Servpro First Responder Bowl Small Blemish On 2018 Bowl Season
DALLAS, TX - DECEMBER 26: Boston College Eagles running back AJ Dillon (2) runs through the line of scrimmage during the game between the Boise State Broncos and the Boston College Eagles on December 26, 2018 at the First Responders Bowl in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Lets play out a scenario:
You practice and prepare all year for the upcoming season. You give it your all and find out you're going to get to travel to Texas and have a fun week of activities and football. You play five minutes and get sent back to the locker room and never return to the field. Your game is canceled and the season is over.
Here’s one more:
You spend $300,000 of the taxpayers money for bowl rights only to lose $150,000 on the cancellation of the game. Local vendors, advertisers, and sponsors take a loss as well. What was meant to be a lucrative business event, flopped and failed. No plan B was put into motion and the game was over as fast as it began.
Unfortunately, both of these things happened on 12/26/2018 when the Servpro First Responders bowl was canceled due to inclement weather.
Don't get me wrong, we had a bunch of great bowl games to watch and many games did not disappoint. It just leaves me with one question. Why wasn’t there a plan B? Why wasn't the game committee prepared to reschedule if needed?
In their defense, this has never happened in the history of bowl games, but I’d like to think backup plans should be ready to be set into place. I understand it isn't easy to just move a game with one days notice, but it seemed like no one was prepared for this to happen.
I feel like the biggest losers of all were the players and coaches. They worked hard to earn a spot in a bowl game and they didn't get to play. Worst of all, they missed Christmas with their families to be out there for the game. Also for the seniors, the culmination of their hard work and four years at college finished in a “no contest.”
What do you guys think? Did they handle this correctly? What could they have done better? Let me know in the comments below.
By Christopher Czaplinski