The inaugural Celebration Bowl in Atlanta provided a great game between North Carolina A&T and Alcorn State, and it could also breathe new life into faltering HBCU football programs.
A&T prevailed over Alcorn 41-34 in the December 19 game, a historic partnership between the SWAC, MEAC and ESPN. The respective conference champions declined automatic bids into the FCS playoffs to participate in the Celebration Bowl. The reward is a $1 million payout to each conference, which breaks down to $100,000 for each SWAC member and $91,000 for MEAC schools.
To pocket that kind of cash, both teams would have had to advance deep into the FBS playoffs. Should either A&T or Alcorn want to host an FBS playoff game, a $30,000 minimum bid would have to be submitted.
With an 11 a.m., kickoff on the first Saturday of NCAA bowl season, the game was one of the most-watched on television that day – something that had to impress the bottom-line folks at ESPN.
According to ShowBuzz Daily, the thrilling game drew a 1.89 rating on ABC, second only to the Las Vegas Bowl (2.41) that featured bitter rivals BYU and Utah.
Arizona vs. New Mexico in the New Mexico Bowl (ESPN 1.40), Ohio vs. Appalachian State in the Camellia Bowl (ESPN 1.37) and the New Orleans Bowl featuring Arkansas State vs. Louisiana Tech (ESPN 0.95) all trailed the Celebration Bowl in viewership.
Its broadcast success should be credited to ESPN for showing the game nationwide on ABC, and to Rob King, the African-American senior vice president of SportsCenter and news for ESPN.
King oversees SportsCenter and all ESPN news gathering. Upon his order, SportsCenter coverage of the day’s bowl games was centered in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome.
What does this mean for St. Louis?
“If the site of the game came open for bid, we would certainly look at it,” said Chris Roseman, St. Louis Sports Commission vice president – events.
Roseman said the organization “has been looking to get in the bowl business for 20 years and it’s tough.”
With ESPN guaranteeing the payouts for the conferences, one of the major hurdles could be cleared. Of course, Atlanta is more geographically attractive than St. Louis for many HBCU teams on the East Coast or in the South.
But, if there is a chance to land the game, “sure, we would be interested,” Roseman said
SLU should hire black. Saint Louis University is cobbling together one of its worst seasons in decades. Should the A-10 doormat decide to make a coaching change it is probably time to hire another African-American head coach. Recruiting is obviously a problem since the untimely death of coach Rick Majerus.
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Rooney red herring. Duce Staley, Philadelphia Eagles running back coach, interviewed for the Eagles head coaching job but the NFL reportedly thinks the Eagles are “attempting to manipulate the Rooney Rule.” It contends a legitimate minority candidate must be interviewed, and the NFL thinks there is no intention of hiring Staley.
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Farmer fired. Ray Farmer, one of few black men to hold a GM position in the NFL, was fired by the Cleveland Browns along with head coach Mike Pettine on Monday
GM endorsements. The Fritz Pollard Coalition is endorsing these African-American GM candidates: Martin Mayhew, the former Detroit GM fired during the season; Lions VP Sheldon White, who took over as interim GM; Pittsburgh Steelers director of football administration Omar Khan; Jimmy Raye III, Indianapolis Colts VP of operations; Morocco Brown, Browns VP of player personnel; Marc Ross, New York Giants VP of player evaluation; Chris Grier, Miami Dolphins director of college scouting; and Will McClay, Dallas Cowboys‘ assistant director of player personnel.
White wants county exec job. Frank White, former Kansas City Royals all-star second baseman and a member of the 1985 World Series champions, wants to serve as interim Jackson County executive after Democrat Mike Sanders unexpectedly resigned. White, who was elected to the Jackson County Legislature in 2014, would need the approval of fellow legislatures to replace Sanders. He would serve through 2016, then an election would be held to fill the last two years of Sanders’ four-year term.
Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on KETC channel 9’s most-popular show “Donnybrook,” and is also a radio commentator and author.
