Bobby Bowden’s Last Stand

Watching this on TV yesterday I thought things had gone horribly wrong when the spear left Chief Osceola’s hand without being thrown. I immediately assumed the worst. Fortunately I don’t have to make a large cursing tirade against the Gator Bowl today.  They obviously had no problem with a spear being thrown on the field.

The image above is ultimately how I choose to remember the end of a great career.  Bobby Bowden has been a fixture in college football longer than most of the people I know can remember or have even been alive.  At the end of the game all the questions were answered and there was a certain element of class to the whole affair that out shined everything that was looking a little tarnished before.  Whether anyone really thought it before the game this is perhaps the way all of us would like to go out.  Not necessarily on top, not necessarily in our prime and maybe not even when we think is best but taking one last shot that win or lose defines who we are and have always been.  A lot of credit to Bobby Bowden for leaving us with that.

Also credit to West Virginia who really came off as a class act.  They knew from day one that the sideshow was going to overshadow the main event.  From what I saw they handled it in stride and played a great football game.