1
The blogosphere and even some mainstream media in Texas are questioning if the Alamo Bowl made the right choice in taking Baylor instead of Oklahoma to be the opponent for Washington on Dec. 29.
It turns out memories are long in Texas and it’s remembered that Baylor fans did not turn out well in the second Alamo Bowl against Washington State in 1994. The attendance was only 44,000, meaning about 21,000 empty seats.
San Antonio officials see that as a failing of the Texas team and its fans.
This year though, Baylor had one of it best years in a long time, punctuated with a regular-season blowout win over Texas on national television.
With Baylor QB Robert Griffin III in the running for the Heisman Trophy, it’s believed there is more of a buzz in Waco that was missing in 1994 and more fans will show up to see the Bears.
2
Briefly, let’s ponder the futures of two long-time Northwest football coach/personalities: Rick Neuheisel and Dennis Erickson. Both got fired from Pac-12 schools, although at least Erickson gets to coach in the Las Vegas Bowl.
On the likeability scale, we place Erickson somewhere near or slightly below the mid-point and Neuheisel quite bit lower than Erickson.
Erickson is 64. We assume Arizona State was his last coaching spot. Despite what feels like a mediocre career as a college coach, he’s 179-91 with 11 bowl games.
Somehow, somewhere, Neuheisel will reinvent himself and resurface. He’s 50. He’s also got a law degree. His combined mark at Colorado, Washington and UCLA is 87-58.
Neuheisel is slick with a good gift of gab. We expect to see him as a college football commentator, a guise to keep connected to coaches, assistants and college programs and networking toward his next real job.
