KNOW what I despise about college athletics? Selection process
sours Sugar BowlThe sham that these are amateur sports. At least where football and basketball are concerned.
These days it's all about business. About television packages, revenue sharing and corporate sponsorship.
A case in point: UCLA not getting into the Sugar Bowl.
The Alliance Committee had a real shot at leading college football into a playoff system using the bowl games. The Nos. 2 (Nebraska) and 3 (Tennessee) are in the Orange Bowl.
No. 4 Florida State is in the Sugar with the logical choice for an opponent being the No. 5 team: UCLA. Instead, the alliance chose No. 9 Ohio State to make the trip to New Orleans, sending the Bruins to Dallas to meet No. 20 Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.
The most ludicrous reason for not inviting UCLA to the Sugar Bowl? Bruin fans don't travel, or at least not enough of them do to suit certain bowl officials.
Since when is that a criteria for postseason selection?
We've seen the politics before. Last year, it was Wyoming not getting into a bowl and BYU being shut out of the alliance.
It all hinged on television market share and marketability. Forget about merit.
But this is a new twist. Fan-based favoritism.
Too bad the alliance people weren't involved in the NCAA women's volleyball tournament selection. The Wahine would be playing at home forever.
It's sad to think this might be the wave of the future for bowl selection. At least the Aloha Bowl doesn't have to worry about attractiveness to mainland teams and their fans, not when they can choose between winter and Waikiki.
FANS of Wahine volleyball travel well. The past few seasons on the road, Hawaii fans have often outnumbered those of the host team. Very often there's a former Wahine or two in attendance.
At Stanford, it was Brandi Brooks, (1991-94) regional sales manager for Tommy Hilfiger. Last Friday, it was Sarah Chase Yowell (1992-94) who watched Hawaii lose to Loyola Marymount.
The 1992 Big West Freshman of the Year is married to former Rainbow defensive back Lindsay Yowell. Also at the game was the couple's baby daughter, Jordan Tafvahvpke, born Nov. 16. The baby's middle name means "White Feather" in the Creek language; Sarah is part Creek Indian.
It wasn't Jordan's first volleyball match. Her charismatic mother played professionally through her first trimester for the Utah Golden Spikers of the National Volleyball League.
The former Wahine middle blocker also had tried out for the U.S. national team earlier this year but gave up her Olympic dream when she learned she was pregnant. She's hoping to join the pro beach tour, teaming up with former Southern Cal standout Kelly Keebler.
Yowell left the Wahine after her junior season, saying she chose not to care about school and went back to California because of some family problems. In what would have been her senior year, the top-ranked Wahine went 33-1, losing in the regional final.
"I have no regrets that I left," said Yowell, who ranks fifth on the UH career block list. "I was happy to see Hawaii back on top the past few years. That's the reason I went there, to be part of the winning tradition and success."
Cindy Luis is a Star-Bulletin sportswriter.
Her column appears weekly.