Remember this Bowl ?

[Average American]

I have a (pointless) interest in defunct bowl games, franchises, & other forgotten/obscure aspects of sports history.

This is one of the more comical episodes in the college football archives (no disrespect to it's participants, but).. The 'Garden State Bowl'.
A bowl that surprisingly was disbanded because of chronic poor weather. It was played @ the old Giants/Meadowlands stadium in the middle of December.
Who could've predicted uncomfortable winter conditions in Jersey~ As a result of the cold, unpopular Dec game, the stadium decided to start hosting the late summer college 'Kickoff Classic' instead.

list of Garden State games.. anybody remember any of these, or other short-lived bowls ?

Date	Winning Team	Losing Team	Notes
December 16, 1978	Arizona State 34	Rutgers 18	Notes
December 15, 1979	Temple 28	California 17	Notes
December 14, 1980	Houston 35	Navy 0	Notes
December 13, 1981	Tennessee 28	Wisconsin 21

 

[jaxvid]

I have a (pointless) interest in defunct bowl games, franchises, & other forgotten/obscure aspects of sports history.

This is one of the more comical episodes in the college football archives (no disrespect to it's participants, but).. The 'Garden State Bowl'.
A bowl that surprisingly was disbanded because of chronic poor weather. It was played @ the old Giants/Meadowlands stadium in the middle of December.
Who could've predicted uncomfortable winter conditions in Jersey~ As a result of the cold, unpopular Dec game, the stadium decided to start hosting the late summer college 'Kickoff Classic' instead.

list of Garden State games.. anybody remember any of these, or other short-lived bowls ?

Date	Winning Team	Losing Team	Notes
December 16, 1978	Arizona State 34	Rutgers 18	Notes
December 15, 1979	Temple 28	California 17	Notes
December 14, 1980	Houston 35	Navy 0	Notes
December 13, 1981	Tennessee 28	Wisconsin 21

Apparently New Yorkers never learn because when you mentioned this bowl I immediately thought of the Pinstripe Bowl sometimes called the Yankee Bowl played in late December in Yankee Stadium. It's been going on for three years now.

"From wikipedia: the Pinstripe Bowl (titled via sponsorship as the New Era Pinstripe Bowl) is a college football bowl game that is held at Yankee Stadium in the New York City borough of The Bronx. The bowl pairs the fourth-place team from The American against the seventh-place team from the Big 12 Conference, with each conference agreeing to a four-year contract that runs through the 2013 season. In the event the Big 12 lacks an eligible team, Notre Dame will receive its invitation. The inaugural game was played on December 30, 2010. ESPN has television and radio rights for the game through 2015"

Haha Notre Dame? It'll be a cold day in the Bronx when that happens. The wiki article also mentioned the Garden State Bowl and an earlier bowl: the Gotham Bowl from back in the early sixties. Maybe if sportshistorian is still around he might have some story from that one.

 

[sport historian]

Apparently New Yorkers never learn because when you mentioned this bowl I immediately thought of the Pinstripe Bowl sometimes called the Yankee Bowl played in late December in Yankee Stadium. It's been going on for three years now.

"From wikipedia: the Pinstripe Bowl (titled via sponsorship as the New Era Pinstripe Bowl) is a college football bowl game that is held at Yankee Stadium in the New York City borough of The Bronx. The bowl pairs the fourth-place team from The American against the seventh-place team from the Big 12 Conference, with each conference agreeing to a four-year contract that runs through the 2013 season. In the event the Big 12 lacks an eligible team, Notre Dame will receive its invitation. The inaugural game was played on December 30, 2010. ESPN has television and radio rights for the game through 2015"

Haha Notre Dame? It'll be a cold day in the Bronx when that happens. The wiki article also mentioned the Garden State Bowl and an earlier bowl: the Gotham Bowl from back in the early sixties. Maybe if sportshistorian is still around he might have some story from that one.

By coincidence, I happened to stop by. I remember seeing the Gotham Bowl on TV in 1961. It was played that year in the Polo Grounds and in Yankee Stadium in 1962. The games were in December, freezing whether both times. The sponsors took a financial bath and that was the end of the Gotham Bowl.

 

[jaxvid]

By coincidence, I happened to stop by. I remember seeing the Gotham Bowl on TV in 1961. It was played that year in the Polo Grounds and in Yankee Stadium in 1962. The games were in December, freezing whether both times. The sponsors took a financial bath and that was the end of the Gotham Bowl.

Wow, the Polo grounds, I had no idea that stadium was around that long! I wonder if there is some reason that it is more feasible to play a cold weather game nowadays? Teams like New England and Pittsburgh and the Giants play games through the winter. Perhaps artificial turf, better snow removal (heated fields) better cold weather gear? Global warming?

I sure liked those mud bowls from the old days where two teams slogged it out in knee deep muck. Don't see that anymore. I think it would be a draw. We should start the Caste Football Bowl played in Frostbite Falls Minnesota on the winter solstice, natural grass, except in the middle of the field which will be solid dirt and by halftime a bog!! Invite South Dakota or Boise State or Navy, with an option on Notre Dame ;-)

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Good stuff y'all! The Delta Bowl is so old that most have forgotten about it or are too young to remember it, but it featured the first Ole Miss SEC Championship team. The QB was Chuckin' Charlie Conerly when they beat Texas Christian in Crump Stadium on January 1, 1948.

 

[Average American]

Good stuff y'all! The Delta Bowl is so old that most have forgotten about it or are too young to remember it, but it featured the first Ole Miss SEC Championship team. The QB was Chuckin' Charlie Conerly when they beat Texas Christian in Crump Stadium on January 1, 1948.

