Today begins — I shouldn’t even have to say this — the ESPN Capital One Bowl Challenge.

The Bahamas Bowl is tonight.

Surely you knew.

Joy!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Approximately 249 bowl games will be played between now and the national championship game (between LSU and Climpson, just a guess) January 13 in the Superdome in New Orleans.

I will watch as many of them as my eyes can stand. Go here to see more on why.

IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL (SHORT) TIME OF THE YEAR

Meanwhile, there is the actual BowlFest Challenge to attend to.

We have a group of about eight guys who call ourselves the Girls Lunch Bunch. (None of us are girls but none of us are really men so…) We’ve been together for 20ish years, since all our boys were playing Little League together. This is where we learned to love/hate one another. It’s a lot of fun, for lack of a better word.

It’s not too late to go to the ESPN Challenge as we did — there are other online games too, I’m sure — and pick the games. It’s an inexact science for sure, so don’t be afraid. I mean, I’ve won a couple of times in the past four years. How hard can it be?

This year I have my least confidence points on North Carolina A&T, which means they will  beat Alcorn State by 40. And I have my most confidence points on Cincinnati, which means Boston College will win by 172.

Welcome to BowlFest. 2019!

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By TEDDY ALLEN/Designated Writers

When making your list of reasons why this is The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, please do not forget to leave out the joy that is December 21, which is Saturday/tomorrow.

Two things:

One, today BowlFest begins with the Bahamas Bowl, which pits Some Team against Some Other Team. Let the BowlFesting begin. On December 21 Eve.

Utah State and Kent State play at 6:30 Friday night, December 21 Eve, in Some Other Bowl.

YES!

Before we get to Number Two, why is it that some people think there are Too Many Bowls?

There are Too Many Soap Operas. There are Too Many Game Shows. There are Too Many CSIs.

Really? Maybe not.

Apparently there are just the right amount that Capitalism says there needs to be. I would guess that two soap operas would be too many, but I don’t watch them and it’s not hurting me if there are 30 so what’s the big deal? Same with Game Shows and CSI Shows.

I will watch Bowl Games until my eyes bleed. I know that Friday night, Charlotte of Conference USA will play Some Other Team. I think the Some Other Team will win. I can’t remember wh – WAIT! They play Buffalo! – I honestly didn’t remember until just then but it doesn’t matter. I am looking forward to it MUCH more than I would a Super Bowl.

If you think there are too many bowl games, just don’t watch. What’s it to you? Why would you want to keep teenagers who love to play football from getting extra practices? And traveling to another town besides their own to spend more days with their friends and play in front of fans, with their brothers, on television? Why would you want to keep an old dude who loves to volunteer at a bowl — helping with parking or hospitality or tickets sales — from working? Or for that matter, why would you want to keep a working person who gets extra work from the bowl games from making extra money?

What kind of Scrooge are you? Let Them Play! Let Them Play! Let Them Play!

And Two — and this is the most important thing, even more important than the Cheez-It Bowl, the Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl (power in duality!), and the Gasparilla Bowl — December 21 is the shortest day of the year. Under normal circumstances, that would be cause of despair for those of us who love sunlight.

Just the point.

Since we can do nothing about Mother Nature, we have to take what she gives us. And the shortest day of the year means that the next day will be a little longer, and the next a little longer, and on and on like that until it will be spring again. And warm. And the days will be long. And Daylight Saving Time will return.

Glory!

And we will be rid of this Black Hole we are in.

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P.S.: Do you know what Snowmen like to do on weekends? Chill out.

Hope you do the same.

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