Heard it From Hoard: Column 33

When Martin Short was a cast member on SCTV and then Saturday Night Live, one of his recurring characters was a cross-eyed albino lounge-lizard singer named Jackie Rogers Jr. I've attached a photo, but if you really want to sample the comic genius, go to youtube.com, do a search for "Jackie Rogers Jr." and watch the "$100,000 Jackpot Wad" skit - it's a classic.

If you don't have time for that, perhaps the imaginary title of one of his albums will give you a chuckle: Genius + Love = Jackie.

I bring that up because I have a similar equation for UC football fans to keep in mind: Bearcats + Bowl = Good.

The snubbing of Cincinnati by the Brut Sun and Meineke Car Care Bowls was certainly disappointing - especially since the Bearcats beat USF and Connecticut head-to-head.

While I can accept the Sun Bowl's desire to avoid a potential Cincinnati/Oregon State rematch, committee chairman John Folmer's statement to the Tampa Tribune that "we thought USF would do a better job," really ticks me off.

As for the Car Care Bowl, if their objective was to choose the most deserving team between UC and UConn, the right choice would have been made in about two seconds. Let's hope the mechanics at Meineke franchises understand brakes and mufflers better than their bowl committee understands football (if they need a DVD of Cincinnati's 27-3 thumping of the Huskies, I'd be happy to send one). Hopefully for the Big East's sake, Connecticut won't get blown out for the third time in its last four games.

Now that I've vented, let's get back to that previously mentioned formula: Bearcats + Bowl = Good.

A bowl game is not only a reward to the players and coaches for a great season, it means more exposure, added credibility, and additional practice time for the program. There are NO negatives, regardless of the destination.

Don't buy it? Ask the folks at Notre Dame, Alabama, Miami (FL), Iowa, South Carolina, and Louisville if they would like to go bowling this year.

The bottom line is that the Bearcats have already had one of the best seasons in their history and can tie a school record with 10 wins. I sincerely hope you'll be there to see it. A large contingent of Bearcat fans will help ensure that UC doesn't get screw...I mean slighted by bowl committees in the future.

We've started something new on the basketball broadcasts recently called "Dan & Chuck's Starting Five." It began in the Bowling Green game when a discussion of the Falcons' slender head coach Louis Orr, led to our "All-Time All-Skinny Team."

Last night, USC Upstate's leading scorer Luke Payne, was the son of head coach Eddie Payne. That led to our "All-Time Father-Son Team," made up of guys who played for their dads in college.

We're going to try to do "Dan & Chuck's Starting Five" in every broadcast for the rest of this season, so if you have any suggested categories, send me an e-mail.

Finally, enjoy this week's photo of the handsome lad.

I'd love to hear from you. The address is dhoard@pawsox.com.

Column Archives:
Column 32
Column 31
Column 30
Column 29
Column 28
Column 27
Column 26
Column 25
Column 24
Column 23
Column 22
Column 21
Column 20
Column 19
Column 18
Column 17
Column 16
Column 15
Column 14
Column 13
Column 12
Column 11
Column 10
Column 9
Column 8
Column 7
Column 6
Column 5
Column 4
Column 3
Column 2
Column 1