. This is because Stanford gave up in the third quarter. There wasn’t football again until 1916, when the crowds were so big that they built a new football stadium, dubbed the “Rose Bowl,” and played the first game there in 1923.

I have attended 3 Rose Bowl games, with the sweetest being two victories by Wisconsin. As a child in Wisconsin, I used to be like everyone else and dream about beautiful California, watching while I was freezing. That was the original idea behind the Rose parade and game. In my case, I guess that feat has been accomplished.

Now, they don’t have to show a game. People from all over the world keep moving here. Most don’t know football, though they know football, but that’s soccer to me. It really is a great place to live.

Tune in Wednesday. The rain will be over. It will be sunny and beautiful. O, I forgot. TV revenue dictates an evening game. It will be dark. A night time Rose Bowl on January 4th with no Big Ten team? Back to the ostrich races…At least until Wisconsin gets back in the game.