International Bowl in Toronto

Have you heard about it? No? Don't beat yourself up - most people haven't.

And that's the problem.

See, when I heard a couple of months ago that a NCAA Bowl game was going to be played in Toronto, I was like, "Woo-hoo! Cool. When? Who's playing? I'm there!"

I'm not a huge fan of college football (American or Canadian - I went to UofT and Ryerson), but I'm a fan of Toronto as a potential destination for a NFL team. So, given the opportunity, I'd go and support the game in order to sell the city to the American viewers and league officials.

The first hiccup came when they announced the teams for this International Bowl: Cincinnati (7-5) and Western Michigan (8-4).

I didn't know Cincinnati had a football team. (Though their basketball team is pretty good)

I didn't know Western Michigan existed!

My interest plummeted. I no longer really cared. I mean, if the BCS isn't going to put more effort into giving this game a real chance of succeeding, why should I bend over backwards to eat their crap?

But, while I was a little miffed, I was still considering going. Then a strange thing happened; they stopped promoting it. I heard about it from time to time on talk radio, but there were no ads to be seen - not even on the subway! I wasn't even sure when the game was being held. What kind of chance did this "historic event" have?!

Then I heard the game was being held on the first day of the NFL playoffs. Pfft! No thanks. F-U, BCS.

Turns out the playoff games don't start till 4pm. Oops. So, it's the day of and I'm watching the International Bowl on tv. It's a pretty good game, though the announcers leave a little something to be desired.

Western Michigan was down 24-0, but have come back to tie the game. Pretty exciting.

Wish I'd gone.