A brief college football aside

Temple's return to bowl play today in the EagleBank Bowl has stirred up a lot of mentions of the short-lived Garden State Bowl, which was played at the Meadowlands from 1978-81. I once had a program from one of those games saved to my watch list on eBay, yet never bothered to purchase it. I think it was only about $20, but I guess Temple's return has pushed sellers' hopes upward, perhaps thinking that Temple alums will eagerly want to commemorate the Owls' last bowl win before today's game.

Next fall, Yankee Stadium will host a college football game when Notre Dame and Army meet, and then in December, it will host a bowl game, the first in the New York area since those Garden State Bowls in the late '70s and early '80s. It's going to be quite a cold one if the weather's like it is today.

It'll be interesting to see how the Yankee Stadium bowl game -- date as yet unknown, however -- affects any plans for the NHL to plan a Winter Classic there. The last couple of years, when the game was played at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park (well, it will be on Friday), the rink has been set up before Christmas and opened to the public for skating. So maybe the Yankee Stadium bowl game -- at least next year -- will be several days before Christmas. Or maybe there won't be a public skating period.