Colenol, thanks for sharin' that.
Here's another forgotten one, really south of the Mason-Dixon.. the Bacardi (and/or Cigar Bowl) played in Havana, Cuba. These guys got it right, a Bowl game played somewhere really warm.. Looked like lots of SEC cameos too..

Date Played	Winning Team	Losing Team
December 25, 1907	LSU	56	University of Havana	0
January 1, 1910	Havana Athletic Club	11	Tulane	0
January 1, 1912	Mississippi State	12	Havana Athletic Club	0
December 25, 1912	Florida	28	Vedado Athletic Club	0
December 31, 1921	Cuban Athletic Club	14	Ole Miss	0
January 1, 1937	Auburn	7	Villanova	7
January 2, 1938	Rollins	-	Cuban Navy	- â€
December 7, 1946	Southern Miss	55	Havana University	0

'To make matters more explosive, Havana was football mad, the university team having run roughshod over every service team- Army, Navy, or other- in the area. With no more fields to conquer, Cuban officials turned to the United States in search of a prestige opponent. They found a willing one in LSU, and the invitation extended to Wingard was readily accepted, although it meant keeping his club in training for an extra month.'
(excerpt from "Fighting Tigers II" I found online about the 1907 LSU appearance in the Cigar Bowl, where LSU won 56-0)

​

 

[jaxvid]

Colenol, thanks for sharin' that.
Here's another forgotten one, really south of the Mason-Dixon.. the Bacardi (and/or Cigar Bowl) played in Havana, Cuba. These guys got it right, a Bowl game played somewhere really warm.. Looked like lots of SEC cameos too..

Date Played	Winning Team	Losing Team
December 25, 1907	LSU	56	University of Havana	0
January 1, 1910	Havana Athletic Club	11	Tulane	0
January 1, 1912	Mississippi State	12	Havana Athletic Club	0
December 25, 1912	Florida	28	Vedado Athletic Club	0
December 31, 1921	Cuban Athletic Club	14	Ole Miss	0
January 1, 1937	Auburn	7	Villanova	7
January 2, 1938	Rollins	-	Cuban Navy	- â€
December 7, 1946	Southern Miss	55	Havana University	0

'To make matters more explosive, Havana was football mad, the university team having run roughshod over every service team- Army, Navy, or other- in the area. With no more fields to conquer, Cuban officials turned to the United States in search of a prestige opponent. They found a willing one in LSU, and the invitation extended to Wingard was readily accepted, although it meant keeping his club in training for an extra month.'
(excerpt from "Fighting Tigers II" I found online about the 1907 LSU appearance in the Cigar Bowl, where LSU won 56-0)

Cool story bro'. a Cuban team beating Ole' Miss, I bet the "Cuban" teams featured an all Spanish squad, as I doubt the teams from the SEC would have been playing against Caribbean blacks. Seems like Havana had trouble with it's offense,

 

[Average American]

Cool story bro'. a Cuban team beating Ole' Miss, I bet the "Cuban" teams featured an all Spanish squad,

Yeah, I think Cuba's social heiarchy looked a lot like America's back then,.. I'm also picturin' a team of White Spaniards. Either way, LSU made 'em look like the Washington Generals on that day.. & that article said the Americans weren't big fans of the Cuban hosts..

Speaking of Cuba's social structure, I've read in the past, that for many generations Cuba was nearly identical to the Deep South. A White (Spaniard) plantation aristocracy, etc.. and there was a legitimate effort made to recruit Cuba into the C.S.A. The sales pitch was, 'if militant abolitionists free the slaves in the South, they won't stop there.. they will take their mission into the Carribean as well..'

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I first remember reading about the Cuban bowl in Ole Miss media guides in the late 90s.

 

[DixieDestroyer]

Good post AA. I recall quite a few (defunct) bowls from my younger days...

 

[Average American]

A defunct Bowl I was recently reading about, The (Chicago) College All-Star Game. Played between a squad of college all stars vs. pro football's previous Super Bowl (or NFL) champion @ Soldier Field. Played from the mid '30 thru the mid-'70s. Csonka, Bartkowski, Billy Kilmer were all college MVPs @ points in the game's history.
The game was competitive initially, but as NFL got better talent, they won virtually all of the last 25 games. Typically played in late August leading up to the college season. Looking at the list, the Browns & Packers monopolized appearances thru the 50s & 60s. NFL injury-concerns ended up killing the game..

 

[dwid]

a little off topic but It would be interesting how the top prospects would fare against the WORST NFL teams. People say the college guys would get crushed, but in my opinion that is only because so many affletes are considered top prospects that shouldn't be.

Considering Whites tend to complete their senior years and don't come out early, especially linemen, I think they would be competitive, if the choices for all stars was actually fair.

Thats why I wish there were NFL Europe still, we had quite a few White guys go there, seems to have been quite a few White receivers, not to mention Kurt Warner and Jake Delhomme (who looked pretty good in his early days when he actually got to pass instead of run, run, pass on third and long, go rewatch the Superbowl against the Pats, they came very close to winning with a td to Ricky Proehl I believe and the kicker kicked it out of bounds so it was placed at the 40, Brady moves the chains, field goal if Im remembering correctly),

and someone was talking about the soccer system in Europe?, teams play levels below them and if they lose they drop down? Am i getting that correct? That would be nice to see if NFL Europe teams played the worst NFL teams that continue to pick in the top 10, affletic sumos etc. Of course if a NFL Europe team moves up the travel stuff would be hard, but they have been planning on how to make a team in London work for a while now.