Hot Takes with Hinners

The regular season is over and Middle Tennessee finished the season with an 8-4 record.

Maybe people over hyped it? Maybe fans didn’t see the whole picture? This season just feels so…empty. Even with eight wins, fans cannot shake that “let down” feeling. This feeling is making bowl games more apparent to what they really are – a ploy for everyone to have fun when there’s nothing else to do.

Think about actually bowling for a second.

Outside of the competitive bowlers, why do people go to the lanes, put on those awful (probably germ ridden) shoes and roll a heavy ball toward some pins? Because it’s something everyone just does when they are out of entertainment options. You do it and I do it, too. But, have you ever walked out of a bowling alley and said “That was such a memorable time. I’ll never forget this moment.”

I haven’t. Hell, I cannot even remember the last time I went bowling.

Back to bowls for football - what’s the point besides the money these games generate? Why do we have so many bowl games to begin with? I get pitting one conference champion against another or having two top 25 teams battle it out, but what do Blue Raider fans have to look forward to when MT goes bowling this year?

Is it not going to feel like just another game? There’s not much on the line for people to get excited about. It can even be argued it’s less exciting than a regular season game. The season is over. Fans know where MT stands. A bowl win against another mediocre team means what? Nothing. Zilch. Fans of the Blue Raiders aren’t going to see anything that they haven’t already sat through this year.

Yep, sign me up for that…

And then let’s look at the location of these neutral site games. Many are predicting MT to play in the Hawai’i Bowl this year. Now, I lived in Hawaii for a few years and it is paradise, but how many MT fans would actually go to see MT v. Hawaii on Christmas Eve? Not only will the Blue Raiders be flying solo (for the most part), that Hawaii crowd is no joke and MT can expect a very hostile environment.

And just last year, MT went to the Bahamas and it’s the same scenario. How many MT fans traveled to watch that pointless bowl game? I get that these trips are a reward for the players and they serve as an opportunity for coaches to get a few more practices in, but what about the fans?

So, get excited if you want that the Blue Raiders are going bowling at eight wins. Admittedly, it actually isn’t a bad story when you think about everything that’s happened this season. But, when expectations were so high and the hype was so real, it’s just an empty consolation prize.

And to add insult to injury it’s not like MT has a great history in bowl games. The Blue Raiders are 2-5 overall in bowls, and 1-4 under Rick Stockstill

If you are satisfied with this season, make sure you check out the Austin’s article. As so many have said, it’s past time that fans started seeing the results they demand and irrelevant bowl games are not it.

But, in an ode to you optimists that help keep me honest, I’ll hit up the lanes sometime soon and try to get a few strikes in your honor.

So, let’s go bowling…