To Bowl or Not To Bowl

I admit I am not a football fan. I really am even less a college football fan, so maybe this will just be a whiney post for you. No matter. I write it, you get it.

My state of Michigan has teams that will appear in five Bowl games this winter. Those are:

• The Quick Lane Bowl (Eastern Michigan U)
• The Pinstripe Bowl (Michigan State U)
• The First Responder Bowl (Western Michigan U)
• The Citrus Bowl (University of Michigan)
• The New Mexico Bowl (Central Michigan U)

I have only ever heard of one of them. Care to guess which one?

Now, I know the various Bowl games have been taken over by major sponsors for decades; there has always been money in college football and in many states, the college football coach is among, if not at the top of, the highest paid people. Someone has to pay the piper, so it is no wonder Bowl organizers - whoever they are - sold out to wealthy corporate owners.

But Pinstripe? First Responder? New Mexico?

I'm pretty sure those aren't corporations, but I have no idea who they are. And I have no idea what the former name of those Bowls were. I am not even sure if the only one I have heard of, the Citrus Bowl, is even the same one I have heard of, so I don't know if my state's five football teams are in "name" Bowls or not.

Then again, it probably means nothing since I am not a college football fan.