College football play of the year

Chris "Beanie" Wells of The Ohio State University.

Last Saturday afternoon.

OSU vs. Illinois.

Wow.

I am a complete dufus for not posting this earlier.

Waves of nausea.

For the 2nd year in a row, The Ohio State University Buckeyes lose in the national championship game to a Southeastern Conference team. January 2007 saw a 41-14 shellacking to Florida, and January 2008 found the Bucks on the wrong side of a 38-24 score with LSU.

Curses.

Truly a nauseating evening. It started out so well with a 65-yard touchdown run to put the Bucks up 7-0 on just the 4th play. But sadly that was really all she wrote. It was great to see them make it to the big game, but quite knife-twisting to watch the debacle occur.

Since our births in 1971, our sports teams have only made it to the ultimate game/series in the following years:

1993 (Ohio Northern basketball)

1995 (Indians)

1997 (Indians)

2002 (Buckeyes football)

2006 (Buckeyes football)

2006 (Cavaliers)

2007 (Buckeyes basketball)

2007 (Buckeyes football)

with just the 1993 Ohio Northern and 2002 Ohio State teams winning it all. Locally, we did see the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes make it to the Stanley Cup finals versus Detroit in 2002 and Edmonton in 2006, with the 'Canes winning it all against the Oilers. But we didn't "grow up" with the Hurricanes; so that victorious joy, albeit exciting and a thrill to experience, wasn't truly near and dear.

Until next year, Coach Tressel. Hang on Sloopy.

Let's go bowling!

So Chris gets home from work late Thursday night, and as our sucky schedules would have it, Kimberly is already in bed for her 4:40am wake-up. Working 2p-10p sucks sometimes. So a growler of Merrifield, VA's Sweetwater Tavern Kokopelli IPA is cracked open, and this football-loving arse is planted on the couch for some Steelers/Rams on the NFL Network (DirecTV rules!). Once it becomes a 41-24 shellacking late in the 4th quarter, the telly is switched over to ESPN for the first college football bowl game of the season:

The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl

What a name. I giggle every time. You can't make that stuff up.

So, for to properly plan all your college viewing pleasure, here is the schedule for bowl games for the next 3 weeks or so. As work permits, you can find Chris on the couch for most of these:

POINSETTIA BOWL
San Diego

Dec. 20, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Utah (8-4) vs. Navy (8-4)

Last season: No. 25 TCU 37, Northern Illinois 7

NEW ORLEANS BOWL
New Orleans

Dec. 21, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Florida Atlantic (7-5) vs. Memphis (7-5)

Last season: Troy 41, Rice 17

PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL
Birmingham, Ala.

Dec. 22, 1 p.m. (ESPN2)
Cincinnati (9-3) vs. Southern Miss (7-5)

Last season: South Florida 24, East Carolina 7

NEW MEXICO BOWL
Albuquerque, N.M.

Dec. 22, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
New Mexico (8-4) vs. Nevada (6-6)

Last season: San Jose State 20, New Mexico 12

LAS VEGAS BOWL
Las Vegas

Dec. 22, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
BYU (10-2) vs. UCLA (6-6)

Last season: No. 19 BYU 38, Oregon 8

HAWAII BOWL
Honolulu, Hawaii

Dec. 23, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
East Carolina (7-5) vs. Boise State (10-2)

Last season: Hawaii 41, Arizona State 24

MOTOR CITY BOWL
Detroit

Dec. 26, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Central Michigan (8-5) vs. Purdue (7-5)

Last season: Central Michigan 31, Middle Tennessee 14

HOLIDAY BOWL
San Diego

Dec. 27, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Arizona State (10-2) vs. Texas (9-3)

Last season: No. 20 Cal 45, No. 21 Texas A&M 10

CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL
Orlando, Fla.

Dec. 28, 5 p.m. (ESPN)
Boston College (10-3) vs. Michigan State (7-5)

Last season: Maryland 24, Purdue 7

TEXAS BOWL
Houston

Dec. 28, 8 p.m. (NFL Network)
TCU (7-5) vs. Houston (8-4)

Last season: No. 16 Rutgers 37, Kansas State 10

EMERALD BOWL
San Francisco

Dec. 28, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Maryland (6-6) vs. Oregon State (8-4)

Last season: Florida State 44, UCLA 27

MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL
Charlotte, N.C.

