A bowl selection Sunday to remember for Temple

My three-letter reaction when I heard the news on Sunday night.

The last Bowl Selection Sunday that went this bad for Temple came in 2010, when an 8-4 Temple team was told there was no bowl for them.

That time it was the bad guys’ fault. This time the blame falls on the good guys.

Both TE Peter Clarke and DE Cam’Ron Stewart wanted to play.

It was pretty hard, even in those days of 2010, for an 8-4 Temple team to not be chosen but that’s exactly what happened.

“Guys, it’s over,” Al Golden said in a team meeting. “We didn’t get picked.”

A few hours later, Golden left for the Miami job and had to have another meeting to give those kids further bad news.

That was a pretty good Temple team. They beat a BCS bowl (Fiesta) team (UConn) by 20 points and deserved to a chance to bring back some hardware for the Edberg Olson trophy case. The bad guys didn’t want to give Temple a bowl spot that day.

So much for the bad guys.

The question might be who held a gun to Temple’s Temple?

Five weeks ago, Temple was sitting on a 5-3 record and looked like a sure shot for a bowl game. The the Owls lost four-straight games to close out the season and bowl hopes went out the window.

Or so we thought.

A nice bowl trophy fell into their laps on Sunday afternoon–not to mention a nice trip to a warmer place and three weeks of needed practice–and the Owls said thanks but no thanks to a Birmingham Bowl spot that would have put them up against 6-6 Georgia Southern. In my estimation, the Owls would have been a double-digit favorite in such a game and a bowl win, even for a 5-7 team, would put a nice taste in everyone’s mouths and maybe even helped ticket sales for next season.

My guess is that call was made above the K.C. Keeler level but we should find that out in the next few days.

Whoever made the call, though, is a supposed good guy representing Temple.

There are reasons for turning it down including costs, travel and players, but those reasons apply more to the other teams who turned the bid down, not Temple. These Owls were three points away from 7-5 and, in those two games, some extremely questionable calls by the refs robbed them.

These kids deserved a bowl, too.

Back 15 years ago, the prevailing thought was maybe that someday Karma would pay Temple back by giving the Owls a bid on a day they didn’t expect it.

Sunday was the day that something nice fell into their laps and, instead of dusting it off putting it in a place of honor, they threw it out the window.

Somebody has got some explaining to do.

Update: Temple statement below….

So you’re basically saying everybody either said no or “get back to us” but App State said, “Hell Yes!!!! Where do I sign?”

Friday: Room At The Top

7 thoughts on “A bowl selection Sunday to remember for Temple

  1. It’s a shame that they turned it down. It puts a lot of focus on the team and helps with recruiting/portal and hopefully ticket sales the following year.

    I am sure it is a loser from a purely financially stand point, as they have to buy tickets that will go unsold, transportation, etc.

    But being on TV during bowl season helps in ways that don’t translate to the costs of the game. I would love to see them play one more game this year and I think they would win that game pretty handily.

    • That’s about a 30-14 Temple win right there and we get to see Evan Simon hoisting the trophy with a lot of these seniors around him who made the transition from Drayton to Keeler smooth in the post-game show. Can’t put a price on that.

  2. From everything I’ve been reading about this sounds like our athletic department dropped the ball. Seems that a quick response was needed/expected and the best TU could reply was well get back to you. Our AD should have a process in place to handle this kind of scenario

  3. The statement begs the question. What did Temple want to do? Waiting for more time does not convey intent. Is “Disappointed” code name for “we wanted to accept and go but couldnʻt figure out how to make it work”? Lame and lazy.

    It opportunity is gone. So why not come out and say either, “we wanted to go”, or “we didnʻt want to go”?

    Somebody knocks on the door with a gift horse. Do you call the vet to schedule a physical before accepting? Bluebirds for programs like Temple are an infrequent occurrence. You say yes, put the phone down, and work your *** off to make it happen. Impromptu energy is contagious and program defining.

    The AD should have used this opportunity to change perceptions regarding his abilities. He did not, and his sad reality remains.

  4. I know our president (John Fry) is loving this.. SMH

  5. Temple’s administration from the AD on up are a bunch of losers!

  6. Unless Fry and/or Keeler said “no” AJ should be relieved for cause. Schools before said “no”. The school after, Appalachian St, said “yes”. Temple said nothing? It is well below the outlined requirements and standards for an AD.

    Did the invite even make it out of the ADʻs office? Did AJ relay the invite to Fry, did he even call Keeler? We donʻt even know if he actually personally communicated w/the bowl committee. If Temple needed more time, did he request more time? Was the request denied? Temple would be well served to release an official timeline of events.

    The seniors have never played in a bowl game. His inaction denied the well deserving seniors an opportunity to cap their careers with a bowl victory. Priceless. And, we are going turn around and ask them to support Temple Athletics for the rest of their lives?

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