EUGENE, ORE. -- Gosh, it's gonna be fun in El Paso on New Year's Eve, the cow-town Sun Bowl kicking off appropriately at high noon, Trojans honks wise now to make reservations at the Stampede Bar to finish off and, of course, forget 2007.
Some of the honks, I suspect, already started ringing out the year a few hours into Saturday afternoon, the season over for so many spoiled Trojans supporters -- believing it should always end with a championship game.
Come on, you're gonna love El Paso, where the sun shines 302 days a year, and according to the Internet, "the El Paso City Council once voted to spend $112,000 to hire a private security firm to guard the city's police station." It'll feel just like home.
And those people, who really have no sports teams to follow or anything else to do the rest of the year, are going to be thrilled having a team coming to their little city that everyone else thought would be playing in the Superdome.
Bring your parka, though -- the average temperature is around 43 degrees at the end of December -- but don't worry, there should be plenty of campfires to keep everyone warm. Sitting around an El Paso campfire with Mike Garrett -- now that'd be a hoot, maybe singing some songs. "Fight on."
By the way, there's also a nice, warm Sun Bowl button-down, long-sleeve denim shirt available in the bowl catalog -- only $30 -- keeping in mind if you order after Dec. 28, it will be after Jan. 2 before you receive it. The perfect Christmas gift for the Trojans honk on your list?
This is what college football is all about, Trojans fans, losing to Stanford and Oregon when you figure to win them all, and still getting the chance to be charmed by Katherine Foust, who has already been selected your 2007 Miss Sun Bowl, with a very fetching Ashley Marchena serving as lady-in-waiting should something happen or indecent pictures of Miss Foust surface.
Only $375 for a table at the Rotary Club Sun Bowl luncheon to hear Uncle Pete tell everyone how excited he is to be in El Paso.
Yes, the important thing here is to look on the bright side of things after the Trojans' 2007 choke job, No. 1 in the country to begin the season, but now down for the BCS count before Halloween.
Sure, Arizona State and Oregon are probably going to finish 1-2 in the conference, the winner going to the Rose Bowl and second in line going to the Holiday Bowl. But the Sun Bowl follows -- and although it's still probably a longshot for the Trojans to make it there, it's also a good reminder to the coaches and players that if they fail to meet expectations in the future this might be where they end up.