Dec. 29, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
UConn (9-3) vs. Wake Forest (8-4)

Last season: No. 23 Boston College 25, Navy 24

LIBERTY BOWL
Memphis, Tenn.

Dec. 29, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Mississippi State (7-5) vs. UCF (10-3)

Last season: South Carolina 44, Houston 36

ALAMO BOWL
San Antonio

Dec. 29, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Penn State (8-4) vs. Texas A&M (7-5)

Last season: No. 18 Texas 26, Iowa 24

INDEPENDENCE BOWL
Shreveport, La.

Dec. 30, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Colorado (6-6) vs. Alabama (6-6)

Last season: Oklahoma State 34, Alabama 31

ARMED FORCES BOWL
Fort Worth, Texas

Dec. 31, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Cal (6-6) vs. Air Force (9-3)

Last season: Utah 25, Tulsa 13

SUN BOWL
El Paso, Texas

Dec. 31, 2 p.m.(CBS)
USF (9-3) vs. Oregon (8-4)

Last season: Oregon State 39, Missouri 38

HUMANITARIAN BOWL
Boise, Idaho

Dec. 31, 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
Fresno State (8-4) vs. Georgia Tech (7-5)

Last season: Miami 21, Nevada 20

MUSIC CITY BOWL
Nashville, Tenn.

Dec. 31, 4 p.m. (ESPN)
Florida State (7-5) vs. Kentucky (7-5)

Last season: Kentucky 28, Clemson 20

INSIGHT BOWL
Tempe, Ariz.

Dec. 31, 5:30 p.m. (NFL Network)
Indiana (7-5) vs. Oklahoma State (6-6)

Last season: Texas Tech 44, Minnesota 41 (OT)

CHICK-FIL-A BOWL
Atlanta

Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Clemson (9-3) vs. Auburn (8-4)

Last season: Georgia 31, No. 14 Virginia Tech 24

OUTBACK BOWL
Tampa, Fla.

Jan. 1, 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Wisconsin (9-3) vs. Tennessee (9-4)

Last season: Penn State 20, No. 17 Tennessee 10

COTTON BOWL
Dallas

Jan. 1, 11:30 a.m. (FOX)
Missouri (11-2) vs. Arkansas (8-4)

Last season: No. 10 Auburn, No. 22 Nebraska

GATOR BOWL
Jacksonville, Fla.

Jan. 1, Noon (CBS)
Virginia (9-3) vs. Texas Tech (8-4)

Last season: No. 13 West Virginia 38, Georgia Tech 35

CAPITAL ONE BOWL
Orlando, Fla.

Jan. 1, 1 p.m. (ABC)
Michigan (8-4) vs. Florida (9-3)

Last season: No. 6 Wisconsin 17, No. 12 Arkansas 14

ROSE BOWL
Pasadena, Calif.

Jan. 1, 4:30 p.m. (ABC)
USC (10-2) vs. Illinois (9-3)

Last season: No. 8 USC 32, No. 3 Michigan 18

SUGAR BOWL
New Orleans

Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m. (FOX)
Hawaii (12-0) vs. Georgia (10-2)

Last season: No. 4 LSU 41, No. 11 Notre Dame 14

FIESTA BOWL
Glendale, Ariz.

Jan. 2, 8:00 p.m. (FOX)
West Virginia (10-2) vs. Oklahoma (11-2)

Last season: No. 9 Boise State 43, No. 7 Oklahoma 42 (OT)

ORANGE BOWL
Miami

Jan. 3, 8 p.m. (FOX)
Kansas (11-1) vs. Virginia Tech (11-2)

Last season: No. 5 Louisville 24, No. 15 Wake Forest 13

INTERNATIONAL BOWL
Toronto

Jan. 5, Noon (ESPN2)
Rutgers (7-5) vs. Ball State (7-5)

Last season: Cincinnati 27, Western Michigan 24

GMAC BOWL
Mobile, Ala.

Jan. 6, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Tulsa (9-4) vs. Bowling Green (8-4)

Last season: Southern Miss 28, Ohio 7

BCS TITLE GAME
New Orleans

Jan. 7, 8 p.m. (FOX)
Ohio State (11-1) vs. LSU (11-2)

Last season: No. 2 Florida 41, No. 1 Ohio State 14