The rings came in for Louisiana Tech’s football team this week, the fourth ring the team has earned in four consecutive years for four bowl victories.

The one you see pictured is mine, which is interesting for two reasons:

One, I earned it because of all the tackles I made (0), passes I caught (0), yards I threw for (0), and TDs I scored (0). I felt I had a good year and obviously the higher-ups in The Program agreed. (Sweeping up for Tech Athletics Hall of Fame play-by-play man Dave Nitz, I do the color for Tech football broadcasts and for the media company Learfield. Mostly I say things like, “I wish you could have seen THAT!” It’s a gift…And apparently earns you a ring, even though you don’t have to go to practice every day.)

Tech’s is 4-1 in bowls in my seven years of being on the broadcasting team, and I think I’ve received four rings; (had a bad year that one season, I guess). In 2012, Tech won nine games and led the nation in scoring offense (51.5 points per game) but didn’t receive a bowl bid because of assorted hijinks. Duooh! In the other season Tech didn’t go to a bowl, the cupboard was bare after the 9-3, 51.5 ppg year and the Bulldogs went 4-8. And didn’t get a bowl bid. Wonder why?

The rings I did receive have gone to my son, mom, dad, and this year, to my spousal. She has chosen to use it as a weight in her workouts. If she can lift it. She’s trying.

I purposefully had the rings sized way to small for me so there would be no chance, in any crazed state, I might find that it’s a good idea to actually wear one. I hope the players do though. If they wish. They are young, and they have earned them. And four bowl wins in a row — the most recent a 51-10 blowout of favored SMU in the DXL Frisco Bowl in December — is not easy to do. I’ve seen it up close. Not easy.

Another thing that’s not easy: playing seven rounds of golf in five days. But because he is dedicated to golf and to readers of Designated Writers, DW co-founder John James Marshall is going to do just that, starting today/Thursday. Check for his Designated Happens right here from now through the weekend as he advises you on the Robert Trent Jones Trail and helps you plan your next golf grip. Again, he cares. He cares so much that, sometimes, it hurts. Like this weekend. Remember that he’s doing this for you, even though he probably won’t get a ring for it.

-30-