Hard to watch the bowls these days, especially if you do not have ESPN and cable television….
But, the Bowls were Better, because the Bowls had use down in the bowels of real television, as we were all watching the same channels and we knew what time the games were going to be on, and what network was going to be carrying the bowl games…
“Back in the Day”, Bowls were Better Because we had the lineup ingrained in our heads, and it was in our mind, and we knew where to be, and who had “The Bowls”…
Here is how it was, and this is how it went, and many today might just say, “Bring Back the Bowls, when they were like this”…..
Cotton Bowl at 1pm on New Year’s Day on the CBS Network…Could look for Lindsey Nelson and Paul Hornung on the call…..from Dallas, Texas
Rose Bowl at 4pm on New Year’s Day on the NBC Network…Could look for Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen on the call…from Pasadena, California
Orange Bowl at 8pm on New Year’s Day night the NBC Network…Could look for maybe Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy on the call…from Miami, Florida
Found this interesting piece on a Facebook Page from Google….
Ghosts of the Orange Bowl…from October 1, 2024
Happy 84th birthday to longtime broadcaster Don Criqui. NBC’s Don Criqui with broadcast partner Bob Trumpy during the University of Miami’s 20-14 victory over Oklahoma in the 1988 Orange Bowl. A native of Buffalo, NY and a Notre Dame graduate, Criqui spent 47 years as a play-by-play announcer for NBC and CBS, calling both NFL and college football games.
Criqui is most remembered as the television play-by-play voice of the Orange Bowl. He broadcasted every New Year’s Orange Bowl game during the decade of the 1980s alongside broadcast partners John Brodie and Bob Trumpy. Criqui called some of the greatest games ever played at the stadium, including the famous Dolphins vs. Chargers playoff game on January 2, 1982. Exactly two years later, he was the play-by-play voice of the 1984 Orange Bowl when the Miami Hurricanes upset #1 Nebraska 31-30 to capture their first national championship. During the broadcast, Criqui would say it was the greatest game he ever saw.
More on others…
Rose Bowl Hall of Fame
Dick Enberg
Induction 2011
“Hello everybody, I’m Lindsey Nelson.” For 26 years, this was his signature greeting as Nelson welcomed millions of football fans from around the country to the Cotton Bowl. A true pioneer of sports broadcasting, Nelson’s radio and television career began in 1948 and spanned five decades in which he covered thousands of sporting events. His tenure as the “Voice of the Cotton Bowl” began on NBC with the radio broadcast of the 1951 game. Three years later he teamed up with Red Grange for the telecast of the infamous 1954 Cotton Bowl Classic. His streak of 17 consecutive Cotton Bowl broadcasts began with the 1970 Classic and ended with his retirement following the 1986 Cotton Bowl. Nelson’s unique delivery style, those colorful test-pattern sportcoats, and his intense love for college football made Big D a special place to be every New Year’s Day.
**********And we have touched on this subject before, here at GreensboroSports.com…..**********
(Sugar Bowl did jump on the Bowl Bandwagon a little late on.)
Remember When The Cotton Bowl(CBS), The Rose Bowl(NBC), The Sugar Bowl(ABC), and The Orange Bowl(NBC) were the key New Year’s Day Bowl Games
By Andy Durham / January 1, 2024
Maybe you can “Remember When” the Cotton Bowl on CBS TV, the Rose Bowl on NBC TV, and the Orange Bowl on NBC were the key New Years Day Bowl Games…Later on the Sugar Bowl joined the fray on ABC TV…..
Lindsey Nelson on CBS with the Cotton Bowl coming on around 1pm, then at 4pm you would have the Rose Bowl on NBC TV with Dick Enberg and maybe Merlin Olson helping him on the broadcast, and the Orange Bowl would close out the day/night on NBC TV, with Don Criqui or another NBC announcer on the call…Sometimes Al Derogatis would join Don Criqui….Orange Bowl would regularly kick off at around 8pm…
Later the Sugar Bowl would get a shot on ABC TV with Keith Jackson on the call…The Sugar Bowl would usually have their kickoff at around 3:45pm….
And that was it…That was the lineup, and that would be all of the New Years Day Bowl games…And made for a good lineup, it worked, and they should have left it alone….Now we are oversaturated with New Years Day Games….Lindsey Nelson, Dick Enberg, Don Criqui, Keith Jackson, those were the BIG names calling the games, back in the day….
Bring back those days of the Cotton Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Orange Bowl, and the Sugar Bowl….The Johns Curb Market/Eastside Grocery/FoodRite Market and Deli/Jay’s Deli Bowl is coming soon, it has to be, right???