Top 10 Events in Cardinals Glendale Stadiuum

Wow, the Arizona Cardinals' "new" stadium in Glendale AZ (called "University of Phoenix Stadium" by those who think corporate sponsorships matter) just opened three years ago, yet it has already hosted some awesome sporting events. Here are my top 10. Frankly the list is pretty impressive. Even better, I had tickets to every game on the list except SB42.

1. NFC Championship Game. Jan. 18, 2009. Cardinals 32-25 over the Eagles in a back and forth game that had fans on edge. Thunderous noise and joy throughout.

2. Super Bowl 42. February 4, 2008. Giants edge the Patriots 17-14 in a great game. Not #1 because it featured no local teams and was full of "fans" who didn't really care about the game.

3. Fiesta Bowl Jan. 1, 2007 Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42 (OT). Huge upset with amazing play after amazing play to finish the game.

4. NFC Wildcard Game January 3,2009. Cardinals defeat Falcons 30-24. First home playoff win ever.

5. Fiesta Bowl Jan. 5, 2009 Texas 24, Ohio State 21. Great game between two traditional powers when many were predicting a Texas blow-out.

6. International Soccer February 7, 2007 62,462 fans saw the U.S. National team defeat Mexico, 2-0. Raucus, pro-Mexico crowd made the whole event a blast.

7. Fiesta Bowl Jan. 2, 2008 West Virginia 48, Oklahoma 28. Huge upset by the Moutaineers.

8. Cardinals v. Dallas October 12, 2008. Cardinals defeat Dallas on a blocked punt in O.T. Though a regular season game, this result sent notice that this was a very different Cardinals team. Alot of Cowboys fans left the Stadium as Cardinals fans.

9. BCS National Championship Game. January 8, 2007. Texas blows out Ohio State 41-14. Not much of a game, but it was the National Championship.

10. First Game. August 12, 2006 Cardinals 21-13 win over the Steelers. Pre-season, but it was long sold out and we beat the Super Bowl Champ, and was an exciting start to a beautiful stadium.

East Coast v. West Coast

Okay, more like West Coast v. Midwest. Several guys who allege they'll post on this blog like to throw the smack around. This came up during the 11th annual KJBowl.com tourney. Some bitterness about Ohio State, as usual.

For posterity, here are their rants. Some good stuff in there.
Click Here to read rants.

About. Damn. Time.

Two news stories today caught my eye. One is that the BCS is looking at a "Plus One" bowl to take place after the top 4 teams play each other in the top BCS bowls --for a real national championship. This year that wouldn't have worked because Kansas (orange bowl winner), Georgia (Sugar Bowl winner), and of course LSU would have had a claim to 1 of the 2 spots. Nevertheless, even better news is that Georgia (bitter about having to play Hawaii after getting stiffed in the BCS standings the final week) is calling for an 8 team playoff. Read the story here. Basically the top 4 bcs bowls would be the quarter finals and then there would be two semi-final games and a final after. I'm not sure why the quarter-finals couldn't be assigned to bowls as well, but I'm happy about the proposal. Georgia is right, there were shenanigans going on in the BCS process. Plus the Rose Bowl was downright silly for picking Illinois. Far better to have a playoff to see who is the best -whether it be 4, 8, or 16 teams.

It is time for the networks and bowls to quit deciding who gets in and who is out --let the teams decide it on the field.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Yeah, the BCS stinks. It was stupid that the BCS didn't allow Oklahoma to play Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Yes, we need a playoff. But in the meantime, we have 32, yes THIRTY-TWO College Football Bowls between tonight and the BCS Championship. That is alot of football goodness. Yes, the Keith Jackson Bowl Pool is back for the 11th year. Yes, I plan to finally win the damn thing. Since we started these contests have grown in popularity --so much so that now Yahoo, ESPN and countless others have similar confidence pools.

Every sports site around has previews and predictions. Here's one for tonight's Poinsettia Bowl between Utah and Navy by Rivals.com. I picked Utah over Navy with a confidence value of 22pts (out of 32pts). But the schedule just keeps on coming. So when you're bored by the writers' strike or at a bar drinking beer w/ pals, there's almost always a game on. Good times!

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
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
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
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